Weekend project with my son

[Lemosteam]

My son Luc is an engineering student and has a class ending project to prototype a Mars rover. It only needs to steer and move forward and reverse. The electronics kit provided in the class contains an audruino, and various other components.

In a different class, he learned Catia Basics.

As a remnant we had a old smaller RC chassis lying around, but it would not fit all of the components needed to get it to work.

He set out to recreate the chassis to fit everything, and of course asked me to print the designs.

He ended up with a three piece design with a connecting center spine glue spine and two glue channels on the wings.

The original guts of the drive, suspension and steering will fit on the chassis, and he designed (with some help from dad, the snap features to locate and hold the motor, servo and the various other electronics, which will be positioned using 3m Velcro command strips so as not to damage parts from the kit (it has to be returned).

Here are the prints of his design.  Btw I was able to position all but the center frame section within the Mono X build plate, and yes I printed directly on the plate, except for the steering linkage pin cover which had to be supported (printed part not pictured).



Overall dimensions are approx 230mm L x 126mm W x 23mm H

I was very happy with the print except for the bloom on the first ten layers at 20 seconds exposure, so he had to do a little sanding.

Two things to report on the Siraya Fast; it machines really well, and I was able to tap some M2 holes on the top of the ring gear pocket left side in photo.

[JMaurer1]

Waiting to see the finished product. So far it looks great!

[narrowminded]

Very nice!  Isn't it nice to have that printer at your fingertips?  

[Chris333]

Now you need carbon fiber resin.

[railnerd]

Now you need carbon fiber resin.

My friend has a MarkForged printer with the carbon fiber thread feeder for use with robotics.  Not useful for scale modeling, but really useful for building module parts and things that might get some additional abuse.  NOT cheap.

-Dave

[parkrrrr]

I was very happy with the print except for the bloom on the first ten layers at 20 seconds exposure, so he had to do a little sanding.

If you do a lot of printing directly on the build plate, you might find this video and the associated app of interest: (Heck, I might have originally found the link here.)

[Lemosteam]

If you do a lot of printing directly on the build plate, you might find this video and the associated app of interest: (Heck, I might have originally found the link here.)

That video is very informative.  Very nice.

[Lemosteam]

Here is what we did.

Three piece chassis, all printed on the plate.

Some parts had to be done to replace integral parts that would not be in the rover. The steering pin cover, the drive bearing cover, and a servo crank lever.

My son modeled all of the electronic components that would be in the rover in CAD.

The circuit is my son Luc’s and he and I worked on the package placement of the electronics on the chassis in CAD in order to design the chassis.

The project has a rubric to follow for 3lbs max weight, 1” ground clearance, overall width less than 12”, a specimen cup (not that kind...) and specific obstacle requirements.

We still have to test run the rover and make sure the circuit will work in the field. Good thing I had an old 24mm x 40mm Sagami. Had to add an idler to move the motor away from the driveshaft.

Lotsa fun. Here’s some pictures.

The overall package: some final and approximate placement:


Breadboard and support removed:


Chassis from the front:


Closeup of motor and idler setup:

[peteski]

Pretty nifty!  I wish we had projects like that when I was in school.

[narrowminded]

Nice job, father and son!   

[Chris333]

Wait a minute. That one circuit board says "ELEGOO" ?  They make 3D printers.

[Lemosteam]

This is the kit he was furnished for the class.  It appears that Elegoo makes many PCB components, that motor is a POS.  Of course he has to return the kit after.  For the price of the class, they should let them keep the kit, IMHO.

https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Project-Tutorial-Controller-Projects/dp/B01D8KOZF4/ref=asc_df_B01D8KOZF4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309818716690&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=18244899700249218606&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016806&hvtargid=pla-406302474425&psc=1