While it is tempting to jump right into prototype design, the first step in any project should be translating the project goals into technical requirements. The two main categories of requirements for this project are picking and fretting, but there...
I’ve been thinking about how to build a good robot guitar off and on for the past 15 years. My interest in musical robots started when I joined the RobOrchestra project at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club in college. After...
There is a lot of tweaking that needs to be done once a machine is assembled in order to ensure that it is accurate, reliable, and repeatable. All of the wiring, inputs, and outputs need to be checked, control parameters...
Over a year ago I picked up a 55W CO2 laser to help with cutting templates and other practical parts. However, I decided to explore the world of laser engraving over the holidays and ended up with plenty of fun...
Building an electrical panel involves a ton of point-to-point wiring across a large quantity and variety of components. Even with the guidance of a detailed electrical diagram, the tedious work requires a lot of diligence to get right the first...
Electrical System Detailed Design Continued As laid out in a previous electrical post, the electrical design was broken down into five sections. 1-3 were discussed in detail in that post, while 4-5 will be covered here.
The spindle and carriage assemblies are each just a machined plate with a bunch of purchased parts bolted to them. The Z Axis rails allow relative motion between the plates, and the clearances on all of the components are extreemly...
The gantry is mostly a giant section of 80-160 T slot extrusion with a few plates, rails, and box tube bolted to it. The plates were a challenge to machine despite their simple features because it took multiple setups to...
Electrical System Detailed Design High Level Design Philosophy and Codes The electrical system is intended to follow the design and safety requirements for industrial machines (UL508A/NFPA70) while keeping cost from getting too high. The system outlined may not meet all...
I’ve gotten some great feedback and interest from online communities about this router build, but I’ve been surprised that most of the people who have reached out about potentially using or modifying this design have been more interested in the...