Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Back to Bots:
Its time to prepare for the August events. I dragged Mr Mangle off its shelf and dusted it off. After a quick charge, everything works perfectly - its the bot that just won't die!
While its ready to fight, there are some worthwhile upgrades; The V belt is getting replaced with a longer lasting micro V belt and I want to increase the reduction ratio; the weapon motor never runs at 100% power with the current set-up, so a greater reduction means more torque, faster spin-up and maybe smaller current peaks.
Shiny VS Mr Mangle 2
I mostly gutted Shiny to make MM2; there are almost enough parts to get them both working but I will have to get very busy on the mill to have them both operational. At this point Mr Mangle 2 stall has to have its frame welded, so its more likely that Shiny gets the go-ahead. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:40 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
VFD upgrade:
The VDF controllers on the old mill, drill press and the band saw are finally getting proper control panels. The VFDs have small buttons and are buried at the back of the machines so a front control panel with large buttons and a tachometer is a welcome addition.
Everything is controlled by a Teensy 3.5 micro, which translates button pushes to the VFD, calculates the RPM and keeps track of safety features. This one is for the drill press; the mill control will have an extra coolant button while the band saw control will just have forward and no reverse.
All the Teensy programming is being done by Richard, the builder of Vicious Cycle, who is WAY better at programming than I will ever be. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
This is one incredible thread. Lots of information and solutions here to go through if ever I had the time. 500 over pages of comments - wow! In any case, I love the work that's goig on here too and eager to see things really take shape here. Now to get everybody into a battle and see how they all hold up huh? It'll be interesting to see how they perform and how to improve them from there!
Tue Jul 11, 2017 4:29 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Can you make it to the Nationals event in August? Having a first-hand look at the bots and how they perform is the best (and most exciting!) way to understand them and how to build your own.
Now that my new workshop is almost finished and there are events coming up, there will be lots more posts about building in the near future. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Tue Jul 11, 2017 4:37 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Mr Mangle:
Half of the new pulleys are made (the easy half ). I needed an new form cutting tools and used a tip from OxToolCo to rough out the shape with a thin cut-off disk - works wonders!
Grinding the side relief and the tip profile still took a while, but hogging out 80% of the tool steel probably saved 30 minutes - highly recommended!
The new pulley is smaller than the original and it can be turned down another 2mm for a 2.34:1 reduction compared to the current 1.95:1 ratio - let's hope the extra torque translates to an even faster spin-up time.
Here is the finished pulley mounted on the weapon motor with a Trantorque bushing:
The larger weapon pulley is roughed out but can't be finished until the belts arrive and I can test fit everything - not long now _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Wed Jul 12, 2017 7:23 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Mr Mangle 2:
After making a new weapon motor pulley, I had a test fit on MM2; this is how it looks with the skin off:
Like a hermit crab out of its shell it looks much smaller, with all the soft & chewy parts exposed. The pulley works out well, with a final reduction of 2.2:1. With the larger motor producing around 3 times as much power, having a larger reduction isn't important - its going to spin up in a couple of seconds anyway. Now if I can just get my act together with the Ti welding, this could be the A team bot for the next events _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Thu Jul 13, 2017 3:43 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
CNC Mill:
The electronics have been extracted from the original case and are ready for their new home. After taking many photos and a diagram or two of the boards and connectors, it doesn't feel so daunting to rewire everything.
The new case is a good fit and there is spare room for a cooling fan and any future upgrades. The new case is also far more waterproof then the original so flood coolant won't bother it. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:06 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
CNC mill:
Most of the parts are mounted in the case and some wiring is reinstalled:
The small board at the left is for remote spindle control; it replaces most of the mill's front panel controls (including the RPM display ) and allows your CAM program to control the motor via g-code (maybe!).
Everything went well until I cut the opening for the power switch:
Drilling the 1mm steel case somehow broke half the teeth off this hole saw
, the same one need to cut all the other access holes so that's that until I get to Bunnings. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:48 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
CNC Mill:
The oil delivery system is getting installed today. The pump had mounting lugs that didn't match up with the mill's frame and needed an aluminium mounting plate. The manifold under the pump is made from a scrap of UMHW; It was quick 'easy to drill and tap but there is an epic amount of stringy swarf trapped inside it so I might need a do-over in delrin or even aluminium.
_________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Sat Jul 15, 2017 7:25 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
CNC mill:
The larger countersink bit arrived and chewed through the mild steel of the column support in no time. Now all 34 screws fit and the support is 100% assembled:
From here its flap sanding > degreasing > painting. The mill column itself still needs three holes drilled & tapped where the support attaches at the top, then it can be assembled.
Mr Mangle:
All the hubs are finished for the new wheels and its time to run the printer for the rest of the week to make the flexible rims. The hubs are made of a very tough variety of polycarbonate but are heavy; with the shock absorbing benefit of the rims, its worth trying out a lighter plastic and that might just be PVC. its not as hard as the polycarb but the impact resistance is higher - it doesn't hurt that it is less than 1/10th the cost. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:17 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
CNC mill - the reddening:
I am soooo disappointed that hammertone paint doesn't come in red, this ordinary gloss red will have to do:
Its a bit too cold to paint properly; even leaving the mill out in the sun is barely drying the paint any faster. After another coat tomorrow the column can be bolted down and I can start reassembling the head on the column. The new R8 spindle is finally on it's way after I had quite a fight with Grizzly in the US about buying it. They don't accept foreign credit cards or even PayPal . _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Wed Jul 19, 2017 2:08 pm
miles&Jules Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 3973
Location: ipswich QLD
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
CNC Mill
Not much happened over the weekend - I was recovering from a cold and a strained back muscle. I did manage to get the column reassembled and the back of the head attached:
The column and back support fit together perfectly but there is a problem with the mill head - the gib only fits half way in. I probably have something upside down - or the parts shrank while they were disassembled Its back to the manual to see WTF I did wrong.
Workshop:
Big changes this week - I am emptying out the Kennards storage locker and bringing back all the gear: table saw, large mill, Sieg lathe, arbour press etc. Its going to be really crowded in the workshop untill I get everything sorted out! _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:14 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
The saga of the little trolley that couldn't:
First off, a huge endorsement to Lift-it Transport; if you need something large & heavy moved around Sydney, these are the people to call. Super professional and cheaper than most.
The last pieces of equipment got moved out of storage and into the workshop - or should I say partly into the workshop. Everything was going to plan until the mill was loaded onto a trolley and pulled inside. After less than two metres of travel, this happened:
Another quality Bunnings product! It happened right where the table saw was supposed to go and I spent the rest of the afternoon levering it up off the floor. The idea was to make a new trolley like this one and slide it under the mill:
Unfortunately, when I went to use the table saw to cut up some ply for the base, I found this:
There used to be a rotary knob on the power switch, I have NFI how that got smashed off . With a bit of luck, I can get a replacement tomorrow.
I'm not sure what I did to offend the robot gods but they have well and truly visited some bad luck on me today! _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:01 pm
Nick Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW
Gridlock!
I got the old mill off the floor and on to a home-made trolley so at least I can move it around. with both mills, the table saw, welding table etc all competing for space, the workshop is overcrowded and its hard to move about.
The plan is to temporarily move one or maybe both mills in to their enclosure. Plan B is to build a huge tent on the front of the shop to make more space (don't laugh, it might happen!)
The new belts for Mr Mangle's upgrade just arrived thanks to Glen and getting the new pulley made is a top priority - I might end up using the manual mill while its still on it's trolley. _________________ Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion
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