Dome Pot, Painting, Ankle Locks, Radar Eye and other bits...

A quick update on a few odds and ends that I have been working on before I start on getting R2 standing.  Before I get started I went to the UK R2 Builders Day kindly organised by Brad (BigHappyDude) - it was a great day with so many droids to get ideas from. Was interesting seeing the MOT's being done as well, can't wait to get my droid rolling and get involved.

I have started painting a few leg parts.  The booster covers are tricky as they need a bit of masking - I used a mixture of green frog tape masking tape and blutac to cover the areas that need to stay metal.  I found that the best result was doing all the painting, removing the tape after a couple of hours so paint was not completely hard.  I then applied the lacquer afterwards to seal the edges.  I am happy with the result but it could have been slightly neater I think - good job he'll be weathered.

I tend to do a coat of acid etch primer, two coats of normal primer, then three coats of finished colour.  I sand between each layer of primer as well.

You can see the blutac in the half moons. (I am not sure those indents should remain metallic but I think it will look good)

I also decided now was time to spray the area around the rear PSI - its the only part of the inner dome that is painted.  So, I masked it off and applied coats as above.

I also started to paint some of the body parts any my new aluminium radar eye - it was such a shame to spray such a nice metal piece but it had to be done.  However I didn't realise until after I painted the eye that the indented parts not he right side are supposed to be left metallic - I may try to get the paint off later...

After 1 coat of blue - I find lots of thin coats much better to prevent runs etc.

Another quick job was to fix the top pie panel.  I found that the hinge did not fit well to the outer panel and seemed too far down, adding the inner dome panel that I cut out between the hinge and outer dome panel seemed perfect. (All the other hinged panels just use the outer panel directly stuck to the hinge).  I now just need to find a dome topper - will search through my odds and sods box of washers sometime - there must be one in there somewhere!

My next job was to get a radar eye in place - I have a glass eye lens on order but I know it'll be a few months so decided to create a cheap alternative as a temporary solution.  I purchased a fake CCTV camera from eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321632062417?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT), cut off the top section of the dome and painted the inside black.  I am very pleased with the result and at last R2 can see what he is doing!!

Next up was starting on the feet.  A bit of painting to get the first layers on, however I am not happy with the finish so will be sanding them down and redoing once its all fitted together.

I also cut the hole for the ankle lock rod to through.  This took a fair amount of time to get it the right position - its a touch too long but very hard to see once the ankle is in place.   One of my next posts will go into how I mount the foot drives etc.

I am now realising how much I have done since my last post - in future I'll try to post more often with smaller updates!!

I started to try and get some wiring done - got the foot drive controllers wired in, and started on the actuator controllers...  there is so much wiring to do, so I'll post again once some more is done - for now here is a messy pic of my electronics board.... (I have also decided to make a custom PCB for the arduino mega's as there is so much connecting to them now - i'll post further details once I have a more final solution!)

Last section for this post is regarding the dome potentiometer to measure which way the dome is facing.  I want to be able to implement code that can tell which way the dome is facing and centre it when needed.  I haven't really started the code yet, but needed to mount the potentiometer. 

I decided to make use of my 3d printer for this, I needed a bottom part to protect the potentiometer itself and then something to apply pressure to a part of it as the dome turns. 

In my build I intend to keep the dome plate attached to the dome when its removed, so I didn't want to put the reader on the dome plate.  I realised my dome connector already extends halfway to the centre (to carry the slipping wires) so thought I could double up the usage of this.  My first attempt below was a bit big and also instead of pressing on the pot with enough pressure it just lifted the reader.  

 My second attempt is more lightweight and includes a grove in the base part that the top part latches into - this prevents it lifting when pressure is applied to the pot.  Works perfectly so am happy with this.

I did manage to burn out two softpots before realising resistors are needed - so make sure you put a 1k resistor between the 5v and signal wires when connecting to your arduino.   I'll post details of how it connects up when I post about the code.

In this next pic you can see the grove the top part locks into.

That's all for now I think.

I now have most my parts to get him standing including legs, ankles, feet and battery boxes (thanks Jens (prostreetnotch)!.  I also have my 2-3-2 kit from James (commando8), have decided to put it all together before doing anymore painting (i'll then dismantle it all to paint and reassemble... can't wait to get R2 on his feet rolling around...!

