Modified Bike Project: Part 3 -- Engine build

The most exciting part of the build so far -- the engine!

A nice fresh rebuild with the best bearings on the market. The rebuild was super smooth, and I cant wait to rip this thing and show it off!

Of course the engine will be better though when I'm twisting the throttle. This is a Minarelli v1, 50cc moped engine that has been rebuilt and features the cutting edge ceramic hybrid bearings from the great folks @ Boca Bearings. It's almost too ridiculous how smooth these bearings roll in the engine.

Ceramic bearings need to be installed with a shop press, specifically by pressing the inside race. They went in with ease.

Now I will admit, I was wrong initially about whether the bearing shields needed to be taken out. After researching and discussing my concerns with the reps at Boca, I went ahead and removed the shield from the internal facing side of the bearing. Even though they are internally greased bearings, this is definitely a precautionary measure needed to be taken. I keep the engine stock for the most part, purposely to truly show the gains from using these bearings.

Obviously a hop'd up motor will be fast but I was worried that would overshadow the natural benefits of a ceramic bearing upgrade.

The next step of course will be completing the build, ripping the throttle wide open, then sending the bike down to Florida to live its life at the Boca Bearings complex!

Arduino Robot Project: Part 4 -- Shield and Software

Adding Headers to the Motor Shield:

So I finally came across some stackable headers that I ordered from Karlsson Jupiter. I ordered them online and they were available for pick up the next day. The headers came in a 6 pin header, two 8 pin headers, and one 10 pin headers so they connect directly to the Arduino. The headers are important so the Arduino can communicate with the shield. Since I do not know which pins are being used to communicate with the shield, it was important for me to get the whole complete kit. The headers are the stackable kind so I can still connect things on top such as the sensor reading wires from the sensor board. So I placed the headers through the holes of the shield and just soldered one pin from each header.

Once I did that, I went ahead and stacked it on top of the Arduino to make sure that the headers were aligned well and that they go into the pins of the Arduino perfectly. If not, I had to reheat to solder to adjust the position of the header. When I checked, all my headers were aligned well. So, I removed the shield carefully and finished soldering the headers onto the shield.

Blade 180 CFX Helicopter: Part 2 -- First Repair

Well, I found the weak point ...

During the first flight, the tail rotor made contact with the grass and I lost all tail rotation. Examining the heli, I noticed that the main gear and tail rotor were totally disengaged from each other. Apparently, they went to a plastic torque tube in the 180. When the rotation of the tail rotor was impeded, the motor was easily powerful enough to twist the end of the shaft right off.

I thought about replacing it with a metal one but decided against it. Something has to give, and if it isn't the torque tube, what will it be? I learned this with the 130, if you start changing everything out to metal, you can start bashing the helicopter up really bad in crashes. The torque tube is so easy to change out, you can do it in less than a minute.

After removing one screw in the side of the tail fin, you pull off the whole tail assembly and the torque tube falls right out. I found this pack of 2 for about $13 on Amazon. The shaft rides inside a bearing that fits inside the tail boom, and the new ones come with the bearing already on the shaft.

I'll try to post a flight video soon. Stay tuned.

Arduino Robot Project: Part 3 -- Building the Parts of the Line Robot

There were a few components of the robot that I had to make or modify. There was the sensor board that I had to make with the sensors, resistors, and the perforated board. I also had to modify the servos to convert them to geared DC motors. Once that was done, I used a plastic container to enclose all these parts. I had to cut holes for the sensors and the motors.  I will be going though in the making of these several parts of the robot. Then I will assemble them together.

Sensor Board:

For the sensor board I used the sensors that I ordered along with the perforated board and resistors. I also needed some wiring to connect all the grounds together and the power together. 

So I started off first by placing the sensors on top of the board with some spacing in between them so they won't interfere with each other. The blue led is the IR emitter while the black led is the IR detector. The spacing was about half of inch. I had some trouble trying to stick the sensors pins through the hole because in between the pins there was some kind of plastic that protruded out. So I tried my best to stick the pins through the holes.

Arduino Robot Project: Part 2 -- Pre-Build

Design

For the design of the line robot I will be using a plastic container that I found at a thrift store for a dollar. I plan on putting the two motors towards the rear of the container with the caster wheel at the front using some L brackets to connect them together. The design will be similar to the one that was used in the manual. I will have the sensor board towards the front with a cutout at the bottom so the sensors can read the floor. The container I have chosen is listed below along with a picture of it. I chose this since it’s clear and I would like to see the "guts" of the robot. I think it's a cool look and I could add some LEDs inside to make it look a little cooler in my opinion.

Material List and Cost

For this project I ordered some of the parts online. To start I bought an Arduino clone on eBay from a seller named 16hertzelectronics. The price for this Arduino Uno was $14.99 with free shipping.  The link to the Arduino is: http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNO-R3-Kit-Starter-to-Ultimate-Arduino-Compatible-LCD-Breadboard-Sensor-/271658490668?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3f401b9b2c

Blade 180 CFX Helicopter: Part 1 -- Opening

Boca Bearings is the proud owner of a shiny new Blade 180 CFX! We've been selling quite a few of the bearing kits for this thing, so we figured we'd get one to try out. For science!

                                 

We're gonna test fly it, put some some new bearings in it, fly it some more, shoot a few videos, etc. We'll probably do some Microheli upgrades at some point. Our only experience with flying helicopters so far has been the 130X, so that is our point of comparison.

                                   

First Impression

Right out of the box it looks like a really nice machine. It is far more robust than the 130X. In terms of length and width it is only slightly larger, but everything on it is beefier and feels way more solid. It's heavier, and I love the stock carbon fiber frame.

A few things I noticed right off the bat:

It has radial servos throughout, 4 in total. It doesn't use those linear servos like on the 130 that are prone to failure. You can also see the 5800kv brushless motor that is shorter and fatter than the 130x motor.

This new box tail design looks much more sturdy. Hopefully it is easy to work on.

Plastic swash just like on the 130, but it looks plenty strong enough. I'll upgrade to the aluminum one at some point.

180 CFX battery (below) compare to 130x battery (above)

3-cell 450mah battery

I've gone ahead and set up my DX6i for it. Now all that's left is to bind it and fly it......

Arduino Robot Project: Part 1 -- The Sensor Board

Gerardo Ramos is working on a robot from scratch. Introducing below is the sensor board. The red wires are the power wires. The green wires are ground and the blue wires are the feedback wires from the sensors. It's my first time soldering.

        I am waiting for other parts which I am receiving shortly. More updates to come.