Then Why Are You Smiling?

Clearly, I need one of these. Well, two, actually.

Popular Blogging: Nerf Modding, Alyson Hannigan, Mazdaspeed Miata

I looked over Industrial-Strength Science's hit history recently and several trends have emerged:

• One trend that is decidedly not new is that searches for phrases like "Nerf Maverick mod" produce the largest number of hits.
  
• Another trend is both new and surprising: We receive a lot of hits from Google Image searches for Alyson Hannigan. I find this surprising because no images of Ms. Hannigan appear on the blog, though I did link to numerous photos in this post.
• The third trend is also surprising. Searches for phrases like "Mazdaspeed Miata tire size" and "MX5 2004 tire 16 inch pressure" not only have pointed numerous folks at the blog, but also place us as the first result. Hunh.
  

A New Gift-giving Occasion!

I was poking around on this gift ideas site for Christmas ideas for my extended family. It's kind of a cool idea...you put in the category of recipient (man, woman, teen, family, etc) and the gift-giving occasion (Christmas, birthday, graduation, etc) and it comes up with some pretty nifty ideas. However, there is a gift-giving occasion that I was not aware of - "Breakup/Divorce". I never really thought that the end of a marriage was a gift-giving occasion, but OK. You know I had to click on it. So, here are the gifts that, apparently, are appropriate to give a newly single person. I knew I had to post when I saw this idea, the third on the list.

What are these people smoking?

Nerf Maverick Revolver Cylinder and Limiter Mods: The Belles of the Ball

I occasionally poke around on the SiteMeter page for Industrial-Strength Science. It gives me a heady, Big-Brother-like sense that I know way more about what people are doing on the internet than I really should. I find the By Referrals page (under Recent Visitors) to be the most interesting. It shows on what page a visitor clicks to be directed to The Official Blog of Team Grondul. There are many referrals from our friends' blogs, like ToddUlmer.com, briBreakfast Blogger, Diving into the Wreck, and, recently, Atomic Nerds. Additionally, there a numerous visits resulting from Google searches for assorted, seemingly random phrases. None of that surprises me.

What does surprise me is that, for the past few months, the single largest source of hits are searches for phrases like "nerf maverick mod." Apparently, a lot of people are interested in modifying their brightly colored and huge-but-harmless revolvers to reload more quickly and shoot slightly further. Who knew?

How-To: Nitro-to-Brushless Conversion: Part 6

Part 5 can be found here.

OK, this post isn't so much a how-to as an update on a previous how-to, but I feel that keeping the title consistent is important.

I've been quite happy with the performance of my brushless-powered Losi 8IGHT, but I couldn't resist tweaking it a bit. Below is a list of some of the changes I've made since my last post, several of which were predicted therein. Most of these changes are clearly visible in the photos that follow the list.

• I successfully tamed the motor braking. The car still stops quickly, but it's more controllable, and now I don't feel like I'm going to damage the motor every time I slow down. I really would have liked to use the disk brakes that came with the kit, but there just wasn't room for the servo required to operate them.
• I've replaced the batteries and speed-control's Dean's connectors with 5.5-mm bullet connectors. The bullets will have lower resistance at high currents. This higher conductance is important, since I expect to draw close to 200 amps for short periods.
• I added a second temperature sensor, this one is thermal-epoxied directly to the motor. Now I can monitor the temps of both the motor controller and the motor. I've found that both temperatures mostly stay below 130 degrees F, which makes me feel confident that I'm damaging neither component.
• I've replaced the single battery tray with 2 smaller ones, which allows me to hold 2 6300-mAh 2-series LiPo batteries. I've soldered the batts together in series, giving me a 4-series LiPo with 26% more capacity than my single 5000-mAh batt. This change should not only give me longer runtimes, but also higher currents and thus more power. Additionally, the new setup creates an almost perfect left-right weight balance. As a bonus, the new battery configuration also fills previously unused space on the left side of the car, making it look a little more efficiently laid out..
• I've mounted some Pro-Line Moab tires on orange Kyosho 10-spoke wheels, which are visible in the first pic. The tread on these tires has a good multi-purpose pattern, useful for on- and off-road driving. Additionally, these tires have transverse ribs on the inside, which helps prevent them from ballooning at high wheel speeds. Not only will these ribs keep more tire in contact with the ground, but they will also keep the tires glued to the rims. The wheels, by the way, are probably my favorite 1/8th buggy wheels; they are both well made and attractive.
  
