Retrospective

repairing broken 3d printer parts

2013-08-13T01:21:00.000+03:00

Some of the parts of the MendelMax are not quite robust to handle the forces in the machine. the X-axis that holds the extruder as base arrived a bit damaged

Broken X-Axis carriage

I've decided to fix this issue with a new, simpler design, because the plastic design lacks the strength as a cylinder but has great force when applied as a structural constraint:


X axis modified top view

X axis modified bottom view

Also the wades extruder had these flaw in the part that directs the filament into the extruder

Broken wades extruder part

in order to fix that part, again, I've used a metal hook and soldered it into the plastic so now it has can withstand a bit of more force without breaking:


fixed wades extruder part

after all that I've managed to get to the calibration process, almost done, here's a short video of my 3D printer with it's first words to the world:

enjoy ! Please comment :)
Z.

התאמת שנאי מחשב עבור מדפסת תלת מימד

2013-07-23T16:54:00.000+03:00

לשנאים של המחשב יש כל כך הרבה כבלים שזה עשה לי בלגאן בעיניים לראות את זה אז הייתי חייב לסדר את המערכת שתהיה גם יפה ומאורגנת מעבר לעניין שתעבוד באופן יציב ובטוח.

בספק מחשב לרב הכבל של ההפעלה הוא היחיד בצבע ירוק, ראשית כל הלחמתי את הכבל הירוק לשחור (בספק שברשותי כל ה- 12V, אדמה ו-5V הם על אותו ערוץ, אחרת הייתי צריך לברר לאיזה אדמה לחבר)


הלחמת כבל ההפעלה של ספק כח

חיברתי את הספק לחשמל ווידאתי שהעניין עובד (המאוורר פעל ונתן מתחים כצפוי) אז בעזרת סרט קפטון שהוא גם מבודד חשמלי וגם עמיד מאוד בחום קיצרתי והדבקתי את חוט ההפעלה לגב ספק הכוח כדי שלא יפריע

ספק כח עם חוט הפעלה מולחם ומודבק

סידרתי את הכבלים של החשמל ל-4: צהובים (12 וולט), אדומים (5 וולט), שחורים (אדמה, מינוס) וכל השאר (3.3 וולט או -12 וולט שלא מעניינים עבור מערכת של מדפסת תלת מימד)

מדובר על מתחים נמוכים אך זרמים יחסית חזקים של 8-16 אמפר כך שמומלץ לאחד בין הכבלים דרך מתאם וחשוב שאלו יהיו על כבל חד-גידי (למנוע ניצוצות) אם אין ברשותכם כבל חד-גידי אז חשוב להלחים את הקצה שיהיה אחיד במגע עם המגעים.

400W power supply assembly for RepRap MendelMax

כך שנשארתי עם חיבור מאורגן עבור המדפסת (12 וולט ואדמה) ועבור המאווררים שלה (5 וולט) בלי כל הצמות של הכבלים, הארכתי גם את הכבלים כדי שספק הכוח יוכל לשבת רחוק יותר מהמדפסת שלא להפריע.
נותר: לסיים את הרכבת המדפסת התלת מימדית ולהתחיל להדפיס :) חייב להודות שמדובר על טרחה משוגעת וזה שותה את שעות הפנאי הקצרות שנותרו לי אחרי שאני משכיב את הילדה שלי לישון אבל כשזה עובד ומצליח זה מגניב באופן שקשה לתאר. המשך יבוא !

מדידת צריכת החשמל בביתי בעזרת ינשוף

2013-05-31T01:06:00.003+03:00

כבר באוקטובר 2012 התחלתי למדוד את הצריכה של האנרגיה בבית, לא היו לי מכשירים מדויקים פשוט מדי פעם תעדתי את שעוני הצריכה של המים והחשמל (בדירה שאני גר כרגע 2 שעוני חשמל שכל אחד הוא פאזה אחת, שאלות בבקשה לחברת החשמל כי לי אין מושג למה)

בהתחלה מדדתי שלוש פעמים ביום, היו הפוגות שמדדתי פעם ביום-יומיים וכשהייתי ממש עמוס בדברים אחרים שכחתי לחודשיים למדוד אבל עכשיו עם טכנולוגיה פשוטה שנתקלתי בה בזכות מהנדס חרוץ להנדסת אלקטרוניקה, יש לי עתה מכשיר שמנטר את הצריכה בבית כל כ-15 שניות ושומר את המידע באופן מפורט, ונותן לי תובנות ואת היכולת להבין כיצד אפילו המשק הקטן הביתי שלי יכול לחסוך אנרגיה. קישור לטבלת המידע וגרף הביצועים הידני בטבלה Chart-All ניתן לראות את הגדימה הידנית.

