United Kingdom
Asked — Edited

Inmoov With Bosch Motors

I have decided to jump into 3D printing and build a version of the Inmoov robot, here is the printer that I am going to buy, it looks a good spec.

www.dream3d.co.uk/product/ultimaker-2-desktop-3d-printer-2/?gclid=CJHR7aDloMUCFfMZtAodTU0Ang

I (personally) have no CAD knowledge, but I would like to convert the arms to the Bosch drives. They would be much more powerful (torque) than the existing servos, being virtually totally silent (I noticed the servo noise in @Aerius video that there was quite a loud holding buzz). The Bosch units already have a worm driven gearbox built in and also a feedback potentiometer. I think the Bosch units would greatly improve the Inmoov arms if a conversion can be done to allow for these these to be used with the current design.

As you have some Bosch drives, David and Richard R what do you guys think?

Tony


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#1  

@Toymaker... that's awesome and the Ultimaker is a primo printer...:) The HS-805bb's do a pretty good job because most joints on the inMoov are worm gear driven. So for the most part the arms can hold their position without too much trouble and without too much current to the servos in order to do so... But yes, the HS-805bb's being standard hobby servos there will be a bit of buzzing...

I would have to say in order to use those bosch motors for the inMoov's joints, your are going to have to alter the .stl files quite a bit... However, if anyone could do it, it would be you Tony... :)

United Kingdom
#2  

@Richard R, I have very little CAD and 3D printer experience, so I guess I will not be able to modify the .stl files. If there is anyone here (or know anyone) that could? I would pay for their effort and supply the Bosch drives (I have around 500 units left in stock).

Tony

#3  

I think it is a great idea and I have thought about doing the same. I haven't tackled it yet at all so you stepping in here and doing this would be great.

Excellent choice on printer by the way. For the last year now I have wanted to go that route for a printer. The cost is high but I think would be worth it. If I were to get one it would have to wait until about March of next year.

I used to be pretty good at CAD but that was a long time ago and the software has changed so much. I haven't had the time or taken the time to get up to speed on the new software. I really need to do that but have too many other irons in the fire at this point. The bosch motors are very quiet and I would love to use them for the arms. I am printing spare parts for my inmoov now and will get mine up and running. I want to then start modifying the files to use the bosch motors. The largest issue that I see is that these don't have controller boards on them so the cost goes up when using them, but the benefits could be awesome.

United Kingdom
#4  

David, if you can convert the .stl files, I can supply you with more Bosch motors and I will get another batch of my Bosch Smart servo PCBs made, so I can also supply you with these (and the pre-programmed PICs), they will make the Bosch drives work like regular servos and they are quite compact. They also have current sensing so can be set to shutdown on overload/stall.

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Tony

Gibraltar
#5  

@Toymaker I noticed you mentioned you [/have around 500 units left in stock] would you be willing to sell any, please let me know how much with p+p to Gibraltar. I seem to find it difficult to get them shipped to Gib. you can email me at bborastero@hotmail.com or let me have a link to servo and pcb thanks Ben

United Kingdom
#6  

@Ben, this stock is for future commercial robots builds. How many are you looking for?

Tony

Gibraltar
#7  

ok that makes sense. to answer your question I need 2. I found an old Emiglio and the EZ servos are a bit weak to lift the arm from the shoulder. if you could give a link to a site or even something similar I would be grateful

#8  

@Toymaker,

Let me see what I can get done. I am about to start printing the shoulders for spare parts. I'll modify the design of the stl files to try to keep the same exterior shape while inserting a Bosch motor into the shoulder joints. These servos are already worm gear driven so it would allow the removal of the rotator joint gears and replacement of them with the Bosch motors.

will let you know how they turn out.

Canada
#9  

@ Toymaker,

Good idea, I often dreamed of get hold of quiet and powerful servos.

Embed them in joint Inmoov be excellent.

