Hexapod Makeover

[blegas78]

Well the tibia has not changed much, but here you go:

[jaspinall]

Looks awesome!

[blegas78]

Ok, it's been too long since the last update, especially considering I'm using a rapid prototyping machine, so here's where the project stands.

I have plenty of printed parts, and I forgot to show you the new and old coxa, so here you go:


I have decided to modify the top and bottom plate. First, I have three tabs that stick up on the top plate. These are to mount the Fit-PC2, the main brain of the hexapod. I have decided to remove these tabs and will make a bracket later, and it might need to be made out of something a little more durable. The nice thing now is that the top plate is not specific to the small computer, and I can make other brackets without having to make an entire new top plate.

Also, in the original design I had a single AX-12 that I wanted to use to pan the camera/head. Feeling a little constrained by this design, I realized I should go ahead and mount the other two AX-12 motors. I think coming up with the 3DOF head from this will be a fun one for you all to follow and give advice on. Here's the old and new top plate (old on left):


Here is a fully assembled leg:


And finally, here is my favorite pic of the day. I really crammed these motors in tightly:


Someday I will have my own printed circuit board, and my wiring will finally look good...

[Zenta]

Wow!

I'm speechless about what you can do with that 3D printer
I'm very curious about your plans for the head and all those crammed servos.

-Zenta

[innerbreed]

Great. iv been following you work for a while so its good to see you have posted more updates.
3D printer.... WOOoow "off to ask the wife for a new toy"

its coming along great and i really like the leg design. iv always liked "junkbots" because of all the intricate parts and detail. You have almost created this look using the tibia section 'having a great deal of fine detail and complexity... very nice.

[wuselfuzz]

I'm speechless about what you can do with that 3D printer

QFT!

I've seen a 3D printer years ago on a Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin and those parts would not be rigid enough for anything like that.

On a side note, somebody I know has access to a machine like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz0owSLTLJY

But CAD is totally absent from my skill set.

[Matt Denton]

On a side note, somebody I know has access to a machine like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz0owSLTLJY

That arrow laser is ridiculously fast!!

[blegas78]

I've seen a 3D printer years ago on a Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin and those parts would not be rigid enough for anything like that.

I have used a raid prototyping machine before on campus, and it uses the MIT method for 3D printing. This works by laying down a thin layer of starch, then prints a water based glue on the layer. The machine then lays down another, fresh layer of starch on top of that, and prints more glue. The result is really rough, and the resulting part is stiff and very brittle. These parts simply cannot be used in the real world...

its coming along great and i really like the leg design. iv always liked "junkbots" because of all the intricate parts and detail. You have almost created this look using the tibia section 'having a great deal of fine detail and complexity... very nice.

I love junkbots! Even though I have all of these new parts, people still seem to be intrigued by the tibia. I would hate to have to replace the tibia, but the thread-rod is just a tad too flexible for my taste, so I may have to re-design it at some point...

[blegas78]

What's nice about these motors is that all I need is power (red/black cable) and a single communication cable (red/black/white cable) to command all of them.

[Matt Denton]

sexy!