Up to our Ass in Bob's

I guess to the casual Rocket Scientist, building a replica of a mars rover is child’s play. However, to a child, building that replica looks like rocket science. And, then there is me; playground supervisor for the Wailer Work’s Skunk Patch.

During the past week or so, I have been involved in multiple project that all went south somehow. Which leads me back to the Works to see how the Rastafarians are doing.

Quite well actually given how few brain cells they have to rely on these days. The build summary is as follows:

1. Everything is friggin done.

Oh, except that Bob’s ass is dragging. And, we can’t have a Drag Ass Bob on Mars. Why, you ask? Idiot! Because a rover can’t rove with the sand up its ass. Unless, it is actually mining for gold or whatever the fuck is on is on Mars.

 

Now for the Rocket Science part. Go get some popcorn. This is going to take a while to explain to you Bernie Sanders followers. See, in the real world, and on Mars, 2+1+5 does not equal egalitarianism. Particularly, when you don’t own the 2, the 1, or the 5. But, that is not Bob’s problem. Bob’s problem is that he can’t get it up. His derriere that is.

 

Maybe a visual would help you understand. 

See! A picture is worth a thousand words. I’ll use a couple of thousand words here to explain the picture.

 

Bob’s ass is dragging because Bob is unbalanced, much like Ted Cruz. Bob’s genius designer, Willy Wailer, forgot that the suspension would fulcrum off of the body with nothing to keep Bob from tumbling one way or another. (Not sure about Cruzer’s problem.)

 

But FRIGGIN WAIT A FREAKING MINUTE. Didn’t we say that we are making a replica of a mars rover? Isn’t that the entire point of this exercise? So, what did NASA do about the problem? (Actually, I have to confess that the mars stuff was built by JPL.) There is a huge load off my ass... I mean mind.)

 

Certainly JPL must have confronted this issue prior to launch because the mars rovers did not drag their ass around the planet. “What would JPL do?” Or, more precisely, what the fuck did they do anyway?

 

We’ll Grasshopper here are some great pictures that show how JPL approached the problem. Enjoy.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=mars+rover+curiosity+rocker-bogie+suspension&rlz=1T4GUEA_enUS610US610&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj93_Ocr-HKAhUT9mMKHY3HCkUQ_AUICCgC&biw=1280&bih=610#tbm=isch&tbs=rimg%3ACc_1EtS_1nWzbJIjikApx-pIdiAK6HgjVNjUBp_1nCOvx-QC6owN68vpMiVqZNs39VQ3TvWimCql5395aD3jTieeJbCLCoSCaQCnH6kh2IAEef5fw5CSFKIKhIJroeCNU2NQGkRFNfs70zioIIqEgn-cI6_1H5ALqhHn-X8OQkhSiCoSCTA3ry-kyJWpERTX7O9M4qCCKhIJk2zf1VDdO9YRypjFIsmYqIAqEgmKYKqXnf3loBE6fJMFUuy-4ioSCfeNOJ54lsIsEQpn17Jvg5Lr&q=mars%20rover%20curiosity%20rocker-bogie%20suspension&imgrc=_

 

Big Hint #2. 'Rocker-Bogie Suspension with a Mechanical Differential'. Wailer Works is on it now baby.

Current picture sneaked out of the Works.

Slowly but Surely

“And, stop calling me Shirley.” Leslie Nielsen, Airplane 1980.

Ok then. It has been a few days since Willy posted anything and we all are wondering as to WTF is going on down in depths of Wailer Work's Skunk Town. Upon a well-coordinated visit between Homeland and Shirley, Wailer Works AA, we found a dizzying array and assortment of mismatched Rover parts. Surely, the concept of rapid prototype, rinse and repeat has not escaped this outfit. I mean how many times does it take to get one simple right angle suspension arm done correctly. Might have to cut back on the medicinal weed deliveries for a while.

As it turns out, rapid prototyping is a huge advantage of using 3d printing for initial development. Particularly for those rocket scientist who can’t use a friggin micrometer. Measure twice, print once, measure again, convert into inches per millimeter, take the dimensions into Excel and repeat until the stupid part actually fits. Then move onto Part B ver. 5-7.  





Space Junk

And, then just when we had surely lost faith in Shirley we come to The Table. The Skunk Works is actually making headway even though we think it is becoming as much Head Shop as Work Shop. That said, lookie here Grasshopper.

A working suspension and a left hand body side with appropriate instrumentation adapters, gasometer grommets, access doors and a place for Matt Damon’s poop.




Bob's Exoskeleton

What’s next? Got to get that body in better shape. In fact, now that I think about it, Old Bob Rover/Rover Bob's body is not the only one around here needing a little conditioning.

