Bruce

All things small and scratchy.

Moderators: BeligerAnt, petec, administrator

Post Reply
User avatar
earthwormjim
Posts: 1190
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: Secret Undisclosed Moonbase Location

Post by earthwormjim »

Thanks Peter. :)
User avatar
earthwormjim
Posts: 1190
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: Secret Undisclosed Moonbase Location

Post by earthwormjim »

At AWS33 I saw a few people using the throttle cut switch to operate flipper servos,on dx6i Tx's.Which I thought was a great idea,although the location of the button,(over the RHS stick),wasnt ideal.So I have run some cable from the switch terminals inside the case,over to the side of the LHS stick,and mounted a push button on a small piece of carbon...
Image
It seems to work very well,and is comfortable to use. :)
User avatar
earthwormjim
Posts: 1190
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: Secret Undisclosed Moonbase Location

Post by earthwormjim »

I thought I would make a chassis for bruce out of some 1mm carbon I got to play around with. I have made cut outs for the flipper servo shaft,the drive servos,and the battery.I put masking tape over the shiny surface of the carbon,as its easier to mark out,and will hopefully protect the nice shiny surface! :)
Image
User avatar
earthwormjim
Posts: 1190
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: Secret Undisclosed Moonbase Location

Post by earthwormjim »

I have decided that 1mm carbon is too brittle to make such small pieces with.(In other words,my fingers are too fat!:D )The layers separate under stress.Probably something to do with using a wood blade in the Jigsaw to cut it with!! :o
Anyway,I have decided to build using the 1.5mm glass fibre board that Peter gave me,and this is going to be a new flea,to partner "Bruce".Code name...
"The blue ringed Octopus" :roll:
Looking at Bruce,all the chassis parts are intact,they all only broke at the glue points,so in theory,I should be able to clean her up,and reassemble! :)
User avatar
joey_picus
Posts: 1137
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:51 pm
Location: Lancaster, Lancashire
Contact:

Post by joey_picus »

I find it rather odd that 'Bruce' is referred to with feminine pronouns :P a bit Blackadder in nature perhaps...

Do you have the weight for a mechanical connection between all the chassis/armour parts, or is it right on the weight limit?
Joey McConnell-Farber - Team Picus Telerobotics - http://picus.org.uk/ - @joey_picus
"These dreams go on when I close my eyes...every second of the night, I live another life"
User avatar
earthwormjim
Posts: 1190
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: Secret Undisclosed Moonbase Location

Post by earthwormjim »

Joey wrote:I find it rather odd that 'Bruce' is referred to with feminine pronouns :P a bit Blackadder in nature perhaps...
LOL! I hadn't noticed!! :o
User avatar
earthwormjim
Posts: 1190
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: Secret Undisclosed Moonbase Location

Post by earthwormjim »

As for mechanical connections,weight isnt the issue.The uprights will need to be remade I think,there is just not enough material to fix to. I may try to use some wire,fibreglass sheet and resin to make the joints. :-?
Image
alasdair
Posts: 563
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:52 pm
Location: Marlow, Bucks

Post by alasdair »

Wow! precision engineering or what?! :D
User avatar
earthwormjim
Posts: 1190
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: Secret Undisclosed Moonbase Location

Post by earthwormjim »

alasdair wrote:Wow! precision engineering or what?! :D
Very nice of you to say so! But it is a little rough around the edges,if you look close enough,as it is mainly done using files and some wet and dry sandpaper!
I think that drilling a tiny hole in the chassis pieces,then sewing some thin wire through the holes to tie the pieces together,then epoxying the lot together might be the way foreward.I used to use that method to get the curve to hold when building model boat hulls!
Worth a try,anyway! :)
User avatar
earthwormjim
Posts: 1190
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 4:57 pm
Location: Secret Undisclosed Moonbase Location

Post by earthwormjim »

I got the new servos for bruce,not bad for 4.99 each!!
from here...
http://www.galaxymodels.co.uk/detail.as ... 9&rootid=2
This is what they look like...
Image
I thought I would explain how the mod was done.I think it is pretty painless,and the result is a tiny and fast drive motor.
The mod to the servo couldnt be easier,no messing around with pots!
I removed the two final gears,which also removes the part that turns the pot,and also speeds up the output loads.
Here is the modded servo.The removed gears are in the foreground...

Image
Then you just epoxy a lego axle onto the final gear...
Image

This is a final modded servo...
Image
Just a spare nut,added to the other shaft to take up the space taken by the other removed gear

The result is not very powerful,but pretty fast for such a small unit. :D
Post Reply