Reala's Build Log - Expect mistakes... Lots of mistakes.

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Reala
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:25 am

Reala's Build Log - Expect mistakes... Lots of mistakes.

Post by Reala »

Hey all,

So I'm Marc from Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. I've been into Robot Wars since it first aired here in the UK, but never considered it financially viable. Over the last few years I've been watching battlebots and now the new Robot Wars, so decided to see if there was a community out there to talk about the shows (and individual robots) with. Well, I stumbled across Fighting Robots Forum first and they quickly directed me here as the majority of people are UK based - imagine my surprise when I found out there was a division of Robots you could build in that was not only cost effective but consisting of a friendly, knowledgeable and accepting community? =) Awesome!

I thought it would be fun and useful to keep a build log, so that is what I will do as the weeks progress. To start with, attached is a shot of the stuff that the postman has delivered to my home over the last few weeks. I'll post a list soon, but I'm sure you will recognise the majority of it!

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Rhys
Posts: 738
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2002 12:00 am
Location: Caerphilly, South Wales

Re: Reala's Build Log - Expect mistakes... Lots of mistakes.

Post by Rhys »

I'm so jealous of all the new guys posting their new bits and pieces. :p
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Reala
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:25 am

Re: Reala's Build Log - Expect mistakes... Lots of mistakes.

Post by Reala »

First week of 3D Printing reflections:

1. 3D Printing isn't an out of the box thing. People tell you that and you don't believe them, but quickly find it to be true. You need to invest a lot of time into trial and error and asking people who've been through it already for help and advice.

2. Every filament is wildly different. My first filament was fantastic at 185 degrees end and 50 degrees bed. I felt these would be the settings I'd use for the rest of my 3D Printing life... then I got a new filament and everything went horribly wrong. This filament wouldn't stick to the bed and was coming out of the extruder and quickly bunching up. For this filament I had to spray the bed with hair spray, heat the bed to 60 and the end to 200.

3. NEVER leave the printer alone. After a couple of really bad prints leaving melted plastic everywhere, I decided to read up on disaster stories. Not a huge number of houses have burnt down as the result of a 3D Printer yet, but there have been tons of examples of them smoking or catching fire and being caught just in time. 3D Printing is still very new and these Chinese printers don't face the same heavy regulation something built in America or the EU has... DO NOT go out or go to sleep with it running... invest in a decent smoke alarm too.

4. DO NOT TOUCH THE 3D PRINTER WHEN IT IS RUNNING. It's really tempting to pull a bit of rogue plastic from the extruder or model, but it's just not worth it. I've done it twice... first time I stopped the extruder moving correctly and it couldn't finish the print because it was mis-aligned. The second time I hit the fan and it broke: every blade bar two broke. I've ordered a replacement, but it cost about £15 after shipping... so although it's not an expensive mistake, it will add up.

5. You probably won't be making iron man suits of armour anytime soon with a sub $1000 printer. I only wanted a 3D Printer to make small robot shells, so I'm happy enough with my printer... for this it is really fantastic and I've also found a new hobby that involves printing little models and painting them. However, I know some people have grander expectations. My friend asked, "Are you going to print an iron man helmet?" and another asked "Will you print replacement car parts?". I probably could do these things with a bit of time, but in reality the printer is pretty small in terms of area and the technology is still in a very early stage. Although these things are 'possible', I think you should be realistic in your expectations when picking one up and realise that the 'impressive stuff' takes and 'impressive skill set' to pull off... kind of like being an artist. You can paint photo realistic stuff if you put the time in and develop the skills.

6. Kits won't be for everyone. A lot of people recommend 'kit' printers. I really thought about it, but then came to the realisation that: "I hate building stuff with crappy instructions and using my own intuition." What attracted me to the Duplicator was that you could pull it out the box and get 'decent' prints within 10 minutes. Yes, these is a curve, but this learning curve is about playing with settings and adding mods as opposed to building the printer and coming up with a solution as to the bit that the person writing the instructions missed.

7. 3D Printing is hugely fun. Although I've focused on the negatives, 3D Printing is really exciting and you get a huge sense of achievement when you show your printed models to your friends or wow them with videos of the thing running. I could actually watch the 3D Printer for quite an embarrassingly lengthy amount of time and remain fascinated by how it builds things. The community is really enthusiastic and friendly, you really feel a part of something. Additionally, there's this feeling that you are at the forefront of something. 3D Printing will, I believe, be HUGE in the future. Knowing that you are already participating in it is really quite a great feeling.

Well, that's my rambling over. Thanks to everyone who continues to help me and makes this such a great hobby.
Reala
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:25 am

Re: Reala's Build Log - Expect mistakes... Lots of mistakes.

Post by Reala »

Here is a test drive of my prototype. The chassis is 3D Printed and just a modified version I found online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha1-t5EXxb4

It shocked me how hard it is to drive. I think it's because the wheels aren't quite straight and all the weight is in the back, meaning it wants to tip (presuming a servo in the front will add weight to the front and help with this. That said, I imagine there is an element of it just being tricky... these things really move and a little tap of the steering to any direction causes it to spin, so I guess I need to work on mastering that - even once I sort everything else out.

Jut for fun, here's my robot taking on my dog...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6aqM563A5c
Reala
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:25 am

Re: Reala's Build Log - Expect mistakes... Lots of mistakes.

Post by Reala »

3D Printed a new case today and decided to move my current set-up - NanoTwo V2 with 2 motors and wheels - into it.

Upon completing the move I decided to re-bind everything (I've since realised I didn't need to) and either by doing that or during the moving of parts I've caused problems...

Currently the NanoTwo will not bind and whenever I plug the battery into my ant the wheel will either spin at the rate of one cog per a second (making a clicking noise) or one wheel will spin really fast for a few seconds and then everything will die.

Really, I should not be allowed near technology... currently waiting for Rory to save me (and my robot) from doing anymore damage *sigh*
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