Archive
Mini RC Controller Source Code Avaliable
February 16, 2006
Due to the many requests I've received over the last couple years for a copy of the Mini RC Controller source code, I am making avaliable a stripped-down version of the software. This code can be used as a basis to add additional functionality that isn't avaliable in my program, controlling the parallel port for any application, or just for learning. Check it out here. Enjoy!
School's Done, the Website Might Get Updated!
December 24, 2005
Due to the many requests I've received over the last couple years for a copy of the Mini RC Controller source code, I am making avaliable a stripped-down version of the software. This code can be used as a basis to add additional functionality that isn't avaliable in my program, controlling the parallel port for any application, or just for learning. Check it out here. Enjoy!
Newspaper Stuff
May 9, 2005
For the last two years I've been involved with Skills Canada, competiting at both the regional and provincial levels in the IT+PC Network Support (computer networking) category.
This year I did quite well at the provincials, winning gold with a perfect score. I got my picture in The Record newspaper along with a small write-up. The other medalists are also listed in the article. Check out the article in the Article Section or directly here.
I'll be going to the nationals in Edmonton, Alberta along with Trevor Wodtke, gold-medalist in the Architectual CAD category and fellow WCI student. It should be loads of fun and we'll make sure we visit the West Edmonton Mall, largest mall in the world!!
Edit (Jan. 20, 2008): This content has been removed to make the website more project-centered.
New Project Posted, New Stuff Coming
April 23, 2005
I've documented a robot myself and Steve Melnik built in grade 10 (2002). Check it out here. It's also listed on the projects page. There's lots of pictures and three movies of the semi-destructive spinning blade.
Stuff coming to the site in the near future:
- Schematic diagram for the LED Matrix Project. It's been requested multiple, multiple times
- Mame Arcade Machine write-up. The machine will be done within a week, but it takes time to do a write-up
- Article on something electronics related. Perhaps on 555 timers or pic microcontroller programming
Ahh...so busy
January 24, 2005
Ahh! So busy. 2 jobs, robotics 6x a week, school, exam week ...
Oh well.
First post of 2005. I was tired of looking at the last post.
I've got one project from 2002 (long time ago!) I need to write up, there's an article in the works and coming sometime, the conclusion to the exciting mame arcade saga.
It's Been a Good Week ...
December 7, 2004
What can I say? It's been a good couple weeks. Just to mention the highlights ...
Received the Sandvine IT Award, came with $250 cheque
Found $10 at Sobeys
Received my PIC Programmer in the mail, bought on ebay
Started a new job @ Apex Computers
Won an ebay auction for a Canon S400 Ultra-Compact 4.0MP digital camera
Didn't completely fail my Vector Proofs test. Got an "ok" mark.
RIM has agreed to help the Robotics Team with funding for the edubot
Met a friend in Sobeys I hadn't seen for 6 years.
The PIC Programmer looks pretty neat. I'll be sure to do some neat stuff with it. I might try hooking it up to the LED Matrix project.
Microcontroller Programming
September 12, 2004
I'm very interested in getting into some microcontroller programming. If anyone has an unused PIC16F84 microcontroller lying around that they could donate, it would greatly appreciated!
If not, does anyone know where I could get a great deal on one or how I could build one myself?
Contact me. Thanks!
New Project Posted! LED Matrix
September 1, 2004
It's been quite a while since I've posted a new project. Well here it is.
For my grade 12 computer science year-end project I built an LED Matrix and wrote the software to control it. Accompanying this project, for the first time on this site are videos! 6 Quicktime videos to be exact, of the LED Matrix in all it's glory. In additional to the videos, the source code to the software that makes it work is avaliable in the downloads section.
Check it all out here.
My Birthday
August 26, 2004
Today is my birthday. I'm now 18. So now I can vote, but there's nothing to vote on. Drinking age here is 19. If you know me, come down to Pool Paradise on Philip St. tonight around 8:00PM, should be a lot of fun.
Algonquin Park Trip Pictures Posted
August 14, 2004
I'm about to leave for our annual trip to Algonquin Park. We took lots of pictures last year, so I thought I'd post them before I go. We stayed on Pen Lake, which is off of Rock Lake. There are some really neat waterfalls at the portages and we saw some interesting wildlife. If you're considering going to Algonquin Park - go for it! It's always a great experience. Check out the pictures.
