Thursday, September 26, 2013

Voila! the marriage! Car manufacturers call this moment as a "marriage" when the upper body meets with the lower part. This is the first time the full chassis come together.






Monday, September 23, 2013

Side panels are almost ready, I think I'm going to use the stock motor mounts that comes with Parallax motors. I want my robot a little high on the ground then maybe it can go outdoor and hairy carpets won't be a problem. For that, I designed the height as 50 mm, plenty enough to put the battery, motor controllers and obviously the motors in the chassis.



Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Now, It's time to focus on Stingray's tale. Since I use Parallax caster wheel I need to make a mount for the wheel which attaches to the chassis. Pictures tell much more than words,



I cut this piece from an aluminum sheet that is 2 mm thick,



At the final stage, after drilling and happy with the result, I will give the brushed aluminum effect manually, this is the how to video on youtube.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

And the side panels, as I said these are made out of aluminum,



I also prepared a template for the bolt holes to make sure that each side panel has the exact same drill pattern,



I had some concerns that the aluminum profile was too thin (1 mm) but having had no alternative after some experiment it turned out to be fairly sturdy, especially after the bolts are done.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

I feel so jealous of the ones who have access to a laser cutter. This could have been much easier with a laser cutter, although I'm not sure about the outcome with HDPE on a laser cutter.



Anyway, with the help of my wife we first raw cut and do the fine trimming with dremel. I must admit she has done much of the work.

 




Monday, September 2, 2013

We've began to cut the chassis.

The top and bottom plates are made of HDPE. Side panels including the motor mounts will be from aluminum u profile. Here are some pictures;