Logging Data to a Cloud Server

IMG_2889I am trying to use my Arduino UNO to log some data points for some experiments that I want to do. (A few ideas : tracking the temperature in my Koi pond outside or tracking the speed at which the house warms-up in the morning, logging my electricity consumption, etc…)

 

The Arduino is connected to my WIFI in the house. It is battery powered so you can capture data anywhere.

It reads the values on the measurement PINS then sends this data through the network to an Amazon Database.

I then have a webpage on this site that Queries the data in the Amazon Database and display the results…

It is still work in progress big time….the main problem I am facing is the fact that I am always running out of memory space with the arduino. I have now purchased another arduino mega to try to complete this project.

So with the Arduino Mega, all the software works fine. I have had to learn how to change the HTML file for the graphic and spend a couple of hours working out the download of data from my Arduino to the Amazon servers. As usual, the smallest typo and you are spending hours trying to understand what is not working.

I am currently running my first “real” experiment. Number 7 ! This is logging the temperature of the pipework coming out of the boiler for the house. It is logging every 5 minutes to the Amazon Servers. I am travelling to the US tomorrow, so might leave it running for the next few days and see what happens….

It might be interesting to log data quicker as well to see how fast the boiler is capable of getting the water to high temperatures. I will probably run a different “experiment” for that.

I expect that the Wifi connection will probably break at some point or that the servers will reject my login. Anyway, it is still worth a go, I have been trying to do something like this for months !

Access Here.

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Sunday Ride to burn fat

bike1Today I really enjoyed a local 15km bicycle ride around the house. It is amazing what you can discover locally when you are on a bicycle. There is a lot of place that I would  never visit if I did not have the fancy bicycle. Thanks to the electric assistance, I felt like Superman going up the local Horsenden hill.

Weather was just between crap and wet.

Cleaning the bike and my clothes after the run was a bit of a nightmare…

map

Still I needed to burn all the nice food we did eat over the last couple of days ! Friday at Charlotte’s place in ealing and Saturday at Bingham Hotel in Richmond. Both very nice. We took the “discovery / secret” menu at Bingham.

 

 

This is a  6 course menu with the chef deciding for you what he is serving…given that I can eat anything it is very enjoyable to have somebody deciding for me what I am going to eat. Recommended.

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Homopolar Motor

IMG_2909So simple to build but hours of fun to “shape” your own version of this little electric homopolar motor. You only need a AA battery, a few Neodymium magnets, and some copper wire.

I ordered the magnets on Ebay and got 10 of them for a couple of sterling. Mine are 5mmX15mm circular ones. This is sort of right size for the AA batteries.

The copper wire was reclaimed from a bit of house wiring and stripped the plastic outer sleeve. I roll the wire on the table to make it straight so that it is easier to make a balanced shape. It also “looks” better on the final product.

I tried various diametre from very small to 1.5mm2. I recommend about 1mm2, because the smaller diameter heats up quite a lot and spins too fast anyway.

I make a small “dent” on the + side of the battery with a philips screw driver.

Stack a couple of magnets on the negative side of the battery. (That’s the bottom of the battery).

Then simply make a shape that will balance on the top and reach the magnet at the bottom. There is plenty of ideas for shapes on the net.

As I was playing with the copper wires I could not resist making some sort of mini-sculpture with an intricate set of right angles which fool the eyes. Hacking during the weekend is a lot of fun.

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Aubergine Farcie

IMG_2877Here is another classic in the family. Always a winner with the kids, really nice with some french fries or a green salad.

On the lower grill, the “extra” for a small meat loaf.

 

 

Ingredients :

  • 500g Pork Mince
  • 500g of veal Mince or 500g of turkey mince
  • 2 spring oignons / 3 garlic clove / parsley
  • 2 chicken cubes
  • 1 slice of dried bread dipped into milk
  • 3 slice of ham or pancetta or lardons
  • 1 full egg and 1 yoke
  • Nutmeg, Salt, Pepper, Curly parsley
  • 4 Large Aubergines

How to Make :

Slice the aubergines in half and scoop out the inside with a spoon. Be careful not to destroy the skin of the aubergine to avoid them to “leak” during cooking. Keep them aside to make the container for the oven cooking. Cook the flesh of the aubergine in a frying pan with a generous drip of olive oil, salt pepper to taste. The more you cook at this point the more you can give a chargrilled taste to the finished product. Don’t over do it !