How To Build: PC Controlled RC Car - Guide Posted
August 4, 2004
This guide has been a long time in the making. I've gotten several requests for a guide from the PC Controlled RC Car project I did a while ago. This guide has lots of pictures and detailed instructions and shows you exactly how to build your own. It is avaliable in the articles section. To modify the remote you'll need some basic soldering skills, but don't let that scare you. Five minutes of practising and you'll have the basic skills. Check out the guide here and let me know what you think.
Visitor's Car MP3 Project Posted
August 4, 2004
A guy by the name of Andreas H`Savvas saw my LCD Screen Project and decided to make one of his own. He built the LCD into the dashboard of his car and put a pc in the trunk. He did a great job. He sent me pics to post of his project, and you can see them all here along with a write-up about what he did.
If any other site visitors have any projects they would like posted, let me know and I'll take a look.
Summer School is Over ... Almost
July 27, 2004
The Waterloo Likelihood of Burglary report is now listed in the articles section. Summer school ends tommorow (Woot! Woot!), so I'll have some more time to put some more of my projects up on the site.
Check back next week, there WILL be something new.
Marks Are In
July 14, 2004
My report card came in the mail yesterday. A couple suprises, but nothing major. Here are my marks. It seems like a trend among my friends, that their high school marks [for whatever reason] end up being published somewhere on the web.
| Cisco Networking (1) | TGJ-4MD | 98 |
| Cisco Networking (2) | TGJ-4MY | 84 |
| Computer Science | ICS-4MI | 80 |
| Physics | SPH-4UI | 87 |
| Geography (Geomatics) | CGO-4MI | 84 |
| Calculus | MCB-4UI | *96* |
| Average: | 88 |
My marks aren't genius level, but they're ok. The ones for university are calculus, physics and cisco. Next year the courses I'm doing for univesity are Discreet Mathematics, Chemistry and English. So it'll be a "fun" year.
Once again, my year-end computer science project will appear in the projects section. Check back in a few weeks for that.
Also, I'm still looking for a computer-related job. Here's my resume. Please hire me!
Mini Update
July 13, 2004
For my geography year-end project I looked at the environmental factors that affect burglary and created a case-study for my city (Waterloo, ON). I've posted a condensed version of the report here. If you live in the "most likely place in Waterloo to be burglarized", don't be too worried because you can't take the study too seriously. Read it and you'll find out why. Check it out!
Site Status
June 3, 2004
The site experienced some "technical difficulties" for a couple days because my host changed their directory structure without informing me. Which meant that the site didn't load and I didn't notice it until last night. Anyway, all fixed now.
I've got lots of stuff to post on the site, but I'm going to wait until after exams. If anyone notices anything not working correctly on the site, please e-mail me. Thanks.
Skills Ontario Silver
May 5, 2004
I mentioned that I've been involved with Skills Canada recently. I won the IT+PC Network Support challenge for Waterloo Region and today placed 2nd (Silver) at the provincial level. The guy I lost to won the national competition last year, so I don't feel to bad about losing - and Silver is great. There's always next year ...
In a way it's good I lost ... now I can focus on robotics and getting good marks in school instead of a national competition. Also, congratulations to Chris Wattilowe also of Waterloo Region who placed 3rd.
PC Controlled RC Car Software *Updated*
April 28, 2004
It was brought to my attention by several people that the software for the Mini RC Car Project did not work in Windows 2000 or XP. This was because the parallel port is harder to control in those operating systems, and the .dll file I was using was only designed for Windows 98.
After searching for quite some time and trying a lot of different solutions, I found Inpout32.dll which works great for all Windows operating systems. I've modified my code and created a new install package. The new and improved Mini RC Car software can be found in the Downloads Section.
Enjoy!
What's Been Going On!
April 27, 2004
The US First robotics championship I was involved in is now over. Our Team (1385) ranked 6th / 75 in Canada and we won the Rookie Inspiration Award. I'm going to be involved in the leadership of the team next year. Should be great!
I'm now doing Skills Canada. I won the IT+PC Network Support contest for my region, so I'm competing in the provincials on May 4th, 2004. If I win >> Nationals, but not likely =).
I haven't forgot about the site! Here's what I'm still working on.