Dome Work

Not had a great deal of time to work on R2, but have made some progress, its been a while since an update so this post maybe a bit jumbled - sorry about that!

As far as parts are concerned, I nearly have everything now for the basic build with the exception of ankles.  Am hopeful to get them in the next month or so as I have a couple of option that may turn out good - fingers crossed.

I have managed to now get most of the dome parts done.

PSI's

I got the PSI holders from ai-parts.com and the PSI boards from Selgus on astromech.net.  Both parts are so well manufactured.  I had to do some work to get the inner and outer dome holes for the front PSI to line up, but nothing 10 minutes with a file didn't sort out.  I think the front PSI holder is supposed to sit inside the inner dome, however I found it better to sit behind it - it may make the lights further back but its ok.

The diffusing is not great - probably because the LED's are so bright - so I will think again about this at some point and add some diffusion layers to make it a bit more subtle.

Fitting the holders was just a case of two captive studs for each as I used for the hinges.

The inner dome still needs painting blue around the rear PSI but I'll so that later as it all needs masking off.

Currently I just have a 12v power supply going to each PSI, I will in the future add this to the I2C bus and hopefully Selgus will release some code to accept I2C commands.

HP's

The HP's are still ongoing.  I have them mounted in ok and the mounts from BobC are ok.  I have found that because my inner and outer dome don't line up very well the HP's tend to bind a bit.  I have filed the inner dome a bit and its better.  I think however I need to remove them and put some felt on the inside to help them move more easily.

The BobC servo mounts have been a bit of a pain - they tend to jam up a bit - they sort of work, but I am going to go back to the drawing board on this and print a different mount on my 3d printer - i'll post separately about this if it works!!

Again I just have power going to the REON boards in each HP, I will add I2C to this so I can change colour at will.

Logics

The logics from Joymonkey (on astromech.net) are simply great!  Nothing really to add, I followed his great instructions and mounted them with captive studs.

I thought there was going to be an issue with the two front boards hitting each other as the dome curves inward.  However when bolting them in I lined them up with the bolts loose then gradually tightened each one - this resulted in the boards pushing away from each other which is fine.

Again, currently I just have power going to each logic, I will add I2C when Joymonkey releases new code that supports it - am really hoping it will support scrolling text like the teeces.

Dome Panels

I have painted all the dome panels.  I used an etch primer from Halfords, followed by two coats of primer, followed by 3 coats of Citroen Posiedon Blue paint and then 2 coats of lacquer. (All from halfords.)

I glued each panel on each hinge with E6000, and clamped each one - I managed to do this too soon after lacquer and its marked it with the clamps so i'll need to mask them off and respray at some point - though I am thinking of weathering him so it may not matter!

The hinges were not the correct curvature in many places but some gentle bending made them ok.

Clearance of the panels over the dome was a bit of a problem - moving the hinges further out combined with filing the inner edge of the panel solved this.

Overall fitting the panels was an bitch of a job and I redone a few of them as they weren't correctly positioned - the beauty of E6000 is that it will peel off if needed.

All the panels are controlled by an arduino in the dome that accepts I2C commands from the master arduino in the body.  I will release all my code once I am happy with it and it works properly (which isn't yet as it crashes a lot with buffer overruns etc)

Radar Eye

I thought i'd be waiting forever for a radar eye, so I printed one on my 3d printer, it came out quite well but ironically just as it was finishing its 4 hour print I nabbed a aluminium version on the junkyard!  I don't know how I am going to bring myself to paint it - its so beautiful!  Just need a lens now, which is incoming hopefully.

I still need to sort the top panel out and rework the HP's, but other then that the dome is nearly there. (oh, I do need to tidy the wiring - I have done half but need to bring myself to do the rest!)
I also have a periscope on the way and already have the LFS, so as soon as the lifters are ready i'll be working on them too!

Tidy wires...

not so tidy wires!

Quick Update Video

Have been a bit slack updating my blog, so here's a quick video from a month or so ago, all pie panels are now actually in place and i'll post a more detailed update in the next couple of days detailing my progress...

Com8 frame build

Just a quick update. Received my com8-a1 frame. Such a well made amazing piece of engineering! Nothing really to add as I just followed the instructions really. 

Test fit of the skins just to see what it looks like....

