alexporto.com - personal projects

3D scanner

Alex — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 20:30:50 +0000

I've been working on a full-body homebuilt 3d scanner.

Here you can play with a virtual version of me:

This is a low-poly 3D model. These files are usually too big for web, so I reduced it to around 4k vertices. The original was 100 times bigger.

My homebuilt 3d scanner is comprised by 3 Kinect sensors and two lighting poles. I used a led strip for the poles. They are used to set an even lighting around the 3d object.

Como usar o AdBlock em sites que bloqueiam o AdBlock

Alex — Thu, 26 May 2016 13:06:24 +0000

O AdBlock é uma mão na roda pra nevegar pelo inferno de propagandas que se tornou a Internet. Porém, alguns sites começaram a usar alguns artifícios para detectar e bloquear o uso do AdBlock.

O tutorial abaixo explica como ter o adblock novamente funcionando no site da Folha de S. Paulo. Não se assuste com a quantidade de opções: O processo todo não leva mais que 20 segundos!

No fim do texto tem uma explicação de como a detecção funciona, e como esse processo pode ser aplicado em outros sites

Comparing sound cards

Alex — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 23:51:38 +0000

I was getting too much distortion on my drawings on the oscilloscope. After checking that the waveform was correct, I started trying different soundcards, and figured out they can make a huge difference on the final image.

Here are what I found about them

Augmented Reality Videogame

Alex — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 23:02:20 +0000

This month I was invited to help at a local videogame faire, Arena Game Show. The guys from Python Brazil, the Brazilian Python community, got a stand at the event and were planning some workshops and classes.

This is the game I brought there:

Poor man's motion capture

Alex — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 09:11:07 +0000

This is the result of my home-made motion capture system. I've used it to animate videogame characters for another project

Of course, there's a lot of free game assets around the net, but, as usually, it's funnier to go with your own solution.

On the video, the character seems to lose a keyframe, but I've managed to fix this at the game

Computer Vision on Edison with OpenCV

Alex — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 13:44:05 +0000

Intel Edison is a nice Internet of Things device. On a module the size of a SD card, you get a dual-core computer with WiFi and Blutooth. You can also get an Arduino compatible development board, to attach Edison and use Arduino shields on it

Intel Internet of Things Roadshow - Brasil

Alex — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 13:42:04 +0000

These are pictures of Intel IoT Roadshow Brazil 2015, which took place at Insper, São Paulo, on Jun, 19-20.

Kitchen Gas Leakage Alarm

Alex — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 17:40:49 +0000

This is a very simple weekend project: A gas leakage alarm for your kitchen.

It's based on a MQ-2 sensor, which detects LGP (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), alcohol, smoke, propane and some other gases. It comes froma family of sensors, all of them with the same pinout, so any project using them can be easily "ported" to detect different gases. For example, MQ-7 detects Carbon Monoxide and ME2-O2 detects Oxigen.

Internet das Coisas: Monitor de Horta

Alex — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 15:46:28 +0000

Bem vindo à minha horta wifi:

A caixinha amarela acima monitora a umidade do solo e a quantidade de luz recebida pelas plantas. Estes dados são capturados continuamente, e enviados a um servidor, que gera relatórios e alarmes:

Connecting your Arduino to WiFi via an ESP-8266 module

Alex — Sun, 17 May 2015 13:22:26 +0000

ESP-8266 is an easy and low-cost alternative to the expensive Arduino WiFi shields. While those shields can cost over USD 50, you can find an ESP module for less that USD 3 at ebay

There are several ESP module models around there. All of them are based on the same IC. This article is based on the ESP-01, which is, probably, the most common model.

All ESP-8266 modules are programable. You can use the default factory firmware or you can write your own firmware and upload it to your module. My module came with the firmware version 0018000902-AI03.

The default firmware provides a serial communication that you can use to send AT commands to your module, just like in the old telephone/modem days. These commands provide everything you need to connect to an WiFi router and send/receive data.