Like I've said in the past, Lego is not an easy company to do business with. They bring parts in and out of production based upon which sets they want to sell that year. So you can only buy parts that are part of the current years sets. However, eBay is a place to buy the parts you need.
AFA pneumatics, there's a "heavy duty air solenoid" on sale for 49 cents right now at http://www.goldmine-elec.com, plus some other interesting items.
I'm gonna stock up on those $2 mini USB chargers. 5V supplies @ 500 mA for my evil experimentos!
Got realy excited when I saw this store then I saw it doesn't ship to the UK. Anyone found any equvalents for the sceptred isle ??
Prof Braino - I'm impressed I shall watch progress with interest. BTW my 10 yr old son has supplied me with a recepie for Synthetic slime that he picked up at a science camp he went to recently :-) Heh Heh !
This has already provoked dire warnings from the wife !
It's possible to create your own mix. There are many formulae. In a brief study for the Big Brain, the designed nose required fake snot and the mouth needed fake saliva. Just google the myriad of sources.
Many toy stores have various brands but these appear to congeal and work opposite as a lubricant. Their primary effect is to look gross with a slimy appearance, with slow flowing properties which kids love.
You could run an artificial robotic Gastropod either "liquid or dry." For dry, a silicone-based lubricant is available in some hardware stores. This is used for machine apps where liquids are not useful due to dust attraction or extreme cold etc.
Another source idea, borrowed from astronomy (telescope mirror and lens grinding technology) and medical technology, is to use an amount of pure glycerin. This is readily available at pharmacies. Glycerin is over the counter and has water-like lubrication properties without fast evaporation rates.
Here's a list of physical properties of Glycerol. Note that its water soluble, so if the Gastropod is confined to a sewer it may need a real time dispensing containment field.
http://www.sbioinformatics.com/design_thesis/Glycerol/Glycerol_-2520Properties&uses.pdf
1) Molecular weight = 92.09
2) Melting point =18.17oC
3) Boiling point(760mm Hg) = 290oC
4) Density (20oC) =1.261 g/cm3
5) Vapor pressure = 0.0025 mm Hg at 50oC
= O.195 mm Hg at 100oC
= 4.3 mm Hg at 150oC
= 46 mm Hg at 200oC
6) Refractive index = 1.474
7) Surface tension = 63.4 dyne/cm at 20oC(100% glycerol)
8) Compressibility (28.5oC) = 2.1
After looking at the unavailable, overpriced, and flimsy Lego components, I immediately went into design mode, and haven't gotten anything else done since.
I think water pressure from the garden hose will provide medium, energy, and lubricant. I'm too cheap to spend money on slime just to wash it away, But the slime is fun, I'm no longer permitted to play with it indoors.
The critical factor I see so far is controling the pressure line. The actuator must use minimum power yet switch the maximum pressure input. So switching the flow on or off must not "fight" the pressure line in either direction. Right now I'm thinking of a three position electrically controled pneumatic or hydraulic switch: Pressure, Locked, Vent; using two solenoid coils and one rare earth magnet. But I don't have the 3D printer yet, so I still have to carve the parts out of PVC or ABS.
Hi,
How about this for a crazy idea? Use Piezo motors to create a peristaltic drive?
Jim
If the Gastropod was a tiny one, it could be suited to the application. However, I envisioned prof_braino working on a massive sewer slug that could roam around in the largest culverts and sewer pipes, and eat/process heavy amounts of sewage, and then process the methane as bi-product to power the pneumatics and to operate the prop chips.
If the Gastropod was a tiny one,...prof_braino working on a massive sewer slug that could roam around in the largest culverts and sewer pipes, and eat/process heavy amounts of sewage, and then process the methane as bi-product to power the pneumatics and to operate the prop chips.
I didn't think of using the methane, that sounds like a good idea, but I'm not a chemist. For the time being, I will leave processing the sewage to Public Works.
However, the piezo motor is an interesting idea, even if the robot is tiny; one could fit more robots in the same space. I'm thinking of removing tree roots, which are mostly very thin treads, and very tough. Time to read up on piezo motors. .
Comments
I'm gonna stock up on those $2 mini USB chargers. 5V supplies @ 500 mA for my evil experimentos!
Got realy excited when I saw this store then I saw it doesn't ship to the UK. Anyone found any equvalents for the sceptred isle ??
Prof Braino - I'm impressed I shall watch progress with interest. BTW my 10 yr old son has supplied me with a recepie for Synthetic slime that he picked up at a science camp he went to recently :-) Heh Heh !
This has already provoked dire warnings from the wife !
It's possible to create your own mix. There are many formulae. In a brief study for the Big Brain, the designed nose required fake snot and the mouth needed fake saliva. Just google the myriad of sources.
Many toy stores have various brands but these appear to congeal and work opposite as a lubricant. Their primary effect is to look gross with a slimy appearance, with slow flowing properties which kids love.
You could run an artificial robotic Gastropod either "liquid or dry." For dry, a silicone-based lubricant is available in some hardware stores. This is used for machine apps where liquids are not useful due to dust attraction or extreme cold etc.
Another source idea, borrowed from astronomy (telescope mirror and lens grinding technology) and medical technology, is to use an amount of pure glycerin. This is readily available at pharmacies. Glycerin is over the counter and has water-like lubrication properties without fast evaporation rates.
Here's a list of physical properties of Glycerol. Note that its water soluble, so if the Gastropod is confined to a sewer it may need a real time dispensing containment field.
http://www.sbioinformatics.com/design_thesis/Glycerol/Glycerol_-2520Properties&uses.pdf
1) Molecular weight = 92.09
2) Melting point =18.17oC
3) Boiling point(760mm Hg) = 290oC
4) Density (20oC) =1.261 g/cm3
5) Vapor pressure = 0.0025 mm Hg at 50oC
= O.195 mm Hg at 100oC
= 4.3 mm Hg at 150oC
= 46 mm Hg at 200oC
6) Refractive index = 1.474
7) Surface tension = 63.4 dyne/cm at 20oC(100% glycerol)
8) Compressibility (28.5oC) = 2.1
I think water pressure from the garden hose will provide medium, energy, and lubricant. I'm too cheap to spend money on slime just to wash it away, But the slime is fun, I'm no longer permitted to play with it indoors.
The critical factor I see so far is controling the pressure line. The actuator must use minimum power yet switch the maximum pressure input. So switching the flow on or off must not "fight" the pressure line in either direction. Right now I'm thinking of a three position electrically controled pneumatic or hydraulic switch: Pressure, Locked, Vent; using two solenoid coils and one rare earth magnet. But I don't have the 3D printer yet, so I still have to carve the parts out of PVC or ABS.
How about this for a crazy idea? Use Piezo motors to create a peristaltic drive?
Jim
I didn't think of using the methane, that sounds like a good idea, but I'm not a chemist. For the time being, I will leave processing the sewage to Public Works.
However, the piezo motor is an interesting idea, even if the robot is tiny; one could fit more robots in the same space. I'm thinking of removing tree roots, which are mostly very thin treads, and very tough. Time to read up on piezo motors. .