Author Archives: pidrogen

Since our last blog there’s been lots of progress. We have drilled out the centres of the mecanum wheels and printed some new hubs.  This allows the gap between the motor and the wheel rim to be reduced so that the robot remains within the maximum width specification.  It also allows a common attachment methodContinue reading “Mecanum Wheel Trial”

We built some electronics.  This is an Arduino Beetle driving four Pololu motor drivers (which are based on MAX14870 chips).  The lower board (which you can’t really see) holds a couple of DC-DC converters which convert our 4S LiPo voltage down to a nice smooth 5.2v for the Pi and the other electronic bits.  TheContinue reading “Hmm. One step forward, two back.”

Since our last blog post our test chassis has transitioned from the CAD world into the real world.  This chassis incorporates loads of experimental features: It is all 3D printed.  Last year’s robot (“P19”) was mainly laser cut acrylic which turns out to be quite brittle.  So we’ll see if PLA can stand Nathan (whoContinue reading “Test chassis takes shape”

Mecanum wheels are tricky in Fusion360. Got there in the end though.

Version 2 of the barrel lifter has now been printed and tested. The (horribly vague) cable connection between the jaws and servo of the first attempt has been replaced by a bevel gear mounted on the servo output shaft. The drive also incorporates a 2:1 reduction so that a half turn of the servo outputContinue reading “That’s better…”

The design for the EcoDisaster barrel lifter is complete and has been tested. We’re quite pleased with how it looks, but very unhappy at how it works. The drive from the servo to the jaws (which is via fishing line) is way too vague. As a result the barrel slips out at the slightest provocation.Continue reading “Gripper is a triumph of style over function.”

Don’t you just love Fusion 360! Still Dad continues with the design.  As you can see the barrel grab has been worked on.  It uses two micro servos, one to open and close the jaws and the other to lift the barrel (by about 10mm).  We’d love to cut the jaws from aluminium (because they’dContinue reading “CAD, CAD and more CAD.”

You may recall (from our last blog) that our first objective is to make PiDrogen smaller.  To that end Dad has been busy with Fusion360 designing P20; here’s a screen capture… The good news is that the design is well under way and it is about 20mm narrower than P19. P19 was a mixture ofContinue reading “There’s at least some progress…”

I know it’s a bit behind the curve, but WE’VE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO PIWARS 2020! Whoo-Hoo I suppose we’d better get building then…

We took some pictures of PiDrogen before it went to school for Show’n’Tell. You know, just in case. So here they are. Amazingly it came back unscathed! Yay!