• Speaking of tires, I also found some GRP Rally tires, which I mounted on orange Kyosho 5-slot dish wheels. These wheels and tires are visible in the second pic. In addition to being made of a surprisingly sticky compound, these tires have an extremely low profile, which not only keeps them from ballooning, but also reduces side-wall flex during corning. They don't absorb jump-landing impact as well as higher-profile tires, but that seems like a good trade-off, given that they are intended for on-road use. The major downfall of the tires is their outside diameter; they not only look too small on the vehicle, they also necessitate a significant gearing change. I'd really prefer tires with the same profile mounted on wheels about 10 mm larger in diameter. The wheels, meanwhile, aren't as attractive as the 10-spokers, in my opinion, but they do give the car a somewhat futuristic look, which I find pleasing. I think they certainly look better than the stock dish wheels. (These wheels actually look quite a lot like the wheels that come stock on the Honda Civic Hybrid, which, being a hybrid, is meant to look all future-y.)
  
• Gearing is, of course, determined by terrain, but I've been running mostly 15/39 on the road and 14/39 or 13/39 off. It's much easier to change the pinion gear (mounted on the motor shaft) than the spur gear (mounted on the center differential and holding the viscous silicone fluid therein at bay).
• Since my electrified car is heavier than the stock nitro version, especially with the larger batts, I've stiffened the suspension, cranking up the front and rear spring rate by 14% and 19%, respectively. I also increased the damping concomitantly. The suspension is now set to something much closer to the truggy version of my buggy.
  
• I've replaced the stock plastic steering knuckles (axle carriers), servo-saver arm, and servo arm, with their hard-anodized aluminum counterparts. This change should rigidify the entire steering system, resulting in better steering in high-speed situations with only a slight weight penalty. Several other hard-ano aluminum parts are available for the 8IGHT, but I'm not convinced that they offer improved performance or that, if they do, said improvement justifies the additional weight and cost. Incidentally, only the servo arm is visible in the first photo.
  
• I've also purchased a Pro-Line Crowd Pleazer 2.0 body, which I've painted almost identically to its stock counterpart. I don't think I like the CP2 as well as I do the stock body. I'll put up a pic later and let you be the judge.
• I haven't had a chance to measure the top speed of the vehicle to see if the larger battery and taller gearing had an effect. Certainly the car seems fast enough, and the acceleration is more than sufficient for my purposes.

How-To: Mod a Nerf Revolver: Part 2

My last post demonstrated how to modify the Nerf Maverick revolver to let the cylinder swing all the way out and spin freely. This post will show you how to mod the "weapon" to shoot slightly farther.

First, disassemble the gun as a I described last time. Then pull the cylinder out. Pry off the orange plug pressed onto the end of the axle, which will allows you to pull the axle out.


The cylinder is made of two parts. Unscrew and remove the back part, and you will see the orange spikes onto which the darts, which are hollow, slide.


Pull the spikes out, and you will find a spring and flow limiter behind each one.


Discard all 6 of the flow limiters and 5 of the springs. Put the spikes back in place and reassemble the cylinder, but don't put it back on its axle yet. This omission of the limiters and the springs will allow more air to flow to the darts.

Slide the reserved spring onto the axle. Then slide on the cylinder. The spring will help keep the cylinder pressed up against the plunger mechanism, thus preventing air from escaping between the plunger mechanism and the cylinder.


Now reassemble the revolver and unleash your fury upon your spouse. Or on a smooth, flat surface. Your choice.

In our testing, Team Grondul found that a gun with the cylinder mod from the last post and the mod describe herein fired, on average, about 5 or 6 feet further than a gun with only the cylinder mod, when all 6 darts were discharged from each gun while it was held at an angle of about 30 degrees.

