I should be clearing up.
I should be doing exercises.
I should be learning more database theory, writing adverts, making moulds, doing accounts, doing innumerable small odd-jobs to get in a smidge of extra cash.
But I’m not.
I’ve indulged myself this last couple of days and it’s felt good. I’ve been tinkering in the workshop.
Long story short, I’ve been trying to motorise the angle-poise lamp I have the webcam attached to, with a view to getting it hooked up to some machine-vision software for motion-tracking and having it run as cameraman. At least it started there, and now I’m looking at adding microphones, a speaker and tri-colour LEDs to turn it into a sort of intuitive feedback device.
It’s essentially a robot arm though, with 6 degrees of freedom. I’ve never made a robot arm before. I also have no spare money to throw at it, so I’ve been running through my various parts bins.
Collecting “useful” things, and/or taking them apart to see how they’re assembled is something of a compulsion. However actually recombining them feels like something I’ve let atrophy. It’s been frustrating at points, but it’s an enjoyable indulgence. And it feels like it’s starting to get back into gear a bit.
It’s also helpfully letting me see what parts are actually still any use to me.