More Rewiring Progress

More steady progress.  The droid, all apart from 2-3-2 was totally stripped of all electronics.  With the aim to look at it all a fresh and try to make it easier to use, less likely to shake stuff loose and to use spaces that are currently wasted, freeing up space for more future goodness.

I have wired up a panel that will mount to and behind the Rigrunner.  This attaches to the top ring of the frame and holds:
Rigrunner
Master Arduino with Xbee shield
Slip ring and connector board (Acting as I2C and 5v Bus for Master, 232 and MP3 Arduino)
UBEC for board 5v supply
Feet and Dome ESC
Relays for Dome and Feet
Dome Motor

It all fits great but it is more difficult to access, unless i remove the top ring.  I may revisit the access at a later date depending on the needs.  The good thing about this approach is that i can test it as a standalone unit, making sure the dome motor and the relays are under control, then add the dome and debug that, and then add the remaining units as required.

Then I returned to the dome and finished off all the cable ties and neatened it all up.  I'm really pleased, it is the best that the dome has been.  Really neat and tidy.  More than 70 cable ties for 1 dome!  I thought I was reducing the weight, not increasing it!  :D

Next up was the audio elements.  The MP3 shield has a 3.5mm stereo jack, this connects to the Ground loop isolator that uses dual RCA connections.  I was using a 30cm adaptor lead.  But i had a thought the other night, got on-line and found a right angle 3.5mm stereo jack.  When that arrived i cut the GLI wiring back, added some heat shrink and wired it up to remove all the unnecessary wiring and really neaten it up.  Very pleased with that little change, it has removed a lot of unnecessary material, and it is shiny. :D  The MP3 Arduino and Shield and the GLI have been mounted to a small styrene board and will be moved to sit behind the right side panel.  It was dead space, but using it for this will free up the front for gadgets etc.

Then i added the new variable step up converter in-line on the supply to the amp, and mounted it to the back of the Amp PCB.  I should now be able to up the voltage as required.  

Then the body.  This was becoming a problem, the more i changed the more problems i could see.  I kept coming back to the idea of mounting everything onto the skins to allow it to all be tested off droid, and to neaten all the wiring, and also get rid of those servo rods.  Eventually the front skins will have just 4 wires and everything mounted to the skins, only connections for 12v and GND and the 2 I2C lines are needed, im intending to mount Anderson connectors to the skinsnaps, so it should just click on and off. :D

I decided i was too far in to turn back and cut corners now.  So first up was how to mount pans to the skins and the servos for the doors.

I had the perfect T extrusion, i cut it to length and bent the pans to fit, making new bits from 1mm sheet where needed.  Then just used trim tape to fix it into position, should be sound.  The hinges with the 2nd hole cut off can work inside the pan, so the pans can be solid. :D  I hope it works. :D  I bodged the pans for now, more ali is ordered and i will redo them before final fit.

Turns out that a std micro servo fits with an almost identical pivot to the JAG hinges if mount directly onto the skins.  From there a simple offset to the hinge will connect them beautifully.  They will have to be glued in, but they should be sweet.  That will be fine for 4 of them, but space on the CBI door is tight, so that will be a different setup.  I only had one for messing about with, so jumped on ebay and ordered 5 metal geared high torque ones, but of very similar dimensions.  Fingers crossed they are delivered ASAP.

The body will look so empty when the skins aren't mounted. :(  But I'm really pleased with the touches that seem to be working out.  The dome attachment connector is brilliant.  One of my best ideas so far, and if I can sort the master panel removal, that will be brilliant too.  It feels like i am taking it from base prototype to a more complete version.