New toy – almost done – FluxEngine – stand-alone

Hello all.

Yes, I know. It’s been a long time since my last post, but I have a good reason. I have been busy, very very busy with a new 3D project.

Base on the fantastic work of David Given (https://cowlark.com) on FluxEngine I am in the process of developing a stand-alone device to read/write floppydisks (both 5,25 and 3,5 inch) to/from disk images. Please see David’s website on FluxEngine for more information on this part of the project.

You would say that the FluxEngine is the most difficult part made easy by David, and yes, that is true. What I am bringing to the party is the housing, fully 3D printed, the electronics to make it stand-alone, power supply, cooling etc. Interested? Please read on :)

This is the FluxEngine;

Not very impressive to look at, right? Well how about this then;

(but really, that tiny Cypress Cy8ckit-059 development board is the brains of the device and therefore the most impressive part)

The full project can be found on my Thingiverse page.

I do need help though. Currently the project is stuck on two items;

  1. The rotary encoder. I have tried many methods, libraries etc, but I cannot for the life of me get a clean “clockwise” / “counterclockwise” signal from the damn thing.
    I’ve tried long and short debouncing times, delayed state-polling, interrupt-based operation etc. nothing seems to work without problems.
  2. The software/menu itself, more Python. I have lots of ideas on how I want the unit to operate, but I cannot seem to get a foothold in Python.If you have experience with Python with Raspberry Pi GPIO stuff and willing to assist, please contact me through Thingiverse.

p.s., this is not a project I am trying to sell in any way shape or form, there will be no profits except fame and gratitude ;) . The entire project is open-source and freely downloadable and it will stay that way.

Author: Remon Pel

WebDeveloper though not WebDesigner

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