גרף מתקדם בעזרת מערכת ינשוף: עד 30/5/2013 ממוצע ידני, החל מ- 31/5/2013 אזין את המידע ממערכת הינשוף שנותנת גם רזולוציות יותר מדויקות של כמה שניות הפרש וגם שומרת על רציפות. לגרף זה כמובן לא שמתי את חשבון המים כי הוא לא נמדד אלקטרונית, אותו עדיין אמדוד ידנית.
הנתונים בכחול הם צריכת הkW/h היומית והנתונים באדום הם הממוצע של 7 הימים האחרונים. בצהוב צריכת החשמל הדו-חודשית עליה אני משלם לחברת החשמל ובירוק הנמדד בינשוף במהלך חודשיים. הציר האנכי השמאלי הוא קוט"ש צריכה ליום והציר הימני הוא קוט"ש צריכה בחודשיים. המערכת מתעדכנת מאתר הינשוף מידי לילה, כך שכל בוקר בגרף זה יש כבר את הצריכה של אתמול. רואים למשל את הטיסה לחו"ל שלנו באוגוסט איך שהצריכה נופלת לכ- 1.5 קילוואט ליום (מחוברים לשקע נשארו רק המקרר והאינטרנט) כך שאני יכול להעריך שהמקרר שלנו הוא יעיל למדי, במהלך שנה הוא אולי עולה לנו עד 500 ש"ח בחשמל שזה מאוד יעיל.
מאז שהתחלנו למדוד הצלחנו להוריד את חשבון החשמל שלנו מכ- 1000 ש"ח לחודש לכ- 600 ש"ח לחודש, כאשר הבחנו בצרכנים בזבזניים, החלפנו מנורות ליבון בפלורסנט וקנינו נורות לד חסכוניות במיוחד מחנות ב- EBAY (המחירים בעולם משמעותית נמוכים מאלו שבחנויות בארץ אבל זה נושא מורכב...)

הצריכה הממוצעת במהלך השבוע:

קישור לחנות ממנה קניתי רצועת לד לתאורת לילה לחדר תינוק וקישור לחנות ממנה קניתי מנורות מתאימות לבית נורה סטנדרטי במחיר מאד תחרותי
ממליץ מאד לנסות את המערכות האלו, או לפחות להתחיל להתעניין.

Solar systems yield Java / JavaScript development

2013-03-24T22:59:00.000+02:00

Lately I've been asked to help with the monitoring systems of most of our Solar installations, which are hundreds of solar systems in Israel.

Each system is connected to the internet and has some kind of interface I can read it's data (if it's connected) and check these signs:

Solar system with shaded panels shown in black

- has the system lost connection lately (like the last week/month)
- is the power on right now?
- did it produce any energy yesterday and today?
- if it is connected more than a year, are there any interferences around the year and what's a year's yield?
- for each kW installed on the system, what's a years yield (normalized) ?
- what's the specific price for this system of NIS/kW and is it according to the financial plan?

I've started to learn Java (lots and lots of reading) and I've downloaded Eclipse that really helps a lot to design and study the syntax. I'll update here about the functions I'm writing and what each does, if you have suggestions I'd really appreciate Your feedback.

usually in Israel we refer to the 1650 kW a year per each kW installed.
so if I have a 55kWp system, It should produce about 90.75MW annualy. so if this system produces less I would flag it as an issue, unless it is designed for a certain azimuth / elevation which I can see in "solar degradation" charts what kind of yearly % will this system lack

I'm working on a Java application to scan these systems each night and write down a report.
I'm doing it step by step so here's a code to calculate how much time has passed (in days and in years) from the installation date until today:

some panels that show partial shading in the morning (probably a tree)

(I'm going to use native Java classes an no matter what the forums say, I'm not going to install any 3'rd party plugins for it...

