Dome Tweaks and Slipring Hands Free Connector

I saw a great droid at FACTs that had 2 serial connectors (9 pin i think), on a dome cross member.  These dropped into the females on the rockler.  This had 2 main advantages.  Obviously you dont need to connect the slipring by hand, but 2nd was that the dome location is set so the wiring can be better controlled.

So i had a look at my setup while i had him apart again.  After a bit of a think, and a play with a template to find the sizing and position, i decided to go for it.  I cut a small section from the dome baseplate, to allow a fixed point to be added to the rockler.  Then made an arm to carry the slip ring wire and keep it well positioned, i then fixed this to the rockler  Next i used some M4 hardware to mount the Slip ring end of the serial port connection to the arm, ready to take the PCB.

This seemed sweet, the PCB would just sit on the Derlin ring, but the connection was stiff and wouldn't quite sit right.  So removed the male surround from the pcb side and opened it up as best i could, then removed some of the side material to clear the M4 button heads and opened it a little more.  Eventually the PCB would slip on and off with minimal force, and sat tight to the connector.

Then made an Ali bracket and mounted the PCB properly to the Derlin ring.  It works really well, with the actual dome on it drops on really easily, the 3 long studs align the dome, and the arm slots in to the hole in the baseplate and connects the dome to the body.

This is going to make a big difference to the running of the droid. 

While i was doing that bit it seemed logical to rewire the UBEC.  To keep it neat and simple, i removed the metre and switch.  Then had a look at the wiring for the Adafruit, Relays and Servo/HP Arduino.  Im pretty chuffed with the results so far.  I have run out of cable ties, so will have to finish another time.  But it is a much nicer looking set-up for the changes so far.  I just hope it works, it is almost what was wired up last time, so should be ok,

I will glue the dome to the ring eventually, but will do the lifters and stuff first, so gaffa tape will hold it, on just in case, for now.

The battery was posted to Deban on Tuesday and is already on it's way back to me after it's check up. :)  Great customer service.  I also ordered a couple more T-Bars, i think mine is dodgy, and id like to be able to use the battery in either droid when Droid 2 gets a look in.

Body is still in bits, but i have a few plans for that too and im waiting for components.  But MP3 and GLI are moved and will be rewired.  Body unit wiring will need consideration, but im hoping to make things more accessible and use some dead space while freeing up more room for the gadgets.

James via a chat with Roger mentioned a new concept for connecting the legs, if that works this will be a very different droid to take apart and assemble.   Deffo looking in to that one, real potential and not seen it done before. 

Still cant quite believe im redoing and undoing a lot of the work i had just finished.  But it is all in the name of a better droid long term and testing a few more concepts and set-ups.  Too late to turn back now.