3D Printed Robotic Hand: Part 8--The Wiring Diagram of the Hand and Codes for Adafruit Servo Shield

So in this post I will be going over the wiring of the 3D printed Inmoov hand and include images of the wiring with the use of the program Fritzing since I did not really go into detail of how I wired the hand when using it without the Adafruit Servo shield. To me, Fritzing is a very useful program that includes many popular boards and components to be able to recreate a wiring layout. Again, this wiring is set up to be used without the Adafruit Servo shield. Doing this can help reduce costs of the project. I will also be covering the codes that I did use when I was trying to use the Adafruit Servo shield. 

The Wiring of the Inmoov Hand

So I did not really go into detail on how to wire the robotic hand. This wiring setup is meant to be used without the Servo shield from Adafruit. It will just rely on the use of the Servo library of the Arduino IDE. Using the Adafruit Servo shield will require a different wiring setup.

The above image is the wiring diagrm of the Inmoov hand. The five servos are powered by an external supply, the 4 AA batteries. The 4AA batteries should should supply enough power to the servos. The battery power supply is connected to the power rails that is found on the top of the breadboard. The ground of the batteries is connected to the blue rail while the power (positive) of the batteries is connected to the rail next to the red line on the breadboard. The blue rail is the ground rail while the red rail is the power rail.

Racing Power Wheels Part 1: The Dune Racer and Motor Kit Selection

The next project for Boca Bearings will be to make a regular Power Wheels into a Racing Power Wheels to participate in the Power Racing Series. The Power Racing Series is a series of races where teams race each other with power wheels that they have modified to go much faster than their stock speed. The series also includes an endurance race of 75 minutes. It's a series where people can learn new things and skills and to simply have fun.

For this project, we've searched Craigslist until we've found a Power Wheels that we thought was best for the project. A used Power Wheels was desired since we are going to mostly just keep the plastic covering of the Power Wheels and not use the stock motor or throttle. The Power Wheels we ended up going with is the Power Wheels Dune Racer.

Game of Drones Hiro Airframe Quadcopter Part 1: Building the Quadcopter

     This is the first time where I will try to learn and make a quadcopter. Parts from the Crossfire Quadcopter will be used to make this quadcopter with the Hiro Airframe from Game of Drones. The end result is shown above. An image of the frame alone can be seen below.

The Hiro Airframe that will be used for this quadcopter build

Boca Build 2.0 Geared Sliding Puzzle: Final Fabrication

This posting will show the final fabrication and finish work that went into the Boca Bearing Sliding Geared Puzzle. I will have a final posting with high quality, still shots of the finished piece.

For starters, I need to make a platform or base for the puzzle. Up to this point it has basically been a rough steel frame that slides around on the table when you move the pieces around. I have a tendency to collect handles, wheels, feet, risers and other useful or decorative parts of furniture so I had 4 rubber-bottom bolts with nuts that used for adjustable feet.

I needed the feet to be able to lower all the way. This means the nut will need to screw on all the way to the head so I would have to thread the rest of the bolt. The nut will then be welded on the base as seen below.

This is the main base. It used to be a home made stand for a table mount drill press. I shortened it by adding new pieces of channel (the horizontal pieces seen at the top and bottom of the picture above) and then cutting off a few inches including the old channel.

You can see the nuts welded to each corner for the feet.

The channel is tapped with a 10-32 thread for bolts that will hold the main frame.

Main frame attached to base.

Here, the top is folded down close to the base for a lower profile during transportation. The hinge shown above is from an old treadle sewing machine and is connected by a 10-32 bold that screws directly into the channel cross-members. You can also see the bolt (foot) coming through the nut on the lower right hand side of the picture.

The "kickstand" comprises of two folding arms that I cut from an old steel table that was in my scrap pile. Each was welded to the frame at one end and then at the other ends they were bridged by welding a steel rod between the two.

Above the kick stand, surrounding the edge of the frame is another frame made of welded 1/2 steel angle. This frame fits over the main frame to keep any puzzle pieces from being removed or falling out. It is drilled with 4 3mm holes while the main frame is tapped with 4 holes to receive 3mm bolts.

Now that the main fabrication is complete, it is time for finishing. For the control box, main base and small frame, I used "traffic grey' powdercoating from Powder Buy the Pound to achieve an industrial feel on the piece.

The powder gets sprayed on around 15-20 psi and goes into the oven around 400 F.

After it cools to room temperature, its ready to handle.

