R2server

Thanks guys for the Links and leads for Webcams.

I've been looking at the Phidgets boards lately. There USB controlled Input output Boards that are low cost, and you can controll them through code (java, .net, Visual basic, visual c,and more). They have one that lets you controll upto 4 Servos off one board, for $75ca (about $65us). I'm looking at it to create some random movements of the Holo Eye, or open some panels on the body (like the Recharge ports). Not sure Just checking things out.


Crazybillybob


Thanks All for the Positive - Helpful Comments, Please Keep the Comments coming (positive or other wise)....As I'm new to the Worklog thing Let me know How I can make the work log better as well as improve the Project!

My Fiber glassing Didn't go as planed. :mad: Currently I have a Very sticky, very flimsily mess in my garage....My first guess I ran out of hardener and was not sure I had put enough in...Guess that thought was Right after all.

Here's the new plan:
buy more hardener
use 1 layer of fiberglass cloth a layer of fiberglass mat (1.5oz short fiber) then cover with another layer of glass cloth. I'm planning on laying this mess up on Friday night (so I'll have time to work on it ...if it dries : Or I'll have time to come up with a new plan that doesn't include fiberglass...maybe some Sheet Aluminum or PVC heated and Bent to shape)

I'll post a pic of the flimsy sticky mess later today!

CrazyBillybob

Forget the Fiberglass, just get a sheet of Cintra, it's PVC signboard. You could get a sheet of it from any sign printer, and it is stronger than most plexi and just as easy to work with (IMO). Less mess, and less stress when cutting it - you don't get all itchy. I hate working with fingerglass!

I'm Already using Cintra (or some PVC board)

Look down in the Log where I made the Utility Arm Carries (Gray Rounded cage thingys). And I tried using it for this....2 hours with a heat gun Only got a slite warp in the sheet (it's 1/4" thick! x 11.5" x 17 1/4") That's why I busted out the fiberglass...I thought it would bw quicker. I'll give the glass one more try (cause it's not it's fault I ran out of hardener. If that doesn't work....The Cintra's going in the Oven (my wife will hate me but...R2 Needs IT!)

Thanks for the Idea .... I should have posted that I had tried it. That Cruve it's gotta hold is whats causeing all my problems!

Crazybillybob

I've been busy working this evening after returning home from work.

Here is the Not quite Bent enough Piece of Cintra that lead to the Fiberglass Laying.

Here is my first (Failed!) attempt at laying Fiber glass...The Resin never Dried!

So first thing tonight when I got home was to lay up a new Door.
This time I laid 1 layer of Fiberglass cloth then 1 layer of fiberglass mat then covered with a layer of fiberglass cloth. (the mat is on the left, the cloth is on the right)

Here it is all laid up!

After the door is laid up, I started cleaning up so of the resin detail pieces so I can paint them tomorrow.

The resin seems to be drying correctly this time :) So tomorrow and Sunday could be busy days fitting the door and painting resin ....doing all those things on that Honey do list!!!

Crazybillybob

Success!!! :D This Try Came out great!
Here's the Access door Roughly trimmed down. The Curve and fit look great.

I want to take a minute here to talk about safety...If your working with Bondo or fiber glass make sure you take all the safety precautions recommended.
That means a good Respirator. (This one was like $20 from Harbor freight)

Not one of those $0.99 cheapies.

Always wear Safety glasses (I've been In the hospital with a steel fragment in my Eye...You never want that!!!) and when working with resins and other chemicals wear Gloves (Read the labels some solvents will eat rubber and latex gloves so wear the right ones!)

Now Back to building!

I also laid up some more fiberglass to use on the front two interface arm doors.

Crazybillybob

....that same respirator cost me $40 at Home Depot....actually, it looks better than mine.......

lol, that would have to suck.

Bob, read your other topic (the one about the battery charging problem), there is now a large thing to read.... from ME!!!!!

