We’ve been complying with [James Bruton]’s open pet dog job for a bit while now, as well as with his significant speed of work – pandemic or no pandemic – advancement has been exceptionally rapid. the current milestone is the public release of version 3 (Video, embedded below.) This upgrade to the system adds 3D printed cycloidal gearboxes, eliminating the previous belt drives. [James] had immense fun tuning the motor controller parameters for these as well as admits they’re not totally dialed in yet. He notes that the broader gearbox body indicates that the robots geometry needed to modification a little, as well as the previous belt-drive version may have a bit of an edge, however he’s positive he can make it work (and provided his extraordinary previous robotics builds, we absolutely believe he’ll nail it!)
Silicone overmolding around a 3D printed former, utilizing a 3D printed mould
Older versions struggled with slippery plastic feet; the advantage of a predictably smooth get in touch with shape of a rounded foot is somewhat balance out by the restricted get in touch with patch size, as well as that indicates not so much grip on some surfaces. [James] option was evident sufficient – just discover exactly how to make 3D printed silicone moulds as well as cast a great rubber foot around a plastic former, as well as issue solved! regrettably he neglected to add some recesses for a lever to get in between the mould halves, so it was a bit of a struggle to separate after curing. A beginner’s error that won’t be repeated, we’re sure.
Full source for openDogV3 is now offered on the GitHub page. Here’s the playlist for the whole project, in addition to direct links for the cycloidal drive advancement (part1, part2, part3.) however before you all go diving in to begin 3D printing your own pooch, [James] tells us that the overall expense would be around $2000 all in, with the bulk of that being the motors as well as ODrive units, so this for the severe builder only!
We’ve covered robot dogs a fair bit, a especially great example is The Dizzy Wolf, as well as if you’re wondering just why on earth you’d want a robot dog, then Ask Hackaday has you covered as well.