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Main Gantry Complete
What does it do?
The gantry is a frame that rolls on the aluminum tubing, it uses bogies to provide omnidirectional support (2 wheeled structures).
How does it work?
There are custom Urethane wheels on aluminum hubs that roll on the aluminum tubing, they are rotated 140 degrees from each other. The bogies attach to aluminum 6061 tube stock above it that forms the main superstructure for the turret to mount to.
Interesting Technical Numbers
- 32 Bolts, 32 Lock nuts, 20 washers, 32 rivets
- 60 inches of 6061 2x1 aluminum box tubing
- 32 inches of 6061 1x1 aluminum box tubing
- 12 custom 1 inch OD urethane rollers with internal bearings
- 8 box tube crush blocks for rigidity
- PA6-CF 3D printed Bogies
- ~9.8 lbs of box tubing
- ~15 lbs of total weight
Onshape Links:
Thank you so much for reading this, if you are interested in this project join #grow-bot in slack to participate!
Watch the animation below that better illustrates the design:
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Updates!
The Name
Fist off, to address the obvious… the new name!
Thought process:
“GROW + Robot = GROW-Bot!”
Please leave me your thoughts down below!
Misc
I spent most of today doing miscellaneous things, like adding a dirt texture to the garden bed and designing a greenhouse concept framework. I also decided to ditch the lightening on some of the aluminum since the weight simply doesn’t matter in this scenario
Tomorrow I am going to design the turreted gantry system and possibly start work on the superstructure.
The channel name has also now changed to #grow-bot so join to keep up with development and to help out!
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Garden Bed Rails
What do they do?
Today I designed the rails that garden robot I am designing will traverse on.
How do they work?
They are mounted to 2x4s that are directly embedded in the ground and to the main structure of the garden bed.
What to do next?
Tomorrow is the big day when I start work on the actual main gantry part of the robot. I hope to have the 3d printed bogie (3 wheel structure that wraps around rails) and the turret assembly designed by the end of the day tomorrow.
This robot is coming together! Join #grow-bot in slack to keep up with updates and/or ask questions!
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Differential Wrist Mechanism
This is the V1 CAD for the differential gear mechanism that will allow for the toolhead to rotate and pitch forward on my automated gardening robot called GROW.
Technical Description:
A half inch hex axel is mounted to the larger bevel gear and the gantry frame. The main cartriage is largely floating and only supported by the chain and gear since both motor walls and bevel gears are on bearings and floating freely on the main axel.
When both motors spin together, The mechanism pitches up and down. When they spin opposite, it rotates
Please watch the attached animation that illustrates the mechanism (the chain is not animated), and comment below with any questions or suggestions.
Also, join the slack channel #grow-bot to participate or observe the development of the robot, I am also searching for programming help once the fabrication phase is over.
Thank you all so much! Please give me feedback on how to improve my devlogs, and consider following if you want to see where this is going!
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I finished Cadding the garden bed including screw positions and soil depth.
I am taking a break from the wrist mechanism as I discovered a major flaw with the mechanism that needs some adjustment which I will hopefully complete tomorrow.
Join #grow-bot to keep up with the progress!
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I just finished Modeling the differential gearbox in the toolhead, It is powered by 2 stepper motors, and chain.
I am hoping to print out these parts and make a prototype later today
Join #grow-bot to keep up with development
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Master Sketches
This is the project moving from Crayon Block CAD to Master sketching all of the dimensions and plate layouts in side and top view.
I dimensioned the CORE-XY upper gantry system, and all of the rollers and turret layers on the base.
Also, I have decided to instead of making the bed two rows of garden beds, it will loop around the top to form a U-shaped structure in order to provide increased working area. The total dimensions are 16ft x 10 ft
Master Sketch Onshape Document
MS To-do:
- Differential wrist mechanism
- Tool head
- Top View
Join #grow-bot to keep up with development
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Crayon CAD - Differential Gearbox
I designed the differential gear box mechanism in CAD today, I didn’t have tons of time to work on it, but I got the general dimensions figured out.
It will operate as a differential gearbox for the rotation and the pitch of the main tool-head. I used gearlabs to generate the bevel gears.
I also worked on some designs for the tool head system, and am considering weather or not a tool changer is necessary
Join #grow-bot for more updates
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Crayon CAD #2 - Main Gantry Structure
This is what I like to call “Crayon CAD” or when the project exists as undetailed blobs.
I have just finished working out some of the basic layout of the gantry structure. It is going to be cantilevered over One side of the rotating base, and the extendable carriage will ride along the 72 inch long 2x2 aluminum tube using bearings and belts.
The main beam is supported by two 2x2 aluminum tubes that form a triangle of support, this design allows for maximum travel length and minimal interaction with plants.
FYI I am currently designing the robot to be compatble with any plant up to 36 inches tall, this includes some smaller types of tomato, pepper, and bean plants.
I also sketched out the roller gantry design before CADing it.
Join #grow-bot to keep up with development!
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Crayon CAD - The Garden bed
This is what I like to call “Crayon CAD” or when the project exists as undetailed blobs.
Crayon CAD for the garden bed base is complete! This will be a good frame to start making rough CAD for the gantry system and elevators, along with spacing out the general dimensions before getting into mastersketches.
The current Idea is that the gantry will ride along these 1.5” aluminum tubes, and will be externally belted for linear motion
Join #grow-bot to keep up with development and help out!
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Crayon CAD - The Garden bed
This is what I like to call “Crayon CAD” or when the project exists as undetailed blobs.
Crayon CAD for the garden bed base is complete! This will be a good frame to start making rough CAD for the gantry system and elevators, along with spacing out the general dimensions before getting into mastersketches.
The current Idea is that the gantry will ride along these 1.5” aluminum tubes, and will be externally belted for linear motion
Join #grow-bot to keep up with development and help out!
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Preliminary design constraints and sketches for garden robot
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