We posted a new article in the Tech Section with another background detail showing the technical challenges of surviving on Mars.
Building the navigational transceiver was an excuse for me to toy with some neat equipment, including an embroidery machine and an automated mill.
To make the device’s controller, I started with an Israeli military magazine pouch, something that might be produced on Mars with hemp product. I wrote the text into a computer file, chose the desired stitching technique and number of stitches, and loaded the file into a Brother brand embroidery machine.
Yeah, I know, vertical video.
To indicate that this is a piece of government equipment, I made a national serial number plate from a brass plated circuit board by, once again, uploading a text file to a milling machine.
All that remained was to put the pieces together with an off the shelf yagi-uda antenna. Check out the finished project here.