How-To: Mod a Nerf Revolver: Part 1

A long time ago in a blog very nearby, I reviewed the Nerf Maverick revolver and promised to post a how-to on the mods I've made to it. Here, finally, is the first of them:

In stock form, the Maverick's cylinder only swings out about 20 or 30 degrees, just far enough to load a couple of darts at a time. Additionally, the cylinder doesn't spin continuously; its rotation is quantized into increments 360/6 = 60 degrees. These 2 shortcomings make reloading in the heat of a harmless, foam shoot-out time-consuming and frustrating. This post will show how to mod your Maverick's cylinder to swing out about 90 degrees and spin more freely, increasing both the reload speed and the all-important coolness factor.

Place the "weapon" down on its left side. Remove the 3 screws holding the slide together. Remove the slide.


Remove the remaining 8 or so screws holding the right half of the frame to the left.


Lift out the cylinder, along with the gray front and rear arms that support it.


Examine the front support arm, and you will find a nub that prevents the arm from swinging out of the frame.


Use a utility knife to cut off the offending nub.


You are now halfway done. Examine the left frame, just to the rear of where the cylinder would sit. You will find another nub, this one preventing the rear arm from swinging out freely.


Cut that nub off, too.


Now reassemble the gun.


The cylinder will now swing out all the way and spin easily, enabling quick reloading and fun, nontoxic Russian roulette.


Your newly modified Maverick can now be used to rain brightly colored, suction-cup-tipped terror down upon your young nieces and nephews. But not your dog; that's just mean.

The second modification can be found here.

Two great tastes....etc...

As you all know, Michael is into RC cars. Also, Michael and I are into our dog, Newton. I suppose it was only a matter of time before Michael combined these two interests into one fun activity. Check it out:

How-To: Nitro-to-Brushless Conversion: Part 5

Part 4 can be found here.

We have finally arrived at perhaps the most interesting part of this how-to on the conversion of a Losi 8IGHT 1/8th-scale buggy from nitro to brushless/LiPo power: the installation of the motor, battery, ESC, and supporting components.

Here are a pair photos of the completed car without the body or battery:


This photo shows the 5000-mA-hr battery in place:


You can see a few important aspect of the car's construction from these pics:

• I've put everything except the battery on the right side of the car or along the centerline. Id did so because, as I said, the battery is quite heavy. With the 5-A-hr battery shown, the weight is distributed slightly to the right, but with the larger 8-A-hr battery, the left tires carry more weight so I think my arrangement is a pretty fair compromise.
• You may also be able to make out the custom speed-control mount/heatsink that I bent and cut out of 5052 (bendable) aluminum. I'm quite pleased with it; it places the ESC near the centerline of the vehicle and keeps the ESC running cool.
• The little circuit board thermal-epoxied to the top of the ESC is a temperature sensor. I plan to put another on the motor. Since the transceiver and servo run off a 5-V voltage regulator, I added a voltage sensor---really just a pair of wires with a Rx/servo connector on the end to the setup. You can see the leads disapearing into the ESC's input connectors in the photos.
• I've dispensed with the front and read disc brakes, which normally sit just ahead of and just behind the center differential. Instead, I'm relying on motor braking. It seems to me that disk brakes are more efficient, from a current-draw standpoint, but I just didn't have room for the servo that would actuate them.
• As I mentioned last time, I had to grind the motor/diff mount down to fit under the body. (The part was actually made to fit the Losi 8IGHT-T truggy.)
  
• Those of you who know me are aware of the significance of the number I've chosen to place on the wing.

Here're a few photographs of the car with the body on. I'm very pleased with this particular color scheme. It addition to being attractive---at least, in my opinion, which is the only one that matters---it has proven itself to be quite visible from distance. Incidentally, I wonder if Lokai and Bele could find common ground by agreeing on the virtues of this paint job.


Next: some shots of the car with road tires---Pro-Line Road Rages---mounted in place of the dirt-track tires---Pro-Line Crime Fighters¹ ---shown above. I also purchased some extra-knobby all-terrain tires---Pro-Line Badlands---for more rugged surfaces.

This last photograph shows how I measured the weight distribution. Yes, those are season box sets of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. And yes, that is the second Trek reference in this post, but I'm not some kind of raging Trekkie; these boxes were the first objects I could find that are all the same thickness, and very close to the thickness of the scale.


