tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53985688103985964402024-03-20T08:05:51.470-07:00The Corner CaseAngry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-70777214881651837682018-12-22T18:01:00.005-08:002021-02-05T22:44:32.568-08:00The Dart Shark: Nerf Magazine LoaderSo, it's a "shark" that eats Nerf darts? ... Yeah, pretty much.<br />
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The Dart Shark is a mechanized Nerf dart chomper which has the sole purpose of making it easier to reload Nerf magazines. When a dart is inserted, it uses 3 lithium batteries to power a motor & crank to actuate the head which loads the dart into the magazine. The fact that it looks like a shark started by happenstance. The shark specific features I added seemed cool, so I stuck with them. It helped make the design more fun. In case you're wondering, this has nothing to do with 'Baby Shark' The Musical... Although I did find the timing of this release comical.<br />
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Obviously this can be perceived as a bit much for the task. Loading magazine upon magazine is not particularly difficult although it will get quite boring and then annoying. The motivating aspect here, beyond reducing frustration, is that this presents a good design challenge! This is always something I am up for, especially when it gives me the opportunity to try my hand at productionizing a motorized contraption.<br />
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The reality is that this does make loading magazines much easier as it allows you to only focus on pushing the dart into The Dart Shark and not about aligning the dart or pushing the rest of the dart stack down. Due to this, loading can be now be done one handed or while walking around. With the 3 lithium batteries pushing 12v to the motor it will cycle quite fast and make you feel like you're doing half the work you're used to.<br />
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As for the design, it took a while for me to come up with something simple enough that I would be able to sell. I had many ideas but most were too complicated and tried to allow the user to throw a handful of darts into a box and have them automatically come out loaded into magazines. I eventually settled on making a simpler design in order to set a more achievable goal for myself. I know it sounds like cheaping out but at some point you need to downshift in order to actually get somewhere.<br />
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I settled on a simple lever & crank design for this version of The Dart Shark. The lever has a "tongue" that holds the dart stack down before the next dart is inserted. Once a new dart is inserted it pushes the tongue out of the way until it hits a switch that cycles the mechanism. The mechanism angles the lever up so that the tongue can spring forward and push the darts down again when the lever comes to rest. The mechanism even has an overload spring that prevents it from getting stuck if the magazine is full.<br />
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Most of the parts in the Dart Shark are single color 3D prints made from PLA. I use steel screws to hold everything together and try to make efficient use of the fasteners where possible. Several parts are inherently captured by the installation of other components. I used 14500 lithium cells, switches, and a brushed motor to control the mechanism. It is wired up in such a way that the motor is in a brake state when not being powered. This reduces the overshoot of the mechanism, due to momentum, and makes the movement very consistent over the voltage range of the battery.<br />
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Designing something like this was a pet project of mine for a while. I was trying to address an area of play that I think gets neglected. Everyone is familiar with the fun part - shooting darts - and designs new products around that. I tried to focus on improving an annoying part - the slow reloading process. I figured that making this task a little less annoying would greatly improve the overall fun of game play. It really just comes down to this: If you have 10 mags all loaded up, would you shoot all the darts out of them? Answer: yes. So, let's try to make it easier to get those 10 mags all loaded up. I think there are definitely different designs and improvements that can be made but for now this is one item to offer some help.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqP_8GzqEGl2qDUfCu-e76uMADCW2agIZua7RZRKlRdF-YAatf32AuPqp6UKvkPagfUYjSoDizS9En9CikozHXF2pBerfQvfEOBIKkjaOTE9nP_nrGEf_pzRtHs073TbhyphenhyphenVUU_cAIt5fJO/s2048/20181005_1819262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="2048" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqP_8GzqEGl2qDUfCu-e76uMADCW2agIZua7RZRKlRdF-YAatf32AuPqp6UKvkPagfUYjSoDizS9En9CikozHXF2pBerfQvfEOBIKkjaOTE9nP_nrGEf_pzRtHs073TbhyphenhyphenVUU_cAIt5fJO/w640-h360/20181005_1819262.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><br />
--- Update 1/27/19:<br />
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After some feedback from the community I made a small change to the body of the Dart Shark to allow it to work with a MOLLE attachment system I designed. This allows the Dart Shark to be worn on a vest or belt during battle to enable one handed loading of magazines. It also allows for mounting at many different angles so the fit can be tailored to the mounting location on your gear. This is especially useful when reloading in vulnerable situations where you don't want to put down your blaster. During my testing I found it to be awesome and by far the best use of this reloader. I plan to run this as part of my load out going forward.<br />
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Check out my Etsy Shop <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/AM34Designs" target="_blank">AM34 Designs</a> for more information.<div><br />Design files available for free on <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3722173" target="_blank">Thingiverse</a>.<br /><br />
BlasterHub review of the <a href="http://www.blasterhub.com/2018/12/dart-shark-review/" target="_blank">Dart Shark.</a></div></div>Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-7428312026947720372018-02-17T14:22:00.000-08:002020-05-16T14:56:15.550-07:00Nerf Desolator Mods & UpgradesEver since I was a kid, I enjoyed playing with Nerf <strike>guns</strike> blasters. I just liked shooting things around the house, which included my brother. I remember shooting suction cup darts at our CRT TV while watching shows (aiming at the characters / actors). It was way too much fun.<br />
<a name='more'></a>As I grew up, and pursued engineering, I found a new interest in learning how the blasters worked. Then I started modifying and building my own and making them more powerful. After that, I found yet another interest in the industrial design of the blasters. Needless to say, this is a very multifaceted hobby for me.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><i><Nerf Desolator in its Stock Configuration></i></span></div>
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A short time ago, I got my first personal 3D printer. This was the tipping point. Now I could use my sweet design skills to make modifications, upgrades, and additions to my Nerf blasters - or create completely new ones. This led to my first project: upgrading my Nerf Desolator.<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><Light Configuration of my Desolator></span></i></div>
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Ever since Nerf came out with the Doomlands line of blasters I've really liked the industrial design, especially all the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeble" target="_blank">greeble</a>. The heavy dose of 'ridiculous' that exists in each blaster design really resonated with me. Currently, these are my favorites in the series: the <a href="http://thecornercase.blogspot.com/2017/06/steampunkd-glowing-nerf-persuader.html" target="_blank">Persuader</a>, Negotiator, The Judge, and the Desolator. When I first purchased the Desolator, I thought it looked amazing and had great performance with the flywheel design. But there was something else... It had a lot of potential... My first observations were that it was too short and didn't accept Nerf barrel attachments. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to try to fix this by making some upgrades. I didn't just want to make functional add-ons. I wanted to make parts that looked like they belonged on the blaster.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><i><Early Build of my Shoulder Stock and Barrel Adapter></i></span></div>
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I designed a shoulder stock extension that bolts onto the rear of the blaster. It extends the length by 4.75" while also providing storage for an extra magazine. To address the barrel attachment issue, I designed a part that bolts onto the front of the blaster which accepts all Nerf barrel attachments. Now, it's worth noting that adding barrel attachments will actually decrease range and accuracy of any blaster. This is especially true for the Desolator because it wasn't originally designed to take barrel attachments. So, on one hand your blaster can look way cooler, while on the other it will perform worse. My answer to this was simple: buy two (I actually have 6). One will look cool and the other will function.<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><Sniper Configuration of my Desolator></span></i></div>
