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Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by HornyDude on Friday April 28, 2023 @03:24PM (#35745949)
Throwaway time!

I built a custom smart motorized masturbator.

It borrows from 3D printer design, and has a NEMA 17 stepper motor driving a 2GT belt loop around a short length of 2020 extrusion to slide a carriage along a linear rail. The carriage has attachment points that I've put clamps on, that close around a fleshlight-style sheath. There's a brace at the business end that you put around the base of the penis and it keeps everything aligned.

All the parts are custom-designed and 3d printed.

It has an outboard control box that contains:

  - an ESP32-based microcontroller with a small OLED screen. 
  - a clickable rotary encoder that is the single input control
  - a TMC2209 stepper driver
  - 12v power input and a buck converter to feed the esp32
  - 12v output ports for 2 additional vibrators and an an H-bridge module to control them
The simple UI allows full control over the motion:

  - stroke duration
  - stroke amplitude
  - offset from the 0 position
  - motion path (just sinusoidal vs triangle wave so far)
The controls also allow control over the secondary vibrators for intensity, rhythm, and duty cycle.

It's been evolving for a couple years now and it works brilliantly!

Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by swampthinker on Friday April 28, 2023 @03:30PM (#35746031)
I cannot believe that username was available.
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by matheusmoreira on Friday April 28, 2023 @09:09PM (#35749010)
Such a shame it's a throwaway. They should keep it!
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by fuzzfactor on Saturday April 29, 2023 @09:11AM (#35752555)
>I cannot believe that username was available.

Have you seen anything hornier?

>Such a shame it's a throwaway. They should keep it!

I expect he'll come again.

Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by parasti on Friday April 28, 2023 @03:43PM (#35746164)
Finding bugs must be unpleasant.
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by stavros on Friday April 28, 2023 @04:39PM (#35746833)
Nah, there are no bugs if you wash it after every use.
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by jagged-chisel on Friday April 28, 2023 @05:12PM (#35747168)
Gross >.<

Hilarious, but gross

Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by UncleEntity on Friday April 28, 2023 @03:49PM (#35746227)
Just to toss one out there…

You need a fitness tracker and some machine learning to really get your freak on.

Sorry, too tired to come up with a good robot innuendo.

Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by shsbdncudx on Friday April 28, 2023 @03:54PM (#35746285)
They do say you should scratch your own itch
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by trollied on Friday April 28, 2023 @04:04PM (#35746399)
Does it have Apple Health integration?
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by kilroy123 on Friday April 28, 2023 @06:21PM (#35747840)
You can't leave us hanging like that. No pictures of this thing?
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by alden5 on Friday April 28, 2023 @08:58PM (#35748944)
mr. fancypants here with the silent tmc2209 driver lol
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by short_throw on Saturday April 29, 2023 @01:30AM (#35750307)
He should switch to some a4988s so the machine can moan back.
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by kristopolous on Saturday April 29, 2023 @04:53AM (#35751264)
Commercialize it
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by cripblip on Saturday April 29, 2023 @09:58AM (#35752898)
Dude, you have to write this up!
Re:Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself? by Kye on Sunday April 30, 2023 @01:39PM (#35764787)
There's a tool you might like: https://buttplug.io/