LaunchPad Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 So this is the most detailed pick of one I could find, from what I understand, this is only a model and does not function (Move).I know according to Wookipidia they are exactly 6' tall so my work is the one in this pic scaled at 2.71 from a poster size I had made. The following is the beginning of the drawing process. Afterwards these were drawn in coreldraw and autocad 2006 for machining of the main leg parts. So I finally got my sets of armor complete where I like them and could troop anytime. As a mechanical engineer, when I chose this I knew I would be in a field I would have to learn on my own, electrical engineering yuk, but not too horrible. The following oic started last oct when our movers still had our stuff so I scaled a life size one to past the time. I then proceeded to gather parts in town and on the net to meet the requirements for a self autonomized Droideka. Yes mobile. No rolling up into a ball just yet. Maye once I'm over the mound of trouble with walking Vs Balance with three legs. The main legs are prototyped out of foam, Bondo, and magic sculpt. The main body is layered fiberglass cloth and matting in layer totalling a 0.25 in thickness. The 18" diameter plastic sphere was layered in sections, then areas were removed so the structure would still be stable' MModing and scaling the lower soins guts are proving to be very difficult but not impossible. This was where I stopped last week. Since then I have started putting together the gears for shoulder movement in the legs which does consist of all directions. Everyone was making R2, so I wanted to build a functional droideka, not RC, but with a TechFX micro controller and Pololu motor controllers. Further update as this starts to come together more. Let me know what you think. I haven't posted in awhile as right after the move I began this secret project. Muhahahah. lol Mathew 2 Quote
dougefresh Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 Matthew-- that's outstanding!!! You are one ambitious dude, my friend. Color me impressed with a big yellow crayon. Nice job! Looking forward to following your progress! Quote
Runnriottt Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 Ummm.... WOW! Dude, That is awesome! Quote
Anomaly[501st] Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 all i can say, is that deserves one huge WOW! that is one mighty project. good luck with it all, cant wait to see the progress Quote
tatooine Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 Hey Matt! Nice to see you here! Wayne was telling me just today about your project and all I can say is 'WOW"! Great things coming out of our soon to be squad here in Abilene. If I can only finish my TK in time for that food bank drive in March.... Keep the photos coming man!! Awesome, simply awesome... Quote
darthgarth Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 I want one. That is amazing I have got to see that walking. Quote
synaptyx Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 Wow! That's amazing. Please keep this thread updated. Quote
NAZGÛL Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 Wow, what a cool idea. I will follow this thread!!! Cheers Quote
nico Posted February 12, 2009 Report Posted February 12, 2009 This is really cool! I will follow this thread with great interest! Quote
Daric LaRone[501st] Posted February 12, 2009 Report Posted February 12, 2009 That is so stinkin' cool I can hardly believe it!!! Quote
LaunchPad Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Posted February 17, 2009 Ok troops, you asked for constant updates to this thread, so here is this weeks progress. I thank all of you for your understanding on what a huge project this is and it adds to my motivation to constantly work on it. I thank my family for putting up with me taking on such a task. Well, I’m having problems with two of the outputs on the controller, so back to the manufacturer for repair. Thank god I’m far enough along as I can do without it for awhile and just work on pieces parts. The controller, motor fuses, power switch, and battery charge plug are going in the back for ease of access for troubleshooting. Shaping for accurate size was first done with foam board, then pressed wood for molds. Very easy to work with. View of access hole through spine base for electronics. These next few are the fitting of the mold for the spine to sit in the base for visual accuracy. Next is the process of actually starting on the details for the spine. I haven’t finished it yet as there are a few hundred individual pieces in order for it to look correct. Should have it completed next weekend. As this was a three day weekend, I had enough time to complete the ball and spine base for molds. . I did some other work on the inside of the ball for the battery and other electronics to mount too, but didn’t take pics of that as I didn’t think that all the guts like the battery holder would be that interesting. If your wondering what’s inside the ball, there are 2 17.5” diameter angle steel rings for the main leg joints to bolt on with support plates welded across for the spine to bolt to through the base. I just haven’t drilled the holes yet. I’m waiting on a completed mold of the spine before designing the skeleton inside it to support the top and electronics to go through. That’s it for now. More to follow as thing this takes more shape. If your wondering why the legs aren’t on yet, they have very complicated guts in the main joints, and they are the most expensive. I have the bearings and some of the gears. Still hunting for a special worm gear and another for the motors. Talk to you all soon. Mathew Quote
dougefresh Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 You're a friggin genius. Seriously. I'm gonna wrap myself in an orange bed-sheet and hand out your picture at the airport. :D So cool I can't stand it. Quote
NAZGÛL Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 Thats amazing! Looks great. Cheers Quote
synaptyx Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 You're a friggin genius. Seriously. I'm gonna wrap myself in an orange bed-sheet and hand out your picture at the airport. :D So cool I can't stand it. I might join you! Quote
Daric LaRone[501st] Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 They're no match for droidekas." ―Rune Haako to Nute Gunray[TPM ep. I] Awesome build Mathew! Go man go!!! Quote
Boozel Posted February 17, 2009 Report Posted February 17, 2009 wow... that is by far the coolest build of anything I have seen having to do with SW. great job! Boozel Quote
LaunchPad Posted February 28, 2009 Author Report Posted February 28, 2009 Well, sorry so long for the update for those that are following this thread. I’ve spent every waking hour on these pieces for the spine. Over 120 individual parts and 4 mains for the stem. Not to mention the mistake I made on the thickness and misinterpretation of the side view of the spine. After another trooper (Thanks Brian) submitted me some pics, I had to revamp the spine base and the main shape of the spine itself. If you look close at the spine base pics before, you’ll notice I had to extend the front angle shape by 1.5 inches to allow for the change in thickness of the main spine. So the spine is almost ready for molding. The main leg pins are installed after engineering the exact set up of the rear leg. Notice the hole cut in the rear ring in order to have a pivot point in the same location as the two front legs. The rear one is inset about 0.875” towards the center, thus creating the difference. Also started on the deflector shield pivots and linkage to attach to the spine base. They look like big horse pills. Lol Made of 1.5” PVC pipe and a wet dry vac ball cut in four pieces for the ends. The small “pills” will be made of 0.625” aluminum pipe, with the linkage as 0.1875” flat steel for strength. So here are the pics of where I’m at as of now. The main CPU is back from the manufacturer, I fried two of the chips on the board with the trial and error hook up, but have purchased 2 extra chips just in case. Now I know what not to do, or better yet how I can’t use the board. Haha Will post again soon. Don’t know if I’ll be going past the spine until I’ve completed the legs. Can’t have a droid with no legs just because it’s the most difficult part. More to come. Thanks for the support guys and gals. II'm patiently waiting to post the youtube link to show you this thing walking, but rememer it won't be the same until I have the top complete to offset the weight for balance. I can't wait. Mathew Quote
Dogma238 Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 There are no words, but Wow . Great work, keep it up. Quote
NAZGÛL Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 Thanks for showing us! Thats impressive work! You will have an awesome destroyer when your done. Have you doneanything like this before? Cheers Quote
lordvader1974[501st] Posted March 1, 2009 Report Posted March 1, 2009 You have some awesome skills man! Quote
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