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After incorporating these two upgrades, I was immediately impressed. This was turning into my favorite blaster. It didn't take long before I realized that it needed something more, as the whole appearance was getting a bit long and bottom-heavy. The Desolator is a bit unique in that it has two rails on top. I took advantage of this nice coincidence and designed a tactical handle that snaps onto both of the rails just like any other Nerf rail attachment. I added a standard Nerf rail on top of this handle to allow standard Nerf attachments to be used with it. This really balanced out the aesthetics of the blaster while giving it an edgy look.<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><Heavy Configuration of my Desolator></span></i></div>
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For me, I get most of my enjoyment from designing new hardware. After that, I get equal enjoyment from assembling the blasters in various configurations (aka, playing "Legos") as I do from using them.<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><Best Foregrip Ever?></span></i></div>
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As you can see, there are a lot of nice looking configuration options for this blaster. The Sniper configuration is very fun to behold because it's just so freaken big. The stock Desolator is just over half the length of the blaster. Despite that, my favorite is the Light configuration as this is the most functional. I can still put sights on it, flashlights, and load it up with two Worker 22rd mags if I want.<br />
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After all this... I couldn't stop. I designed a Rail-To-Rail Adapter, which allows the connection of two rail attachments - this is useful for connecting a bipod under some barrel attachments (seen in the above Sniper config picture). I made another add-on for the Desolator that puts a Nerf-compatible side rail on each face of the blaster, near the barrel. I now needed something to put on these rails, so I designed a snap-on flashlight that is compatible with all Nerf rails as well as the ones I printed. The flashlight mount was designed with flexible geometry to allow it to snap onto the rails just like a normal Nerf attachment. I even added some filters to the flashlights so they illuminate in different colors.<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><#PrimaryColors></span></i></div>
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Then I got carried away and created a "Tri-Rail Adapter" which snaps onto any Nerf rail and gives three rail mounts. One rail on top and two rails on the sides. This is just a combination of the CAD from the Rail-To-Rail Adapter and the flashlight so the design time was about half a day. It honestly doesn't have a lot of useful purpose...<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><Like Pistols w/ Scopes? How about all the Scopes?></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: x-small;"><Useful for Complicated Night Mission Signalling></span></i></div>
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I think I enjoyed designing all these parts way too much. I just really like being able to identify something to improve, or something I wish existed, and having the ability to design & fabricate a solution. Plus, I learned a ton about designing & printing with FFF (FDM) machines. And, as we all know, knowledge is power. But not like real power, as in Watts; it's more like a notional mental power...<br />
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This is all I have created for now. I have many more ideas, which makes it difficult to decide what to do next. I like the idea of making parts for existing blasters, or potentially creating my own custom blaster with some interesting attributes. Stay tuned as there is more to come on this. If you have ideas, post them in the comments section below.<br />
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I'm working on posting all of my designs for sale on Etsy. See my store link below for more information.<br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/AM34Designs" target="_blank">My Etsy Shop - AM34Designs</a><br />
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<b>Update 3/29/18 - Review Video:</b><br />
Lord Drac made a video review of my hardware! It's very cool. Check out the video:<br />
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<b>Update 05/19/18 - Voltage Mod & Custom Barrels:</b><br />
I started playing around with using lithium batteries, with great success, in my Desolator to increase the firing velocity. This isn't anything new as many many people have modded their blasters to use rechargeable lithium batteries to accomplish this. What may be new to people is this same thing can be done without modifying the blaster in any way.<br />
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Some of you many have heard of batteries called 18650. This is a rechargeable lithium cell that is very popular at the moment because it's a local optimum in many areas: safety, size, durability, capacity, discharge rate, and voltage. This specific battery, or "cell", isn't anything super special. The same thing can be found in different sizes - like 14500. The name, or number, of the cell is really just a size. An 18650 is just a cell that is 18mm in diameter and 65.0mm long. Likewise a 14500 is 14mm in diameter and 50.0mm long - which is the exact size as a AA battery. Factually, a 14500 alkaline cell is the technical name for a standard AA battery.<br />
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If you look around the internet, and even Amazon, you can find rechargeable <i>lithium</i> 14500 cells. This matters because the lithium battery chemistry results in voltages between 4.2v and 3v whereas an alkaline cell will be 1.5v to 0v (and not rechargeable). This means that by using these drop-in replacement cells in your blasters you can more than double the voltage going to the motors. In reality, this will likely <u>destroy</u> your motors so <b>I do not recommend this</b>. What can be done is using a combination of lithium batteries and 'dummy batteries' to get more voltage but not too much. A dummy battery just fills the space where a battery should go, completes the circuit, but doesn't add any voltage. In the case of the desolator I use 2 lithium 14500 cells and 2 dummy batteries. This gives an operating voltage of 8.4v to 6v (normal AA batteries start at 6v and go down). This is more than enough to give the darts a good speed increase but not enough so that the stock motors will suffer. The run time with these cells is very good and not something to be concerned with.<br />
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The one issue with lithium batteries is that you do need to be careful not to get the voltage of each cell below ~3v or you will damage the cell. The normal way I do this is just by listening to the blaster. You'll know when the flywheels start to sound like they're going slow. Then it'll be time to recharge the batteries. This can also be checked with a voltmeter. The way the voltages work out the blaster will sound like it's running on 4 normal AA batteries when the lithium cells are at their lowest voltage (if you're just using 2 lithium cells).<br />
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I got the 14500 rechargeable lithium batteries, the charger, and the dummy batteries on Amazon. There isn't anything special here - just be careful not to get cheap cells. Look for lots of good reviews and a rated capacity of the cells that is between 850mA and 600mA. Anything outsize this rate is either not real or poor quality.<br />
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On the <b>Custom Barrels</b> note - I recently designed a barrel attachment system that I hope to use to create, and help others create, custom Nerf barrels. The system is designed to tolerate subtly different sizes in the barrel attachment point which will help when making or mating to 3D printed parts. I made an ICD (interface control document) for the system to help others CAD up barrel designs. I posted the parts up for free on Thingiverse. I also uploaded a simple example barrel to help people get started. Check out my Thingiverse link below to see more.<br />
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<a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/angry_monk/about" target="_blank">My Thingiverse Page</a><br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-57069819986754365892018-01-15T21:31:00.001-08:002020-05-16T14:53:54.649-07:00ES120 Electric Screwdriver ReviewFor a long time I've been on the look out for a good electric screwdriver. I wanted one that was small, had good build quality, good RPM, and good torque. Now, "good" is a relative term so I'll elaborate a little and say that I do like nice things and most of the screws I use are in the #2 to #10 range. As long as the driver could push these with a decent speed and seat them with a "finger-tight" level of torque, I would be happy. I didn't want something huge like the ones that you can get from the hardware store. Recently I found the ES120 electric screwdriver and it appears like I found what I was looking for.<br />
