Jzoe Blog

After our tournament on May 22-23, we did something a little different. See these videos for more:

(super slo-mo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbIdj8IfM4Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj1Xw4mr5ao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFWGm43vvWs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5LNWlNKeDI

new soccer guard

This is it, this is what I’ve been spending my nights and weekends working on! I did three different ideas in CAD before I decided to build this one, and I had a couple of backup plans on what to do if there are problems with this one. It’s definitely been a huge learning experience, and I’m really hopeful that it’s going to pay off.

I did 100% of the metal cutting myself, and hired a bike builder from West Oakland to do the welding. In retrospect, this design used a LOT of skilled welding, and probably could have been done differently to cut that cost. That’s why it’s a learning experience- the next time I do something like this it will be better.

This weekend Kendra had her second Team USA training camp, right here in Berkeley. Here are my photo galleries:

Team USA Thursday
Team USA Friday
Team USA Saturday

A special thanks to Scot Goodman for all his help and encouragement!

I saw on my web statistics that this blog is getting over 100 unique visits per day. Do I have actual readers, or are the web combing robots just that thorough? I hardly write anything here anymore, so it doesn’t seem likely that I have one hundred people checking every day to see if I’ve written anything else.

for me to read later:

http://www.wmberg.com/catalog/pdf/b00k2-16.pdf

I forgot to post this right away, but hopefully emailed it to most of the people who were there:

http://jzoe.com/PSwest_regional_2010/

cutting

A co-worker was starting to machine a block of aluminum with a 3/8ths inch endmill, and after observing the proper safety precautions I made this video.

I’ve been looking for a source for high speed video for quite a while now, trying to get a better idea of the mechanics of a foot guard hitting a soccer ball. I found a camera that might be a big help:

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-EX-FS10-Digital-Stabilized-Blue/dp/B001OTZR4A

One thing people ought to know about digital cameras is that a company usually sells a few different models at different prices, all with the same light sensor and the same basic electronic guts. The more expensive cameras get nicer controls, nicer materials, maybe a bigger LCD- and some extra software options. The cheaper ones within a series can usually take nearly identical pictures or movies as the next step or two up in price.

This is a pretty cheap camera at $154, compared to the $190 EX-FC100, or the EX-FH20. They all seem to have the same exact 9.1 megapixel sensor. The FC100 has image stabilization, which is nice for pictures but worthless for high speed video. The FH20 has a faster lens, which would actually be pretty helpful for cutting down how much light is required for the high speed video.

So, is it worth $308 to get the f/2.8 lens instead of $154 to get the f/3.9? It’s like having twice as much light, but less stuff will be in sharp focus. For my money and my purpose, I think the cheaper camera is great- I was thinking of doing the shot outside in full sunlight around noon regardless, so it should be fine.

So, do I buy the camera, or just build another guard and see if it hits harder? Or do I build the guard, then buy the camera used if I can find it, take my video, and resell the camera for close to the same price when I have my data?

January training in Atlanta went well, pictures are here:
http://www.jzoe.com/TeamUSAJan2010Training/

Pictures from the most recent games are here:

http://jzoe.com/Dec 5 2009 games/