jstarne1
Raas Tweek Test Platform , Robotics As A Service
Hello all! I hope your having a great day. I have not documented any builds lately so am starting a thread for this one. This machine is intended to be a test platform for various components. One of the significant challenges this community and the manufacturing industry in general is supply chain drought. Parts are either hard to come by or suppliers will not find your needs a priority without a commitment to a large order. I have a standing goal to create a RAAS program. Robots As A Service. Let’s face it. A good machine that performs a task well is going to be expensive. In this economic climate a company, municipality, or individual is hard pressed to commit to any technology right away. Purpose built machines that perform automated tasks simply need to prove themselves practically and demonstrate a financial advantage.
Machines like automatic robot lawn mowers are just gaining a foothold into markets. The models that are available even in the two to three thousand US dollar range may work on small scale for a customer, but the build quality is cheap and parts are toyish. This build focuses on quick assembly of machine chassis using extruded aluminum, T nuts and plate fasteners. In order to make sure that I can reliably reproduce a machine, the parts need to be readily available as I am not prepared to invest in large orders of any unproven parts in my applications.
When building this test chassis I will share some tips and strategies that allow one platform to use a variety of parts. As we go along, if a particular part does not meet the project need, I may make several changes to accommodate an alternate part for retesting.
Though aluminum extrusions make for quick builds, I do not feel they convey a polished product. Industrial settings are fine, but not customer facing equipment. So keep in mind boxy or naked frames are completely utilitarian and not the end product. I just need to find economical parts that are common enough that I will not need to wait weeks for shipping and also perform well.
a quick trip to Harbor Freight and Home Depot gets us some important parts to start building.
First, the 5/8 zinc coated steel threaded rod. The length is plenty more than needed so it will eventually be trimmed down. The wheels are two piece black powder coated steel with a generic turf safe rubber tire and 10 inner tube. One 5/8 nut on each side holds the wheels ball and grease bearing in place.
I’m gonna be curious how you do the power train. This is gonna be good! I always struggle with power trains
Here’s the motors I picked out and have in hand now. Three criteria I am using are;
robust durability by overbuilding
relatively inexpensive because the part is used in popular products
typically available on hand from suppliers
These are motors found in e bikes, scooters and a few other things.
These guys are rated at 250 watts, but I am thinking I will keep the system 12v which would be 168 watts at 14 amps.
Parts on the way in 48 hours
4.10/3.50 -4 knobby tires with heavy duty inner tube set x 4
5/8 cast iron pillow block bearings with set nut
5/8 lock washers
2020 black aluminum extrusions
2020 corner brackets
2020 side reinforcement plates
misc M5 screws and T nuts
4 x 68 tooth sprocket with #25 chain
#25 chain master links
chain breaker tool
After some research I am going to switch battery brand at type. The size is within the standard U1 casings. I intend on setting 4 of these in the frame for 24 volts and 70 AH capacity. In this case I am building a robot around the needed parts instead of trying to shoe horn things together.
Vmax deep cycle agm high performance
Hi,
Robots As A Service (RaaS) interesting subject indeed
Robots-as-a-Service is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and emerging as a new business model we use here now.
I read many interesting articles
The cloud robotics industry, which includes RaaS, was worth $3.3 billion in 2019 and could grow to $157.8 billion by 2030.
My wife is a engineer and worked at 3M for years, went to many large companies that have automation robots.
It's good to see you back on this forum and sharing your robot builds and ideas. I've always enjoyed and learned from your work.
This is very good to see. Finding the right parts for a build at a good cost is smart for any robot. I myself like going for the utilitarian direction with using framework parts like those of Servocity or SuperDroid for structure and large servos where needed. No flashy designs, at least not for now for the builds. Have a couple new ideas in mind. Looking forward to seeing more here.