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Honestly, this little electric screwdriver is sweet. It's about the size of a large marker or highlighter and has only one button that controls the entire operation. Holding down this button will turn on the screwdriver and light up a little screen. Rotating the screwdriver clockwise or CCW will start the motor. There are 5 qualitative torque modes: 4 constant speed modes and one Automatic mode that varies the torque & speed as a function of how much you rotate the driver. From what I can tell, there is a little gyroscope inside and the microprocessor is integrating its angular rate to get an angle measurement. It uses this angle measurement to know what direction and what speed to turn the bit. The torque seems to be controlled only by the applied power. There is a very small bar at the bottom of the display that seems to be showing the output current. Although you can't set a numerical torque limit, I'm just happy someone finally made a nice micro electric screwdriver...<br />
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It comes with a small zipper case with hold down points for 6 bits. Mine came with two low quality 4mm bits (phillips and flat) but I've seen other listings that include more. Honestly, if you get this screwdriver, then invest in a nice bit set like the Wiha 75991 (normal) or 75992 (ESD Safe) bit set. Both can be purchased from Amazon for about 50$. They include a handle, extension bar, and 25 bits in phillips, flat, allen, and torx in standard sizes. Definitely worth it. There are more bit sets available from Wiha under the "System 4" category. <br />
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The ES120 can be had for anywhere between 90$ and 150$ depending on where you get it from. I found that it was the cheapest on Banggood, while Amazon's listings were in the +110$ range. One thing that confused me was that there doesn't seem to be a listed manufacturer for this product. It just seems to be distributed by many different vendors. I got mine from Amazon from SainSmart when it was about 100$. <br />
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One of the things that struck me about the ES120 was the build quality. Its body is all stainless steel, it uses a microprocessor and inertial sensors to control speed and direction, it has a nice little screen for direction and torque information, and it's USB rechargeable (battery life is very good). In the above video you can see a good tear down and review. One of the highlights is the cool clutch mechanism on the output that prevents back-driving. This allows the screwdriver to be used manually to break a screw free or tighten it down without hurting the gearbox. </div>
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The one thing that I didn't like about this screwdriver is that the bit doesn't go deep enough, which admittedly sounds like a personal problem. It's not really a problem with the screwdriver, or the bits... It's just something that IS. It was an issue for me because I often take apart things that have buried screws. In order to reach these with this screwdriver I needed a minimum OD bit extension so it can fit in these narrow, long, holes. </div>
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I had a good dose of luck in that I happened to have some hexagonal tube stock from <a href="http://www.ksmetals.com/32.html" target="_blank">K&S Precision Metals</a> that was exactly the right size. The hex tube is 5/32" (4mm) on the inside and 3/16" on the outside (tube is labeled by outside dimension). That's about as 'minimal OD' as you can get. I cut a piece of the extension bar from my Wiha set, and glued the hex tube stock on the end. I also glued a magnet on the inside so the bits would still be held in place. It's worth noting that K&S has products in a lot of hobby stores and their tubes are made such that each size can fit inside the next size up (think: telescoping antenna). This includes the hex tubing. This can be very useful. </div>
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<b>Conclusion:</b> I really like this little driver. It saves me from turning a lot of threads for both my work and hobbies. It's also faster than doing it by hand. The build quality is good, it works very well, and it's small. It applies, IMO, a very good amount of torque for small screws (my guess is around 30 oz-in). It is pricey, but for me it's worth it. </div>
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There is also an ES121 electric screwdriver available on Banggood that has a faster speed but lower output torque. </div>
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There is also a small soldering iron called the TS100 that seems to be made by the same people. It has some cool features, including an accelerometer to detect when it's not in use. It's about 60-70$ on Amazon. I haven't tried it out but it has a lot of good reviews. </div>
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Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-53271154260218663182017-06-11T22:44:00.001-07:002020-05-16T14:55:51.559-07:00Pacific Rim: Nuclear Vortex TurbineThis past Halloween I really wanted to make something impressive. I still wanted to pluck something from my favorite movie, Pacific Rim, to continue my theme from last year. I already had a nice leather jacket with the Gipsy Danger logo, a kaiju kill count row, and some patches. This year I needed something better... more complicated...<br />
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It didn't take long for my focus to shift toward the star jaeger's eye candy, the thing that really made it visually pop - the cool Iron-Man-like chest turbine thing. Specifically, in the context of the movie, it's called a Nuclear Vortex Turbine (NVT). What it really does, and how it technically works probably isn't a good question to ask... Just know that it looks really cool. This was the perfect thing to not only make, but also make function. I needed it to spin. I needed it to glow.<br />
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My plan was to make something I could wear on my chest that would be heavily modeled after the NVT from Gipsy Danger. I would use leather straps around my shoulders and chest to hold it in place and give it a little bit of a steampunk theme. I would put lots of LEDs inside to make the whole thing glow to give it the appearance of fire, like the movie. The turbine part would use a motor to spin slowly and give it that last bit of cool factor.<br />
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I started by creating a CAD model of all my 'known' parts: batteries, battery holders, LEDs, motor, bearings, switches, etc. Then I played around with mounting all those things as densely as I could so I could give lots of room for the turbine. This turned out to be a little tricky since I wanted the NVT to look like it had depth. This excluded anything from being placed in or under the turbine itself because I didn't have any thickness to spare. I ended up cramming everything in a ring just outside the radius of the turbine blades, right under the blue ring. This whole design process took me about 2 weeks to finish, working on it on weekends and after work.<br />
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Now that everything was designed it was time for printing. I had 5 custom pieces in this assembly that all needed to be 3D printed, hand cleaned for paint, tapped for screws, and then painted and sealed. The above picture is of all the parts after cleaning and halfway through tapping the screw holes.<br />
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I did a quick fit check with all the electrical parts before painting just to make sure they all fit. After that I covered all the surfaces with a black primer and then painted everything with metallic acrylic paint. Last, I sprayed on a satin clear coat to seal the paint.<br />
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All the lights, like in my steampunk Nerf gun, are wide angle white LEDs. For this application I needed them to be orange. I bead blasted the outer surface of the LEDs to frost them and then used a Sharpie air brush kit to apply the orange color. This worked very well and is a nice, quick way to make any color LED that is needed.<br />
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I had recesses and pins in the printed parts to locate the battery holders, switches, and motor. The wiring took a bit of thought to route but turned out well. The LEDs are run off 2 of the N sized alkaline batteries and the motor off the 3rd. One switch activates the motor and the other the lights. Since everything was so packed together, all the parts with LEDs needed to be able to come apart. I put electrical connectors on these to allow for easy disassembly.<br />
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The very first part to get installed is the light ring / bowl. This immediately cuts off access to the batteries, meaning everything needs to be taken apart to change them. It's a bit of a pain but necessary to get the size down. The turbine itself sits on two thin section bearings around the center hub, which also has an integrated LED. The hub, which does not spin, and the light ring screw down to the base.<br />
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In order to get the turbine to spin slowly, and let the motor run fast & efficient, I needed a large reduction between the two. A belt drive turned out to be a nice solution because of the space limitations, easy implementation, and low noise while running. At first I made pulleys for the motor but the turbine turned too quickly. I eventually just ran the belt directly off the motor shaft. This gave me a ~90:1 reduction with an output speed of about 3 rev/s. The 'belt' I used is just a silicone o-ring. Silicone will last for a long time in applications like this: low speed & low force. When not in use for long periods, I take it off the motor and leave it around the turbine just to be nice to it.<br />
