Maker's Logbook by Stefan Herndlbauer

Week 007 (Sep 8–Sep 14): From Loose Wires to Lessons in Soldering

✍ Week’s content, if you missed it

• Work was intense, and the telemetry system kept me busy, leaving little time for other projects. But stay tuned — tomorrow’s podcast episode hits a big milestone.

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🛠 This Week at the Workbench

• Continued wiring and debugging on the drone telemetry system. With the enclosure coming together, it finally feels like a real device.
• Sketched out ideas for a sturdier “helping hand” tool after getting increasingly frustrated with the one I have.
• Ordered the first printed maker poster, which I’ll be offering free to all subscribers. I’m excited to see how the design translates to print — hopefully I can share photos next week.

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💡 Things I Learned or Noticed

• The biggest breakthroughs often come from the smallest fixes — one loose wire can ruin hours of testing.
• Switching tools mid-project (SolidWorks → Fusion, or C++ → CircuitPython) isn’t failure — it’s adapting to keep moving forward. Progress matters more than perfection.
• Hard-earned lesson: be extra careful with the soldering iron when desoldering pin headers. Turning a breadboard setup into something permanent can get messy fast.

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📸 Snapshot of the Week

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🔗 Inspiration & Resources

• ​XLeRobot – Open Source Humanoid Robot Project An ambitious open-source humanoid robot built with 3D-printed parts and ROS. Inspiring to see how far the community is pushing DIY robotics.
• ​ROSCon 2024 Videos - A curated collection of short films showing cutting-edge robotics research in action. Great for sparking ideas beyond the usual maker projects.
• ​Cirkit Designer – Design, Simulate and Prototype Circuits A browser-based tool to plan, simulate, and document electronics projects. Looks like a neat way to keep both wiring and design more organized.

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🚀 What’s Next

Next week I’m planning to look into a battery level indicator and further improve the telemetry system, and if all goes well attempt a first drone test.