Glad to hear it worked out so well! I may have to look into doing the fiberglass thing for my big mod/scratchbuild I have planned for sometime next year. How does it work out, cost-wise? (in other words, how much does a panel like that cost?)

Resin runs about $11 a quart (I used about 1/2 quart for that panel and another half that size) The fiber glass cloth is about $6 for 8 Sq feet and the glass mat is about $6 for 8Sq feet. So for the two panels I have $23 bucks into it, Plus I've got enough resin left to make the Ankles (the next part I'm going to need) But the Ankles will be much thicker (4 to 8 layers) and reinforced with some 1/8" Aluminum, This is because of all the lateral forces that will be applied on the ankles when R2 makes turns (He will weigh about 90 pounds before we add Batts and Extra electronics (PC)) So that's allot of force when he's tooling around.


Crazybillybob

Got a Little Painting done this week after work in the evenings.

My group of Resin Detail Pieces here are primered Gray then covered with Rustoleum Come finish. After working with the Chrome the best way to use it is a top coat...more like a candy, because if you try to build up layers like with normal paint the shininess of the surface goes away, get bumpy and distorted. The Next group will get primered 2 coats of silver paint, a top coat of chrome, and a couple light coats of clear (to much and the shine goes away).

Here's one of the Leg Hubs up close.

I also Tested an off white paint for R2. The Real R2 is a Cream color (that's because it shows up on film as white, but doesn't blend into the Stark white interiors of the ships :) ) But since My R2 is not going to be filmed I just want him a little off white not Almond. So I picked up a can of Biscuit paint. This foot shell still need some details cut out so I did most of the body work (Bondo the corners and some of the dents, not to many Cause R2 needs to look used not right off the show room floor!) A couple of coats of primer some wet sanding and some color coats (2). This is what you get.

Let me remind you that this foot was made out of an old PC Case, That I hand bent and Spot welded together (I've still gotta make the Center foot So I'll take Pics as it Happens so I can Post them!).....Not bad for a HIllBilly with a hammer!

Crazybillybob

I'm going to be out of town this week (Working in Indy) So I don't think I'll get much done....Check back later though (next weekend is full on modathon!).


Thanks,
Crazybillybob

Congrats on getting Featured here @ TBCS

wow man this mod is looking awsome i cant belirve how well its coming along
i mean the inginuity in this project is amazing
i cant believe u already put so much detail in
well keep on going

is there any peticular advantages to haveing a server based board and if so what

Well I didn't get the big thing I wanted to done this weekend, R2's legs mounted.

It would seem my wife's been checking out Tribal's thread... She wanted a new workbench in the garage, We've talked about it for 2 months this weekend she decides to start it.... :? Well I don't think she did a bad job on ! :)

Now there's only 2 More to build (they'll have plywood tops for mounting tools).

I did get several smaller thing done on R2 though,

I got the Rear Access Door cut out (both the styrene and Fiberglass)

I also Reinforced the Fiberglass to keep it from distorting when the unit is attached to the hinges.

The frame was prepped for the front skins to be glued on, a few places on the frame had to be ground down or cut out to make room for the resin details.
Before

After

And one of the Aluminum details was made. It's called a coin return (cause that's what it looks like!) R2 has 3 of them, 2 in the back and a larger one in the front.
I started with some flat Aluminum sheet and bent up the pocket bit of the return.

Then cut out the front plates.

A bit of dremeling, some filing later, and the slightest hint of JB kwik, It's done!

Here's what it looks like in the skins (just set in for now!)

I'm still hoping to get the legs mounted this week...
Only problem is I have to remake the mounting plate, I miss aligned them by 1/2" ....I've got almost 1Gb of drawings, pics, etc. for this mod and I mess up the little things....you know the part that holds all the weight! :mad: Just goes to show you even with planning there's always mistakes!

More Later
Crazybillybob

:omg: that is too cool---this is really great to watch---keep it up!

