I still exist

This may come as a surprise, after 13 years, but I still exist.

Not only do I exist, but I have used some of that 13 years in furtherance of the dreams in this old blog. I spent 2.5 years getting a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, with a Robotics focus, from a big U.S. university. And I've spent 1.5 years as a staff researcher at that university.

All to say, I might actually have the skills required to do this project properly. And my attention has drifted back to this ping pong folly as a goal.

So what, specifically, have I learned?

• I've worked with industrial co-bots (small-scale robots, for working alongside humans), programming them in various motion control modes.
• I've done a project that simulated a robot arm batting a ball out of the air (RGB-D inputs to torques, end-to-end, using RoboSuite/Mujoco). I've learned IsaacLab as an even-more-modern equivalent for robot simulation.
• I've been building electric motors from off-the-shelf stators and rotors. I've made dynamometers to evaluate their performance. I've worked with motor drivers, like ODrive.
• I've spent much time in the machine shop, making stuff with manual mills and lathes, and 3-axis CNC mills. And just general know-how in how to make stuff. All the things I was trying to learn at the maker space 13 years ago.
• I've done copious CAD in Solidworks (and some in Onshape and Fusion). I feel pretty confident in my ability to design an entire assembly and perform mechanical FEA on it.
• I can 3D print like a boss. I know where it is a good permanent solution, and where it is good for prototyping and fit checks.
• In theory I've taken a lot of courses that will help with the stiffness of my ping pong player. I forget if I had articulated this problem in the past, but a floppy arm is very hard to control well. And now I understand the problem better.

So is the blog back? I don't know. The future is in flux, and ping pong (and a blog) are possible outcomes. Since I continue to believe that there is little-to-no commercial value in this robot, I'll be happy to share with anyone who will listen.