Cut roughly the oignons, ham and bread. Crush the garlic. Put everything in a large bowl and mix together with the salt, pepper and chicken cubes which you have dissolved into a small quantity of boiled water. Put the eggs as well with the parsley. Mix well. Add the aubergine flesh at the last minute to that it has a bit of time to cool down.

Don’t forget the nutmeg, it gives a nice taste and goes well with the aubergine flesh.

Now put the meat “farce” into the aubergines halves which you have layed in a oven proof dish.

Cook at 160 degres for approx 45 minutes. Check the colour on the backend of the cooking. Ideally you want to baste the meat as it cooks. It will be more moist and juicy. It is also possible to simply forget about it for 30 minutes and check later…

I like this dish with french fries but it goes well with some salad or pasta.

I you have too much meat mixture, you can cook the “extra”  separately in a small cake dish or “terrine” to make a simple meat loaf. This can be eaten cold or hot over the following days…

Enjoy !

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Quadcopter Batteries

IMG_2876With the Quadcopter, it is really important to make sure that the batteries you are using are properly charged. This is because the voltage of the Lithium Polymer batteries drops very quickly at the back-end of their life. As such, you can be caught by surprise with your Quad away from you, running out of juice and no opportunity to come back to home base. Losing the quad and the video camera is an expensive problem.

So keeping track of which battery is charged and which is empty when they all look the same, is not as straight forward as one might think.

I wanted to be able to sor tof flick a switch that would remind me if the battery is charged or empty.

I designed a simple 3D printed tracker, which you can simply flick up or down. When you put the “F” towards a side of the frame it means the battery is full. The opposite is either empty of partially used.

I simply super glued the parts on the side of the battery.

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Tarte au Sucre – Traditional – Update 1

Today I made some good old “Tarte au sucre”, family tradition style.

Here is the recipe from “Marraine de Quievrain“, collected in person on a piece of paper that was lying around on the day…about 14 years ago (sometime in 1999 I think). I was visiting with my then girlfriend -to become wife – doing a tour of the Belgian family members. She had cooked a few tarts and the house had a great smell. I asked how to make it and she did tell me !

My grandma, my aunty, my mum, my cousins, all make it with variants of “the secret bits”.

It always makes me think of the old days when I was a child and although we had no idea what was to come next for our lives, we knew inside that this was special time to be enjoyed without moderation.

Here is my interpretation of the recipe :

Ingredients : 250g Flour / 125g Butter + more for top / Active Dry Yeast / 3 eggs / White Sugar and/or Cassonade.

  1. Make pastry : 250g of Flour / 125g of soft butter / 2 egg yokes -put it all in a bowl. Prepare some Active dry yeast – a small glass of water (hot from the mains) with 1/2 tablespoon of active dry yeast and a teaspoon of sugar to help activate. Mix all above in a bowl. Update 1: It is better if you mix flour and butter first. simply crush the butter between your fingers and make a crumble of butter and flour, then add egg and yeast. Either by hand or using machine. if by hand add milk or flour to get to a ball of paste that is not sticky to the fingers and not too dry to the touch either. This is the tricky part. The weather, the temperature, the flour will make it all change a bit.
  2. Put the prepared mix in a bowl to rise for 1 hour. Protect from cold drafts to help raise. Most modern houses with central heating will just be fine. If you live in a drafty house simply put the bowl in the oven (off).
  3. Roll the pastry slightly thick (6mm). It’s not Pizza, so the pastry will be a bit sticky. Flour the rolling pin. Roll it so that it fits your cooking tin. I usually do one large tart.
  4. Put the sugar on the pastry. It is down to how you like it. Lots or not. I usually simply spread it straight from the bag over the pastry. I prefer to use white sugar together with a little bit of cassonade. I don’t like it if there is too much but there is plenty of recipes on the net for thick sugar coatings. Whisk an egg with a little bit of milk. Put it over the sugar. Spread the liquid over the sugar so that all the sugar is wetted by the mixture. Put a few small bits of butter all over the tart. Maybe 6 X 1/2 teaspoon.
  5. Put into a pre-heated oven at 250 Celsius. Update 1: I find 250 to be too hot. I now use 200-210. (if you make the oven less warm, the tart will raise more which is nice also). Cook until it looks good…
  6. Let it cool. Then eat…or even better wait for the next morning and have it for breakfast. If I make the tart in the morning, there will be none by the evening. If I make it in the evening, we will have some for breakfast the next day !
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Sorting Skittles !