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Once everything is in place the cover can be screwed on. For a size reference: at the base the diameter is 4.75", it is 1" tall, and the opening for the turbine is 3.25". The switches for the lights and motor can be accessed from the outside and can be turned on separately. I found that the run time on the motor is about 6-7 hours and the lights will probably do about double that.<br />
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All together, this weighs in around 200g. I had to add a 100g lead weight on my back, on the ring where all the straps come together, to prevent this from sinking down my chest over the course of wearing it.<br />
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During the day the sun will overpower the LEDs. However, once inside, outside around dusk, or in the dark, it gives off a great orange glow.<br />
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I really liked this project. It was one of those ideas that developed quickly while still requiring a fair amount of work and thought to complete. In short: it was a good challenge. This coming year I hope to do something at least as challenging and intricate as this, if not more so.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i9.ytimg.com/vi/3c95m21zi1w/default.jpg?sqp=CLDS-MkF&rs=AOn4CLBT8CkMqEbxPT1KkRwC3cLloeomIg" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3c95m21zi1w?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-31921876126708430462017-06-04T13:57:00.000-07:002020-05-16T14:55:24.134-07:00Steampunk'd Glowing Nerf PersuaderThis is something I've wanted to do ever since I started seeing it on the internet. It struck me as a very easy way to make a high quality steampunk gun without spending loads of time building every piece of it. Most people don't have the skills for that. For the ones that do, like myself, sometimes the time or motivation to do that level of work isn't there.<br />
<a name='more'></a>I love Nerf <strike>guns</strike> blasters. I loved them as a kid because I could shoot them all over the house, at my brother, etc. As an adult (some people I know would disagree with using this term to describe me) and engineer, I still like them because I can shoot them all over the house. I also developed an interest in the technology Nerf has come up with over the years to expand and progress their blasters. Another aspect I enjoy is learning about how the blasters are designed & assembled given that they are all injection molded. I've been involved in the design of several such parts and I always find gems hidden inside the blasters that make me think "Oh, check that out... That's really clever."<br />
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This project started as part of a Halloween costume. On that note I'm going to step aside and comment on something I've learned - If you are the type of person that has trouble getting motivated to do projects, try making pieces of a Halloween costume for a couple years (add-on style). It's a great way to have a reason to do something, have a deadline, and show off your project when it's finished.<br />
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For my costume I was going for something of a mash-up. I wanted to do a cross between Pacific Rim, Steampunk, and general military. I like aspects from each and wanted to incorporate them into a custom I could add to year-after-year. Last year I had already done up a leather jacket like the one from the start of Pacific Rim. It's from the scene when Raleigh and Yancy Becket were strolling down the hallway, like they were in Top Gun, to suit up for Gipsy Danger. This year I added to that costume by making an Iron-Man-like [Nuclear Vortex] Chest Turbine (I'll do a post on that next). I meant to also complete this steampunk'd gun but I had to put it on the back burner until now.<br />
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This gun started off life as a Nerf Persuader. It's from the Doomlands line which basically has the all the greeble necessary for a Steampunk gun. The first thing I did was sand down all the external text so it wouldn't show up in the final product. After that I took a dremel and added small cuts and scratches all over the gun to make it look weathered. Once I was finished with the 3D detailing, I took the gun apart so I could get at all the pieces that needed paint. I found it best to take pictures of how all the pieces went together in case I forgot later.<br />
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Once all the parts were separated I started masking all the things I didn't want to get paint on. One of the trickiest things was the clear window. I knew I wanted to add some flare to this gun so I decided to add LEDs to make it light up from the inside. I bead-blasted the interior of the window to give it a foggy look. This would obscure the interior of the gun and help the light from the LEDs spread around. I primed all the external surfaces with black Krylon paint & primer. For the actual colored paint, I used metallic acrylic paint with the occasional mix from some non-metallic green, blue, brown, or gold. When finished, I hit everything up with a clear satin coat from Krylon.<br />
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Naturally, I also needed a holster for the gun. You can see the paper mock-up in the above picture. To do this I just glued 4-6 pieces of paper together with spray adhesive. This makes a half-good, cheap, leather stand-in material. Once I had the design finalized I used the patterns to cut out real pieces of leather and riveted them together. All the material can be bought on Amazon, naturally, including the super easy to use 'Double Cap Rivets' from Tandy Leather.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBm9htoAxidz-0pPbamD6RL_W8GSSrO6ScPR4Comjy_XCkESVWEE_FVbPWfASE7DwgzfhoMXfxGWDCqi2xSjn_SCqUioK4HZP880hWDJOFkoVvw2kOF_PZTPPU5h13-_MOGoOb8_ge6nxx/s1600/20170513_010822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBm9htoAxidz-0pPbamD6RL_W8GSSrO6ScPR4Comjy_XCkESVWEE_FVbPWfASE7DwgzfhoMXfxGWDCqi2xSjn_SCqUioK4HZP880hWDJOFkoVvw2kOF_PZTPPU5h13-_MOGoOb8_ge6nxx/s640/20170513_010822.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The LEDs were (are) originally white. I needed them to be green. To do this I bead blasted the outside surface of the LEDs and then used this cool little Sharpie [marker] air brush kit to paint the outsides of the LEDs green. And that's how green LEDs are born ;)<br />
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It took me several hours to figure out where to mount the LEDs so they would be out of the way of the gun's internals (this thing is still going to fire darts after it's done!!), and then wire them up and secure them in place. All the LEDs have a wide angle, 110<span class="_Tgc"><b>°</b></span>, emitting pattern. Even with that, and the bead-blasted window surface, they still show up a bit like point light sources. At night it's fine, but during the day it leaves a bunch to be desired. Still, after final assembly it still gave a sweet first impression..<br />
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And with the holster... Note the cutout to show off the awesome glow.<br />
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All the weathering was done by using black acrylic paint toned down with water. The process I used was to take some watered-down paint, apply it to the crack or surface, and then smear it mostly away with my finger. The goal is, of course, to leave some paint on the surface but not to let it have the "brush stroke" look.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8Fvl4dg6saxPzUtxHfOiBNj_JxA38eK0BhsyYCjFqeXXHJ6Fupr0bpn9lu3sP6kgTLVD7WpBK48s-s4SpuJbuf_QeFsDHPeRpGApGh2BRvPfhP_nPQHw5QHXoBgoWnD0wrPte2p0Hicu/s1600/20170514_191750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1600" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8Fvl4dg6saxPzUtxHfOiBNj_JxA38eK0BhsyYCjFqeXXHJ6Fupr0bpn9lu3sP6kgTLVD7WpBK48s-s4SpuJbuf_QeFsDHPeRpGApGh2BRvPfhP_nPQHw5QHXoBgoWnD0wrPte2p0Hicu/s640/20170514_191750.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The batteries I used are N size alkaline cells. They are basically like half sized AAAs. I needed two of them to get to the 3V needed to run the LEDs. For the battery pack, I used a piece of brass tubing, made by K&S, that fit the batteries well. I lathed down another piece of brass for the cap at the end and used a spring to make contact with the batteries. For the other end, I made a plastic cap to fit inside the tube and used a thumb screw to act as the switch to complete the circuit. <br />
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The holster fits the gun really well and looks great. It sits low enough so any coat I wear won't cover the gun but it's still close enough so I can reach the grip.<br />
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I really like how this came out. I definitely want to do another one at some point. The choice of gun didn't result in a daunting project, the holster was basic but looks great, the addition of the LEDs gave it a nice differentiating feature, and it still shoots darts! <br />
