"One Inch Punch" Bus Controller
One Inch Punch is a powerful controller, with only one square inch of footprint!
Its power comes from its ability to communicate with other devices, including each other, over a shared serial bus. Each controller gets its own address, and can run a servo, along with a motor or stepper, two limit switches, and its serial port. You can also run different firmware that allows for input devices, such as LIDAR.
Even alone, the One Inch Punch is powerful enough to control individual tools, such as a drill press, winch, or hopper. The possibilities of integrating many together in automation are nearly endless.
This video explains more.
Sep 4, 2019
This is a small demonstration showing that the One Inch Punch bus can be accessed wirelessly, such as this HC-05 Bluetooth Module. This allows more widespread or mobile automation solutions, such as drones, to rely on the One Inch Punch for internal control, and a remote control for an external interface. You may also wish to use wireless connectivity for wearable or mobile integrations.
Note that the HC-05 specifically uses 3.3V TTL ("true", or idle high) logic, while the Picaxe on the One Inch Punch uses 5V inverted logic (idle low). This means a logic adapter circuit was required to connect the One Inch Punch and the HC-05. The schematic for this adapter is included in the video, and also below.
Aug 23, 2019
A simple example of a One Inch Punch project, a pan & tilt tool mount. This could be used as the basis for an arm, engraver, sensor or camera mount, controlled externally or by another One Inch Punch on the same bus.
The build was very simple. The 3d printed pan/tilt assembly was found on Thingiverse and the servo and stepper connected to the One Inch Punch.
The default One Inch Punch firmware was used, and the serial port was connected directly to my laptop to control the pan/tilt mount.
Build time, excluding print time: 5 minutes.
Apr 16, 2019
We used the One Inch Punch in a consulting partnership with Tarlow Designs, also based in San Rafael, to develop an ice cream dispenser. This build used 30 One Inch Punch controllers to run servos, steppers, and limit switches in order to automate a machine to pump soft serve ice cream, and dress it with a selection of toppings.