// ----- Java Code : calculating difference between dates in days and years -----

import java.util.*;

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args){

Calendar caln1 = new GregorianCalendar();

Calendar caln2 = new GregorianCalendar();

caln1.set(2010,1,1);

// If you require a different date please insert one below remember to remove the "//" format: (Year,Month,Day)

//caln2.set(2010,1,1);

int daysb = daysCalcBetween(caln1.getTime(),caln2.getTime());

System.out.println("Days passed = " + daysb);

double timeYears = daysb/365.25;

System.out.println("in Years it's = " + timeYears);

}

public static int daysCalcBetween(Date d1,Date d2){

return (int) ((d2.getTime()-d1.getTime())/(1000*60*60*24));

}

// ----- END OF Java Code : calculating difference between dates in days and years -----

some system manufacturers provide a 'daily report' via email, so I've been starting to log these systems each day to get some perspective how different areas and climates provide different yields. I'm using Google Script to daily parse these emails into a Google Spreadsheet that provides some analytics on systems.

This is the actual daily yield of our systems for each 1kWp installed normalized and verified. from these analytics I could continue to develop a script that helps determine if a system is faulty, if it needs cleaning and to see who yields the best for each geographical area:

This is a 'live' graph that updates daily due to the JavaScript I've built in Google script:
the script is:
-----
/* I am not a professional programmer so if you have any insight on how to optimize this script Your comments are more than welcome ! */

function processSMA() {
// getting the label target in gmail:
var threads = GmailApp.getUserLabelByName('desiredLabel').getThreads();
var doc = SpreadsheetApp.openById("SpreadsheetDoc").getSheets()[0];
var lastRow = doc.getLastRow();
var lastCol = doc.getLastColumn();
// This specific chart has indexes: a row for each date and a culomn for each system
var indexDate = doc.getRange(1,1,lastRow,1).getValues();
var indexDate1 = new Array()
var indexSystem = doc.getRange(1, 1, 1, lastCol).getValues();
var indexSystem1 = new Array();

/* format date of index:
since getRange receives a 2d array here, I need change it to a 1d array in order to search for indexes in it in the future. */

for (i=0; i<lastRow;i++){
     indexDate1[i] = indexDate[i][0];
     if(indexDate1[i]>0){
     // I'm formating the date so that in the next indexing it would be easy to search for it
     indexDate1[i] = Utilities.formatDate(indexDate1[i], "GMT", "MM/dd/yyyy");
     }
}

    for (i=0; i<lastCol;i++){
    // I'm removing white spaces to ensure proper indexing
    indexSystem1[i] = indexSystem[0][i].replace(/\s/g, "");
        }
// garbage collector: remove unformatted old indexes:
indexDate = null;
indexSystem = null;

// parsing the messages:
for (var i = 0; i < threads.length; i++) {
var messages = threads[i].getMessages();


     for (var j = 0; j < messages.length;j++) {
      // when dealing with large amount of emails, this is recommended...
       Utilities.sleep(1000);
      // Parse each message
       var date = Utilities.formatDate(messages[j].getDate(), "GMT", "MM/dd/yyyy")
       // row position:
       var rowPos = indexDate1.indexOf(date);
        // the subject of the email has the system name, the date and produced kWh today.
       var rawData = messages[j].getSubject().toString();

       // looking through the text for the data:
       var dataPosReport = rawData.search("Info Report");
       var dataPosDate = rawData.search(date);
       var dataPosProduction = rawData.search("Daily Production")
       var dataPoskWh = rawData.search("kWh")

       // and now to use this locations to create system and yield
       var systemName = rawData.slice(dataPosReport+12,dataPosDate-1).replace(/\s/g, "");
       var systemYield = rawData.slice(dataPosProduction+17,dataPoskWh);
       var colPos = indexSystem1.indexOf(systemName);
       if(colPos!=-1){
         doc.getRange(rowPos,colPos+1).setValue(systemYield);
       // getting rid of the email so It will not be parsed after it has been successful
         messages[j].moveToTrash();
       } else {
       // if a system has not been found or the operation was not successful log out the system, to assure the naming system is correct in the target spreadsheet.
       Logger.log(systemName);
       }
    }
}
}

-----
again, I'm a graphic designer, not a professional programmer, it would mean a lot to me if any of you share your insight on how to improve this script further. comments are very much welcome !

ToDO:
1. with a given system evaluate if it is up to the 1650 kW/year per kW installed
2. compare the system yield and return of investment to it's contract information and what was promised to the client
3. learn to write a script that logs into each system through the internet, writes an XML or CSV for each system and evaluates system condition
4. lots of work to be done (and this is on my spare time...) If you have some thoughts, links or anything I could learn from Your comments are welcome !