At this point, the conversion is done, and I'm quite please with the way it turned out. The car accelerates like nobody's business. The acceleration is far better than a nitro-powered buggy can produce, since nitro engines' torque peaks at many thousands of RPM, while the motor in my buggy produces full torque at zero speed. The vehicle also hits remarkably high speeds. I used Alisons GPS receiver² to measure the top speed to be 41.8 mi/hr with a 14/48 pinon/spur and the road tires. (This test was done on a straight, nearly flat strip of asphalt with nearly no wind.) Additionally, the buggy remains flat---doesn't roll---in corners, and it can be slid very dramatically on smooth pavement.

I only plan minor tweaks from here on out. Here are some of the changes I'd like to make, in approximate order of precedence:

• Adjust the motor braking. It's way too aggressive at the moment.
  
• Add a second temperature sensor to monitor the motor itself.
• Add another strap (or some other component) to the battery tray to hold the larger, 8000-mA-hr batteries in place securely and cleanly.
• Replace the Deans Ultra Plugs I have on the batteries and the input to the ESC with 5.5-mm bullet connectors, like I have on the motor and the ouput of the ESC. Deans aren't really meant to be used over 50 amperes, while the 5.5-mm bullets can be run up to 200 amps.
• Experiment with gearing. A simple pinion change to 15/48 should put the vehicle just under 45 mi/hr. If that doesn't hurt the low-end acceleration, I might go to 15/47. I suspect 15/48 will be close to the ideal gearing, though.
• Experiment with the suspension parameters. The setup suggested by the manual is pretty good, but I think I should stiffen it up a bit, since the car is a bit heavier than the nitro version.
  
• Possibly solder the ESC directly to the motor to reduce loss and improve reliability. I'm not sure if that step will be necessary.
  

I would be remiss if I failed to point out that I got a lot inspiration and information from the forum at RC-Monster. com. Users BrianG and glassdoctor, as well as Mike Cronin, who runs RC Monster, were especially helpful.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

¹ Pro-Line's tire names, especially those designed for off-road racing, have a criminal theme to them. I addition to the aforementioned Road Rage and Crime Fighter models, there are also the Cell Block, Mugshot, Inside Job, and Dirty Harry. It not clear to me whether the Knuckles model counts.
² We have named the device Garmin Tanzarian.

Part 6 can be found here.

How-To: Nitro-to-Brushless Conversion: Part 4

Part 3 can be found here.

After a couple-month-long hiatus, during which I pursued some of my other hobbies, I recently returned to working on the brushless conversion of my Losi 8IGHT 1/8th-scale buggy. And to posting about it on Industrial-Strength Science. This part of my how-to concerns selection of the electronics and associated parts for the vehicle.

The motive force for the car, and indeed the centerpiece of the conversion, will be a NeuMotors 1512/2.5D. All Neu's 1512 motors are rated at 1200 W of continuous power and 2500 W for 30 seconds. This particular motor has a Kv rating of 2000 RPM/V, which means that, with the nominal 14.8-V potential difference supplied by my batteries, it should spin up to 29,600 RPM. That should be fine, because the 1512s aren't meant to spin above 60,000 RPM. The manufacture claims that this motor is "86+" percent efficient. I'm not sure how they measure that---it seems to me the efficiency will vary strongly with voltage/current/speed---but the point is this motor is much more efficient than any brushed motor. Here's a photo of the Neu:


As I think I said before, a brushless motor running off a lithium-polymer battery is truly 2 great tastes that taste great together. The high efficiency of the BL motor combines with the high current capacity and low load-induced voltage drop of the LiPos to deliver lots of power to the wheels, propeller, or what have you. For now, I'll be running a MaxAmps pack consisting of 4 LiPo cells in series. Each cell has a nominal voltage of 3.7 V and a capacity of 5000 mA-hr, so this so-called 4s pack has nominal voltage of 14.8 V and a capacity of 5000 mA-hr; the capacities do not add. This pack is claimed to be capable of putting out constant currents of 20 C---that's 100 amps-for a 5-A-hr battery---and burst currents of 50 C---250 amps for 5-A-hr. The downside to this pack is that, even though LiPo cells have much higher specific capacity than nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydride cells, this battery is just plane huge. You can't determine the size from this photo, but it will be apparent when I show it in place in the vehicle:


Because brushless motors have electronic, rather than mechanical comutation, a brushless-specific electronic speed control is required. I've chosen a Quark 125-B Monster Pro, which is claimed to be capable of sustained currents of 125 A and 10-second bursts of 180 A. Here's a pic:


The Quark ESC has a built-in "battery-eliminator circuit," which is simply a voltage regulator that allows you to pick off 5 or 6 V from the supplied higher voltage to run the receiver and servo, rather than including a small "receiver pack" battery to provide that lower voltage. This BEC is resistive and thus inefficient. In order to reduce power consumption, I'll be using a transitor-base switching regulator, which is more efficient. Here's a shot of this external BEC:


To disable the ESC's BEC, I simply cut the positive power lead coming off of it; since that BEC is resistive, I believe that mod should prevent it from sucking up current. I should point out that Nick taught me that resistive power supplies are less noisy than switching types, but, since I'm not trying to build a fiber laser for optical metrology---at least not today---I'm more worried about efficiency than noise.

The only part I bought that was specificly---more or less---made for this project is a motor/differential mount I purchased from Mike Cronin at RC Monster. This mount replaces one of the diff mounts and allows the motor and its pinion gear to mesh with the spur gear on the diff. I said "more-or-less" because the part was actually made for converting the Losi 8IGHT-T, the truggy¹ version of my buggy. Since the buggy body is "skin-tight," while the truggy's encloses a lot of unused volume, I found that the mount rubbed on my beautifully painted body. So, I had to grind off the upper outboard edge of the mount. Here's a photo of the unmodified motor/diff mount; the modified version will be visible on the completed car:


To hold that ginormous battery in place, I also purchased a machined plastic battery tray from RC Monster. I modified this part as well, which I'll show you later.


I also custom made a mount for the ESC that places the speed control near the centerline of the vehicle. I don't have any photos of that mount, although I'm Brian with the overhead projector about it.

I mentioned before that I'll be using a Nomadio Sensor radio, which has several nice features, including telemetry and noise insensitivity. Here's a photo of the transmitter:


Part 5 can be found here.

¹ A truggy, at least in the world of RC, is a "truck" that is really a modified buggy. Typically, a truggy has these features:

• The chassis is a slightly lengthened version of a buggy's pan chassis.
• The suspension ams linking the wheel to the chassis are lengthened.
• The wheels arnd tires are truck components.
• The body is similar to the stylized "stadium truck" body found at the 1/10th scale.
  

How-To: Nitro-to-Brushless Conversion: Part 3

Part 2 can be found here.

Part 3 of the brushless buggy project was painting and decaling the body that came with the kit. As I've said, and as many of you have noticed, I'm very concerned with appearances and other superficial matters, so this part was great fun for me. Additionally, I must say that the stcok Losi 8IGHT body is more attractive, to my eye, than the aftermarket bodies available from Pro-Line or JConcepts. Here're a couple of good shots of the mounted body:


Yet another reason for going electric is that I won't need to cut one hole in the body to allow the engine's cooling head to protrude and another to allow me to fill the tank. Not only does the vehicle look cleaner this way, but the aerodynamic drag should be lower as well. For a comparison with the stock, nitro 8IGHT, check out this photo.

I'm Brain with the overhead projector about how the paint came out; there are a few flaws in my masking, but you can't resolve them in these photos. I'm also quite happy with how the black and white of the body contrasts well with the orange¹ of the wheels, wing, antenna tube, and body-clip retainers.

For scale, here's a photo with my Associated RC18B,² which some of you have seen:


Also for scale, here's a shot with everyone's favorite Bichon, Newton:


My plan now is to report on the real guts of this project---the brushless/Lipo power system---once I get that done, whenever that turns out to be.

¹ I've chosen orange as my signature color in the world of RC.
² I converted this thing from an RC18T, which conversion basically consisted of attaching some wing-mounting hardware and a new body.

How-To: Nitro-to-Brushless Conversion: Part 2

Part 1 can be found here.

The second part of my brushless buggy project was assembly of the non-nitro-specific portion of the Losi 8IGHT kit. First, I assembled all of the mechanical components that required no modification. Doing so entailed putting about 200 parts (plus screws) together, which wasn't so bad, since the manual is quite clear. The hardest parts were filling the diffs and especially the shocks with silicone oil of the appropriate viscosities; getting all the air bubbles out can be challenging. Here's a photo showing the car at this point in the construction; it also illustrates just how off-center the center diff is.


