More Arm Drive Pics

Here's the last pics I'll show of the drive because I'm going tho mount it for good.

All the parts used to build this drive is in the Vex Kit. It's very simple and could probly be improved. There's only 2 things I wish would have turned out alittle different.

I would have liked to stay with the larger gear in the drive, It held alittle better.

And I would have liked to use a Vex servo instead of a Vex motor, I'll have to be careful not to lift the arm to far. I may add a limit switch to the drive, But that will have to be later.

At any rate, This drive will work in just about any frame because the A&A is limited on space.

Almost There

Ok, After I had to rebuild the drive again.

I had to reduce the gearing due to space inside the frame, But it's mounted and after some fine tuning I'll have this project beat. I'll post some pics of the final drive soon.

Reduced Size

I started reducing the size of my arm drive and also found ways to make it stronger and easier to mount.
How I managed to make the arm turn with the shaft, I used more Vex parts.
They have some little mounts that come with the kit and I cut 1 end off and mount them inside the arm. This gives me something for the shaft to bite into and lift the arm.
As you can see in the pic, I tried not to scratch the arm but I did. This area is hidden by the swing mount and should'nt be a problem.

Well it Moves

In the video you can see it has more than enough power to lift the arm.

Now, I need to reduce the size of the drive and get it mounted into R2.

More to come.

Arm Drive

This is my Proto for the Arm drive.

Not much, But I think it may work.

CPU Arm Mounted

Although I have some adjusting to do to the mount because it's hitting my skin's,
I think I got it post fitted. The mount is bolted to the frame and as you can see it can be raised to the correct position. Now just to fine tune and get it moving.
Just a note: I have a threaded rod inside the arm and I hope to figure out a way to make the arm spin and extend about 1 inch once it's at full attention.

CPU Update

I'm not giving up!!!!

Ethan, From the group had an idea sort of like this and I think it's going to work. I used a garage door opener front mount as a mounting bracket and drilled a pin hole through the arm.

This will give me a tight pivot point and since the cap is not part of the arm, I think I can make it work. This is just the start of a long process that hopefully will turn out O.K.

CPU Arm

The CPU Arm just seems to be too big for an A&A frame :0(

It's so tight that the hinges would have to be placed in certain areas and that's not good.

The whole idea of having the doors open was to use the openings for items to be placed.

I'm really dissapointed in this problem and not sure what to do about it. If I was going to build another R2 I could save the arm, But I don't have any plans to build another. So I may resale the arm to someone on the group. (CRAP!!!!!!)

It would just be a shame to let it just sit there and do nothing, I mean you could see it if the door opened but that's a expensive dead prop.

Rewiring Dome

I moved a few things to the dome instead of the deck I had built on the dome ring.

The reason I did this, I'm working on the Periscope and noticed alot of things were getting to close to the area where the lift for the Periscope will be mounted. Also I want my dome to have easy access, Once I get all the wiring complete there will only be 3 main power lines to disconnect and the dome can be lifted off the body.

I know weight in the dome area is something to keep in mind, But I'm trying to keep it balanced around the dome. There's still many items to add to the dome and I figure by time I add servo's and all the extra goodies the dome will be pretty full.

Remote Update

I attached the little black box on the back of my remote for the extra crystal.

And believe it or not, The crystals fit like they were made for the box.

I did sand the edges of the crystal, So they would slide in/out very easy.

You can see inside where the original crystal would have fit and I cut the stem off of one crystal

to mount the wiring too.

All I need now is my 0n/off/on switch.

Once I get this complete, I'm going to give the whole remote a new paint job to match R2's colors.

Periscope Topper

I added 4 small magnets on the Pie Panel and 2 metal rods inside the Periscope.

I got this idea from Wayne Orr. This will give me a way to remove the Pie so the dome can be removed.

As you can see I have'nt cleaned the inside of the Pie yet, But I will get it soon.

If you look at this Pie very close, You can see 2 small paint chips on the Pie.

This happened at a 501st meeting, 1 little boy was doing his best to remove the panel when it was taped to the dome. And I got 2 battle damage scars from his efforts.

Oh Well, ( That's not I was really thinking ) But it will happen and when it's bad enough, R2 will get his dirty paint job.