Suspended Bob

So I was watching a video interview with a reporter and a lawyer for the recreational drone industry and they touched on the fact that there has not been one known fatality in the world attributed to hobby drones.* Yet there is all this doom and gloom in the media. And then the reporter said, “Bleed leads”. That’s right, no blood no story. Even if you have to make up the blood part. Also, when a cat gets rescued there needs to be a drone to attribute the rescue to. Blood and cats.

My blog is a tad boring, therefore I am going to have my 3d printer kill my cat and then bring it back to life because I don't want Tyke dead. I recently read that we can do this just nine times however. I have not discussed this opportunity with Tyke yet. Maybe I’ll mention it at ‘treat time’ later today.

While my printer turns out the next ‘killer’ product, we need to get back to that guidance thing. We need a rotating hub that connects the ‘upper suspension P- left’ to the ‘steering bracket left’ where we will mount the servo. And, this assembly needs to connect remotely to my Transmitter radio which serves as part of that Human Interface thingie we agreed upon a few posts ago.


Now will also be a great time to figure out how in the hell we will attach our fancy schmancy self- driving-wheel-left to the steering bracket that will then attach to the upper suspension arm. The good news is that as soon as we figure out the left side we can simply take the assembly to a mirror and look at the reflection for the right side config. (I think that is how it works in Autodesk123d.)

In summary, we have a lot of prototyping to do with lots of FUMU. Hopefully, you have been keeping notes because it very well might be on the first quarter quiz.

With only a couple of missed approaches, Bob now has a seemingly reasonable suspension that would make Ol’ Matt Damon proud.



I tried to take a worse pix but this was as bad as I could do.
 

For those of you non-engineering types (like me) this arrangement of suspension arms, swivels and wheels is simple and ingenious. (Though I did make a few Willy Mods to better accommodate Mother Earth, and my lack of engineering skills.)

Well, well, what do we have here? It actually works? Wailer Works now has completed the most significant scientific hurdle since Lewis married Clark. (Bet you didn’t see that coming did you?)

https://youtu.be/n2SFDCgvlyo

Ol’ Bob now has a completely functional locomotion plus guidance system.

Let’s see…what is left on our plate? Sustainability, Human Interface, Capabilities and the dreaded Artificial Intelligence (AI).

*Note: YES! I know that a guy was killed in NY by his  RC Heli a few years ago but it was not a quadcopter. It is like comparing a death due to a car to a train. Different category. Though they both fall under 'remotely uncontrolled'.

Bobbing Along- The Sledding Continues

As you remember, the essence of Rover Bob includes; Capabilities, Human Interface, Guidance, AI, Guidance, Sustainability and Locomotion.

For the past week I have been focused on Locomotion. And, that effort has driven me friggin loco. However, today, after many failed attempts (FUMUs) I have a workable Self Driving Wheel. (SDW)
OK, it is not perfect but nor was the first steam engine or Elon’s auto come home feature on his cute rocket ship. In fact, the world is far from perfect and Bob certainly fits comfortably under that umbrella. 

Here is the first successful test of Bob’s SDW.
https://youtu.be/ainU42EN77E

Not bad considering that this prototype could use a little attention to ‘fit and finish’ detail.
With locomotion under control we need to turn our attention to control in general.

How will we steer Bob? I know. I know! Let’s use servos from the remote control aeroplane world.

For you laymen/laywomen, here is a slide to help understand this complicated control scheme. Truly from the depths of Wailer Work’s greatest minds who took this design from a $15 remote controlled truck. (NASA, you should have used a $15 truck.)

Ol’e Willy is always on the lookout for the most dumbed down technology that is available. In this case, from a 7 year old kid in China.

So, what is next on the project management Pert Chart? The critical path to Mars.
  1) Clean up and print two SDWs that don’t sound and act like a 1913 International Tractor.
  2) Design and print the arms for the Side Wheel Assembly
  3) Design a servo attachment mechanism for the lead SDW.

Maybe
  1. Design and print the arms for the Side Wheel Assembly
  2. Design a servo attachment mechanism for the lead SDW.
  3. Clean up and print two SDWs that don’t sound and act like a 1913 International Tractor.

                             Not sure where to go after my nap.

One Small Stepper For a Man

In the last post I introduced a new term into the world. Actually, it was a very useful acronym; FUMU which takes its roots from the always popular Navy acronym FUBAR. Again, used in a sentence, ‘Here is a picture of our many FUMUs that are totally FUBAR’. Welcome to the Wailer Skunk Works, expanding the World’s vocabulary one acro at a time.

