This is a dispensing machine for adewunmi skincare to automate their production of personalized skincare products. The first picture is a prototype for testing the pumps and software. The second is a render of the final machine (yet to be built).

A raspberry pi controls the device and receives orders from a desktop client. The display shows the current and previous order names and a single button is used to dispense orders. In the future, this will be integrated with an algorithm that automatically formulates the products, leaving packaging as the only manual process. See the github.

This mechanism improves the print quality of consumer 3D printers by mechanically decoupling the x and y movements of the z-axis lead screw with minimum z backlash. The mechanism has been tested (it works!).

We worked for a couple months at the beginning of 2021 with Vincent Pawluski on his invention which allows the PTO, rpm control, and other functions of a tractor to be remotely controlled without any modifications to the tractor. This was a very interesting project as we designed all components to be 3D printed so that Vincent could manufacture the product himself. See www.rcfarmarm.ca.

ALTATOOLS was founded to become a tool manufacturer and this was the first tool. We designed it and built five. The first picture is an initial design which uses bearings to eliminate wear as the tool slides against metal. The second picture shows the simplified, final design which uses more resilient steel to withstand wear, allowing for simpler geometry and less parts. This ended up being more of a learning project. Read more about how sheet metal tools are wearing out faster due to plasma technology here.

This is an expression that can be used to quickly evaluate if a number is prime or not. It is derived from two properties of Pascal's triangle;

1. in rows of the triangle where the second item is a prime number, all the following items will be multiples of that number.

2. the sum of each row is equal to 2 to the power of the second item in that row

So, using property 2 and subtracting the ones from each end of the row you end up with an expression that is the sum of the non-one items in row n:

2ⁿ - 2

Now, if all non-one items in a row are divisible by the second item then the second item is a prime number (property 2) and because the sum of multiples of a number is still a multiple of that number, if the sum is a multiple (i.e. divisible by n) then n is prime:

where (2ⁿ - 2) / n is a whole number, n is a prime

The only issue is that if the sum includes numbers that are not multiples, but their sum is a multiple, then this method fails. So, this method is only useful as a preliminary test to generate a large list which must be more rigorously tested.