Fx Show in Orlando

We had a GREAT time at the show!!!!
We ran into Trent a fellow R2 Builder and we missed Redeye from the 501st.
There was several things that I was disapointed about though.
They had downsized the area it was in and the signatures were too high.
Adam West was one I wanted to get for Jason and he wanted $50.00 for the Sig.
and $20.00 for the pic. That was too much!!!
Last time I was there it was $20.00 for anyone and that's what it should have been this time.
We found some nice items for sale and we will post the pics on Brenda's R3 site.

Next year I will be there with R2, Unless the Megacon is better.
The Megacon comes in March and we'll be there to see which is better for R2.

Comments

Something I want to get of my chest.
I think I made Chris mad and I'm sorry if I did.
My Blog is a learning tool for me and anyone that uses this Blog. As I've stated before, Not everything I do works out and some ideas I get may work for me and not for others.
I welcome everyone to comment as you please. That's why I do not edit any comments made on this site, Unless they are dirty or spam.
I really do value all comments made and to me, There is no negative comments only teaching tools.
I've made some very GREAT friendships here and hope to make more freinds.
Oneday I will find my big contribution to the R2 Builders group, But until then I'm just having fun building my R2.

Anyway, If I ever post anything that offends anyone or I disagree with something posted.
It's just me trying to learn from my mistakes.
I hope to hear from everyone and have fun building your R2D2.
Calvin

Channel Selection

Now that I have more than enough channels, I need to figure out the mapping.
This is what I may go with:
Vex remote side A
Ch. 1/2 = Foot Drives
Ch. 3 = Periscope
Ch. 4 = Dome Rotation
Ch. 5 = Top Utility Arm
Ch. 6 = Lower Arm

Vex Remote side B
Ch. 1 = Right Door
Ch. 2 = Left Door

I'm trying to keep secondary items on side B of the Vex remote.
This way if I have a problem with interfering with someone else it's no big deal for me to stop using this channel.
Also, I noticed if I switch channels during a servo movement it freezes in that position and once I return to that Channel it returns to normal position. This is good for somethings like the doors, But a BAD thing for the foot motors. So I will have to look into a Failsafe for the foot motors.
Some of the Servo's will need a Servo Slower, This will keep things like the Arms, Doors and other things from opening too fast. But this may be something I can slow down with programming.

The 12 Ch. Remote from Ebay:
Ch. 1 = Front Logics
Ch. 2 = Rear Logic
Ch. 3 = PSI Lights
Ch. 4 = Holo Movement
Ch. 5 = Holo Light
Ch. 6 = Side Panel on Dome for Fogger
Ch. 7 = Fogger Spray
Ch. 8 = Automated Pie Panels

Vex Remote Mod Revised

When Chris questioned the purpose behind adding the extra FM board to the Vex remote he gave me a better idea.

As you can see on the back of the remote, I have marked a black box. The hump in this area will have to be removed with my Dremel to give me a flat area to mount a small box. This is the box from Radio Shack: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062279&cp=&sr=1&origkw=plastic+box&kw=plastic+box&parentPage=search

The box will become my adapter for the extra crystals, 1 mounted on each side of the box. The white picture shows the layout of the crystals and below them I will mount a mini 3 way switch. The switch will allow me to choose which crystal will be active and which Vex micro I will be controlling at that time. I have allready tried wiring the crystals and they don't seem to know they are being wired different than the way they fit stock.

I will loose 1 Tx crystal, Because I need the plug to fit into the original spot. And you can see the inside of the original crystal in the pic.

Also the box is small enough that it will not get in the way of the 4 digital buttons on the back.

Vex Remote Mod

This shows the guts of the Vex Remote.

My idea is to add to the 1 remote an extra transmitter (it's the big brown board).

I will add a switch to control which board will transmit the signal at any given time.

In Essenes this will leave me with a 12ch remote that I can use to connect to 2 different Vex micros on different Freqs.

I'll use some controls to drive the body, dome, arms, doors. Then flip the switch and I can control the periscope, pie panels, etc.

Since I have incorporated the 12ch Ebay remote to the Vex micro, This gives me additional channels to control things like the lights, holo movement, etc.

Now I have more than enough channels, 16 motor ports, and I/O ports to work with, I'm not worried anymore about controls.

Leg Update

This is how far I got this weekend on 1 of the legs. It's not perfect and I got some paint Boo-Boo's here and there. But it did turn out better than I expected it too.

Once the paint dries, I can clean out the holes in the Horseshoe and add the detail parts.

The main thing I'm glad about is: My legs are wood with a styrene wrap and I got a smooth finish. I still have to cut the line around the lower area where the Booster has a line, But I'll do that later. More work on the small details for this leg will come soon.

