Zenta Robotic Creations - Advanced hobby robotic designer

Time 2020-12-12 15:05:02

Web Name: Zenta Robotic Creations - Advanced hobby robotic designer

WebSite: http://zentasrobots.com

ID:131813

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Creations,Robotic,Zenta,

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The MX-Phoenix hexapod robot project Posted on29 November, 2016 inMX-Phoenix Hi,It s been a while.. Well, time just seem to disappear when kids, family and work require the most of you.Not so creative title.. and what to call my current project isn t that important really. I did start on a simple hexapod design a couple of years ago, that ended due to some distractions and suddenly my Autodesk 123D files disappeared from the sky .Meanwhile I ve been working on a new gait-algorithm for hexapod robots (codename DynaZgait). I did post some short vids on my Instagram. Earlier this year I decided to learn 3D printing and bought a very cheap Wanhao Duplicator i3. I ve done all of the most common modifications and upgrades. So far I m satisfied with the result and print quality.I ve to mention that I bought this printer from a Norwegian company called 3DNet. So far I m very pleased with their excellent service and fast delivery. Since the Wanhao Di3 is a low-cost printer some of the parts used suffer from that.. But 3DNet has been very helpful and sent me replacement parts every time I complained..As you can see I ve even added an extra heater in the cabinet, useful when printing ABS during the cold winter.Another project was a new remote controller based on the code used on the Arbotix Commander 2.My next plan for a remote is to make a much smaller one using some other very nice 3-axis gimbals from Turnigy.When it comes to CAD I m a bit noob. At first I tried Autodesk 123D, but I found a bit to limiting. Then I moved over to Inventor and found that OK, but a bit cumbersome.. After that I tried Fusion 360 and found it to be a really awesome tool and easy to use/learn.Making of the MX-Phoenix hexapod.Anyway, I decided to make a new hexapod robot again. This time using the much larger and powerful Dynamixel servos from Robotis. I ll use 6 MX-64T as coxa servos and 12 MX-106T for the femur and tibia sections. I m calling the robot MX-Phoenix simply because it s a little inspired by my first hexapod robot I made 10 years ago. It s kinda back to the basics , but this time I ll have more focus on my primary goals that I didn t achieve on my first robots: A more dynamic gait engine and terrain adaptation. I also want a hexapod robot with a relative small body and large leg section, I m also trying to keep the total weight as low as possible.All my previous robots has been made using mostly custom hand-made parts. We all know that making several equal and precise parts is very hard without using a CNC, laser cutter or other computer assisted tools. For a very long time I thought using a laser CNC cutter to make the parts would be the solution. But after getting familiar with 3D design and 3D printing I realized that the optimal way to create unique 3 dimensional curved parts was to use 3D printed parts. At first I thought the plastic would never hold or be strong enough for a large robot. As many others I started printing PLA things , but I soon realized that ABS was the best material. Of course there are many other more sophisticated materials that I ll try later.I started designing a small and simple hexapod body containing a 3S 5000mAh LiPo, Teensy3.6 + Kurt s T3.1 breakoutboard and the coxa servos (MX-64T).The CAD images is a bit easier to see than the photos (poor light). The battery simply slide inside the body between the body sections:A couple of photos of the final result:The body sections are printed in ABS and Acetone vapor-treated . The final result is very strong and solid.Next step is the leg design. I m planning to first use the Interbotix Tibia s as a Femur, lol.In the future I ll move over to a more advanced hexapod design. With limited free time available I just have to learn CAD a lot more and this project is a good start.About 13 days ago I designed a tibia using Fusion 360. I m pretty sure there are more effective ways to do it, but at least I ended up with something I would like to try:In the future I might try to design some shell/covers that are more curved for the femur part (Interbotix Tibia bracket). I did an attempt to add a simple foot sensor/switch made of some few parts:After designing the tibia I couldn t wait to try printing it. I was very curious and excited to see how the final result would be. I m still using the Cura slicer that came with the printer and my earlier experience with the support construction was very mixed, especially when printing ABS. Luckily the result came out very good, no warping at all. FYI I m printing at 250C/100C and using a cabin with a heater set to 35C:I was a bit unsure if I should go for a Aceton Vapor treatment again or not. This method sure has some con and pros, but at the end the part will become stronger. So, after about 3 days of printing all parts was ready for the next step. For Aceton Vapor treatment I m using a big pot where the sides are covered with some cloths. This is some really nasty stuff that require good ventilation and personal protection (mask