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The one thing I would say as advice when making one of these is to think about color flow. I've only done this once, and am no artist, but if you want to do this and get hung up on the color scheme then do this: Look at your gun and all the pieces & areas you can paint. Group them into 3-4 categories based on if they would look good if they were the same color, and by location on the gun. Location grouping is based on if they are more internal or external. On mine, I grouped the trigger, barrels, and hammer as internal. The copper color is the base color and grouped as external. I like my base color to cover the most area but be continuous (least split up). All the browns & heavily oxidized copper colors are kinda like a middle group. I would really only have 3-4 colors so as to not overkill the appearance.Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-59538323700370226152014-07-05T22:11:00.003-07:002021-01-31T11:12:05.468-08:003D Printed Mechanical PencilWhat better way is there to spend multiple consecutive weekends than sitting at your computer, redesigning a mechanism that has existed for decades, all to be able to 3D print something that can be bought at the store for less than $1? ... That's right, anything. However, when your co-worker throws down the gauntlet there is only one thing to do. Take it up.<br />
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This is how the 3D printed mechanical pencil came to be. Luckily though, it actually works pretty well and has enough style to spare. </div>
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This pencil has 4 separate parts and was printed fully assembled as shown in the image below. Its about 6" long and 1/2" in diameter at its maximum, not including the pocket clip. It takes standard 0.9mm lead and 7mm diameter erasers. Three extra pieces of lead can be stored behind the eraser. I would have liked to do a more common lead size like 0.7mm or 0.5mm but the feature sizes required to hold lead that small are very difficult to achieve even on high resolution printers. Its not impossible but I decided to focus more on getting something working than getting something that was perfect. </div>
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I went though a couple prototypes where I was just modifying the standard mechanical pencil design ("hysteresis collet") for printing. It didn't take long before I accepted that the standard design is ill suited for printing - there is too much reliance on spring force and tight fitting parts. The only way I had around that obstacle was to reinvent the design for 3D printing. I came up with a couple of concepts but settled on a lead-screw design.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5wrbVWwSquQZ6rDztmpoh7KulPNF2pTPR5mSD6ONm_ZO3yywBINFF-DOqOBWDE9WF0p4ZOzLdNhN0nqsq1phvcsT4DLOHdH5IxrUTw0PjKbwJXj7OZ82B8xVA1KyrxmEwFREVXaT3-pWa/s1600/IMG_1083+%2528Large%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5wrbVWwSquQZ6rDztmpoh7KulPNF2pTPR5mSD6ONm_ZO3yywBINFF-DOqOBWDE9WF0p4ZOzLdNhN0nqsq1phvcsT4DLOHdH5IxrUTw0PjKbwJXj7OZ82B8xVA1KyrxmEwFREVXaT3-pWa/w400-h300/IMG_1083+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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In this design, the lead is pushed out incrementally by rotating the back of the pencil, which rotates a screw. There are 12 detents per revolution that allow the lead to be locked in position. These detents give a nice "click" sound when the back end is rotated. Rotating it clockwise will push the lead out about 1.2mm per click. Rotating in the opposite direction will allow the lead to be pushed back into the pencil. The back end can also be popped apart from the pencil which allows the lead to be fully back driven. In this mode, the detent mechanism is declutched from the screw so that any force applied to the lead will cause it to back drive the screw and retract into the pencil.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVUlWKDkOWRlW9ig5I_BsCOJgeQQpXM6jpQ_wCLFtc7Qt-bfE-YRhMdyKz9WxiMyfxJS04Eea9froWxFgnNVyOveIl1ZbDZKtLIaaRHrA4Um3OqXaxhbVJ8XwvfU2tqoReLn1MxM9s6G4/s1600/Mechanical+Pencil%252C+3D+Printed+4+%2528Large%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVUlWKDkOWRlW9ig5I_BsCOJgeQQpXM6jpQ_wCLFtc7Qt-bfE-YRhMdyKz9WxiMyfxJS04Eea9froWxFgnNVyOveIl1ZbDZKtLIaaRHrA4Um3OqXaxhbVJ8XwvfU2tqoReLn1MxM9s6G4/w400-h309/Mechanical+Pencil%252C+3D+Printed+4+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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At the front of the pencil, 3 small fingers grab the lead and apply some friction to prevent the lead from falling out of the pencil. New lead is inserted through the tip. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUEBq70lGCT-E2FCLdZZF-a5cgWFADlJT2mJtSjaK8WLMLRjZ7V9jnadgvvBknP8It2ef8QmDAygaTjP-zJqsTrgrKvkkmokPvZg78OrhZwHqnSr0SsnftXYDI3faVbFleeFl6TXxI35M/s1600/Mechanical+Pencil%252C+3D+Printed+5+%2528Large%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUEBq70lGCT-E2FCLdZZF-a5cgWFADlJT2mJtSjaK8WLMLRjZ7V9jnadgvvBknP8It2ef8QmDAygaTjP-zJqsTrgrKvkkmokPvZg78OrhZwHqnSr0SsnftXYDI3faVbFleeFl6TXxI35M/w400-h309/Mechanical+Pencil%252C+3D+Printed+5+%2528Large%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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One detail that stands out with the design, like all my printed assemblies, is that this has a lot of holes in it. It looks like Swiss cheese. This, again, is primary for cleaning out the support material. Although, I do try my best to not make all the holes look too stupid. Another side benefit of the holes, besides styling, is that they allow for viewing of the internal mechanisms. <br />
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I tried to retain all the core functionality of a mechanical pencil with this design. I believe I accomplished that. Moreover, it looks cool and functions well. I am glad with how this project came out. For reference, this was printed on an Objet Eden printer. </div>
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I spent parts of the last 6 months modifying the design to work with less precise printers. The hope was to not only allow the pencil to be printed out of more common plastics, like Nylon, but also to allow it to be printed with more common and less expensive processes like SLS. I went through 5 iterations before I got a good working version printed in SLS Nylon, pictured above. After I opened up the design for purchase I started seeing, and hearing, about pencils not working for one reason or another. I found that, for some reason, there appeared to be much more variability in the production process than I originally saw during my design iterations. I saw large variations in dimensional tolerances as well as material properties. I have thoughts as to what is causing this but it is currently making the design non-producible. I'll continue to investigate different avenues to allow this design to be purchasable. Right now it is on Shapeways but not available for purchase: <a href="http://www.shapeways.com/model/2169745/mechanical-pencil.html?li=search-results&materialId=99" target="_blank">Mechanical Pencil</a>. </div>
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<i>Update 4/28/17:</i><br />
I spend some time in June of 2016 trying to once again make this design usable with the SLS Nylon process through Shapeways. I had the thought of simply making the pencils bigger in order to decrease the impact of the dimension error when printing these parts. Although this directly countered the goal I had set of making a normal sized pencil, I was at the point where having something to produce was better than nothing at all.<br />
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I decided to increased the dimensional size by 30% and 50%, about the radius only, and increased the size of the lead to 1.3mm. This accomplished my goals while still allowing me to get the pencils in a variety of colors. I was very prepared for the pencils to look huge and stupid, but to my amazement, they looked pretty cool. Despite the size increase, they had a somewhat fun and comical appearance. This was even true for the 50% scaled version - I had honestly thought this would be too big. I was so surprised that I thought of making a +75% scale or 2x scale version. Below, the orange pencil is the normal size, the red is the +30% scale, and the green is the +50% scale version.<br />
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There were, of course, some small tweaks I had to do to the design due to the size increase, but nothing major. The only issue, however, that was a show stopper was that the lead could not be pushed back into the pencil. This was because the pencil got so big that the friction in the mechanism was too great. This was very disappointing to me because I always felt this feature was very cool. I haven't yet decided what to do about about this as my time and motivation to work on this has been sporadic. I might be able to find a solution or I may have to scrap the design and start over and do something simpler. More to come...<br />
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<i>Update 3/21/19:</i><br />
I haven't done anything with this and I've gotten requests to release the files, some more polite than others. This model is very difficult to print and I'm sure some people will get confused when their home FDM printers can't make it. Oh well. I released the files on Thingiverse anyway: <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3509004">https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3509004</a> . Have fun? </div>
Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-47740661693299435012014-03-23T21:24:00.003-07:002021-01-31T11:10:45.293-08:003D Printed Tape MeasureGoing off the success of my 3D printed dial calipers, I decided to try to print something even more elaborate. But what to print? I contemplated several options but ultimately decided to print a tape measure.<br />
