Congratulations on purchasing the www.hobbycnc.com controller, I'm sure you will be happy with it if you follow the instructions! I use one of those on my wood CNC Router; http://www.allsurplus.net/CNC/
Back to the SPAL 2" linear actuator. It in fact does have a 10 turn 10K Potentiometer, I replaced this potentiometer with a 5K and used Beau's 'Big Servo' modification to turn it into a giant servo:
We're always using surplus motors because they are low cost.
Can any of you recommend a source which meets these requirements:
- fair-priced 12V gear motors, from a production line (no surplus) so they are always available in the future
- domestically-sourced
Making a small production run out of surplus just doesn't sit well with me. They're great for prototypes and the kind of projects we're all doing, but what if we wanted to make 20 of these big robots?
That brings up another question for Parallax! IF there was going to be a new version of the HB-25, could we have a potentiometer input?, That would make it a true servo interface instead of just a ESC.
See attached drawing you could use·a variable speed reversable controller to control a DC motor coupled to a·Hydraulic pump with no tank and bleed out all the air that way when you turn the motor in one direction it push the cylinder one way and reverse motor·and pull it back.·That way you have some dampining on your steering and it could be very fast response or slow depending on·your DC motor setup and·you could use a very small DC gearmotor and have lots of steering power.
Sure, we can consider that. There's something nice about the HB-25's simplicity, though. It simply handles big motors and requires almost no programming interface. You'd be adding that, you know!
But. . . I have to bring it up. . . the Propeller chip! Multiple processors that can count away all they want, allowing less firmware in the HB-25 and more customizable management of encoders and potentiometer inputs.
Yea, Propeller, groovy chip, I love it, and I will probably be using quite a few in this project to avoid using interrupts in the SX! But if the HB-25 had a potentiometer input, it would be extra easy to convert off the self items to servos. To quote one of my favorite people:
4. Nice thing about the SPAL linear actuators, they have limit switches built in so they will not destroy themselves if you extend/retract them·too far.
Anyway, I'm just tickled 'PINK' when stuff just works!
Mike,
Nice looking CNC router. I know what you mean about reading the instructions, I've been watching hobby CNC’s forum and that seems to be the biggest problem.
Ken,
I've been searching for a good motor supplier. One of the biggest problems I've found is once you say "robot" they roll their eyes at you and you become a "none sale" in their mind. I read a article one day that said that the hobby robot industry does not contribute to the advancement of robotics as a whole. I believe that’s like saying that auto racing has no benefits to the average car owner. I see people building robots in their garages that would cost a million dollars to build ten·years ago.·I'll keep searching and let you know when I find a good supplier.
Bennettdan,
Nice clean design, how fast do you think it will respond?
Very fast depending on the motor/gearbox combo you could easily make it turn 10 times faster than the actuator, it all depends on the motor and pump setup and it will be very strong and like I said its variable speed also.
uhhhhh i have vex with broken gears in the motors and no more replacment gears also i have lego mindstorms and the sumo bot and i never made an AC powered 120 volt roboti dont think an eleven year old has access to that stuff o.0
·Heres some photos of my new shop. It's 60 X 100 !!·, and we have a nice fabrication section now (anybody thats look at my web site will agree that this shop looks much better)·.Just moved in this weekend , still have some stuff to put away. I will be getting back to "dragon wagon" soon.
Ok, lets get back to project at hand . I've had a busy summer , building a new house and robot shop. The shop is just about in working order , so I'm going to pick up where I left off. I was having problems making the correct bends on the frame of the "dragon wagon",so I bougth some press brake dies and I'm going to build a a small brake that has propeller angel control. I will post some pictures soon.
Never have had my fingers anywhere close. Here is photo of the power unit and the hydralic cylinder(power unit a little over kill , but priced right- Free).
Comments
Congratulations on purchasing the www.hobbycnc.com controller, I'm sure you will be happy with it if you follow the instructions! I use one of those on my wood CNC Router; http://www.allsurplus.net/CNC/
Back to the SPAL 2" linear actuator. It in fact does have a 10 turn 10K Potentiometer, I replaced this potentiometer with a 5K and used Beau's 'Big Servo' modification to turn it into a giant servo:
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=525689
Worked like a charm, here's some links to a·few pictures of my setup:
www.allsurplus.net/2007-04-17/000_0688.jpg
www.allsurplus.net/2007-04-17/000_0689.jpg
www.allsurplus.net/2007-04-17/000_0690.jpg
www.allsurplus.net/2007-04-17/000_0691.jpg
www.allsurplus.net/2007-04-17/000_0694.jpg
www.allsurplus.net/2007-04-17/000_0695.jpg
www.allsurplus.net/2007-04-17/000_0696.jpg
www.allsurplus.net/2007-04-17/000_0697.jpg
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Mike
Post Edited (Mike Cook) : 4/19/2007 1:51:44 AM GMT
We're always using surplus motors because they are low cost.
