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Next Hack - Robot B9

Now that I have finished B.O.B., my get your feet wet bot, I have begun my next hack. This next robot will bridge the gap between Bob and my ultimate big robot. I am starting with a remote controlled B9 toy from Trendmasters. It was very limited in what it did, and the drive section was pathetic, but it was B9!

Before Pics:

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Note: the front "lights" in the chest plate is actually just a decal.

Here is what B9 looks like now:

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I have mounted clear LEDs in the appropriate colors in the chest at the bottom of the decal and have a flashing circuit that will blink them in the combination as seen on the series. Where the two large round circles are (white domes on the big guy) I will have my ping sensor. I have mounted pager motors in the antenna housings to turn the "sensors" as seen in the TV version. I have mounted red El Wire to his voice plate to emulate the original as well. I have also mounted a series of blinking LEDs to the "brain" section in the bubble.

Next is to work on the rotation of the bubble and torso, articulate the arms and claws, and make a real functioning tread section. For the tread section I am adapting the base from my RAD robot. I will keep you posted with pics as I proceed.

Thanks,

Bret

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#209  

How well did the sound deadening work?

#210  

Started working on my arms tonight. Using a ABS coupling as an arm socket I cut out disks from plastic that fit just inside the pipe and the same size as the OD of the pipe. First I started with wood and realized it probably wouldn't rotate as friction free as plastic.

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Next I joined the pieces with standoffs.

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Insert this assembly into the socket.

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Then the outer cap completes the rotational socket.

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The slot is for the arm base.

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3/4 X 1/8 aluminum bar stock.

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And the whole arm rotates with a servo on the inside.

In the video I am actually turning this via the aluminum bar and not with a servo as it is not secure in the arm socket. This is just for demo. Gonna work on it more today and update as I progress.

#211  

Glued and clamped my rotation mount.

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Then cut my arm pieces.

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A step down bit and a file make mounting the servos easy.

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Now to joint the arm sections and create my claws - oh boy!

#212  

Looking good! Can't wait to see it in action.

#213  

Thanks! Me either lol. So to attache the arm segments to the servos I decided to use the original servo horns mounted to my arm pieces. I needed as low a profile as possible so I cut them down to size and glued them into holes drilled in the arm segments using Gorilla glue expanding glue.

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If this doesn't hold up then I will look at using epoxy for mounting the piece in the hole.

#214  

I don't know how all this works together. Do you have a drawing or plan your following?

#215  

Nah, it's all in my head. But I found out the Gorilla Glue sucks in this application, so it is off to the epoxy.

#216  

The epoxy did the trick! Now the arm sections fit on the servos just right. Here I am testing movement with a servo tester. The two servos are tied together with a Y connector so they move in unison. Once I have this mounted in the arm socket then I will have rotation for the whole arm assembly. Cover it with flexible duct and it is pretty close to the real B9. Yay!! cool