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Originally I didn't think a tape measure would be that interesting... I mean, it doesn't even have gears. Once I started piecing it together in my mind and determining the acceptable "cool factor", I realized that the parts count alone was skyrocketing. My calipers had 9 pieces, this tape measure would have well over 100... Now things were getting interesting.<br />
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I decided to attempt this based on the parts count and the fact that, if successful, I would be able pull out over 4ft of tape from something about 3" sq. Also, I had no better ideas at the time.<br />
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I designed the tricky parts first, then I printed little test pieces here and there to validate the design before integrating them together. Right around the time I starting adding all the cutouts in the main body (for cleaning purposes), it started to look pretty cool.<br />
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The entire tape measure would be printed already assembled, wound up (pictured above), with support material. The support material is necessary to <i>support</i> all the complex geometry and separate pieces. Support material will be in every void not already occupied with the printing plastic (UV hardened resin, actually). This support material needs to be cleaned out after printing, which is what all the cutouts are for. For me, not being artistic in any way, adding lots and lots of cutouts in a way that didn't look stupid was the hardest part of the design.<br />
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Now for some tech specs! There are 114 parts in this tape measure, 52" of tape links labeled every 1" with graduations down to 1/8", a lock for the tape, a belt clip, and a fold-out crank with free-spinning handle to reel the tape back in. Measurement accuracy over the 52" is about 1/16". The belt clip, lock, and crank all have flexible features on which stress analysis was performed to be sure they wouldn't break. The printed material is fairly brittle which means if it breaks it does so like glass. Unless the stresses in the material are low and are distributed properly it will break.<br />
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The crank has an over center cam-like feature and hard snaps in both the open and closed positions to make it bias towards those. The tape lock knob has a detent (visible on the backside) to make it lock in the unlocked position so it doesn't rattle around and lock up the tape when not in use. <br />
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I would really have liked to print a one-piece flexible tape or even a spring retractable tape but due to limitations in printing technology and material I couldn't do that. I was also resistant to turning this into a giant research project. Springs are one of the things that are difficult to print, especially in a brittle material. Springs with a preload are, as far as I know, impossible to print.<br />
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In this case, if I were to print a retraction spring, it would have to be a very large spring that would have to work over 10+ rotations and not be susceptible to material creep. Not to mention it would have to provide enough force over those 10+ rotations to reel the tape back in. That is not an easy problem to solve. <br />
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The tape itself can also be considered a spring; assuming it's the same curved cross-section profile as a normal steel tape. If the tape was printed outside of the tape measure body, out of a flexible material, and that material wasn't very creep sensitive it would be possible to print a one-piece tape that was rigid when extended outside the tape measure body. The printer required to do this would have to be very large since the tape would have to be fully extended during printing.<br />
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The other, simpler, option is to just print a simple ribbon of tape out of a flexible material. Since the tape would be flexible it could be printed as one piece coiled up inside the tape measure body. The downside to this method is that it requires the use of 3 different materials during printing: rigid modeling material, flexible modeling material, and support material. There are only a couple printers in the world that can currently do this. Moreover, my preference is to keep my designs uni-material (not including support material) so they can be printed on a wider range of printers. <br />
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All that being said, I still think it would be cool to further investigate some kind of spring retraction option.<br />
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For the curious, this tape measure was printed on an Objet Eden 3D printer.<br />
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And lastly: Yes. This is in Imperial units. Why? Because this is America. We are simultaneously innovative and stubborn. Mostly though, it's what I am used to. Although on the small scales, I greatly prefer SI units. ... Ok, I just looked up Imperial units and came across some of the lesser known ones... All I can say is wow...<br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-4276248628234526012014-03-23T19:34:00.001-07:002021-01-31T11:10:08.929-08:003D Printed Dial Calipers3D printing initially interested me because of its ability to create physical parts very quickly with nearly any geometry. By the time I had access to a 3D printer the ability to print virtually any shape had already been well proven and had even become commonplace. I was then introduced to the idea that multiple parts could be printed together, assembled, and captured. This may seem like a new concept but it is merely a new way of looking at 3D printing. The printer doesn't care how many pieces its printing, or even if they are connected. <br />
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I had seen adjustable wrenches printed already assembled. In the same fashion, I designed a c-clamp to try my hand at this concept. The camp worked perfectly. So then the question became "What's next?"<br />
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Dial Calipers. Yes. That sounded more than complicated enough with its gears, dials, and half dozen moving parts. I guess the irony of 3D printing a precision measurement tool with, what is normally considered, an imprecise manufacturing method was just too good to resist. But just to clear, 3D printing accuracy can range from +/-0.001" to +/-0.015 or more depending on the printer. Its typically not as bad as most people think... But it can be.<br />
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This dial caliper was designed to open to 4" with 9 different moving pieces that would all be printed together, already assembled. It would have a working thumb wheel, inside/outside jaws and a depth gauge. I also included a cam lock for the dial so the 'zero' position could be adjusted. Since this would be 3D printed I didn't see any reason to put the graduations below 0.005". In hindsight, graduations down to 0.0025" wouldn't have been completely pointless. <br />
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While cleaning away the support material I had my doubts as to if this would even work. It took a bit of work to free up all the various moving pieces but they all came free.<br />
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Fresh from cleaning, I went to show the calipers to one of my friends. He looked at me with half confusion and half pity with a look that said "...why did you do this?.." Then we had a little conversion about how the calipers would be horrifically inaccurate which ended with him handing me a random piece of steel rod stock he had been machining. He asked me to measure it. I zeroed the calipers, measured the diameter, and read off the number: 1.997". He then measured it with a proper set of Starrett digital calipers: 1.9975". He just looked at me and said "How did you do that?" Admittedly, I was a bit lucky there. Further testing showed accuracies in the +/-0.0025" were more common. <br />
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I want to be clear that this is just a proof of concept and is not in anyway intended as some functional production model. There are gaps between all the moving parts on the order of 0.01". The dial has 0.05" of backlash due to slop in the gear train. The <i>plastic</i> (actually, resin) that its printed out of is wildly temperature sensitive.<br />
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Accepting these facts, its a pretty cool device. Everything works as intended, its no bigger than normal calipers, and it looks cool. Every time I see this I'm reminded how steampunk it looks. Maybe someday I'll make a version out of stainless steel and brass.<br />
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STL files on <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:187267" target="_blank">Thingiverse</a>. <br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-33729717429204165392014-03-23T19:27:00.003-07:002021-01-31T11:09:31.179-08:00Telepresence RobotOne night I was watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory where Sheldon made a telepresence robot to avoid physical interaction with people. As I watched that scene I thought to myself "I could do that." So I did.<br />