I got a little more done on the rear Access door last night.
The styrene skin and the fiberglass stiffener were glued together (with gorilla glue...I love this stuff!) and Clamped.

Then Quick before I left for work I stuck it into place (with some tape)..I've gotta clean up some of the glue that leaked out and adjust it for final fit, but it looks like that is going to be minor adjustments at this point! :D

I also ordered three motor speed controllers

Bi-directional Speed Controller from Electronics123
These will run the Main feet drive, and in the future the dome drive too.

I also ordered 1 Pic flasher to drive all those LEDs in the rear of the dome (why reinvent the wheel)

Pic Flasher from Carl’s Electronics

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by I'll have more up soon (and some other R2 pics...The Michigan R2 builders are meeting this Saturday In Detroit!)

Crazybillybob

:omg: LoL..you have everything but clothespins and hair barrets clamping that piece down ---lookin great..did you laminate seperate pieces of styrene to get the raised panel look on the body or is that scribed?

All the skins are 2 layers of 0.04" styrene....I've been meaning to put up a how it was done segment here (Maybe I should finish it and get it posted) as the skins were done long before I started the Log. The 2 layer method takes more time but I love the look it gives! plus it's easier to flex then a solid 0.08" sheet, but is stronger then a 0.04" sheet. (means when I hit things with him I will not have to patch holes!).

Crazybillybob


By the Way those little binder clips (little black metal ones from the office stores) Work great as clamps for small pieces...the Jaw force is strong, the can get into tight places that my bigger clamps/clips can't...and they can be disposable because their cheap! :D (free some places) I like to keep some around to be my extra fingers..... Plus I live in the City now :mad: (move here because of my wife's schooling ) and we have one of those Electric Driers… so we have no clothes pins here, or There probably would have been a few on there too! :D

The layered laminating method is the best way for big panels like yours--you obviously did your homework ;) People have no idea how strong this stuff is once its laminated together--incredible.

BillyBob, out of curiosity - what do you do for a living?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rankenphile

BillyBob, out of curiosity - what do you do for a living?

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I'm an "IT Engineer"....That's the title they.. made up for me when I started here.

I Work for a Software company that supplies test software to manufacturing companies. My responsibility is Internal hardware / network (like 4 of us share this job) and I order and build / install Servers (and some client) machines, as well as setup our software on them (Database stuff too!)....In a nut shell I'm an IT Geek (but I have an Electrical/Electronic Engineering degree...Talk about not using what you paid for!).

Is that painful enough for you? or do you want more details?

(as a side note, I grew up on a farm, my wife is in Vet school (animal doc) We plan on owning a farm as soon as we can!...So I truly am a Redneck, I'd rather be in flannel and denim any day! :D and deal with animals rather than city folk :eek: I'm just pretending to be a GEEK! :omg: )

Crazybillybob

Actually, that sounds about right. :)

I was just curious. You've got a lot of knowledge for all sorts of mechanical and electrical engineering, and have always been a big help on this site. I know a couple of IT guys who sound a lot like you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rankenphile

You've got a lot of knowledge for all sorts of mechanical and electrical engineering, and have always been a big help on this site. I know a couple of IT guys who sound a lot like you.

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I'll tell you what, this R2 Project has double my knowledge. I've been talking to guys that have designed things for years, Mech and Eleco. To figure some of the things out, Then I still have to sit here and do the old....Now what was he saying about this angle and that angle.....Screw it!, this looks about right! :D

I've always loved working with kids, Even when I was one I tried to help where I could. Now that I'm in the "Big Kid" category I try and help everyone (older, younger, the same) I've been getting allot of help with this project. Most of it is in the form of Ideas, allot has been in learning skills, and very little has been in work. When I started I didn't know how to weld, lay fiberglass, or see the usefulness in really bending sheet metal (not just 90degs or 45 degs) but designing / fabricating sheet metal. Now I can weld with an oxyacetylene torch, fiber glassing can be fun , and I'm making shapes out of sheet alum that I never thought I'd make!
It's been fun, I guess that's what I call a good hobby. For me it's less about how many cases I pounded out and more about the experience gained in the creation of a case. To that end I've tried to pass on what I've learned to all of you!