and gloves). I m doing this process outdoor in my garage. A picture of my pot..:If you want to know more about this process there are tons of information about this on different forums/blogs/youtube. I was not 100% pleased with the result though (still learning). But its gonna work I think. A picture of the result:When I connected the servo-wire from the femur to the coxa servo I decided to make a simple wire guide/protector under the C-bracket:I m still not finished with all the mounting stuff since I ll probably have the femur and servos free with no brackets attached at first. I need to do several changes to the code first and I don t want to break anything when testing the code for the first time. Safety first..I ve mounted the legs just temporarily with a couple of screws just to see how it would look like. Here are some better pics:ISO-viewCurled upStanding (with support)A close-up of the foot-switch, I m using an anodized aluminium rod, a micro-switch, 3D-printed washer and stopper, and a rubber 3M knob:MX-Phoenix vs. the original Phoenix hexapod:And versus PhantomX MKI:Maybe not that big difference?.. The total weight is 4,72kg. My goal was under 5,5kg so I m pretty satisfied with that.The next step is to make the first step.. When I m satisfied I ll post a new video on my youtube channel. (Finally!) New DIY remote project Posted on25 November, 2015 inDIY remote The original DIY remote I m currently working on a new DIY remote for my next robots. For several years (since early 2009) I ve been using a DIY remote designed by Jim Frye, the previous owner of Lynxmotion. Originally the remote from Jim was based on 2,4 GHz RC communication, here is a picture of the remote I got from Jim:During the summer 2009 the great forum member Kurt Eckhardt modified the remote for 2,4 GHz XBee serial communication:Later on I modified the gimbals by adding extra pots on top of the sticks:So far I ve been really satisfied with the remote. The extra potmeters certainly made a big difference. The remote is fairly easy to hold with the hands and at the same time handle the joysticks and pots. When it comes to the two sliders and the keypad, they are harder to reach when handling the sticks. It s not a big problem, but in some cases it would be useful to have access to some extra buttons and sliders without having to move my hand away from the stick.For a while ago I ordered some 4-function joysticks from servocity. Having access to an extra function button and a third self-centering axis is a feature I ve missed in many cases. For example; a hexapod robot moves (translate) in 3 dimensions and rotates around 3 axis, so having a 3DOF joystick makes it very convenient. I ve done some testings of the joysticks from servocity and they seem to perform ok, I m not very satisfied of the centering though, there are some play/backlash. I bought four of them and the quality seem to be pretty consistent.Trying out new DIY remote designSince I don t have very large hands I found it a bit hard to handle the 4-function joysticks while holding the remote without any additional support. Therefore I decided to go for a different and larger design. Having good support for your arm/hand when operating these large sticks makes it a lot more comfortable, ergonomic and gives an accurate control. The major drawback is that it isn t possible to carry or hold it without some sort of harnesses or extra support. Some days ago I made the first version using a sheet of plywood. I ll later on design a new plate on CAD for a laser cut version.I m trying to keep it simple and placed some of the function buttons and a slider close to the joysticks for easy access:I do need to adjust the final design though. The joysticks are going to be placed a little different and I m going to add four extra menu buttons under the 4 20 LCD display.I m using a relative cheap instrument case bought at a local hardware shop (Clas Ohlson) as a base for the remote:As you ve probably figured out I m using the lid of the case for the main remote. I m also going to modify the hinges to make it easy to separate the lid from the main case. The main part of the case are going to hold a separate 5,8 GHz receiver and a LCD monitor for optional FPV control of the robots:Next step is to work on the software. I m using a Teensy 3.1 mcu and a breakout board (designed by Kurt Eckhardt) connected to all the buttons, joysticks, sliders, keypad and the 4 20 LCD panel. Earlier this year I soldered three more of the breakout boards. Thanks for sharing Kurt! Posted on26 February, 2015 inUncategorized Hi!I m very sorry that my blog has been down for a good while now. To make a long story short, I didn t own the zentasrobots.com domain before and I had some problem transferring it to me.Anyway, it s all good now and I m now the true owner of the domain.I ll try to keep the website pretty simple and also easy to use on a mobile device. I m going to move all the old posts into different project subpages. So only my new posts like this one will show up on my blog section.I ll make some posts about my current project later, whenever I get time..Last year I did some investments and bought several Robotis MX-64T and MX-106T servos.I m really looking forward to play with them!

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