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My main motivation in building this was to use it to telepresence with my family back in the north east. I figured this would be a lot more fun and interesting than just the usual Skype session. <br />
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The design is pretty simple: a motorized base with a laptop up top and a webcam. The base has two geared brushed motors which are controlled by the laptop via USB. I used a Maestro from <a href="https://www.pololu.com/" target="_blank">https://www.pololu.com/</a> which lets you control standard r/c equipment from a PC. I then wrote a little C# windows app which connects to the Maestro and then could control the motors. This app also could connect to another instance of itself over the internet in either a master or slave mode which would allow external control.<br />
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The webcam was mounted on a simple gimbal which allowed pan/tilt control for general looking around. All the video and audio communications were done through Skype.<br />
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The coolest part of this project was getting to play with the robot controls and creating new operating modes, different controls methods for user interaction and etc. Piloting a robot from 3000 miles away was also pretty cool, although internet latency really sucks.<br />
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I almost put a pair of nerf guns on this to add a little more fun to the mix. If I ever do another telepresence robot I'll have to add some offensive capability to it.<br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-28130398580370839432014-03-23T19:25:00.001-07:002021-01-31T11:08:31.328-08:004ch Plane with Retactable Landing GearThis is the most mechanically complicated plane I've ever built. It has a wing span of 9.5", weighs 4.25g, has full flying rudder and elevator, and retractable landing gear.<br />
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Flight times on this airplane are in the 7-10 minute range with a 30mAh single cell lithium polymer battery. The frame is all made from carbon fiber rod or tube in the 0.5mm - 1.5mm range. The covering is OS film and is 0.5-1 micron thick.<br />
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The propulsion system uses a 4mm 10ohm motor, geared down 6:1, driving a 3.25" carbon fiber propeller. The servos that drive the rudder and elevator are each 400mg and are my own custom design. Oh, and the tail wheel is steerable.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ground handling on this plane is amazing and arguably the most fly part of not-flying it. Landing gear is very very uncommon on micro planes. So, being able to do things like take offs, landings, and touch & goes just makes this plane very cool. When it does get in the air it flies very slow. Although, it has enough thrust to get going pretty fast or climb in altitude. The thrust-to-weight ratio is over 75% as I recall. <br />
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The landing gear retract mechanism also uses a custom servo of my own design. It is designed to retract the landing gear parallel to the fuselage and deploy them at an angle. The entire mechanism as show below weighs around 0.25g. <br />
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</div>Here is a video showing a close up of the airplane with all the moving bits in action. The next video shows it in flight.<br />
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</div>Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-3696175850367226192014-03-23T19:18:00.001-07:002021-01-31T11:05:30.369-08:00Micro ServosWhen I started to take a break from microscopic flying vehicles in 2010 and migrate towards some larger, easier to work with, models (5-20g) I realized that magnetic actuators just weren't going to cut it for control (rudder, elevator, ailerons). Magnetic actuators are heavy and draw power continuously when deflected away from neutral. I needed servos. Servos would provide lots of pulling force for their weight but at the cost of mechanical complexity. Since servos at the weight I needed didn't exist or were out of my price range I decided to further over complicate the situation and build my own. <br />
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I started by designing a simple linear servo (lead screw design). The picture above is of my 400mg variant which has a throw of about 0.2", resolution of 0.0015", and can pull about a 25g load. The motor is a brushed 3.2mm diameter coreless design by Shicoh. The gears used are module 0.15 and can be gotten from <a href="http://www.kkpmo.com/" target="_blank">http://www.kkpmo.com/</a>. The threaded rod is 0000-160, which means it has 160 threads per inch (TPI). Threaded rods in this size (and 120, 90, etc TPI) can be purchased in 1ft lengths from <a href="http://www.jimorrisco.com/" target="_blank">http://www.jimorrisco.com/</a>.<br />
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All the control software is done on a PIC microprocessor and the feedback is done magnetically with a hall effect sensor. Here is a video of my first version which is a little heavier and has a bit longer throw; 450mg and 3/8" respectively.<br />
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Naturally, once I had this servo design done and working I had to see if I could make a smaller and lighter one. After some thought I figured that if I took apart the 3.2mm motor, threw away the case, and rebuild it as a stepper motor I could cut the servo weight almost in half. I also compacted the design to further reduce the weight. Here you can see all the parts for the servo nicely arranged on a penny. <br />
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This servo functions very similarly to the large one described above. The only difference is that I wired the brushed motor as a stepper motor by soldering directly to the 5 contacts on the motor's commutator. This allowed me to get rid of the steel case and use the commutator as the main structural component (backbone) of the servo.<br />
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This servo weighs just 190mg, has a throw of 1/8", and a resolution of 0.003". It can pull with a force of about 4g. Overall length is about 3/8". Here is a video of it in action:<br />
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These two servos can run at voltages between 3-5v and are controlled with a 1-2ms pulse as is standard for all hobby r/c servos. <br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-91163578928321171492014-03-23T19:17:00.001-07:002021-01-31T11:04:40.525-08:00Sub Gram OrnithopterI can't help myself. Every time I build something I invariably think of ways I can build it smaller. I built a large ornithopter, now I have to build a small one.<br />
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This ornithopter comes in at 920mg, just under 1g, and has a 2.5" wing span. It has 4 flapping wings. The two wings on each side flap towards each other and then away from each other. This produces both thrust and lift. <br />
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It is powered by a 8.5mAh single cell lithium polymer battery. Flight times are around 3 minutes per charge. Controls are done through an infrared receiver system which can command the throttle and rudder. The rudder is actuated with a small magnetic actuator. <br />
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The motor is a single phase brushless design that is geared 10:1 to flap the wings. The frame is all carbon fiber rod between 0.01" (0.25mm) to 0.02" (0.5mm) in diameter. The covering on the tail is OS Film while the cover on the wings is some thin grocery bag plastic film. <br />
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This is very weird to watch fly. The wings are a blur and the whole vehicle looks like its being propelled by a large dust ball. It flies quite slow and looks very much like a large insect. I wouldn't dare fly this outside.. I'm positive a bird would make a meal out of it.<br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-68688700140184294392014-03-23T18:56:00.002-07:002021-01-31T11:00:34.480-08:00VTOL OrnithopterNow this is a bit of a terminology cluster... VTOL stands for Vertical Take Off and Landing; and an Ornithopter is any flapping winged thing that flies (aka, birds & insects).<br />
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This hot number was pieced together from an Air Hogs Avenger back in October of '08. The Air Hogs Avenger was a nice little 4-winged ornithopter with a little too much thrust-to-weight to remain unmodified. I gutted the system and used the wings, gearbox, and motor to make my own, cooler, ornithopter.<br />
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I made the airframe out of carbon rod and added elevator control. I also had to replace the radio system to support throttle/rudder/elevator control. Total weight, with battery, is 10.5g and the flight times are over 10 minutes.<br />
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This vehicle has the ability to take off and land on its tail, almost hover in place, cruise in level flight, and do loops. It is very responsive and aerodynamically quirky (not in a bad way). Flight stability is great, it can be flown with only rudder control by a novice or flown mildly acrobatically by someone with a bit more skill. Its a really great, weird, vehicle that I have been flying since I built it. I really enjoy cruising this around.<br />