Next, I modified the electronics box by cutting off the portions designed to house the receiver pack and brake servo. I'll be powering the Rx and the servos using a voltage regulator---called a battery-eliminator circuit in the RC world---running off the main battery. Additionally, I'll be using the motor to provide braking, which will eliminate the ability to adjust front/rear brake bias, but also save a lot of weight, room, and complexity. Here's a photo of the car with the modified electronics box, Rx, and steering servo installed:


Note that I have only a very short length of antenna oriented vertically and potentially projecting out of the body. (The antenna is housed inside the orange antenna tube at the right front of the car.) I can do this because my radio system, the Nomadio Sensor, uses the same 2.4-GHz band that cellular phones employ. Between this high frequency and the spread spectrum¹ modulation that Nomadio radios use, the transmitter-receiver link should be very resist to noise. (Come to think of it, noise is another reason to go electric; all those moving metal-on-metal interfaces in a nitro engine put out a lot of radio static.) I should also mention that the link is bidirectional; the receiver---really a transceiver---cames with temperature, voltage, and speed sensors, and it can send telemetry back to the transmitter---also really a transmitter. I'll try to post photos of the transmitter later.

By the way, in the above the photo, you can see the body I painted for the 8IGHT. That will be the subject of my next post on this project.

Part 3 can be found here.

¹ Frequency-hopping spread spectrum,² if you must know. Nomadio claims this is superior to direct-sequence spread spectrum, but I would think the opposite would be true.
² I should point out that actress Hedy Lamarr contributed significantly to the development of spread spectrum.

How-To: Nitro-to-Brushless Conversion: Part 1

Some of you may know that I spent a big chunk of 2005 working on and modifying a radio-control monster truck, specifically a Traxxas Revo. I learned a lot about 2-stroke glow-fuel¹ engines and quite a bit about suspension settings: caster, camber, toe, droop, and so forth. These suspension settings are important in full-scale cars, but there importance is exagerated in smaller-scale vehicles due to the very high power-to-weight ratios and scale speeds. Eventually, I felt like I had learned most of what there was to know on this topic, and I was tried of futzing with and cleaning the temperamental and messy engine.

Well, a couple of months ago, I became re-interested in building RC cars and experimenting with suspension mechanics. This time, however, I wanted to run a clean, quiet, electric vehicle. Traditionally, nitro engines have put out more power than electric motors, so the larger, more complex---and thus more interesting---models have typically been powered by nitro. In particular, the class of vehicle I was most interested in was the "Formula 1 of off-road RC," the 1/8th-scale. These buggies have 4-wheel drive with 6-gear differentials front, rear, and center, front and rear disc brakes, extremely adjustable suspensions, and long-travel shocks that can absorb the landings that follow 30-foot jumps, and are nitro-powered. In recent years, though, brushless motors and lithium-polymer/ion/manganese batteries have advanced to the point that electric power systems can be more than competitive with combustion-based systems. Thus, since I'm in favor of voiding warranties and believe that if you can't open it, you don't own it, I decide to convert a 1/8th nitro buggy to brushless/LiPo power.

Further, I've now decided to chronicle the conversion on this blog, much to the consternation of the readership, I'm sure. I'll wager² you're asking, "Where's all the sci-fi news and puppy photography I really want to see?" Well, you'll have to wait a bit for that.

My first step was to select a buggy model. I chose the Losi 8IGHT,³ partly because it is generally well regarded, and partly because the unique, extremely offset position of the center differential---designed to allow the engine, and thus the car's center of mass, to sit close to the centerline of the vehicle---seemed helpful for mounting the huge battery pack⁴ I'm planning to use. I also like that most of the aluminum parts are hard-anodized. The downside to this car is that is uses Imperial hardware; ugh. Anyway, here's a photo the buggy still in the box:


Please note that the dog is not provided with the kit; he is an optional accessory. Said dog will actually slow down your assembly of the vehicle, but he will also put a few smiles on your face during the build. And look how cute he is!

I hope to report the next part of this conversion, the assembly of the mechanical components, soon.

Part 2 can be found here.