Z.

Job seeking trends

2011-12-06T19:00:00.000+02:00

I've just noticed this unbelievable graph of Job searching in Google Trends:

Job seeking search volume index worldwide

In this graph you can clearly see that the tendency of people to seek the term "job" around the world is very high from January and slowly descends until December, then quickly climbs in January, that's quite a anthropological phenomenon. A new year could perhaps engage people in ideas of a new and better future, perhaps a new job :) while in Israel:

Job seeking search volume index / Israel

I guess in Israel people are looking for a better stature throughout the year. Even the term "New Year" is miscalled "Silvester" which is a very silly thing, they know how to take out the fun parts in life.

happy job hunting ! it's almost New year's !

also found that nice graph for the terms "winter" and "summer" over the years:

and the most amazing is that the search volume index of Sinus looks just like a sinus !

The sinus sinus trend !

oh I'm such a geek...

Bonzo love

2011-09-18T22:54:00.001+03:00

A short video of my Bonzo loving dog showing her appreciation of the brand

וידאו קצר של צל המראה את אהבתה למותג המזון המיתולוגי בּונזו

Ikea Brimnes bed construction

2011-09-15T00:00:00.001+03:00

This saturday we worked real hard to construct our Ikea 'Brimnes' bed that is quite a time consuming assembly project... we took the Eee Transformer pad and switched it's camera to timelapse mode and shot the following sequence:

enjoy :)

Google Autonomous

2011-07-26T00:39:00.001+03:00

Google Autonomous photoshop

Since Google has released some info of their autonomous vehicle experiments I've been eager to hear more about it.
I Think that starting with the private sector will not 'solve really big problems' as the article states.

I think that if Google presents this technology it must be implemented on large scale commercial architectures and not private vehicles, unless they are shared among users via car/time sharing (but that's another idea still far from beta testing...)

Mass transit system: Buses and rail systems that drive autonomous, never get tired or angry of other vehicle drivers, Here also the face recognition technology could come in handy if one can enter an automated bus and be recognized by the bus and be automatically reminded where my stop is, automatic ticketing etc'
Trucks / Semi : that suffer the worst from blind spots and work hours, here is the greatest opportunity to basically save lives if these mammoths were driven by precise robotics instead of an angry mob
FedEx and Mail systems that usually route daily could benefit the most
a good replacement for any Israeli driver (perhaps also for any Israeli politician too...)

I fear, although this technology is great, that it will very quickly be cracked, hacked and misused to send pizzas to classmates.

what do you think?

Solar Yield : Degradation and % Efficiency

2011-07-17T02:48:00.003+03:00

Simple chart for Azimuth/Inclination and percent degraded yield from PV's used for sloped roofs: based local in Israel (A Google login required)
be sure to check out My website site for more information

Timelapse animation of a system we've installed in Elad, Israel, which shows the preperations, modeling and the last part shows how we evade the shadow. we've used a Trimble D-GPS to obtain ~1 cm resolution of the building and high walls that we had to take into consideration.
Your comments are most welcome
Do You wish to compare the yield of Your system to other systems?

I'm working on a daily kWh per kWp installed on systems around Israel, you can monitor hundreds of systems using the JavaScript I'm working, the graph charts are in this link
there is about 10,000 kWp monitored daily that You can view how systems in Jerusalem yield differently than systems in the Golan, in cities or outside of them etc'.
if you like to be part of this statistics please inform me and I'll log Your system as well.
Thank You for reading this, Your comments are most welcome !

Practical Solar PV charts for installations

2011-07-03T00:28:00.008+03:00

I've been asked a lot about how much degradation one should expect from having the wrong azimuth on a certain roof. also the inclination has an effect. I'll try to bring here the basic types I see common.

A roofs facing south are rare, but until we develop a tracking system that can use a standard roof tile installation, this is pretty much the degradation expected from a 22° inclination / Azimuth :

This Chart is only effecting 22° inclination roofs local at Israel. additional charts of different inclinations are located here.
The following interactive chart also shows expected degradation due to two variables: azimuth and 0°-25° inclination (geographical location Tel Aviv):

(to view a Google interactive chart you must log in your Google account)

When designing flat roof arrays, the row distance must allow the sunlight to be available for all of the array from 08:00-15:00 in winter at least and 07:30-17:00 in summer to enjoy the peak power of the array.
if the area doesn't allow it use these tips:

1. The build of the panel has some faults. when partially shadowed it may produce no energy at all. it seems that if it is shadowed on it's short side (for instance, a panel is standing) it will not generate energy. while if it is similarly shadowed on it's long side (a panel is lying) it will produce up to 66% energy even while shadowed.