United Kingdom
#10  

David, I use these 6mm hubs to connect to the Bosch spindle it makes a very strong mechanical connection. I wonder if these could be integrated into the Inmoov shoulder/bicep joints?

www.active-robots.com/6mm-nexus-robot-hub-18007

These Bosch units will also make a great silent powerful pan and tilt for the Inmoov head as it is with the ALTAIR robots - I estimate that the Bosch units are at least three time more powerful that the current high torque servos used in the Inmoov robot.

Ben, I can spare a couple of drives for you, I will send you an email this week to get your delivery address.

Tony

#11  

@Tony.... I haven't compared so you may be right. However, remember the HS-805bbs are run through either a worm gear box or jack screw assembly which dramatically increases it's torque over the plain HS-805bb.... My inMoov's shoulder servo (fully extended) can lift 3lbs in addition to the weight of it's arm which is a few pounds in itself... It probably could lift more, but I have not tried... Gael actually has a video of his inMoov lifting a fairly heavy screw gun/drill....

United Kingdom
#12  

Richard, The thing with the Bosch motors is you can run them up to 20v there is very high torque at this voltage. My systems are 12v but I use a buck convertor to get the 20v for the shoulder motors and it works fine. The HS-805bbs are just 6v and I used them on the original AIMEC robots and there is no comparison with the Bosch units running at 20v.

Tony

#13  

Gotcha' Forgot about the voltage limitations of the 805bbs.... I believe you now that the Bosch motors with the higher voltage capabilities would produce more torque than the 6V 805bbs... :)

United Kingdom
#14  

Richard, I think that the Bosch drives could really improve the Inmoov robots, they would be almost silent and have much more torque. I hope we (or David) can integrate them into the Inmoov arms and possibly the pan/tilt design.

On the Bosch unit, power one up at 12 to 20v and then try to stop the spindle - take care as the torque is so great that it could rip your fingers! They are near impossible to stop with your fingers. The current draw is amazingly low at only a couple of hundred milliamps on full load, so another huge advantage with these Bosch units are that they do not take huge currents so battery life is maximized.

Tony

United Kingdom
#15  

I am thinking about using the AIMEC locomotion base and leg section for my Inmoov build as I still have a few in stock. They look a bit like legs while being skid/steer with precision movement thanks to the drive encoders. I may need to print a new center section to build the leg section up a bit when connecting the Inmoov upper body to make it look right.

What do you fellow Inmoov builders think, does it look like this is workable to you with the upper part of the Inmoov?

User-inserted image

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Tony

#16  

I like the idea. I think it would be a good match. There is a gear at the bottom of the current inmoov that will attach to the lower portion once designed. The gear has a hole in the middle that a 43.5 mm outer diameter pole could be used tie the two together. This gear is held in place by 4 8 mm bolts and 4 4mm bolts. You would just need to remove the holder for a pot at the bottom of the gear.

#17  

You could also just tie into the bracket that holds the gear which is inside of the inmoov. A 62mm OD pole would be able to be drilled to match up with this bracket.

Canada
#18  

Inmoov in motion? I vote for . As long as he does quietly and is easily controlled.

#19  

@ToyMaker... Tony the finished inMoov without battery is around ~20lbs... How much weight can your base handle? If it can handle the inMoov, plus maybe a battery is there any chance you would be willing to sell one to me? No worries if you can't... I am looking for a new base for my inMoov and yours seems to be perfect....

Cheers Richard

#20  

@Toymaker,

Will you sell low quantitys (4) of the Bosch motors and drive PC boards? If so, what would the cost be?

Thank you.

PRO
USA
#21  

@Tony,

I'm very interested in these motors for make shift high powered servos. Could you point me to a supplier for these and or specs/ dimensions? I'm interested in speed and torque vs size.

Thanks so much in advance.

#22  

@fxrtst, From previous conversations, it appears there are no US distributors for these motors and Bosch has no interest in selling them to this market. Tony has been nice enough to send samples to many users here, but I don't know if he can be a distributor if Bosch doesn't authorize it.

