Today R2-XS was tested by taking a trip to 4th Grade Science Class. The kids loved him and he performed extremely well on the door jams and carpet in the school entry.
Afterward Chris and I did some last minute tuning. Chris took this video before he was loaded into the van for WonderCon.
Hopefully the next post will be about how awesome he performed at the convention.
Until then, I have work to do on my friend's Jawa costume, so that he can accompany us on Saturday.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Caster Cleaning
My other item for today's work was to degrease and clean the bearings in my casters and grease them up again. After the first day out they had been dragging and sticking.
I soaked the casters in an inch of Simple Green. After 20 min the tub had a layer of silt and chunks in the bottom. After drying everything off I put fresh grease back in and figured I was done.
Once I had everything assembled again I noticed that things didn't go back exactly the way they came out. My rear caster was now rubbing the sides in two spots. I had to take everything out again and deepen the cuts in the foot shell before calling the job done.
Thankfully XS is now turning smooth.
I soaked the casters in an inch of Simple Green. After 20 min the tub had a layer of silt and chunks in the bottom. After drying everything off I put fresh grease back in and figured I was done.
Once I had everything assembled again I noticed that things didn't go back exactly the way they came out. My rear caster was now rubbing the sides in two spots. I had to take everything out again and deepen the cuts in the foot shell before calling the job done.
Thankfully XS is now turning smooth.
Optima Battery Mounting
Today I set out to mount the Optima Blue Top battery in XS. My current wiring is designed to use 2 batteries, one for the electronics and the other for the foot motors. The primary reason was that the AX3500 Speed Controller cuts the foot motors if the battery drops below 10V causing the droid to jitter across the floor. By having its own battery it never knows when the primary battery is low so things stay smooth.
Of course all of that changes when you go to one large battery. The Optima should give me 8hrs or so of drive time without getting the jitters. Either way there is no room to put another battery.
So my goal was to make my system able to handle both my 18ah batteries and the Optima with the least amount of work if switching on the fly.
First thing I did was remove the plugs I had installed on my other batteries and wired screwed them together with the post from the big battery. I also wrapped the joint in electrical tape to prevent any potential disasters.
Next I removed my battery harness and strapped the Optima in with cargo straps. I put the hooks around the spacers holding the skirt on and criss-crossed them over the battery.
Once that was done I was able to put the post connections back on and plug both systems into the battery at the same time. With that done XS was running smooth. The battery slowed him down a little but not too bad.
As for making it an easy transition to the other batteries, I think I failed. If I start a day with the Optima in place, I can transition to the other batteries, but it would take about 10 minutes of screwing in the battery harness and putting the terminal plugs back.
Of course all of that changes when you go to one large battery. The Optima should give me 8hrs or so of drive time without getting the jitters. Either way there is no room to put another battery.
So my goal was to make my system able to handle both my 18ah batteries and the Optima with the least amount of work if switching on the fly.
First thing I did was remove the plugs I had installed on my other batteries and wired screwed them together with the post from the big battery. I also wrapped the joint in electrical tape to prevent any potential disasters.
Next I removed my battery harness and strapped the Optima in with cargo straps. I put the hooks around the spacers holding the skirt on and criss-crossed them over the battery.
Once that was done I was able to put the post connections back on and plug both systems into the battery at the same time. With that done XS was running smooth. The battery slowed him down a little but not too bad.
As for making it an easy transition to the other batteries, I think I failed. If I start a day with the Optima in place, I can transition to the other batteries, but it would take about 10 minutes of screwing in the battery harness and putting the terminal plugs back.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Recycled Bits
I thought it would be fun to catalog all of the random items that I have "recycled" from other places to create cheap or quick solutions for R2. Below is the current list of odd items.
Clear plastic, Washington Apples carton from CostCo, painted up becomes a nicely shaped Radar Eye. Unfortunately, if poked too hard its done for.
Milk jug cut and layered to make PSI lenses. Mike Velcheck's PSI's are so bright that I have 2 layers of milk jug hot glued together for one lense, and a third layer further up in the PVC tube.
I needed a quick, temporary fix for my lack of Logic LED's. These are a temporary WIP, made from Light Saber packaging. I have blue for the front.
My Zune dock need to connect to the amp via its Audio/Video cable, so I desoldered this one from a cable box.
The USB port, Headphone Jack and Speakers below were taken from an old PC, along with a number of connectors for various uses.
Last but not least, I needed something to keep the slip ring wires from falling into the dome drive motor. A quick scan of the garage revealed a slip 'n slide that my daughter had recently destroyed. I took the liberty of relieving it of this tube, which has done the job well.