¹ Model-car engines usually run on a mixture of methanol with 10 to 30% nitromethane and about 15% lubricant.
² If I wager 4 Quatloos, will that make you feel better?
³ I should point out that RC is one of those industries where no one pays the so-called retail price. For example, I paid significantly less than half the MSRP for the 8IGHT and about half MSRP for my Revo.
⁴ 4 lithium-polymer cells,⁵ wired in series, each nominally 3.7 volts with a capacity of 8 ampere-hour.
⁵ Actually, each of these is really 2 cells wired in parallel, but I was trying to keep things simple and clear.^6
6 Aren't footnotes great?

Why Does He Need Lips?

The guys over at Jalopnik are righteously indignant that the latest trailer for Transformers shows that the film incarnation of Optimus Prime has lips. I must say I share their indignation; I mean; he doesn't even need a mouth, let alone oddly protruding lips. This flick is looking worse all the time.

Toy Review: Nerf N-Strike Maverick

OK, I admit it: I was jealous of my cousin's 9- and 7-year-old sons. But who wouldn't be? You see, for Christmas, they each received a Nerf N-Strike Maverick. What that, you say? Why, it's a Nerf revovler. That's right: a 6-shooter that fires harmless Nerf suction-cup darts. This thing was one of the coolest kid's toys I'd seen in quite some time, so I had to go out and buy myself 1 for myself. Hey, I thought, if it's good enough for Gabe and Tycho, it's good enough for me. Actually, I purchased 3, which---I hasten to point out---is not as extravagant as it sounds; this way, Alison and I can go chica-a-mano at home, and I can still stick darts to Bob's forehead at work.

Here's a list of what I liked about the Maverick:

• It's fairly well made.
• It fires the darts surprisingly fast and far.
• It only costs about 10 bucks.
• Did I mention that it's a freakin' Nerf revolver?
  

By contrast, here's what I didn't like:

• The cylinder doesn't swing all the way out, which (a) makes loading more difficult and time-consuming and (b) just isn't maximally cool.
  

It turns out there's an easy modification* one can perform** to improve the cylinder out-swing. In fact, there seems to be an entire community of people who modify Nerf weapons for greater range or to other ends. Who knew? Anyway, I encourage any young-at-heart readers to drop a sawbuck on one of these.

Overall, I give it 9.0 out of 10.

* I hope to post a "how-to" on this mod soon.
** Yay! An excuse to use my Dremel.

I, For One, Welcome Our New Lego Overlords

I encourage you to check out this video of an amazing automated Lego car factory. Note that the colors of the various colors can be selected.

Robots in Disguise

Fans of the Transformers seem to grow ever more alarmed about the upcoming film each time more information leaks out. Most recently, said fans appear to be unhappy with the drawings of Megatron's Cybertronian form that have just appeared online. Die-hard fanatics are most outraged that Megatron is an "alien jet" rather than a gun, as he was way back in Generation One and the original TV series, but I'm not surprised; toymakers Takara and Hasbro are shy about marketing handguns or rifles in this day and age. Most of the other objections to Megatron's design---and to the designs of all the Decepticons and Autobots---center on the baroque anime-like styling. I'm not offended by that; I guess I'm not a real fan.

By the way, Megatron's earthly form has not shown up on the interweb yet. Time will tell what that will look like.

More Than Meets the Eye

Those in our readership who are nerds and where born between 1970 and 1980---which is pretty much all of you---are probably curious to know exactly how Michael Bay is going to ruin the upcoming Transformers movie, which is creatively titled Transformers and should not be confused with 1986's Transformers: The Movie. Although many fans were gratified to learn that Peter Cullen will be reprising his original-series role as the voice of Optimus Prime...I mean, Optimus Prime---and I must say I agree with that move---they were shocked, shocked that Bumblebee is going to be a 2009 Camero rather than a Bug---which frankly doesn't bother me. Anyway, I can't tell you how, precisely, the ruination will occur. I can, however, point you to these descriptions of the Transformer characters in the film and to these images of some of them, which look pretty good.

Transformers Transfigured

Based on this comic and this post, it looks like Tycho and Gabe share my concerns about the upcoming Transformers movie. I can't imagine Ohio National Guardsman Optimus Prime is happy about Michael Bay's choices.