Flat Panel with shadows drawing

2. it is smart to use technological improvements such as Tigo maximizer units but they are not cheap. sadly a lot of consumers think cheap and not think profitable, which can generate a lot of untapped energy. a large scale facility that isn't shadowed will think "why do I need this?" and forget about partial clouding or bird droppings that when one panel is down, the whole array goes down.

3. for flat roof installations, the following chart provides distances based on inclination of the panels (local iseael) and should provide maximum peak power at minimum distances, larger will be more effective:

(again, one must be logged in a Google account in order to view the interactive chart)
Be sure to check out My website for more info

שעון מעורר היסטרי

2011-06-07T17:21:00.001+03:00

להתעורר בהיסטריה כל יום מחדש!

מאז ניוטון והתפוח סוף סוף הגיע הזמן לשידרוג השעון המעורר!

טלפונים, קטנים כגדולים, תמיד נפלו על הרצפה וימשיכו ליפול. אין לנו באמת מושג אם הנפילה הזו תהיה האחרונה עבורם (הסמארטפונים לאחרונה הם באמת נפילה אבל זה כבר סיפור אחר).

יקיצה היא לעתים לא דבר פשוט ובתחבולות תעשה לך השכמה (משלי כ"ד ו')

הפרויקט הנוכחי : שעון מעורר שמופעל על ידי ההשכמה של הטלפון הסלולרי ומעיף אותו לאוויר כמו טוסטר כך שצריך לתפוס את הטלפון מהר לפני שהוא נופל על הרצפה.

נכון, יהיו כמה בקרים שהטלפון ייפול על הרצפה ונקום בהרגשת החמצה וביאוס (שזו גם בעיטה חזקה מהמיטה) ויש כאלו שזה יעורר אצלם את העצבים ויקומו כמו נינג'ה ויצילו כל יום את הטלפון שלהם מאבדון!
בקרוב בחנות i קרובה אליכם.

I've reached 10 models approved in google Earth !

2011-05-14T00:47:00.000+03:00

Hurray ! Google has notified me that the models I've sent are adequate for the 3D layers in Google Earth !
if you search for "Capitola" In google earth you might just bump into them :) If you are in the neighbourhood I would really appriciate sending photos of the buildings so I may add additional texture information to them.

link for the Wharf 3D warehouse.

2011-05-06T00:28:00.001+03:00

Wooopie ! another 3D model I've built has made it through to the 3D building layer in Google Earth !
I'ts one of the stores Perli and me visited during our honeymoon in Capitola.

comments are most welcome

סופת ברקים בשמי רעננה

2011-04-29T04:23:00.001+03:00

חיבור הברקים מצילום זמן ארוך

כל 2 עד 5 שניות הופיעו אחד אחרי השני ברקים, תופעה מאד יפה אבל לא אופיינית למזג האוויר כאן.
אני חושב שזה מאפיין זריעת עננים, כי לאחרונה התחילו במסע זריעת עננים מאסיבי והאופי של העננים השתנה.
הנה קליפ קצר :

Another 3D model in Capitola

2011-04-23T13:26:00.004+03:00

Added a neighbouring building to my Capitola collection

Dove's life

2011-03-08T18:32:00.000+02:00

I found a dov'es nest on a tree right in front of my porch so I put the camera in timelapse mode (CHDK) and started shooting. I have no projector to have enogh light or nightvision and I'm using a 200mm zoom so I hope that the 2 eggs don't hatch during the night :)
shooting starts at about 8:00Am each day and finishes at about 5:30PM, a frame each 10 seconds.the camera is in Aperature mode in spot measureing to minimize the lighting difference. from the results I've noticed that the hole palm tree the dove resides on moves in a "breathing" motion, each day it rizes a bit and I guess each night it lowers. in day 2 i've noticed there's a branch that really doesn't help the view so I've cut it. in day 6 we had strong winds that shook the tripod a bit but it still runs! :)
started shooting: 03/03/2011, the first 6 days look like this (HD) :
1 day = 1 minute:

1 day = 20 seconds:

I'll keep an update each week.