sorter1I like skittles, especially the crazy sours ones, I also like to eat some colors more than others. I am often found sorting them out in my hand. After seeing a video on youtube of somebody building a skittle/M&M sorting machine, I thought I could do something similar.

So far, I have build the electronics to sort our the colors with an Arduino, a RGB Sensor and a small servo and a NeoPixel ring ( All from Adafuit) . The basics are in place, and you can see a small video of the detection process below.

 

I have then started to build a 3d model of the sorting mechanism that I will use. I made a few prints on the Replicator 2X. (with a few tweaks I got to a model I am happy with). It was a pain to find the right setting to extrude the PLA at the right speed and temperature. 3D Printing is still very much in the DIY/Hobby section…

I found that the XT-Filament is the best as usual to print consistently with predictable results.

Below is current state of the project…still early days ! Goes well with this music…

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QuadCopters – Update 1

IMG_2805Almost Xmas !

As usual, I am getting myself a few toys…this year one of them is a new QuadCopter kit from Team Black Sheep. I have purchased half of the parts from USA and half from UK. In particular it is necessary to purchase the Lithium Ion batteries from UK to avoid complicated transport issues.

I will post here a few updates as I progress in the build.

My friend Geraud is doing exactly the same and we are planning to race each other soon…Star Wars style….

The kit consist of mainly :

4 motors with 30A controllers and propellers

A multi layer frame to carry all the electronics and the battery

A video camera to provide the “vision” back to the pilot

A video camera for high resolution footage

A GPS system to help stabilise the very unstable craft !

A video transmission system with on-screen-display of vital statistics (battery voltage, speed, altitude, heading, etc…)

A remote control transmitter and receiver and a small tv screen to watch it all happen…

Here is a couple of Teasers…

UPDATE 1: I have now finished the build and have been flying a few times. So far mostly using the drone as a remote helicopter without the first person view goggles. I did a couple of flights with the first person view mode and have enjoyed it very much, need to build confidence to fly closer to the ground and faster…

I just went to Spain for a week and did a few videos with the footage from the onboard GoPro camera. See for yourself below :

 

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Friday Pizza

IMG_2803It is a lot of fun to build your own Pizza ! Kids can pick whatever they want, they get to roll-it, load-it, cook-it and finally eat-it !

Very easy recipe, the trick is in the making the well and then kneading with your bare hands. It is better than with the machine and you get a nice soft elastic dough ball. Your hands keep the flour warm and the yeast can start its work better. It is also a great way to forget about work or a stinking headache.

My oldest has been off school today with high temperature and he is not in the mood for anything, except making his own Pizza !

Ingredients :

  • 500g White strong Bread Flour “00”
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 Tablespoon Oliver Oil
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Dry active Yeast
  • 325 grams or ml or lukewarm water.

How to Make :

  • Put flour on work surface or in a large bowl, make a well in the centre.
  • Mix Yeast, Sugar and lukewarm water, wait for yeast to disolve a froth.
  • Pour water and oil in the flour well and mix with a spoon taking more and more of the flour as you mix. Do this until the mixture has become so thick that you can knead it with your bare hands. Do this on the work surface. It is easier if you put a bit of flour on your hands before so that it does not stick to your fingers. Keep kneading until you get a soft, elastic dough ball.
  • Put back in the large bowl, sprinkle a bit of flour, put in the oven (off) for an hour or until it has doubled in size.
  • Once it has risen, take out of the oven and roll with a pin. Thin or Thick as you want.
  • Cover with a tomato base and all the ingredients you like. It is very nice at this point to add a few dried herbs like Herbes de Provence or Oregano.
  • It is also possible to add, spices, to make very original Pizzas.
  • Finish with the cheese.
  • Put in a pre-heated oven to as high as you can. Something like 220 or even 250. It will go crispy really fast and the toppings will stay juicy.