Can any of you recommend a source which meets these requirements:
- fair-priced 12V gear motors, from a production line (no surplus) so they are always available in the future
- domestically-sourced
Making a small production run out of surplus just doesn't sit well with me. They're great for prototypes and the kind of projects we're all doing, but what if we wanted to make 20 of these big robots?
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
For linear actuators that can be easily converted to servos, look at SPAL;
http://www.spalusa.com/
for reasonable low quantity purchases get them through www.surpluscenter.com
That brings up another question for Parallax! IF there was going to be a new version of the HB-25, could we have a potentiometer input?, That would make it a true servo interface instead of just a ESC.
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Mike
Sure, we can consider that. There's something nice about the HB-25's simplicity, though. It simply handles big motors and requires almost no programming interface. You'd be adding that, you know!
But. . . I have to bring it up. . . the Propeller chip! Multiple processors that can count away all they want, allowing less firmware in the HB-25 and more customizable management of encoders and potentiometer inputs.
Ken
Yea, Propeller, groovy chip, I love it, and I will probably be using quite a few in this project to avoid using interrupts in the SX! But if the HB-25 had a potentiometer input, it would be extra easy to convert off the self items to servos. To quote one of my favorite people:
Ron "Ronco" Popeil; "Set it and Forget it"
To convert the SPAL 2" linear actuator into a servo, I had to do the following:
1. Replace the 10 turn 10K pot with a 10 turn 5K pot
2. Rip up a Futaba servo, removed the circuit board from the plastic housing, removed the motor and potentiometer
3. Used Beau's big servo modification, but instead of building Beau's H-bridge I used Bob Blick's H-bridge found here; http://www.bobblick.com/techref/projects/hbridge/hbridge.html Why? I built a hand full of them years ago and they work well for my needs.
4. Nice thing about the SPAL linear actuators, they have limit switches built in so they will not destroy themselves if you extend/retract them·too far.
Anyway, I'm just tickled 'PINK' when stuff just works!
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Mike
Post Edited (Mike Cook) : 4/18/2007 3:48:57 AM GMT
Nice looking CNC router. I know what you mean about reading the instructions, I've been watching hobby CNC’s forum and that seems to be the biggest problem.
Ken,
I've been searching for a good motor supplier. One of the biggest problems I've found is once you say "robot" they roll their eyes at you and you become a "none sale" in their mind. I read a article one day that said that the hobby robot industry does not contribute to the advancement of robotics as a whole. I believe that’s like saying that auto racing has no benefits to the average car owner. I see people building robots in their garages that would cost a million dollars to build ten·years ago.·I'll keep searching and let you know when I find a good supplier.
Bennettdan,
Nice clean design, how fast do you think it will respond?
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
Post Edited (Brian Beckius) : 4/18/2007 12:37:37 PM GMT
Very fast depending on the motor/gearbox combo you could easily make it turn 10 times faster than the actuator, it all depends on the motor and pump setup and it will be very strong and like I said its variable speed also.
Thanks for that Bob Blick link. Cool site.
I am learning a lot just watching you guys work.
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Whit+
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
Post Edited (Brian Beckius) : 4/21/2007 1:03:21 AM GMT
·If anybody is curious , I am in the middle of changing shops· ,once I get everything moved . We will start back up with "dragon wagon"
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
Heres a good place to start if you are looking into making your own gears.
www.gingerybooks.com
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
·Heres some photos of my new shop. It's 60 X 100 !!·, and we have a nice fabrication section now (anybody thats look at my web site will agree that this shop looks much better)·.Just moved in this weekend , still have some stuff to put away. I will be getting back to "dragon wagon" soon.
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
Post Edited (Brian Beckius) : 7/2/2007 3:32:40 AM GMT
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
·Heres a photo of my old bending brake that I have at my truck shop. The next photo is of the new dies that I'm using for my new press.
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
Never have had my fingers anywhere close. Here is photo of the power unit and the hydralic cylinder(power unit a little over kill , but priced right- Free).
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
·Heres the next set of frames ready for bending ( I'm going to skip the ping holes on this version for now , seeing if I can get a clean bend).
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
·Heres some photos of my new robot shop.
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
humanoido
·My wife is still trying to figure out how the shop got done before the house. Frame bent really nice this time , so I'll keep moving along.
edit-
P.S· - Anybody catch the big boe-bot frame in picture 3 of the new shop ?
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
Post Edited (Brian Beckius) : 9/27/2007 1:27:00 AM GMT
Thanks for pointing out the big BOE-bot frame. Bicycle wheels?
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
Post Edited (Whit) : 9/28/2007 12:33:53 AM GMT
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Never give up when things go wrong.
robosapienv2-4mem8.page.tl/
I've been looking at some lawn cart wheels .
Stampnut2,
·I'll try and not let you down :- )
Heres a photo of my first milling mess in the new shop,· getting four chunks of metal sized at once for the axel mounts.
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
Post Edited (Brian Beckius) : 9/28/2007 1:41:39 AM GMT
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Thank's Brian
www.truckwiz.com
·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein
http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Never give up when things go wrong.
robosapienv2-4mem8.page.tl/