It'll be a while until I think about attaching the skins, but at first look they fit perfectly!! 

I've also been collecting electronics... Here's a preview, I'll post details of what everything is when I wire it all up. 

It's really coming together now I have the frame and I have plenty more parts on the way!! 

Logics, slip ring connector and base plate...

Not a great deal of progress the last few weeks and a few frustrating problems...

First up my logic lights arrived so decided to spend some time building them, just a case of following the instructions really... A fiddly job cutting all the fibre optics but got it done in a few hours and they looked great.

I also connected my psi's to them and everything worked great (though I suspect I will get the new led psi's if their available before the psi holders are!)

I tried positioning the lights in the dome but noticed an issue where the two front logics get in each other's way and prevent them sitting flush. The pic below tries to show this but it's not a very clear pic.

The only thing I can think is to increase the spacers on one of them which will mean redoing the fibre optics.  

However, now the bad news, a day later without changing anything the logics have some major issues. Joymonkey is of course helping out and looking into it, but that means it'll be a few weeks until I get them back....

Next up was the dome base plate, I want the dome base plate (with periscope etc) to stay with the dome when it's removed from the body but also have the option to easily separate from the dome if need be. The bottom ring on the new hydro domes has an exact cut out for the dome base plate to sit into,  so to fix it I made some small aluminium brackets to stop it going past the ring, I will later get some simple wing nuts to hold it in place.  The first pic shows the darker grey pieces in put in to support the base plate.

I need to buy the wing nuts so moved onto the slip ring connector.  After seeing a post from Brad (bhd) about a quick connect system I decided to copy the idea.  This involved mounting the dome side slip ring connector board into the bottom ring and mounting the connector to the rockier.

So now when the dome is put onto the rockler the studs that hold it on align it to the slip ring connector.  This means the dome can be removed by simply lifting it off.

The pics show this better.  However, spot the stupid mistake!!...

Did you see the problem?? There is now no room for the dome gear set to turn the dome... I'll fix this later but I'll need to mount the rockler bracket on the other side and make a new bracket for the connector board so it can sit higher up... A bit frustrating but is what you get when trying the figure things out befor having all the parts... 

However it's all good as I have a com8 frame on its way to me... I was worried it could be a good 6 months before I got this and it would put a stop to my build but I managed to get a 2nd hand one (though it's not been used!). I now can't wait for it to be delivered as it'll open the door to so many things for me to get on with!  

Panels finished, some programming and mounting electronics

Have managed to make some good progress the last week. I have firstly finished mounting all the hinges and panels.  Some of them still need some fine tuning but am pretty happy. 

Next up was mounting some of the electronics boards.  To start with I need an arduino uno, an adafruit servo controller, a power converter and the slip ring board.  I plan to run all power from 12v batteries in the body.  With all the gadgets I have planned I know room in the dome will be tight so my main objective is to keep everything as compact as i can.  

I got some simple pcb mounting feet and will mount some boards directly to the dome with captive studs and some bits on a plastic board.

First up was the servo board.  I mounted this on a plastic board which I then mounted to the dome.  To make the feet mounts fit to the contour of the dome I just shaved a bit off the outer edges.

Next up was the arduino, I just mounted this to the dome directly with the feet and chose to put it directly above the front PSI. 

I decided to mount the slip ring dome board (from glynharper) and power converter (from Chris) together.  I made a quick mount using plastic board and a cut down piece of mini trunking.

I then mounted it to the dome using the same captive studs as before, and again shaving the feet to fit the contour of the dome.

Next up a temporarily connected it all up and wrote some basic code.

I have an arduino mega adk that will eventually go in the body that has a blutooth dongle.  This is then connected to the arduino in the body and the servo controller using I2C. 

I am powering both Arduino's with 12v and the servo board with 5v (though I have read that 6v is better so may change this).

I have written some test code for the body arduino that enables me to receive commands from a playstation3 move navigation controller. The button presses then send an I2C command across the network to the dome arduino.

I then wrote some code for the dome arduino that receives the I2C command and moves the servos.

The code is a bit buggy but for now it proves the servos all work at least.

I plan to write most scripts myself and will post them up when they are more complete and reliable.

Anyway, here's a quick video...

http://youtu.be/nXkqf5GH5VU