Tony, please correct me if I mis-stated this. going from memory....

Alan

PRO
USA
#23  

Well poo, missing a market here in the states...okay then :)

United Kingdom
#24  

@Tony.

There seems to be a lot of interest of these Bosch motors you mention, and I see that you recomend them. What is the model number for these motors as I'm possibly interested in getting a few of these myself for an upcoming robot project I want to start, and wanted to look them up (specs, price, where to buy ect).

Thanks.

Steve.

#25  

The Bosch motors label says BOSCH VMC 12V 120804 3 (d5) 0 132 801 158 3 made in malaysia (905) MF116880-1040 DEF LHD VW Audi 4B2 820511 K

These motors have a pot, motor and gears. There is not a controller board. In order to use the servo, you have to use Tony's PIC, A Sabertooth or an H-Bridge.

#26  

@All

These Bosch motors are a bummer. I got a few from @Dave and @Tony and they work so well...and they're strong. However, I can't get more of them...i tried to place a semi-big order but if I can't get them easily there's no point of using them on my builds, since I'm planning on mass-producing.

They're awesome though. Very quiet and low power consumption. Plus the main pain on my builds is getting the potentiometers to work right with the motors...this little Bosch unit has it all inside nice and neat.

United Kingdom
#27  

The history of these Bosch drives is Pat (Bravia) first bought my attention to them being sold on ebay some time back, I got a few to try out and was so impressed that I did a deal with the seller to buy a large quantity at only five quid each. These were for future production runs of the ALTAIR robots. I also designed a custom circuit and PIC to act as a compact servo controller for them to use in the production robots. I checked a few weeks back and the seller is no longer selling them.

I have so far given away over 40 Bosch drives all over the World free of charge and just checked the postage alone has cost me over £200. I do now need to start conserving what I have left for the first ALTAIR robot production runs - I am happy to supply Bosch drives and custom controllers to David as he may (hopefully) be converting the Inmoov .stl files to use the Bosch units and will be sharing these with me, so this is my way of saying thanks.

Rex found them in the US, but the cost is higher than I paid.

Search for Heater A/C Air Flap Control Motor - 4B1 820 511 K 98-05 Audi A6 S6 RS6 Allroad

Hope this helps

Tony

#28  

as a status update, I have made an STL of the bosch motors and am trying to cut out the existing stl for the shoulders to fit this stl in. I have discovered that I am not as good as I once was but am working on the conversion still. This is going to take me a bit of time. I am working on this though.

United Kingdom
#29  

Richard R, are you interested in the motor base or just the fiberglass leg section? The EZ:1 robot weighs in at just over 40lb (with batteries) and the locomotion is fine with the drive motors that I used.

Looking at the Inmoov, I am wondering if my base/leg section may be too small for the Inmoov upper body, here are the build dimensions.

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Richard, what do you think? I may need to get a larger leg section fabricated for the Inmoov.

Tony

#30  

@Tony... inmoov's lower base (the last stl files to be release) is 230mm(wide) x 170mm(deep) so by the looks of it, it might sit nicely on the top of your base/legs.... It may need a wider base (at ground level wheel base) due to the inMoov being rather top heavy... However, you say you have about 40lbs of weight in the base so maybe?

It also might look disproportionate due to the inMoov being as large as a small adult... So maybe you will need a wider wheel base and a taller leg section?

United Kingdom
#31  

Thanks for the info Richard, The whole EZ:1 robot is 40lb (not just the base). The EZ:1 is 4 ft high, would you say that the Inmoov would be taller than this as a small adult size?

From what I can see, I guess the Inmoov probably needs to be around 5ft to look right, so the leg section may need to increased (taller) as you have determined.

Tony

#32  

@Tony... I would say so...Just over 5ft total sounds about right....

United Kingdom
#33  

Thanks for the information Tony and David. Much appreciated. :)