Crazybillybob

I think you nailed it, friend.

In the process of putting together the xbox arcade project I've got going now, I've already learned a ton. I've never really done much woodworking before, and knew nothing of soldering and electronics. Now, I'm doing both, and learning about them as I go. That's the beauty of a hobby like this, and having a forum like this with worklogs to pour over in the process - there are so many parts to know about in these types of projects, from basic artistry to electronics design to manufacturing and fabrication, that you HAVE to learn as you go. Nobody can know everything, and the most fun I've had in these projects is the learning.

I can't wait till I get to start working with plexi. Defyant's mods have really gotten me excited about that stuff.

See? :)

This weekend was productive for me :D
I was able to get a few detail pieces painted. This blue color takes allot of time, as there is 3 coats of primer, 3 coats of metallic purple base, 3 coats of blue metal fleck candy, and 3-5 coats clear.. These only have 3 clear I have some touchups to do on some so I'll smooth the clear with 1000grit and lay 2-3 more coats soon.
Some of these pics are a little dark (it was night and I was outside)

The Purple Base

The Blue Candy

The Finished Product

I also was able to cut out new Shoulder mounts so hopefully the legs will be mounted on R2 this week! :)

To make the mounts I cut out 2 Rectangles of plywood. Then laid out the start and stop points of my notches. These notches allow me to stand R2 up (2Leg) for transport by removing his front leg. While also allowing me to drive him in 3 leg mode with out him falling over. I used a compass to draw in the center line of the notches.

Then I center punched holes along the center line, I'm using a 1/4 hole so I tried to keep the centers just over 1/4" apart (less filing later)

Next It's just a matter of drilling allot of holes.

After a bit of clean up here's the finished Product.

Saturday Morning I loaded R2 Up, for a Road Trip to Detroit for the MI R2-Builders Meet. There were only 4 R2's at this meet and only one that was complete...Sadly my pics of him Suck so their not here. But here are a couple of pic from the meeting.

Matt Bush (Star Wars Artist) Stopped by and fun was had by all! :D

While I was out on Saturday The Pic Flasher came in the mail...WOW that was Fast! So I put it together (some idiot forgot to take a pic of the parts not assembled :mad: ) But here it is all wired up.

And here it is all lite up!

These big LEDs are just there to test it, I'm going back to the Drawing board with my big display so it will be a little bit before we see it all up and running.

All in all it was a good weekend, my wife was sick with a fever (her flu shot got her!) but was better by late Sunday, but even with that it was a good weekend!

I'll get another update up soon (I've gotta mount those shoulder blocks!)

Crazybillybob

the Flasher looks like the same one I have on one of my mods that have been put on hold for a while ...

and

If it's the one from Carl's Electronics then it's the same one! (I know that they order it from another company so It's a very good chance they are the same!)

It will drive well over a hundred LEDs If you hook it up per the Directions, but more if you go Series/Parallel!


If you've got any Q's let me know.

Crazybillybob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crazybillybob

If it's the one from Carl's Electronics then it's the same one! (I know that they order it from another company so It's a very good chance they are the same!)

It will drive well over a hundred LEDs If you hook it up per the Directions, but more if you go Series/Parallel!


If you've got any Q's let me know.

Crazybillybob

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same one ... no questions ... Just need to finish the project, and I also started a 2nd one (So I need to really get the work done on both).

I do have a movie of the lights working but i need to re-do it in a different codex so it is not one that will kill my bandwidth.

I've gotta get a Webcam for R2. Once I get it and the display worked out I'll host some video of it.


