Failure to finish and cleanup projects

[binary1248]

I have a PicAxe problem. I start a project get it designed, sometimes even layout and order a pc board, get it debugged and working. But then I don't finish cleaning it up (like nice enclosure). I guess I like the challenge of the code and hardware, but not finishing before I am off to a new PicAxe project. I need to stop winning about my lack of commitment to finishing a project, but wonder if there are others with this problem ?
.
Wooden geared clock sync to RTC chip.
Motorcycle mini tach using timing gear sensor.
Motorcycle fan delay
,
And another in my mind.. A stroboscope for measuring rotating devices with LCD display showing the strobe rate..
..
Well, I do have fun and that's what really counts.

 

[Buzby]

I'm the same !.

I get the kick from proving the concept, but never seem to ever finish a project.

 

[binary1248]

Lets make a technical sounding word for incomplete project.
Here are Latin words for "complete", so add "non" prefix and it should work.
From the list, I choose non-perfecti
absolutus adcuratus apsolutus depolitio ecfectus effectus exactus expletus igitur perfecti Igitur perfecti perfectus rutundus tornatilis confectum complevit
Any and all suggestion are welcome.
Paul

 

[erco]

Is this a support group I can join?

Actually I'm the idea guy and prototyper at work (and in my hobbies too). Once I demonstrate the working concept, I turn it over to the development team, right about the time I lose interest. Then I'm off on something completely different and the cycle repeats. I found the perfect job to match my high energy level and brief attention span.

 

[rossko57]

I like nonconfectum, sounds like a "healthy option".

 

[Pongo]

There's always hope!

Sometime in the early 70's I acquired a really nice Italian instrument case, some beefy German heatsinks that perfectly fit the back panel, a set of power transistors, big electrolytics, and a big toroidal transformer to build a power supply. I finally put it together it last year (I didn't use the caps or transistors.) Those parts followed me on 5 international moves including three transocean.

I also do a lot of tinkering to investigate or prove the concept, but rarely keep the finished item.

"Happiness is a journey and not a destination."

 

[Buzby]

erco, I want your job

 

[eggdweather]

I'm the same, I think if I could buy or make a decent looking enclosure that did not look like an amateur construction and I could easily do some decent lettering or graphics I might actually finish something. I've tried printer sheets with self-adhesive backing but it still looks cheap and home made, I've thought about 3D printing but the results are 'rough' but OK for a prototype, but that's as far as I ever get - with (other half) comments like, what's that pile of wires doing! And is it going to be there long! And can't you clear the surfaces of your stuff! Conversely if it looked decent none of these criticisms would be levelled at my wonderful creations if only everyone would appreciate what's gone in to them, ''twas ever thus'

 

[Pongo]

Those are huge issues. You can certainly buy decent looking enclosures*, but you may not like the price, and there are front panel production services, but you definitely won't like the price. The old standby of dry transfer lettering is essentially extinct. 3M used to have an aluminum foil product that was photosensitive and wasn't too difficult to use (like making a pc board) but I haven't seen that for a while.

*My favorite for audio etc. which passes "other half" test LMB Heeger Uni-Pac

 

[inglewoodpete]

I think it probably depends on the motivation for your project.

I find my projects fit into 2 categories.

1. I'm testing concepts but do not have an immediate use for the outcome (if it works). Often these just get as far as a breadboard, circuit diagram and software. Sometimes I get as far as a veroboard (strip board) model. I always try to document what did and didn't work so that I can pick up the idea again if I find a use for it.
3. Projects where I have a need and want a working solution that looks the part (and/or meets the approval of my wife). The planning phase of these projects needs to include housing/presentation of the completed work. Often, the physical layout presents as many (enjoyable) challenges as the circuit or software. Due to the projects being one-offs, ease of assembly/disassembly and reprogramming are important design aspects. Note to self: remember that mounting switches, indicators and jacks near the corners/edges of enclosures must not have the items sharing the same space!!

I'm fortunate to work with artists (I even call myself one these days), where customised designs are called for. We do quite a few high-powered LED lighting projects. The controllers have to present well, be robust and, of course, be examined and certified for safety. These are aspects that must be kept in mind from the very outset of the project.

