You guys are gonna need a “Rising Tide” brew to celebrate the rebound (whenever that happens) (fingers crossed)…
3 Likes
Like it.
2 Likes
That’s more PC than the “Bat Out of Hell” we named my mate’s latest lockdown home brew APA batch… 
1 Like
My Photogrammetry setup.
It is actually brighter than this, but to capture it I would need a longer shutter time and I was doing handheld as all of my tripods are in use.
Although needing a healthy dose of cleanup:
The results are getting usefull:
It has taken me nearly a 1000 pics and a lot of software trial and error to get this far. Now I need to flip it over and get another 200 pics but I think that I have found the melody now.
The grip has been covered in a mixture of talcum powder and isopropyl alcohol 99% from a spray bottle to do away with reflections as they are murder to Photogrammetry.
9 Likes
That’s pretty cool, but seems like a lot of work. What causes all the artifacts?
Yeah it is very cool. It is so much easier than trying to capture the shape in a model built from scratch.
The software, in this case Agisofts Metashape, tries to calculate the position of the camera by comparing similar features on several pictures and it does not always get it right.
As it is a turntable setup the background stays mostly the same and that is messing with the calculations. There are ways to minimize this impact, but I have not digged into that yet as I have just gotten the software.
I don’t know how much I am going to do about it in this case, as I only really need the shape of the handgrips, so I can do 3D printed versions for a DIY controller. I think that I am going to do the mount and swivel in plywood without much detailing.
Happy Simming
Ohh, I just realized that this should have been in the 2020 thread and not blasts from the past. Could it be moved there please?
1 Like
I hope I’m not stepping over some lines but…
I’ve seen there’s this black paint that absorbs like 99% of visible light.
Wouldn’t that be helpful with Photogrammetry ?
Some 15 years ago rusting away in the truck graveyard … my first rig …
Mack trucks are AWESOME. I’d haul 90,000 pound loads with that thing.
I was a high-tech dropout … 15 years in Information Technology, 16 years now as a trucking fool! Ask me anything! 
13 Likes
How do you not snap at all the moronic drivers out there? It’s bad enough being in a 3,000 pound car…I can’t imagine how stressful it is in a 100,000+ pound vehicle…
1 Like
Yay! Old truck pictures!! Keep em coming @Elby I love the American style. I drove a freightliner Argosy (cabover) in Australia for 10 months and had a w900 kenworth for a few weeks out there as well.
Here my first truck after passing my test, we moved treated sewage “cake” out of the sewage works to farmers fields. No tachographs on that job so we worked 18 hour days. Stayed out all week with no showers and had to be tested for Leptospirosis twice a month.
It was absolutely horrible. I used to take my husky with me for the company and he used to start the week black and white and on Saturday he would be brown and black. As would I. Worst job ever. But I made some good money…
Here’s the first digger I moved… certainly the start of something as that’s my speciality now.
Dog like that job as well
17 Likes
What is the capital of Burkina Faso?
(What? He said anything.) 
3 Likes
Does the fridge light really switch off when you close the door?
3 Likes
Wiki search … Ouagadougou … try saying that five times fast … or try saying it even once LOL!
Yes.
I guess I’m the “ask me anything” guy now LOL!
1 Like
Exactly that, I’m more stressed out driving my car to work every day. Four wheelers drive like they’re in an F1 race … especially now with the pandemic! The highways are wide open and people are really abusing them. Cops are having a field day with speeders though.
The beautiful thing about trucks is you don’t have to always look back over your shoulder to check your blind spot. I quick glance to your mirrors right or left is all you need.
I’m actually really relaxed driving eighteen wheelers (I think the most wheels I’ve ever driven was 34) … people don’t mess with you because if they do they know they might die! One time I had a four wheeler rear end me while I was stopped on the side of a road. The front end of his car was completely totaled. I couldn’t really find a scratch on my “bumper” out of the ordinary. He new he was at fault and told me to just drive away.
The key to safe truck driving is leaving a bunch of space between you and the guy in front of you. If you have someone tailgating you then you need to leave even more space in front of you. I’ve never understood aggressive truck drivers that run right up on the back of four wheelers that they want out of their way … it’s totally insane. You just have to keep out of peoples way as much as possible.
4 Likes
So how do you know the fridge light is off?
Those long noses on those mac trucks, you dont see that much in Europe. Tractor trailer combos are length restricted here, and all trucks have thos flat box front ends that are about as aerodynamic as a brick shitehouse. Aren’t they over there?
my autocorrect tried to change ‘shitehouse’ to white house lol, you trying to tell me something, Samsung?
4 Likes
Though I don’t have a normal “commute” to work, I do often have to drive from the airport to my house at around the 5PM rush hour. I usually make it a point to try to get in the middle lane, in front of an 18-wheeler because I know they are (for the most part) professionals…and I worry far less about getting rear ended by someone who is texting and driving. I keep a lot of distance in front of me too…so I don’t ever have to jam on my brakes and make the semi have a problem (since his problem is my problem…LOL…)
And a big shout out to all the truckers and delivery people out there that are keeping our world going at this time…
3 Likes
Older Peterbilt trucks are terrible for long noses …
It’s REALLY hard to see if something is right in front of you.
Over here we have LCV (long commercial vehicle) configurations now. That’s running two 53 foot trailers like a train. I’d love to try backing one of those up! 
I’ve done smaller trains but that takes the cake!
4 Likes
Canada.
I’ve always wondered if running trains down under is like a scene from Mad Max?
1 Like