Clear plastic, Washington Apples carton from CostCo, painted up becomes a nicely shaped Radar Eye. Unfortunately, if poked too hard its done for.
Milk jug cut and layered to make PSI lenses. Mike Velcheck's PSI's are so bright that I have 2 layers of milk jug hot glued together for one lense, and a third layer further up in the PVC tube.
I needed a quick, temporary fix for my lack of Logic LED's. These are a temporary WIP, made from Light Saber packaging. I have blue for the front.
My Zune dock need to connect to the amp via its Audio/Video cable, so I desoldered this one from a cable box.
The USB port, Headphone Jack and Speakers below were taken from an old PC, along with a number of connectors for various uses.
Last but not least, I needed something to keep the slip ring wires from falling into the dome drive motor. A quick scan of the garage revealed a slip 'n slide that my daughter had recently destroyed. I took the liberty of relieving it of this tube, which has done the job well.
Shaky Legs
One of the problems that I ran into during my test outing Tuesday was that the legs had worked loose and would fold forward during acceleration causing the wheels to slip or the front casters to bind up.
I tried to tighten the bolts by hand to no avail. I took advice given and put a hex like tip in a ratchet, which I quickly broke (leaving about 1.5" of broken tool down in the leg).
I found myself wishing I had an aluminum plate to make some sort of bracket, but since that wasn't an option, I resorted to more creative means.
I reached for the trusty cutting board used for the foot wedges and created inserts for the inside of the frame where the 2-3-2 motion would be (pictured below).
With the cutting board inserts in place, there is very little play in the legs and now R2 does a little wheely when he accelerates fast.
I tried to tighten the bolts by hand to no avail. I took advice given and put a hex like tip in a ratchet, which I quickly broke (leaving about 1.5" of broken tool down in the leg).
I found myself wishing I had an aluminum plate to make some sort of bracket, but since that wasn't an option, I resorted to more creative means.
I reached for the trusty cutting board used for the foot wedges and created inserts for the inside of the frame where the 2-3-2 motion would be (pictured below).
With the cutting board inserts in place, there is very little play in the legs and now R2 does a little wheely when he accelerates fast.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Fresh Batteries
After the game yesterday, when R2 was limping to the car one of the Dads told me he had a battery that came with his trailer that he didn't need and he offered it to me. He said it was a blue top and that it was 55Ah.
I wasn't sure if he was really serious, but tonight he brought it and dropped it off.
Its an Optima 8016-103 D34M BlueTop Dual Purpose Battery which retails around $200.
With a battery like this I should be able to drive R2 all day without a recharge. The only catch is that it weighs 43lbs and its larger than the ankle base plate in some dimensions. To use it I will have to remove my battery harness and come up with some other way to secure this thing.
Ironically, the long lost batteries that Chris and I ordered on line, showed up last night too. At least I wont have to order a second set.
I wasn't sure if he was really serious, but tonight he brought it and dropped it off.
Its an Optima 8016-103 D34M BlueTop Dual Purpose Battery which retails around $200.
With a battery like this I should be able to drive R2 all day without a recharge. The only catch is that it weighs 43lbs and its larger than the ankle base plate in some dimensions. To use it I will have to remove my battery harness and come up with some other way to secure this thing.
Ironically, the long lost batteries that Chris and I ordered on line, showed up last night too. At least I wont have to order a second set.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
1st Outing
Today XS made his way to our grade school campus for a test on carpet, then to the High School for a few hours before heading to the Girls B-Ball playoffs.
The carpet was a little too thick and killed his batteries fast so as soon as I got him to the high school I started charging him in the hall.
Everyone enjoyed seeing him and there were lots of pics taken. Even the teachers were ok with the loud interruption.
We got him charged and loaded in time to make the game, which our team won. I think it was because R2 was there to cheer for them. I did find myself wishing he made a sound something like, "What are you BLIND, REF?"
In the end R2 got his pic with the victorious Lady Falcons.
edit: I had some issues with my center foot. Now that its been used and loosened up, I need to at some wedges to keep it from tipping when I turn or accelerate.
The carpet was a little too thick and killed his batteries fast so as soon as I got him to the high school I started charging him in the hall.
Everyone enjoyed seeing him and there were lots of pics taken. Even the teachers were ok with the loud interruption.
We got him charged and loaded in time to make the game, which our team won. I think it was because R2 was there to cheer for them. I did find myself wishing he made a sound something like, "What are you BLIND, REF?"
In the end R2 got his pic with the victorious Lady Falcons.
edit: I had some issues with my center foot. Now that its been used and loosened up, I need to at some wedges to keep it from tipping when I turn or accelerate.
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