As an ongoing project. I have been working on a small robot that could live on my desk as a pet, hence the Deskpet moniker. I’ve done some research into how to give him personality, as well as how to add emotion (links soon). Last weekend I decided to play with my CNC mill and cut out a design for the body of my deskpet robot. I’ve been working on this design for a while so it was just a matter of loading and running the program. Then, one of the guys at work used the CNC’d master to make an RTV mold, and I molded a urethane copy:
The body is shown with a Nickel for scale. The pics are really crummy because I used my cell phone, I’ll post better pics later. This will make a robot small enough to use for Micro-Sumo competition, and is designed around the GM-10 motors. I may end up selling these as just the body, or as a complete robot kit.
I have finished the pcb schematic and have almost completed the layout. I hope to send the board out to BatchPCB for fab by the end of the week.
UPDATE:
I finished routing the PCB. Maybe I'll be able to send it out for fab by tonight.
NICE!
Brilliant! Very nice
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.... -Marianne Williamson
Huh? CNC, mold?You are going
Huh? CNC, mold?
You are going to make bodies for all of us now! Seriously, what do you need for 3D-model, and how can we put this into system, so that your boss can see the benefits / making he's money worth on it?
What would a mold like the one you have made cost?
You cannot just show a thing like that and hold it to yourself. The rest of us use duct tape and free sticks, you know :) Imagine a project like TIRDNKWIIT - what would I not be able to create if I had your powers?
You should build yourself
You should build yourself one of these:
http://fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
I discovered that I already have the controller board for that thing lying around. It is kind of expensive though :-)
- Jimmy
Vacuum Plastic Former
If you're interested in making some awesome cases for your bots, you mightwanna check out building something like this.
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/04/weekend_project_kitchen_f_1.htm...
According to the video, it's pretty much the same way they made all the Storm Trooper outfits in Star Wars.
Yeah - or just get a 3D
I like the RepRap . The
I like the RepRap . The fabber which can make a copy of its self. We could pool resources, make one - then let it replicate copies and send the children to everyone :)
Then again, maybe I would do better taking glue gun lessons from Frits or Martha Stewart.
Routing PCB traces
I think there is a general rule of thumb that you should stick to 45 degree angles when routing traces (especially avoid the 90 degree angles). I guess this is not a pressing matter for hobbyists but it does make the PCB look more "professional" :-).
Otherwise the PCB looks nice and compact.
- Jimmy
There's no such rule!
IN any case, even if there were a guideline suggesting this, the angles between the tracks which are at 45 degress would, by definition, be at 90 degrees....!
A lot of these tracks look manually routed. Sometimes you have to do that if your auto router craps out.
looks good to me. im
Autorouter? Pshaw...
The autorouter didn't like this board at all, could only route about 60% of the board. I ended up completely manually routing this board. And the rule regarding 90 degree angles only applies to high speed (like high RF frequency) traces. A sharp bend in the trace looks like a discontinuity to a high frequency signal and generates reflections. 45 degree angles work fine for 100's of MHz, but GHz signals usually are routed with rounded corners. The highest frequency signal on this board is the 16MHz clock, and those traces are only about 1/8" long, shouldn't be a problem.
Yes, I have spent several years actually planning and working on this robot. Thinking about it, doing research, etc. The board itself has about 2 weeks worth of work into it. I still need to run a cleanup pass. Maybe now that it's routed, the autorouter an make it pretty...
The CNC mill doesn't actually make things any easier, merely makes the final output look nicer. Basically trading money for skill. It takes quite a bit of work to get a CAD drawing ready to load into the Mill.
Making a mold is amazingly cheap and easy, but really only useful if you are going to make more than one of something. I use the prducts from TAP Plastics:
Silicone RTV Mold Materials
Quick-Cast Polyurethane Resin
Mold Making Guide
The only downside is that you need to pull a vacuum on the RTV and Polyurethane to get all the bubbles out and make sure the mold is filled. Alumilite also makes a pretty simple casting kit.
The equipment in my lab (yes I call it my robot lab ;-) is the result of about 15 years of hobby robotics ( http://robotguy.net/#RobotGallery to see most of my robots), as well as experience from about 10 years of professional robotics (I'm an Electrical Engineer at a robotics company).
Thanks for elaborating on
Thanks for elaborating on the stuff about trace angles - always nice to learn new stuff :-)
I'm looking forward to seeing more of this project!
- Jimmy
Electricity can go round curners?
Well rounded explaination. I think at GHz, I'd start to work about capacitance in the tracks as well. (A story for another day.)
For anyone who's interested, there's loads of stuff on the web on making RTV moulds and sucking the bubbles out. Liquid Latex is another option for small scale projects. Means you can also make plaster casts for working models and prototypes.
So, 15 years is what it takes, huh? I've only been able to afford it in the last 8 years, so I suppose I should be reasonably happy that my lab consists of a secondhand dual-trace 20MHz scope a dual benchtop PSU and a soldering iron. I have no budget. I had to make my own PCB etching tank using a fishtank aeration pump and an old ice-cream tub, for heaven's sake! My most used tool is probably my vertical drill press!
It might be cool if we showed off photos of our workshops or bedrooms, or wherever we make our toys. In fact, as if by magic, we can do it here.
Your website is ELITE! I want to see more of Rex and BigBot, though.
I was going to comment on
I was going to comment on this.. But I can only say "wow".
I am humbled and need words.
I've been lucky enough to
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.... -Marianne Williamson
:o
Robogames