Not much work on the Rover this week had real work to do.
Solar Test 4 failed. The batteries lasted 41 hours, not bad but not through the second night. I am switching gears and trying some 18650 batteries. I read a post on the internets about the squirrel cam using 4 of these batters and the same solar panels I am using. I will be giving that a go and will write a how-to on that one. Hopefully, Solar Test 5 will work.
Switched gears a bit and put some more supports in the suspension, and replaced the wood dowels with steel tubes. I can get the tubes here in town, so that is good. Much stiffer with this redesign. If you are thinking of using steel tubes, get a tube cutter https://amzn.to/2uR0lxG, don’t even think about using a saw. I also picked up a small belt sander at the Harbor Freights; it works better than I thought it would. Wear gloves, mask, and glasses.
I also added stops to the rear free pivot joints, so I guess they are not as “free” as they were. Anyway, this should stop the middle wheel from getting stuck.
The Counter Rotating Differential is on version 4 of that part. I went back to 3 gears and added adjustment screws to the top. I also flipped the two outer bearings to be inserted inside the mount.
This new design for the Counter-Rotating Differential is much stiffer than the last three-gear configuration and easier to put together.
You can also see the newly printed tub section with tabs for the top attachment screws. Inside the tabs are M3 lock nuts.
Next tasks:
- Reassemble the Rover and test the suspension
- Design new hubs with built-in clutches to protect motors
- Start Solar Test 6
- Continue designing folding camera mast/arm
- Start on Propulpution software