Mechanical

Design

Workshop BY BOB HOWARD (2014)

Scope of Presentation

Focus on Mechanical Aspects

Not getting into Sensors

Not getting into Electrical

Not getting into Programming

Not getting into CAD

Will get into the Robot Design and Process which

crosses all of these

Designing something is only part of the solution, you

must build it so it works.

Process to Building Successful

robots (Robots that work)

Know the Kit-of-parts

Know the game rules

Prototyping

Thinking out of the box

Time and commitment

Know the Kit-of-Parts Mechanical

Lego, Tetrix, Matrix

Structure, brackets, fasteners, gears,

wheels etc.

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New This Year)

New Parts:

AndyMark Motor Includes Enchoder

AndyMark Wheels

High Traction Wheels NOT Allowed

Many Brackets

And more

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New This Year)

NeveRest 40 is a gearmotor with an attached encoder

5X harder to break gears than Tetrix V2 Motor

AndyMark AM-2964

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New This Year)

COTS Parts and Assemblies with Single Degree of

Freedom

Hinges

Sprockets

Gears of any type, including rack and pinion gears

Simple and compound gear trains

Planetary great trains

Lazy Susan

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New This Year)

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New This Year)

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (Modified This Year)

Post-Processed Materials

3D Printed Parts

Perforated Sheet

Diamond Plate

Injection Molded Parts

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New This Year)

3D Printed

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New This Year)

Perforated Sheet & Diamond Plate

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New This Year)

Injected Molded Parts

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New Last Year)

The most versatile motor mount

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New Last Year) Timing Belts

Gears of any size or pitch including non-circular such as worm or bevel gears

Sprockets of any size or pitch

Pulleys including sheaves and timing belts

Springs of any type and material (coil, extension, compression, leaf, etc.)

Wheels of any type up to 4”

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New Last Year)

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New Last Year)

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New Last Year)

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New Last Year)

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New Last Year)

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Mechanical (New Last Year)

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Electrical

Motors, servos, wiring, battery

Anderson power poles *should consider this a

standard

Hand tools

Wrenches, screw drivers, ratchets, sockets, files

Power tools Hand saw, hand drill, skill saw, hack saw

Drill press, table saw

3D printer, CNC machine

Know the Kit-of-Parts

Build stuff

You can look at the parts till you are blue in the face but the only way to learn the parts is to build robots

The better you know the kits and the tools the faster you can build

The faster you can build the more time you have

Kit parts can be modified

Practice, practice, practice

Leverage ideas from previous years game

Independent suspension

Forklift

Adjustable drive train height

Know the Game Rules

Many items are allowed that you purchase at your local hardware store

Raw materials (plastic, wood, aluminum, steel, etc.)

Fasteners (screws, nuts, string, rope etc.)

Linear slides (drawer slides, 80/20 system, etc.)

COTS items are not allowed

Know what these are

Know the exceptions

Read the Forum, the rules change

Prototyping

“You don’t have to prototype anything, just what you want to work” Andrew Rudolf

Why prototype

Make sure it works

Keep is simple

What to prototype

Drive train

Manipulators

Sub-assemblies of any kind

Manipulators

Weighted Rings

Linear Slide 80/20

Linear Slide 80/20

Linear Slide 80/20

Linear Slide 80/20

Sub-Assembly

Sub-Assembly

Sub-Assembly

Thinking Out-of-the-box

Know the characteristics of what you are building

Leverage others ideas

Build prototypes

Thinking Out-of-the-box

Know the characteristics (aka

requirements) of what your are building

Thinking Out-of-the-box

Leverage others ideas

Research on web for ideas (YouTube,

Google)

Get ideas from others with experience

Get ideas from other engineers that are

not involved in robotics.

Thinking Out-of-the-box

Then try to build it yourself

Does no have to be perfect.

Remember It’s a prototype!

Most prototypes don’t work

Learn what you don’t like or don’t want to

do when you build the final assembly

Key Principles to Success

Know your materials

Know your tools

Know the rules

Research

Build

Build some more

And then build some more

There is no substitute for time

Questions?

Bob Howard

Team 4997 Masquerade

bobhoward@yahoo.com

813-480-9211