- Something interactive for the LCD Screen (projected completion: 1 month)
- "How-To" Guide for the PC Controlled RC Car (projected completion: 2 weeks)
- Electronics Project to be named later. (projected completion: 2 months)
Robotics kept me busy for quite some time, now I'm catching up on school and doing Skills Canada, but I'm planning on dedicating some time to the site quite soon. Keep checking back!
WCI Robotics Newspaper Article
February 16, 2004
For the last few months I've been pretty heavily involved in the WCI Robotics Team, a robotics team from my school. We've entered the US First robotics competition and we are currently building a robot. Last week a few of us from the engineering team visited MacGregor, a local jr. high school and gave a presentation about robotics and our team. A local TV camera man was there as well as a newspaper reporter and photographer.
The article is in today's copy of The Record newspaper on the front page of the Life section (D1), so check it out if you can pick up a copy. I've also posted a copy of the article in my Articles Section so you can all take a look. This website does not get a mention, but some of the projects on it do, so please check it out! I'm very excited.
Update: This content has been removed from this site as I feel its no longer relevant.
Starburst Arcade Auction Pricelist
January 10, 2004
A guy I met at the November Auction scanned and sent me the December pricelist. You can find it in the articles section, or directly here. Thanks to Jonathan Tracey for sending me the list.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
December 24, 2005
Tonight is Christmas Eve and tommorow is Christmas day. I hope you are all having as wonderful time with family and friends as I am. I took a snapshot of our christmas tree to share with you. Check it out here. Merry Christmas everyone!
Side Note: A How-To Page is being worked on for the PC Controlled RC Car Project.
Update: This content has been removed from this site as I feel its no longer relevant.
Website Facelift
November 26, 2003
I've cleaned up the website a bit. I've added the new projects to the menu bar on the left and also added a menu bar for the Articles Section. I've created a new banner for the top that also includes the articles section.
I've manually editted every html page on the site (about 25) and thrown in a bit of PHP so that I can update the side menus without having to manually change every page. If you find any errors in the pages please let me know. As for now, enjoy the new and improved user interface.
Side Note: A How-To Page is coming soon for the PC Controlled RC Car Project.
Arcade Auction Article Posted
November 16, 2003
Last weekend I attended a Starbust Coin auction in Toronto. The Articles Section has been updated and the Full Article can be found here. This article is more picture-based because much of the info would have been a repetition of the first article. Check out the new article and let me know what you think.
Weekend Update
November 9, 2003
This weekend I took a trip down to Toronto with James. We checked out the Starburst Auction and then had an interesting day downtown. I'm going to post some pictures of the auction and do a small write-up, but it won't be as extensive as the first one.
I've been working on the mame cabinet a fair bit lately. The cabinet will be finished during or before Christmas break. I'm going to have a LAN Party, so it must be completed by then. I'll post another mame cabinet update once I get a bit more done.
Spud Launcher II: How-To Build Guide Completed
October 27, 2003
The Spud Launcher II Project is complete and a How-To Build Guide has been created. It is listed as the 2nd addition to the articles section and also in the projects section. I said I was going to post the guide last weekend - and it's Monday now so 1 day late isn't bad.
Use the information in the guide responsibly and have fun.
New Stuff Coming
October 22, 2003
The Spud Launcher II was built last Friday. It's a bit more powerful than Spud Launcher I. All of the pictures are taken and cropped and I'll be posting a How-To build guide this weekend.
Soon I'll be opening another section on the site. In it will be people's questions they've e-mailed me with my answers to them. I've had quite a few students and professionals asking questions - mostly about the RC Project and I'm hoping you the reader might learn a bit from their questions.
New Project Announcement
October 14, 2003
I'm going to decommission the Potato Gun and build Potato Gun II. Simply, the potato gun has become too unreliable to operate safely, so I'm going to learn from the first gun and make Spud Launcher II even better. I will be building it this Friday and will be taking lots of pictures so that I can make a comprehensive How-To guide for building your own. Check back later for the How-To guide.
New Section Launched
October 12, 2003
I've created an Articles Section. In it will include my ramblings, opinions or whatever I feel like writing. The first installment is an article about my trip to the Starburst Coin auction in Toronto. Check it out here. It's an interesting read.