Take out of the oven, cut the bits on a big wooden plate and eat with your fingers. No cutlery allowed. Enjoy !

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Perfect Breakfast…

IMG_2779Nothing can beat a Sunday morning breakfast home made croissant and home made caramel au beurre sale…Happy Sunday.

 

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A New Bicycle ! (update 3)

IMG_2714Yes but not just a simple bicycle, an amazing technology feast… It is an electric bike, but a mountain bike one… It is electric but it is not a motorbike, you must pedal and the electric motor will “Help”. The motor can provide between 40% and 275% of what you put into the pedals. It constantly measure the level of torque applied at the pedals and help you. The motor and the intelligent bits around the motor are made by Bosch. You can select between several levels of support from ECO to TURBO… It is a proper mountain bike as well, with oil actuated disk brakes, full lockable suspension, hydro formed aluminium frame, quick shifting Shimano gears etc etc… I bought this beautiful machine from E-bike shop in the UK. I spoke to Martin and he helped me decide which model to go for. He is only 25 or 27  years old but has 10 years of electric bikes experience and a really nice business, I can only recommend.

 

I picked up my bike yesterday after a month wait for the right model to be released by the German manufacturer Haibike. Like all “fancy” bikes they are expensive but when the manufacturing is of this quality and the overall design is this well balanced you have to accept that it takes hours and hours of research and development to get to this point.

So far, I love the bike even if I have had a bit of a disastrous first day with it…. I went out with my son to the local hockey field. All good. Then I decided to go an “test” my new capabilities. Unfortunately a small glitch with the speed sensor is removing a bit of the fun. The assist power gets very confused by wrong speed readings and the system goes into an error mode. However, the rest of the bike is still amazing.

 

Yes, it is a bit heavy but so am I….and I am a lot more heavy than the bike….it will be easier for me to lose a few kilos than buy a lighter bike. During my little excursion I absolutely adored the going up the grass fields in the local park and I felt free to go anywhere with the comfort feeling that coming back was not going to be an issue. I was out for about an hour and the batteries were still showing full. Unfortunately between 2 nice pieces of off-road, I managed to get a puncture (!!!). I have not had a puncture for 20 years ! A small piece of glass went trough tyre and inner tube…had to walk back to the hockey field and get picked-up by Manu…. Then all afternoon running around the shops to get the right size of inner tube (27.5inch). I fixed the puncture quickly but took time fiddling about with the speed sensor. I managed to get it working again, but it is sporadic. I think it will need a new part.

I still went out this evening and was able to try the “moon lights” which are really good as well. I went for this model for the front. This is the kind of light that allow you to see where you are going not just a small blinking led. Long post. Lots of fun. Can’t wait to go out with my brother at the local trail centre in Bracknell. And check the Blue Loop here.

(Update) After a few emails exchange with Martin from the bike shop, I have fixed the speed sensor issue and everything is in good working condition. I love the bike, it is great fun and still proper exercise.

(Update 2) We went to the Bracknell forest tracks. It is a great place and we all had a blast. My wife and kids rented bikes onsite from the Swinley bikehub. The bikes were in very good condition with the kids ones only 1 week old. It was very wet but the tracks are really good. Only a couple of closed sections to keep it safe.

We got all muddy and had a lot of fun, unfortunately within minutes of bouncing up and down on the track, the speed sensor failed again and the motor would kick-in and kick-out, which was very frustrating. I tried to fix back home on the stand but I definitely think it will require a new part. Will wait on Martin’s expertise but I am pretty sure the sensor cable is faulty. Still the bike is a proper mountain bike so I had a normal ride, just a bit heavier.

(Update 3) Went to the bike shop and had the speed sensor replaced for a new one. Now bike is working as expected. Great fun. Have done 100 km on it already ! Yesterday went on a 25km trip around Chiswick/Richmond and Twikenham along the river. Very nice. Spot the MOTORWAY !