...and it often comes back to personality type. If you're a dreamer, then you'll probably stay that way - there's nothing wrong with that. If you're a dreamer AND a doer, you have to dream about every aspect of your project first .

 

[mezzrow]

the same for me

I' m a member of this club.

For sure.

i have an idea... think for days how to do it, find hardware, write software, breadbord it... weeks of adjust things hardware and software... finnally it works!

Then i have an idea...

;-) Andrea

Hope it make sense in english, i'm just an old italian.

 

[Dartmoor]

I suspect most of us qualify as memebrs of this club, although perhaps not for every project.

As for making the finished product look smart; I recall a post on here about self adhesive aluminium sheet that can be printed on? It was a couple of years ago but I have not managed to re-discover it. Perhaps someone can help?

 

[grim_reaper]

I'm just glad I'm not the only one who has major design and development issues derived from the wife!!

She said to me just the other day, can't you clear off one of your desks so Mason [two year old] has more space to play? I gave it a few seconds, realised I do in fact have six desks in the house, all covered in breadboards, tools and parts... and simply asked, which one?

 

[neiltechspec]

I never ever draw a circuit diagram of my projects.

Just make it up as I go along, but I do tend to state what pins do what in remarks at the top of the prog (mostly).
Sometimes I even explain resistors / capacitors added to the circuit.

Neil

 

[fernando_g]

We should start a 12 step program:

The first: which is to admit that we are powerless to the allure of tinkering with stuff.
The sweet smell of solder..........
The soft humming of equipment's fans running in the background.
The adrenaline rush that can only come from powering an unit and watching that no visible smoke is emitted anywhere nearby.

Mesmerized by utilizing a new instruction and feature, and watching the program editor running the same lines of code over and over. Without a stack overflow.

An addiction so strong, that we skip meals and/or hours of sleep, while we are intoxicated with the exhilaration of finally coaxing a stupid trinket to work.
Even if by"work", it means flashing a LED.

 

[stan74]

I like finished projects to look not bought.Clear acrylic looks nice. Maybe why so many raspberry pi cases are transparent.Even wood looks nice spray painted.

 

[eggdweather]

I think without exception all my projects are of the 'Everest' type (why climb Mt Everest, because its there). I enjoy the challenge and the intellectual problems and tinkering. I always sit and muse along the lines of I'll make a temperature data logger, then buy one (my AXE110 is my favourite Picaxe of all), then I have it running for a few weeks, then I re-configure to something else and so it goes on - great fun and that's why we all do it, well I do anyway. Getting my wife to accept and use something I've made is my ultimate goal, but I think I'll never achieve that, so I'll just keep trying you never know.

 

[binary1248]

Sometimes just looking at various projects and questions on this forum brings up another project.
In addition to the projects I listed in the opening, I saw a thread on high speed strobe for camera work using LEDs. So now I am back to designing a stroboscope with a LCD display.

 

[SteveDee]

I guess many of us sometimes need the technical equivalent of a little blue pill to maintain interest in a project and complete the job.

As I get older, I seem to find it easier to classify projects as either "keepers" or "experiments" right from the start. For example, I never expected my robo-buggy to develop beyond a bundle of wires (and it hasn't). Whereas my PicaxePi birdbox had a job to do, so I knew it would be built, packaged and used.

 

[tommo_NZ]

This is all Deja Vu, I thought I was alone in this. At 66 and retired, I doodle to keep my brain active but often despair at the lack of completed projects. The memory is a bugger, if I leave a project for more than a week, I have to start again 'cause I have either forgotten the syntax or flow of code. Now I feel better. Thanks for bringing it up. Some times I have a Picaxe project for the evenings, an engineering project in my workshop for mornings and a nanny nap for the afternoons. Nothing seems to lengthen my attention span so I rotate through my interests daily.
Nil desperandum carborundum, whatever that means...
Regards, Kevin.

 

[grim_reaper]

Getting my wife to accept and use something I've made is my ultimate goal, but I think I'll never achieve that, so I'll just keep trying you never know.

Start installing buttons and displays all over the house while she's out. Curiosity will get the better of her sooner or later...