Friday 14 October 2016

BHD Carbon Hydro Hinges Mk1

I had been pondering an uber hinge for some time.  I loved X2's hinges, they have been brilliant, and i knew i could improve on them for Juice.  I wanted to make sure of the following things:
1.  Easy Mounting
2.  No play in the hinge pivot
3.  No play in the connection to servo
4.  Cannot hit the outer dome when fully open
5.  Uses full range of the servo
6.  Sits perfectly when closed
7.  All 9 will fit in a dome

So i started playing with hardware.  Eventually i found my setup for the pivot.  2 flange bearings press into a dome base, and an Axle bolt attaches the arms, offset by 1mm spacer washers.

A plate is added on top of the dome base and is bolted to the dome.  The servo is attached to the plate using high density 1mm double sided tape.  The connection from servo to hinge is done using an arm extension and plastic ball ends with ali standoffs all connected using grub screws.

Aluminium standoffs support the structure, and then the arms of the hinges screw to a foot that is simply attached to the outer door using 3M 9088 tape.

With all the hardware working, i then turned to Cubify to model it.  The servos have approx 110 degrees of range.  I did a few test CNC layered bases to make sure it all worked, then added the dome curves and it was ready for the final version.


Then to Shapeways to print them.


This is the final prototype before receiving the carbon.


Next up was the mounting.  The hinges need a small offset from the opening, i chose 1.5mm, and made a jig, to allow me to mark the centre, clamp the jig in place and drill the holes. :D  Easy.  I did all 9 holes, and countersunk them for M3 bolts in less than 90mins. :D     



(This step wasn't needed, but i couldn't resist and i didn't have the carbon)

Felix sorted the carbon cutting, and i spent a few hrs cleaning them up.  But they turned out great.


The installed hinges are brilliant, like no other R2 hinge ive played with.  So smooth and solid.  And the Savox servos i chose are FAST!!!!  The pics below show the dome finished.  I will update that in another post.






I will try and get the sketches sorted and get it flapping from X2's master, once im happy i will either share or run them in some form.  





4 comments:

  1. Excellent job on the hinges! Have you considered doing a run on them? I can totally use a set!

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  2. Thanks Dude. I think it pretty likely, but maybe in Aluminium. But I want to run them for a bit first and see how they perform after a few months flapping.

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    Replies
    1. Sounds good. 👍🏼 Also, I decided to make sure to keep my wiring as neat as yours! A m a z i n g!

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  3. Hi,
    Looks Amazing so far. Will you be making templates for all those carbon parts because I'd love to make my r2d2 electronics similar to yours. As, just like Jesse, I could do with a set!

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