Google has made my day

2011-02-14T17:16:00.001+02:00

Google have just sent me a 200NIS voucher to use in Adwords as I see fit.
I'm not used to receiving printed mail other than bills and subpoenas, Since it's the first Email I've received from Google, I was quite shocked that they gave me such a nice gift, hope to use it wisely :)

Google Adsense made my day!

Solar Optimizer preliminary draft

2011-02-08T07:13:00.003+02:00

After a longer than expected render I've come up with a preliminary draft which I'll keep abusing...
for more information about the study visit here

Sun view of the 2 trial array

An additional Idia rose while I was addressing this, that the dynamic panel could also be an additional reflector for the rest of the array, so for this experiment I've used only 2 panels, one stationary and one facing the sun.

Close up PV

and a parrallel video output you can view here:

a second version of 3 tracking panels here in this video:

Solar Optimizer thoughts

2011-02-06T05:32:00.002+02:00

After encountering technologies such as Tigo Maximizer units and having short conversations about some of the issues that rise when developing the photovoltic solar installations, It seems that such an array could have additional management and control for the following:

Sun direction:
Usually an array or PV solar array is placed in a general 'south' view. the panels are usually placed in roof angle to avoid any architectual or astethical alighnments. these angles are usually less effective for the panel and theres additional power that could have been tapped here.
demonstrated in this simple graphic showing how proper alignment allows more energy generation.

Click to enlarge

also, in night time, it could be better to place the panels in a way they would be protected during the night from the elements.

Wind speed and direction:
although PV systems are usually heavy for a human to lift, they are fragile and exposed to harm. In one side a strong wind can disable or rip off a panel and in another, no wind at all means the panel could be warming up and lose it's optimized working temperature. a lot of countries that use PV arrays are exposed to harsh weather conditions that could have very fast winds or no wind at all. these should also add to the optimization of an array. a strong wind can cool the PV but in a threshold can also rip it off. if a PV aligns with the sun, it could become very much like a sail and be exposed to higher wind speeds than a stationary one.

Panel temperature control:
Photovoltic modules suffer from high temperature impact on their performance. higher temperatures for a PV means lower output power and may also lead to degradation and failure of PV. there is also material stress associated with thermal expansion to the panel components. I won't get into the details but it is said "the cooler the better".
Combined:
we should combine the factors of sun direction, wind direction and speed and panel temperature.

These issues have been running in my head for the past month, since I've had a short conversation with Ron. I had to have some kind of visualisation of the physics to perhaps have the chance to develop myself.
If not develop, at least visualize it... for this example I'll take the 'hard way' with a tiled roof that is popular where I reside. I know that usually large arrays are built on a flat roof but for the visualization it's much prettier having it the hard way...

I've been working too long in 2D environments such as Flash and After Effects that I've forgot all about my 3D tools. Google has just recently approved some of my 3D buildings to Google Earth 3D layer but still, SketchUp is not a full throttle 3D application, It's much easier to model with but it lacks the rendering power and animation precision.
In the middle of the night I had another zombie dream and woke up with the memory of my 3D modeling technicues.
I've started the model with the most complex and hard to model item: the roof tile.
I had to create it as accurate as possible for future engine tests so it took me about 30 minuts to get it done but in the making of it I recalled most of my 3D ability in the software.

single roof tile

I've made some modifications to the roof tile so it can have robotic control to manipulate it from the roof interior, retrieve it inside the roof and still look like a popular tile (wouldn't want the neighbours to be suspicious...) an array of these looks quite like the real deal.

roof simulation array

Now the cooler is much easier to model, I've looked at a spare SouthBridge unit cooler I had lying around here and made a PV panel sized version of it:

cooler

quite costly but does the trick. I think for future development using an airconditioning grill should do the trick with less cost but it'll be less 'NASA' ...
after adding the Tigo Maximizer unit and updated the model

array, one upside down to view the coolers and max unit

I've sent it to the render, link for animation and images.

Meanwhile We've installed a very nice system on a roof with complex shadows, in this video:

Capitola restaurant 3D building, Google Earthed

2011-01-14T13:08:00.002+02:00

Uploaded a new model to Google Earth 3D layer, This is a restaurant Ron and Eti have invited us to dine in while spending our Honeymoon in the states

Click to view

The Tech Museum and dining

2011-01-06T03:47:00.000+02:00

We visited the Tech museum in the morning, still one of the first drives in the US without any GPS, took a green stick-note from Eti's kitchen and drew a little map of the area, We found a distant place to park the car there, the places we've seen "public parking" cost about 10$ an hour so we had to walk a bit in the cold.