Part Primeing

I primed 1 leg and the Periscope.

I found alot of BOO BOO's on the leg, Nothing alittle sanding and glazing putty can't handle.

And I added the rings around the side eye's on the periscope.

Both need more work, But I can see the problems now with the primer.

Servo Trouble

I had to move the Servo to another position.

The A&A frame is really limiting me on where I can place servos.

I also placed a rod between 2 hinges and this closed the door much better.

Servo vs Hinges

Ok, This is kinda embarrassing.
My wife did the video and there I sit holding the servo in place, Big Belly and All.
(Jason stop laughing!!!)

Now that the laughing is over :)

The servo I'm using is very small but it seems to have more than enough power.
I'm not very good at servos, But once I get the alignment correct and make a better
linkage it will work fine.
All the hinges will need work and getting everything to work together will take time.
Anyway, This is a learning curve for me, But I won't give up.
( Thomas, Don't you start giggling either!)

Hinged Doors

Here's the doors as they open.

I still have some work on them and someone gave me an idea on how to open/close the doors.

There's a slip cable system they use in model airplanes and I think it will work for this situation.

The cable will attach to 1 of the hinges and I can place the servo at the other end.

The A&A frame is so limited on space in this area that I just don't see away else to get the servo in this area.

The other thing I'm having a problem with is:

The doors when they open are slightly scratching

the paint on the body. I'm going to see if I can find the clear tape they use on new cars in the fender areas. This tape is very hard to see once applied and may protect they body.

Large Door Hinges

I got the hinges on 1 panel mounted and I noticed a couple of problems.

The hinges work GREAT, But when the panel closes theres a slight gap around the closing side.

It's not bad, But I can see it and it's driving me crazy. The servos may close it tight enough that it may not be a problem.

The next problem, I have very little know how when it comes to servos.

And I may have to get help setting up the servos. Also I found that the A&A frame does limit you to where you can mount servo and other items.

Periscope Production

I've put this off as far as I can.

I was not looking forward to the Periscope and I've got alot of work ahead.

This is the Periscope that Scott made for the club along time ago. It's made from PVC type material and very light weight.

Once the glaze dries I will be able to sand and do more fitting of the goodies that go with it.

Battery Locations

I have several locations for batteries to be mounted.

On each side of R2 under the side panels, I can mount 2-12v. batteries. 1 on each side.

On top of the center foot mount, I can mount 2-12v. batteries. This is probly where I'll mount the batteries for the 24v. scooter motors. I still have the mounts in the battery boxes, So I could mount 2 more batteries there also.

The 2 Black lights on each side of the main panel (which is removed right now) will only be used when I'm showing off the guts.

Dome Electronics

As you can see in the pic, I have used more Vex hardware inside the dome. I will add more flat panels, So the entire top is closed.

Below the flat panels is where the Slipring will transfer main power.

The power strips I will change to a smaller version.

So far, everything in the dome is 12v. execpt the Holo - 9v. and the rear logic 24v.

The rear Logic, I will controll the 12v LED board with the 12ch, But the power to the main board will have to be direct from the 24v. batteries.

The 12ch. has more than enough controlls for the dome and the Vex will work with the 12ch. to controll the Periscope, Servo for the front Holo,

and the 4 servos for the Pie Panels.

Wiring from the electronics to the actual dome,

I will add power connectors so I can disconnect the dome and sit it to the side if I need to get inside.

12 Ch. Remote

Here's my 1st attempt to getting the dome going.

I used the 12 ch. Remote from Ebay to turn on the lights and it will also tie into the Vex to control the periscope and other items in the dome.

When I press button #1 - I can turn the PSI's on/off , Press button #2 - turns the small logics on/off , Press button #3 - triggers the Builders Club display , Press button #4 - turns Holo on/off.

And I still have more options. Once I get everything figured out, I'll disconnect the little beeping speaker on the 12 ch.

New PSI's

This is the New PSI's that Mike V. offered to the group and these things are AWESOME!!!

I should have took a pic before I installed them to show how he made them. But they're round PC boards with the LEDs built right in the board and they control front and rear PSI's.

They also have a jumper that controls the LEDs, It sets it for Flash, Fade or both at the same time. I'll post a video of the back as soon as I get it installed.