A Sample of FUMUs

Originally, I envisioned using stepper motors to drive our Self Driving Wheels but I have change course. Why? Because I know nothing about stepper motors and I appear to be lacking basic anthropological motivation to learn. You see, a regular DC motor is about as complicated as a Pear Tree. Plug it into a battery and it runs. (OK, there are a few missing parts in that brief overview of DC motors but you get the point. Simple, pimple)

Stepper motors are simple as well but they take ‘programing’ an interface board using a computer. Now, just the word ‘programming’ makes me want to puke. However, that did not stop me from ordering a stepper motor (actually a few steppers.) Nonetheless, upon opening the package from Sparkfun, I started to gag. What was I thinking? And from a company named after the most famous arsonist ever; Lester Sparky Phun.

Aside from the nausea matter, I could not figure out how to actually variable-control Old Bob’s speed. Let alone try and control Bob remotely. I actually consulted a stepper motor expert who also knows remote controlled air stuff and cars. His response to desire to incorporate stepper motors into Bob was simple.

“WTF would you use stepper motors for? Do you really think this thing is going to Mars? Get a friggin grip and use a conventional RC set up” Those were powerful words coming from the creator of Mythbusters. (Ok, he wasn’t really even associated with Mythbusters.)

That takes us up to Step 450, what is a conventional RC setup.  Here is what we going with initially.

Still to figure out:
1. How do we get two motors manufactured to spin at 12,000 revolutions per minute to slow down so Bob runs at 20 feet a minute?
2. How are we going to steer these Self Driving Wheels?
3. How far can we go with Bob’s Artificial Intelligence given that I gag on programming?
4.  What happens to this segment of Wailer Works Blog when this entire endeavor stops sticking to the wall and starts hitting the proverbial fan.
           a. The Superforecasters are at 37% sticks against the wall and 63% hitting the fan.

Don’t Mock Me

After hours of watching some of the most mismatched football teams in New Year Day History, I returned to figuring out how we might just possibly design a rover wheel that would really turnover. In NASA Speak, we are talking ‘revolve’. That’s right Mr. White, the Self Driving Wheel (SDW) is required by the NASA Spec to revolve. All along keeping in the back of our very imperfect brain; it must also self-propel. And, I am OK with that.

Looking back at our incredibly sophisticated PowerPoint drawing, we see a basic concept of a SDW, but this is far from an engineering drawing. And, unfortunately, I was a business major and not an engineering major. Huge gap right there when it comes to designing and fabricating a Mars rover. Poor Bob has a big strike against him even before he meets Matt Damon and the Poop Potato Farm.

Having zero training in anything like engineering, as a business major I must approach the project like Microsoft does. First announce a new revolutionary new product to the world. And, we have done that with the earlier introduction of Bob Rover/Rover Bob (Bob) and like MSFT, we will simply start building shit and throwing that shit against the wall. Of course you and I know that at some point something, most likely shit, will stick to that wall and for reasons that totally escape me, we can call that a success. Unless, that shit hits the fan a that implies failure.

• To recap: Throwing shit against the wall until something sticks is success. Hitting a fan with shit is failure. Note to self. Put fan in garage.

Time to regain focus here Grasshopper. In NASA speak, we are talking building a mock up. For me, and like Microsoft, we are most likely talking about a succession of mock ups. One friggin mock up after another. Deep in the Wailer Skunk Works we call useless mock ups Focked Up. Used in a sentence. ‘Version 2.1 is a Fock Up Mock Up (FUMU)’. Not to be confused with that Jimmy Buffet rum drink.

But Wait!! What Do We Have Here?

Maybe a not-so-FUMU.

Road Kill

Well, finally our motors and Electronic Speed Controls have arrived and it is time to get prototyping. Of course, I am typing right now but in English not Proto.

So we are there…here, where the skunk meets the road. Better roll down the windows kids, this could get a little rough for a bit.

I have measured twice (Ok, I measured 4 times) and printed once (Jeez, OK, twice. Big friggin deal.) and the first proto of our inside assembly of the self-driving wheel (SDW), is as I stated back a few posts, a nice try. It gets us closer to a real working SDW but no banana, Chimp.

Right off the bat, two issues pop out at me. One, I think that that RPMs of the motor will drive Bob at a speed that the Super Gasser folks at National Hot Rod Association would envy. Two, we are about 3mm shy of actually having the motor drive gear come in contact with the wheel’s internal rotational gear. (Got love that deep dumpster diving tech talk.)

In summary, ‘Houston, we have a couple of pretty noteworthy friggin problems here.’

Net-net: We need to build a geared reduction transmission that will fit a 39mm motor plus the yet to be designed trannie into a 22mm radius by 55mm length wheel housing. (For you liberal arts majors, the diameter is 2 times the radius. For bonus points; how far will Bob travel in one completed revolution of his SDW? Uhm!  Gotta Google it don’t ya Grasshopper.)

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the current resources that we have to work with.

 

While I envision the next design concept for our SDW, I decided to let the printer go on an artistic voyage and it made this very cool visual of an adaptive network. Check out the Richie’s explanation. https://sites.google.com/site/richardsouthwell254/home/adaptive-networks