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The elevator and rudder control were originally done with magnetic rotary actuators but I have since replaced them each with 400mg linear servos of my own design.<br />
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Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-36590563726283750112014-03-23T17:43:00.001-07:002021-01-31T11:00:19.244-08:00390mg Plane - My Lighest Plane & Unoffical Record HolderTo date, this is the lightest plane I've ever built. It held the unofficial record of the world's lightest plane for about 4 months back in July of '08 until it was bested by one weighing 225mg. To date, I don't believe any lighter ones have been made.<br />
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This plane is my crown jewel of micro plane accomplishments... Despite the mountain of headaches it took to build. It has a 3.1" wing span, a 1" chord, and is 3.5" long. Flight times were surprisingly high, around 4-5 minutes, considering the size of the motor. An infrared transmitter/receiver system was used to control the throttle and rudder. The rudder control is done though an electromagnetic actuator. <br />
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The frame is made of carbon fiber rods ranging in size from 0.01" (0.25mm) to 0.005" in diameter. All the rods less than 0.01" diameter were hand sanded down to size. The covering on all the surfaces is OS film (DuPont). <br />
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All the electronics in the IR receiver - microprocessor, FET, and IR detector - were sanded down to reduce weight. The aluminum that encases the 8.5mAh lithium polymer battery was trimmed away to get the battery weight lower. Even then, the battery weight was 75% of the plane's weight.<br />
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The motor and propeller were custom designed & built to power this plane. The motor is a single phase brushless design swinging a 0.6" prop. A video of it can he seen <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm0h2Qf3upQ" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<b>Weight Breakdown:</b> <br />
Airframe + Act: 37mg<br />
8.5mAh Li-Po + On/Off Switch: 290mg<br />
IR RX: 25mg<br />
BL Motor: 30mg<br />
Prop: 5mg<br />
Landing skids: 3mg<br />
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<b>All up Weight:</b> 390mg<br />
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Original Post: <a href="http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=892415" target="_blank">390mg Plane on RcGroups</a><br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-10271862802334004772014-03-23T17:08:00.004-07:002021-02-25T00:57:09.038-08:00560mg Plane - Unoffical Record HolderDuring the time when I was really into building these small planes ('06 - '10) there was a little unofficial competition of sorts going on between the 5 or so people in the world that were building planes this light. Contrary to what one might think, building a small plane isn't as hard as building a light plane. So, there was always a little friendly competition to see who could build a lighter plane. This plane, for about 3 months back in November of '07, had that record. <br />
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The wing span on this plane was 2.75", the chord 7/8", and the length was about 3.25". The air frame is all balsa with OS film covering. Flight times were about 4 minutes per charge. The controls were done through an infrared receiver which controlled the throttle and rudder.<br />
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Planes this light become a lesson in frustration. For example, all the "large" components of the receiver (microprocessor, IR detector) were sanded down to the copper die to reduce weight. The 3.2mm diameter brushed motor was completely disassembled and rebuild without the steel can to save even more weight (and thus killing motor efficiency). Propeller design becomes very critical at this point because there isn't a lot of motor power to work with. <br />
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<u><b>Specs:</b></u><br />
WS: 2.75"<br />
Actuator: 3mm ID, 160ohms<br />
Motor: Lightened 3.2mm Shicoh<br />
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<u><b>Component Weights</b></u><br />
Airframe + Actuator: 45mg<br />
IR RX: 50mg<br />
Lightened 3.2mm Motor: 130mg<br />
Prop: 20mg<br />
8.5mAh Li-Po: 295mg<br />
Misc: 20mg<br />
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<b>Total:</b> 560mg<br />
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Original Post: <a href="http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=766951" target="_blank">560mg Plane @ RcGroups</a><br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-59006374011312932732014-03-23T16:42:00.003-07:002021-01-31T10:55:17.926-08:00840mg BiplaneI built this back in May of '07. With this plane I wanted to focus primarily on small size. I was still going for something lighter than my previous plane but I wanted to make an airplane that even I thought was small - a tall order considering I had been building micro r/c planes for year or two at this point.<br />
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I chose a biplane design for this plane because it would allow me to keep a high wing area but keep the wing span small. The wing span on this plane is 2.75", the chord is 7/8", and the length is 3.75". The frame is all made of balsa wood and covered with OS film. Flight times were in the 4-5 minute range per charge. <br />
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It is powered by a 3.2mm diameter brushed motor and a 1" propeller. The infrared receiver is capable of controlling the throttle and the rudder with a 7 step proportional control. The rudder is driven with a small electromagnetic actuator. The power source was a single cell 10mAh lithium polymer battery which can be recharged.<br />
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<u><b>Weight Breakdown:</b></u><br />
Airframe + Actuator: 75mg<br />
IR Receiver: 65mg<br />
3.2mm Motor: 275mg<br />
Prop: 10mg<br />
10mah Li-Po Cell: 395mg<br />
Misc: 20mg<br />
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<b>Total:</b> 840mg<br />
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About a year or so after I built this I replaced the balsa paddle prop with a slick carbon fiber one that one of my friends designed. Not only did that prop increase the flight time but it made the plane basically silent. When it got within 5-10 feet of you it sounded like a mosquito about 1ft from your ear.<br />
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Original Post: <a href="http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=687151" target="_blank">840mg Biplane @ RcGroups</a> <br />
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5398568810398596440.post-50078657783634513552014-03-23T15:42:00.004-07:002021-01-31T10:52:08.812-08:00My First Sub 1g Airplane - 0.98g<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5398568810398596440" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>To start off my blog I would like to start by going over my first chain of wildly ambitious engineering projects - micro r/c planes...<br />
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This was the first r/c plane that I built that weighed in at under 1 gram. I built this back in April of '07. It has a 5" wing span, 2" chord, and its about 6" long. The flight times were in the 4-5 minute range on a full charge. <br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5398568810398596440" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>It was constructed of carbon fiber rod from 0.5mm to 0.25mm in diameter. The covering on the surfaces is called OS film and is made by DuPont. 'OS' stands for 'One Sided' because the film was so thin - maybe an internal department joke. It is on the order of 1 to 0.5 microns thick.<br />
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The electronics consisted of a 10mAh Lithium Polymer battery (1S), a 3.2mm diameter brushed motor driving a 1" diameter propeller, an electromagnetic actuator to control the rudder, and an infrared receiver which was capable of throttle and rudder control. Here is a full breakdown of component weights:<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5398568810398596440" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><b><u>Weight Breakdown:</u></b><br />
Airframe + Actuator: 150mg<br />
10mah Li-Poly Battery: 400mg<br />
IR RX: 120mg (76mg sensor, 44 mg receiver)<br />
Stock 3.2mm Motor: 270mg<br />
Prop: 10mg<br />
Glue + Wires + Misc: 30mg<br />
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<b>Total Weight:</b> 0.98g<br />
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I went on to make some power plant improvements to this plane later on. I replaced the battery with a lighter variant and replace the brushed motor with higher power direct-drive and geared brushless versions. This brought the weight down, increased flight time, and increased the power:weight ratio. I also replaced the IR RX with a newer, smaller, lighter version. All this brought the weight down to 670mg. The wing loading was low enough where I could fly over my head and the plane would gain altitude due to the heated air rising from around my body. </div>
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Original Post: <a href="http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=672064" target="_blank">0.98g Plane @ RcGroups</a></div>
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<br />Angry Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09522942714469661030noreply@blogger.com0