And Perli found a nice colored car

The museum is very playful, most of the artifacts are very interactive, when we have kids we should visit there (also next time we should also get to Epcot Center...)

We finished the visit in a diner named "Johnny rockets" there we had a meal we also put the camera in stop motion mode (CHDK) and it turned out like this:

Additional pictures from today can be seen in this link

Taste buds day

2011-01-05T03:29:00.000+02:00

We started the morning at Santana Row which is a very nice place to visit we wanted to see the "movies" but they were all so "Family" rated but we wanted a scary movie, There's a bakery there named "Cocola bakery" that has really good cakes.

Sadly, they have no place to wash hands so Perli used a cup with water to wash her hands...

but we soon found a bathroom that was camouflaged by a large ornament made of mirrors

After a short walk there we also went to a mall that has about 15 movie theaters but they all were PG rated (PlayGround?) at the toilet I've found you can buy a fake mustache for a quarter, stupid but had to test one...

we spent most of the day just traveling and wondering.

Eti and Ron invited us to a dinner at a sushi restaurant (I believe it is Sushi Kuni) near their house and it was very tasty :)
it was a nice finish to that day and I ate some kind of sea porcupine that was too large to put in the mouth but went down well :)
I've made a 3D model of Sushi Kuni, Now Live in google earth:

Stop resting ! what kind of a vacation is this ?

2011-01-04T13:16:00.000+02:00

Had a romantic morning at Eti and Ron's place

Then we set our way (using our special GPS, shown in the picture) to "Fry's Electronics" to see if we can get that pink laptop we've seen in their site for perli. They didn't know what we were talking about at fry's... Something we must say about Fry's electronics, the store has a lot in stock for the hardware enthusiast but that doesn't justify their lack in human resource... the tellers/helpers are ignorant (probably weren't accepted as Kwik-E-mart greeters). when we've asked one guy that appears to work there about one of the computers he forwarded us to "the internet", perhaps "there" we will find it. when we asked someone that worked at the camera department if we can test one of their light products on my camera he forwarded me to "the internet", perhaps "there" i can find out if the product is compatible... freaks !

although fry's little helpers are little or no help at all, they have a lot of equipment there but make sure you carry "the internet" with you because these guys don't help at all... also heard that their return policy deprives you from a full work day so good luck :)

The coffee here watered, if they don't have "Latt'e" ask for a stronger or double dose of coffee, otherwise it'll taste like maple water. also, the smallest cup here is about twice the size of the largest cup in Israel...

Noticed a lot of cute vehicles in the area, like the lotus and a very strange lowered Chevrolet (in the picture). That lotus must weigh about 600Kg and one can see it has more carbon fibers than a F-16 jet... with the engine they have installed I doubt they bought this one for miles/gallon rate...

Perli started a new hobby (maybe I'm boring her with all my geek stuff) to snapshot each and every FedEx truck we see, that's actually more fun than I thought at first

we spent the rest of the day at Eti and Ron's house having fun, Noa was excited to try out my tablet but when she noticed that you have to learn a new software for drawing she was less excited...

If You're going to San Francisco...

2011-01-03T21:37:00.044+02:00

Perli walking up and down the square (pier 14)

We took Lior's car to Sunnyvale and from there took a train to San Francisco. It took about 40 minuts by train, perhaps we should have taken the car instead, probably quicker. We've drove by a sculpture named "Rrrun" by Marta Thoma, the cement sculpture is located in BodenPark, Palo Alto.after a long and beautiful walk through the Piers we've reached Pier 39 where they have Gulls the size of small dogs, had a glimps of "the rock" of Alkatraz. After that we went through the small streets to the city center where we had some hot coffee and took the red tram all the way down to through the city back to the train station. we were too exhausted to go up Lombard street...

Cupertino tranquility

2011-01-02T20:35:00.000+02:00

We woke up in Eti and Ron's house In Cupertino, Eti took Perli to Trader Joe's and after that they've seen some kind of kitch movie,

Noa's guitar had a broken spring so we headed to the guitar center to fix it. (Eli, this is a good place for you..)

in the evening Eti and Ron's friends joined and we had a nice dinner,

we used the time to rest a bit and hug more.