Vex vs 12 Channel Remote

This is an idea I was trying to explain about this 12 Ch. On my R2, There are simple things I need to control by remote.
1. Raising/lowering Periscope
2. Turning various lights on/off
3. Rotating front Holo
4. Changing display on Front Logics
5. Maybe Open/Close Pie Panels
6. Etc.
I experimented with my Vex and hoped not to burn it up and I was in luck. I ran a servo cable from the remote Ch. 1 into Dig. I/O 6 I set the Ch. 1 on the remote to toggle on/off. This allows me to turn a motor on/off.
Now that I know I can wire thing this way, I can set up the Vex and the 12 Ch. remote to activate items in the dome.
Somethings will not need to pass through the Vex as the 12 Ch. can handle things by itself. This may not be a GREAT deal for some that know coding, But for me its an AWESOME project.

Vex Work

I started back on my Vex setup and went with a very basic code for right now.
Chris James knows away to code 2 Vex and use 1 controller. I need to contact him and see if this is something I can figure out and I may go this route.
This would make it nice to run the body off 1 Vex and the dome off another Vex.

I went to Radio Shack and bought a battery connector, So I can run the Vex off a 12v. battery with a Universal power supply. The supply allows me to convert the 12v. down to 7.5v.
I did this because I'm trying to eliminate so many different batteries in R2.

Slow time Again

I haven't done much the last few days, But I'm helping my wife get her R3 further along.
Also, The Walgreen's lights did work and look wonderful, But you need a solid dome not a clear dome to hide all the extra wire.

It is a very good idea from 1 of the other builders, But won't work for her dome.

I've had some CRAPPY luck here lately, Between being in the Hospital and our car's
head gasket went out.
So I might not have allot of progress to post.

Wife's Front Logics

I wanted to post this here, Because it's so cheap to build and I really like it.
The lights are battery operated and it will take 3 strands per logic.
For $15.00 per logic it sure beat the price I paid for mine.
The Vid is short and not that great, But you'll get the idea.
Once I get the Logics finished, I'll post another video.

Booster Painting

I painted 1 Booster today, Yeah BIG PROGRESS!!!

Anyway, It's showing some orange peel but I think when it dries it will be better.

I tried to leave the Aluminum showing where it's suppose to show the 1st time,

But it looked terrible, So I clean the booster and painted again. I'll have to hand paint the areas that need to be silver. :(

Remounting the Legs Update

These pics show the steps I went through to bolt on my wood legs.

I also changed the A&A leg mounts, You can see the different arrangement in the pics. I did this because, I was getting some slack in the legs and that's a No No.

The A&A leg circles mount inside the large aluminum ring and I also shimmed the circles with some nylon shims.

They're the white parts.

Next I bolted this area down tight, So there would be no slack.

Next I used a large washer between the frame mounts and the legs. This will provide a solid surface for the legs to mount.

Again I added more nylon shims to the leg. This goes through the frame to the inside. This also takes up any slack and allows the legs to position into the right spot.

The last 2 pics show the nylon spacer coming through the frame and again I bolted this with a large washer then a small washer and a lock nut.

I will get the legs into the right position and then I will put 2 screws into each of the large washer on the inside. This will keep the legs from moving, Since I'm not doing the 2-3-2.

P.S.

I did'nt show a pic of the outter A&A frame mount that bolts on top of the A&A circles.

But it must go on or you will have allot of slack in the legs.

Remounting the Legs

Here's the A&A mount assy.

Now I'm not sure if this is the way Andy has designed the mount to fit, But this is how it works best for me. After you bolt the ring and circle to the frame , You mount the outer blocking to the frame.

I guess you noticed I got the inner circle mounted wrong, So I'll have to pull it apart and turn the inner circle so the slots Aline correctly. This is a must, But I'm not feeling my best today and wanted to show the mount process.

I'll post more pics about this soon.

Allmost a Disaster

Ok, I've posted this before on my blog for people to always check back for changes I've made building R2. And luckily Brian questioned how I was attaching my wood legs to the A&A frame.
(Thanks Brian)
I found a flaw and have corrected it and R2 probably weighs about 20lbs. lighter and much stronger at the shoulders.
The satellite motors I was using in the frame only allows for shallow bolts, Even though I tapped them for larger bolts.
So, I removed the Sats. out of my frame and used the A&A shoulder mounts.
There was still allot of shimming inside this area, But I am confident this will hold.
If R2's shoulder bolts would have backed out, I would be back to square one and a damaged R2.
I'll post pics of the change this Sunday and I recommend everyone to stay away from the Sats.
Not only have they failed doing the 2-3-2, They are just not a strong way to mount the legs.