 

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22 years in London, never getting bored of it !

22 years in London, never getting bored of it !

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Posh lunch in London with the Prince’s trust

Posh lunch in London with the  Prince's trust

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We are connected !

IMG_2763My brother (we are related but not connected yet) fooling around with the Oculus Rift from Samsung/Google…

Amazing immersive toy…

We all tried the device :

1- I laughed for the whole time

2- My wife screamed for the whole time

3- The kids simply got on with it…

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Here we are atp finals !!!Yepee …Murray/Raonic

Here we are atp finals !!!Yepee ...Murray/Raonic

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Chicken Tagine

With winter almost on our doors and the visit of friends for the weekend, it felt necessary to have a nice dinner dish. The key requirements were : it would be simple to prepare for 9 people, it would need to be able to “wait” for us to be ready to eat, it would be warm and filling as required by the recent turn of weather.

I decided to go for a big chicken tagine. A Moroccan slow cook dish. I hesitated between chicken, lamb or fish but decided that I would probably do a monkfish one in the future.

Everybody enjoyed it, from the 10 years old to the 47 years old. It is a great way to get some vegetables “into” my kids.

Ingredients:

  • Chicken (a breast per person)
  • Carrots (as you want)
  • Courgettes (1 for every 2 people)
  • A few small cherry tomatoes
  • A couple of Garlic cloves / A couple of Red Onions
  • Prunes / Green Olives / Black Olives
  • Spices (very important !) : Cumin, Salt, Black Pepper, Piments de l’espelette (or dried chilis),  Paprika, Turmeric (if you want).
  • Olive oil, Butter, Chicken Stock
  • Honey !!
  • Sliced Almonds
  • Couscous to go with it.

How to Prepare :

First put a bit of olive oil and butter in a Le Creuset Dutch Oven or Casserole on a high heat. Cut the chicken in cubes of 4/5cm side. Pour the spices into the foaming butter and sear the  chicken.

Take the chicken out of the pot and transfer to a Pyrex dish. Poor the sliced carrots and red  onions and garlic into the casserole and stir. Let the onions melt but not burn. This step should be lifting all of the “suc” off the pot. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Reduce the heat to “simmer”. Put the chicken and any juice from the chicken back into the casserole and mix a little bit to ensure chicken is evenly distributed with the vegetables. Add the olives, prunes, small tomatoes,and a good squirt of honey across the top.

Dilute the chicken stock in about half a litre of water (more if necessary). Poor the stock into the caserole. You want the liquid simply to reach the top of the vegetables. You are not making a soup, simply making sure it will have plenty of sauce to pour on the couscous later….

Put the casserole (with the lid on) into the oven on 160 degres Celsius. Slow cook for 90 minutes or 2 hours. You should check a few times and maybe stir a bit to get a nice colour on everything.

Once cooked, it can wait for you to be ready ! Serve with the couscous on hot plates and a little bit of Harissa. I like to add a few sliced almonds on top of the dish just before serving. For this I simply put the sliced almonds in a pan on a high heat for a few minutes. Watch out, as it is very easy to burn the almonds, it starts slowly then goes brown very fast…you are warned….

I also like to make a side of vegetables, I simply use carrots and courgettes and chickpeas. use the sames spices. Start with butter and spices in a sauce pan, add the carrots and courgettes stir a bit, add chicken stock, add chickpeas, cook for 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender but not too soft.

Enjoy !

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Palace to Palace 45 miles on Bicycle…

Almost ready !

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Pingu is going to the circus …!!

Pingu is going to the circus ...!!

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Tarte aux Prunes

Tarte-aux-prunes-blancs-et-rouges-300x196My mum did this tart when we were in Lyon during the month of August 2014. It was very special as it was one of the first made in their new flat in Lyon after selling the family house. Everybody loved this tart and Jules even called it “Mamyfique” which is now a classic for the family to describe something particularly nice to eat…

tart1-2

tart2-2

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Pied de Cochon & Grattons

Another couple of favourites when I go to France…with a Belgian Leffe beer obviously….

Grattons

and

Pied de cochon (grilled pig trotters)

graton pig_trotter

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