Andrew

Betwixt the Realms

For all of the many times I have done it, I have never gotten tired of typing a command, or clicking a button on a screen, and watching something happen in the real world.

GenPIC Processor — The microprocessor on a GenPIC PCB assembly

An LED turning on, the click of a relay, or even a motor beginning to spin… These represent a moment when the seemingly ethereal digital realm of our computers interact with the physical domain.

I have spent my entire career dealing in the interface between the ethereal and the physical, working where the two meet. Turning sensor readings into digital, and then turning the digital into actions in the everyday world. I played with this interface as a teenager, learning the basics. My wisely chosen college degree was tailored to this task, an electrical engineering degree with a heavy dose of computer science. Professionally I have dealt with microcontrollers, high performance analog to digital systems, and programmable logic controllers, all straddling the boundary line from digital to physical.

M96 Group in Leo

The M96 galaxy group in Leo with M96 just below center, M95 lower right, with the group of M105, NGC3371, and NGC 3373 at the upper left

Drone versus ʻIo

This bird did not like the drone.

I have flown around big birds before. Bald eagles, ravens, seagulls, other hawks… few had taken more that a moments notice of the drone. This attack surprised me, I did not even see the hawk coming, and it came in hard.

An iʻo or Hawaiian hawk takes exception to my drone in the forest near Kalamanu — An ʻio or Hawaiian hawk takes exception to my drone in the forest near Kalamanu

I was on the return leg of an exploration into the ʻōhia forest behind Puʻuwaʻawaʻa and having a little fun with the drone. Simple plan… Set the drone to hover and then bike past through the camera view.

I had left the drone to hover for the moment as I moved to the next spot, when I look up to see a flash of white slashing at the drone. It hits and the drone staggers in the air before recovering.

Hitching Post

Kalo Loʻi

No Hunting Beyond This Point

A gate at Pu'uwa'awa'a — A gate at Pu’uwa’awa’a

Kalamalu

When standing atop Puʻuwaʻawaʻa the scenery is breathtaking. Five massive vocanoes dominate the skyline… Haleakalā, Kohala, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and the looming Hualālai immediately to the south. It is easy to overlook the smaller, overshadowed features of the landscape. Sitting for a while resting, rehydrating, and enjoying the view atop the grassy puʻu one begins to notice more details in the landscape.

An ʻōhiʻa lehua bloom in the forest above Puʻuwaʻawaʻa

A couple miles southeast of Puʻuwaʻawaʻa are a line of more modest volcanic features, dwarfed by the enourmous mauna but still significant, monuments of rock that tower over the surrounding ʻōhiʻa forest. These old vents are clearly arranged along a rift of some sort in a neat line trending north to south with the southern end pointing directly at the peak of Hualālai.

Author: Andrew