The nice people at Pololu have produced the laser cut acrylic panels which make up most of the body components of the Quadruped4 robot, and they arrived here in Melbourne yesterday.
I put together the base plate and side walls, and mounted on the robotics controller board, so I could get an idea of how it will all come together.
These two images show reality versus cad! There's a bit of catch up to do... But the slots in all the panels aligned well, and the PCB fitted in place correctly, as did the WiFi antenna tail.
I have a bit of precision acrylic bending to do to create the aesthetic bends in the top cover, and especially the head with its "Johnny 5" eyebrows.
I also have to purchase the rest of the AX-12 servos (I only have two at this point), and cnc cut the shoulder brackets which are custom designed offset brackets for the Ax-12's.
That's awesome!
How much did it cost to get it done at pololu on the end? (if you dont mind me asking).
I have been looking at laser cutters in aus as an alternative but its hard to get prices unless you actually submit something to them.
Keep up the great work :)
Hi Ash,
Thanks!
It ended up being AU$200 delivered for a total of 16 x 6mm parts and 10 x 3mm parts (two complete sets), which I think is actually probably pretty reasonable. I think it cost extra because the colour I picked wasn't standard stock for them, and they would have had to buy in a couple of panels.
I didn't bother getting quotes from local guys, I thought it was a big bonus that pololu are aimed at the robotics hobbyist - they showed a lot of interest in the project, and even looked at the cad image I sent and picked up an error in the number of leg parts I had in the original order I sent them!
My wedding is coming up in a very short time, plus a house move, so I'm not going to get much more done for a while...
The images of the Quadruped robot look great.
Hope its not too long before you have a video of it bounding along. That is after your wedding / honeymoon / house moving have all gone smoothly.
Did you develop this robot yourself or with a group. Either way it is an awesome effort....
Thanks for the nice comments Ric,
No, it's a solo effort - which is one reason why it all takes so long I suppose...
Back from honeymoon now, but will still be moving/repairing house for a few weeks before work on the robot resumes.