Crazybillybob

The next complicated piece that I need for R2 is the Ankles. They need to be very strong as all the weight of R2 is on them and is multiplied several times in a hard turn (hey if he's R/C I want to play!). My solution to this is Fiberglass Reinforced with a 1/4" alum plate on one side and a 1/8" plate on the other side.
In thinking about this I realized that I've got to make a mold for the fiberglass. So I fired up some CAD software and a few hours later, I've got a vertical Mold. In the pics the mold supports are the Green and the ankle is blue. I only drew in the plywood forms, I'll skin the inside with 0.04" Styrene (I've got some extra around here) this way the fiberglass will be nice and smooth.

Now That I have a Plan I can start building the mold. Then Lay more glass!
Keep checking in I'll post more as it's built.

Crazybillybob

Wow after wathing this project and others and reading just how much people have said they have learnt I really cant wait till I get money together and start this mod and learn new stuff and see how it turns out.

These forums are trully awesome and I really cant wait till I start.

Oh sure, get all excited now, but don't expect an apology from us when you can't decide if you should spend your money on rent or servos and plexi!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rankenphile

Oh sure, get all excited now, but don't expect an apology from us when you can't decide if you should spend your money on rent or servos and plexi!

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Wait, Your supposed to stop and think about it? :eek: Hands down the answer is servos and Plexi. :D Wait that's a trick Question, I don't pay rent I have a mortgage :)


Crazybillybob

Damn! You're one high tech redneck! How the hell are you gonna fabricate that stuff??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

Damn! You're one high tech redneck! How the hell are you gonna fabricate that stuff??

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With a little "Farmer" Engineering, and my trusty band saw.

Look for an update in the morning and you'll see the start! :D

Crazybillybob

Yesterday I stopped by ASAP Source They're located just up the road from my office. I was there for cheap Aluminum plates ASAP calls them randoms, really it's just scrap or mistakes from cutting or machining. I picked up 2 6"x9" 1/4" 6061 Aluminum plates, an a 18"x24" 0.08" 3003 sheet for $17us (that's with taxes). I was happy :D , to top that find off the hobby shop called, I went there looking for retractable landing gear door hinges ( because their designed to allow the door to close flush with the skin of the plane when the hinge is mounted inside the plane), we had to order some and they had came in. So here's my haul form yesterday.

I also started cutting out the plywood supports for the mold (this is how I'm going to fabricate all those lines in the drawing!). I Printed out all the pieces of the forms on paper (from the drawing)

Once it was printed I Sprayed the back of the paper with Spray adhesive.

I left it get tacky (3-5 mins) then stuck it to the 1/4" plywood. A few minutes at the band saw and you have this.

Support ribs for the mold. I need to add some bevels in a few places then all the pieces will be attached to a base board (makes it easy to move around). Once cut and beveled I'll skin the inside of the mold with styrene (it will smooth out allot of the irregularities in my cuts and it bends easier then plywood! I hope to get the mounting and skinning done this weekend but I have an upgrade to do at a plant also this weekend, so I'm not sure how much I'll get done (IE. If the upgrade is smooth I'll get allot done, if it's not ...You will not hear from me till Tuesday or Wednesday! :mad: )
I also started laying out the 1/4" Alum reinforcing plate as well.

That's all I completed yesterday!
Crazybillybob

Nice deal on the metal.

Can you show a detail of the hinges? I'm interested to see how they work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rankenphile

Can you show a detail of the hinges? I'm interested to see how they work.

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There is a Closer picture of them sitll in the bag nested under retractable landing gear door hinges in the post (and here). As I have not taken them out of the bag yet, so can't do any better. I was really tempted to open them up last night, but there's some tiny screws and nylon bushings in there, and my one cat runs off with anything not nailed down (for some reason it ends up under couch or dresser? :? ). But I will make sure there are sevral pics of the hinges (with very good detail). As I need sevral more of these for the rest of the doors on R2 I maybe make some of my own too! So you'll be seeing allot more of them don't worry ! :D

Crazybillybob

this is how R2 is meant to be built!