Asked — Edited

Cracked Omnibot Dome

Today I noticed a crack in Bob's dome, and it was right in front of his camera. So here is my fix in case any others have a similar issue. Tape an outline on the dome around your bot's eyes. Score the plastic at the tape with an X-acto knife. Cut out the majority of the material with tin snips then make regular cuts in the remaining plastic perpendicular to and up to the score marks. Then use pliers to snap out those smaller pieces of plastic along the tape/score line. You will need almost NO cleaning of the cut edge. Remove the tape then use a lighter to smooth the edge. The tape gives you a guide and keeps it from cracking. The plastic is soft and scores easily. Here is how Bob's turned out - good luck.

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#1  

You have some crazy good modelling talent. Nice job.

Alan

#2  

That looks awesome...in fact probably better to have the cam work through that instead of the plexiglass......your mblinks or LEDs in the eyes will look better too.....great idea!

Kevin

#3  

Bret you can get new , perfectly clear domes and spheres ect from thelightingstore online, i got a 12 inch once for 14 bucks. Just incase you want to replace it one day.

#4  

@jstarne1 I went to the lighting store but didn't see any domes - did you have to contact them and ask about that?

#5  

@bret.tallent - First, great job scoring your cracked dome. Very professional looking. cool

Second, a moot point now but I'm curious, couldn't you have just turned the dome completely around so the crack wasn't in front of the camera? Then you wouldn't have needed to cut the hole in the plastic. Or wouldn't that have worked for a reason I don't see? confused

Again, great job on the dome and I very much like the "helmet" look of it! :)

#6  

Thanks JT. The other side of the dome has a massive scuff that would have been right in front of the camera. I have grown to like the cut dome better as you can really see his "face" and seems to make him a little more personal.