Site Update Notice
October 8, 2003
I work every weekend, so it may not always be possible for me to update the site. So was the case last weekend. On the weekend I drove to Toronto and attended a Starbust Coin arcade auction. I picked up yet another arcade machine and had a great time. I'll be posting an article on the event later this week. Tommorow I've got a Cisco Exam, Physics Quiz and Calculus Test, so I won't be working on it tonight. Check back later this week for the article with lots of pictures of the event.
New Project Added: LCD Screen
September 28, 2003
I've finished writing up my LCD project. I completed the project in 2001 and now it's documented for the whole world to see. The project consists of a 4x20 Backlit LCD screen, interfaced to the PC Parallel port. The screen can display just about anything you can imagine. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Weekend Update
September 21, 2003
Sorry people, I didn't get time to update the site this weekend. But during the week I plan to open a whole new section of the site. School's keeping me pretty busy, but this is what's coming soon:
o Case Mod
o How-To Page For the Mini RC Project
o New Section [check back to see what it is]
Links Section Added
September 20, 2003
The Link Section is now done. For all of the people on the net that don't have a place to go: all of my favorite places can now be yours. I'll probably be adding more links to it shortly. All the ones I could come up with off the top of my head are listed now. Enjoy!
Downloads Section Added
September 17, 2003
I've completed the Downloads Section now. What is there now is 3 programs that I've created myself. I'll be adding more when I write another significant application. The RC Control software is online now as well, it's been requested be a couple people. Check the new section out here.
Mame Project Updated
September 15, 2003
I've done a fair bit of work on the machine since it was last updated. I've added a whole more page of information updating the project to it's current status. The control panel is in and it's looking nice. Check it all out here.
About Me Page Up
September 3, 2003
I realized that no where on this site was even mentioned my name or anything about me - so I did something about it. I took a pic with the digicam and put up the about me page. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Jonathan Bennett
Website Launched!
September 2, 2003
Today is the first day back at school and the launch of JBProjects.net. The Content is a little sparce at the moment, but there is a fair ammount up. I'll be working on getting all of the content up in the weeks to come. What's new since the last update: Projects Index and Stuff Index. Let me know what you think.
Happy Birthday To Me!
August 26, 2003
Today is my birthday. I've now reached the ripe age of 17. I've got my driver's license, descent computer, website, friends and a small wad of cash thanks to my job at Sobeys...so I guess I'm doing alright. If anyone would like to donate a car to the JB birthday fund, please feel free to do so.
Stuff Section Addition: Pellet Gun
August 12, 2003
I was given my first BB rifle at the tender age of 10. This gun is a replacement for that one courtesy of Canadian Tire. It's a great "toy" but it's not used to kill wildlife or anything so no one needs to freak out. Check it out here.
Update: This content has been removed from this site as I feel its no longer relevant.
Potato Gun Project - Status: Page Up
August 11, 2003
This project was started and completed May 2003. I saw my first Potato Gun at a camp called Elim Lodge. I was considering building one and when a friend started to construct one, I decided to as well. Check out the new section here.
Mame Based Arcade Machine - Status: Page Up
August 9, 2003
This sections features my work in progress of my attempt to jam a computer into an arcade machine and use it to run over 4000 arcade games. Pacman, Street Fighter, Asteroids, Galaga... It will be great once it's competed. Check out that section here.
News - 40 New Pictures Taken
August 7, 2003
Today I took a total of 40 digital camera photos today. I took pictures of my Potato Gun, Mame Based Arcade Machine and of my Sweet Ride (Nisan Quest MiniVan 
). These sections (excluding the MiniVan) should be up shortly.
PC Controlled RC Car - Status: Page Up
August 7, 2003
This page focuses on my PC Controlled Mini RC Car Project. The software was submitted as my Gr.11 computer science final project. I know there's a lot of Mini RC enthusiests out there. Who knows? Maybe they may be interested in the page and want to try it as well. I guess we'll see.
Space Invaders Machine - Status: Page Up
August 6, 2003
The Space Invaders arcade machine was recently been sold, but a shrine to it's greatness will always be found here. The machine was non-working, but that did not dimish it's greatness. Actually, it dimished it's greatness alot - including the market value of the machine.
Update: This content has been removed from this site as I feel its no longer relevant.