The main frame that holds the puzzle pieces will not be powder coated. Since the hinges move against each other and the panels slide agains the steel, the powder coating will likely crack and flake off. I also wanted to have a little contrast between parts so I used a Slate Black Patina from Sculpt Nouveau. I also need to seal it so it does not continue to rust so I used their Clear Guard Matt Black.

I sandblasted it, made sure not to touch it with bare hands so I did not transfer oil and dirt back onto it and then sprayed the full concentrate patina onto the surface. You can dilute the patina with water to conserve it and to get a more rusty color.

The patina is basically a red/black rust so it has a fuzzy texture to it. I used some super fine steel wool to remove the loose "fuzz" and am left with a blackend surface similar to gun bluing.

To hold the color and prevent rusting I then apply the clear guard using a spray gun.

The lacquer darkens up and unifies the color of the patina while also protecting it.

For the main surface, I did not apply a lacquer but carnauba wax found at the auto store . Since the wood panels are riding on 4 bronze rods (bushings), the wax will help the panels slide. If I use the lacquer, then it will just scrape off, the wax will protect and lubricate.

I have already fabricated the aluminum handles but I need to clean them up, remove burrs and finish them.

I start with a file to round off the edges and worked up to 320 grit sandpaper for smooth finish.

Here is a shot of the raw panels before adding Teak Oil for a natural looking finish.

The oil makes the grain pop out and darkens the over color as seen above. I use paste wax on all 4 edges of each piece to help them glide against one another.

To help keep all the handles, nuts and bolts tight, I use a little threadlocker purchased from the auto store. Now it is time to re-assemble everything.

Here you can see the finished puzzle with the control box. I want to add a couple decals but that is about it. The puzzle has been a challenge since I have not build one before and there were several obstacles to over come, but that is what made it such I a blast to make.

Chad Bridgewater
November 23, 2015

Boca Build 2.0 Geared Sliding Puzzle: Control Box

The geared puzzle is ready for its electronics. It has been running off of an Arduino Uno that is plugged directly into the wall. Boca wanted to include a simple timer and switch so that the piece can be displayed as well as played. I was working on the fabrication but I needed help on the electronics so I turned to my friend Associate Professor Bryan Cera. Bryan also went to UWM working with Professor Frankie Flood earning his MFA.

First, Bryan used a bread board to mock up all the electronics including a digital display, main power switch, toggle switch for the motor and an Arduino Nano.

Traxxas XO-1: Boca Bearings Install

I all started with my love for speed.

I love to drive as fast as possible. I started to receive speed tickets and that had to stop. The next best thing I figured out was RC racing.

I picked up my first Traxxas XO-1 and I was hooked. I got it up to 100 miles per hour but I wanted to go even faster. At this point it was time to build something better and I started the 150 mph project. This new XO-1 received all the bells and whistles.

I installed Castle Creations 1/5th scale ESC with A Leopard 1/5th scale motor. I used all 1/5th scale mounting products from High Gear RC. And batteries from Max Amps. I also went with 1/5th scale wheels from GRP and adapters from RC Hornet Products. Also it would never go this fast without using the Boca Bearings Lighting Kit for the Traxxas XO-1.

Check out the videos of the build:

Part 1: Wheel Knuckles, Center Drive Shaft and Crush Drive

Part 2: Steering and Differentials

Part 3: Front Assembly

Part 4: Rear Assembly

Part 5: Center Assembly

Part 6: Final Assembly

M. White Reckless
November 16, 2015

3D Printed Robotic Hand: Part 7--The Last Codes Used (No Servo Shield Required)

     The last time I wrote a post for this project, I didn't post the codes that I was using for the arm and glove. The codes that I last used were the codes I used to control the hand without the servo shield from Adafruit. This can help you save you little bit of money by not having to buy that shield

     Also, this codes seems to be much easier to understand and to calibrate the ranges for the flex sensors. 

     So the code for the glove is as follows:

// This will be the code for the glove. I got parts from two different existting glove codes.

// One from Garbry295 on Instuctables and the other from dschurman from 

// instructables as well.

int flexpinky   = A0;

int flexring    = A1;

int flexmiddle  = A2;

int flexindex   = A3;

int flexthumb   = A4;

void setup()

{

Serial.begin(9600);  

  

pinMode(flexpinky,  INPUT);

pinMode(flexring,   INPUT);

pinMode(flexmiddle, INPUT);

pinMode(flexindex,  INPUT);

pinMode(flexthumb,  INPUT);

}