Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Drivetrain Milling with Matthew

Whoa-ho-ho, an actual building update! Yes, this is real.

Droid #2's Senna drivetrains were never completed. I had not drilled holes for the motor mount, nor cut the motor mounts themselves. I spoke with Matthew Henricks recently, and he offered to help with both. This past week he was able to get the motor mounts cut to size at work with a band saw. Tonight, he offered to mill the slots that the Senna drivetrain plans call for.

Matthew has a nice mill in his garage, complete with digital readout for XY position. He ran some quick position calculations, and got to milling. I was merely a spectator with a camera.

The four slots in the drivetrain bodies were milled first.



Followed by the slots in the motor mounts. There were about four passes per slot, with a little more material taken out during each pass.



Sixteen slots (2 drivetrains x (4 slots per motor mount + 4 slots per drivetrain body)) later, and they're done.




Next I need to build the chain for motor side on these guys, and file or grind the tops of the motors down a bit to fit in the battery boxes. I actually did a first pass on this back when I filed droid #1's motors, but I think I still have more work to do.

Thanks Matthew!

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

CHOC Summer Visit 2013

Today R2 and WALL•E (and Mike and I) returned to Childrens Hospital Orange County for our quarterly visit with the patients.



We roamed the halls, visiting patients from room to room.





We didn't get stopped for too many staff pictures this time, but there were a few.



On our way out, R2 stopped to contemplate his reflection (or perhaps that of the goofy guy nearby).



Another good visit, and we'll be back in the not-too-distant future.