Actuality and Artificiality

_{Stage three: Week Commencing 28.10.2013}

_{Week (03)}

_Description:

_{This week the rotating base arrived, It one of the elements I have taken from a robotic arm Kit. Here is a list of parts that came with the kit.}

No	Accessory	Number
1	Metal clamp holder AS-6DOF	1
2	Metal multifunction servo stander	4
3	Metal long U stander	3
4	Metal L stander	1
5	Cup type bearing	3
6	Large thrust ball bearing	1
7	High precision metal servo TR213	4
8	High performance servo TR205	2
9	High quality servo extension cable	3
10	Metal Chassis for Robot Arm	2
11	Controller mounting plate	1
12	M3*8 with flanch screws	enough
13	M2.5*6 screws	enough
14	M3 nuts	enough
15	M3*6 Screw	enough
16	High quality copper fixed leg  M3*5	8
17	High quality copper fixed leg M3*25+6	4
18	High quality copper fixed leg M3*20	4
19	White binding wire	≥5

 _{Full pic of arm 1.1 - out of the box 1.5}

_{Putting together the base elements is proving tricky because the instructions it came with are in Chinese and I cannot find any alternatives online, luckily the base element is all I require right now so I do not have to worry about the other parts.}

_{After a bit of fiddling around and putting bits in the wrong place I have managed to cobble together the base componants. I have fitted a metal gear (mg966r) servo into the base plate and the action is smooth and I am happy the the servo will generate enough torque at 6v 2a compared to the servos it came with the are of a higher torque and require more voltage, I am to keep all the servos running off a singular power unit.}

_Mouth:

_{I have changed the mouth mechanism to incorporate left and right jaw movement, I did this by altering the top jaw mechanism. Keeping the lower jaw set up the same I removed the L bracket and U bracket and Instead placed a servo directly on top of the tilt unit using a circular servo arm connector (1.2) this has given me the left and right jaw movement I require, however I have not yet tested the action of this new element.}

Eyes

Equipment:

4 x 3mm metal rods
4 x brass block connectors
2mm wire
4 x small plastic servo arms

To start with I cut the ends off the servo arms and embedded them into the back of the eye sockets using Milliput and i let that dry under a heater. i then took the two metal rods and attached the brass block connectors to the end of them securing them in place with screws. I then made small loops with the 2mm wire by bending them around the tip of my pilers to make sure that they where all the same size curves. I then hooked them around the servo arms embedded in the Milliput at the back of the eyes and pinched the ends together. I then put the pinched ends into the brass blocks and secured them in place with a screw.  1.4. 1.1.4

Additional:

Another pair of eyes also arrived this week that I purchased from china, however these are not of a good quality and will not be used for this project. I also ordered another 'claw' off the internet because I thought if the project develops quickly I may add the top part of a torso and arms to the project at a later date. (1.5)

_Feelings

_{My initial confusion concerning the non-english instructions has passed and I am now happy with how the build has progressed this week. I feel that I have achieved a fair amount of progress and that taking the new approach in designing multiple animatronic frameworks for different individual mechanisms has been more successful than designing just one and implementing it.}

_Evaluation

_{This week’s session has been very useful in testing out new design approaches and also working with new equipment that I was initially unsure of. Having spent time looking over the components that have been left over from the robotic arm kit I feel that they will become very useful later on in this project and may also be useable for other projects. Overall I have enjoyed this stage even the difficultly with the instructions and having to guess and test where parts fitted was not a bad experience.}

_Analysis

_{This week brought both old and new elements and into the project making sense of how these new components will interact will be important when looking at the future progress of the build.}

_Conclusion

_{In conclusion I feel that a lot has been achieved but there is still room for improvement when it comes to planning and testing new elements. I feel that I should have not attempted to put the base together without first testing the jaw mechanisms and finishing that section of the build before moving onto the next. This is how the parts look now as the stand positioned together but not fixed. (1.3) I have also drawn up a sketch for how the neck mechanism may go together (1.6) but this is still a draft.} 

_{Action plan}

_{Next session I will look at how the elements will work together and test the new jaw mechanism using code. If I had to re-do this weeks session I would have finished testing the jaw mechanism fully before assembling the base unit.}

_1.1

1.2

1.3

_1.4

1.1.4

1.5

1.6