Back to the Drawing Board: ThinBot Rebuild, Attempt Two
Having identified the interference problem with the pump motors, I took a break and built a new cable for the control unit.
rewire inside the Arduino control package
I'm making enhancements to the control software and want to bring out more channels from the controller. The new plugs let me bring out four more lines, for a total of 12. 8 for pumps, 3 for lighting and bell control outputs, and one for a "Is there a glass under the spout?" input.
New connections in Arduino box, alternate view
You can see the re-soldered 25-pin cable connector at the very top of the box in the picture.
I also mocked up the design for the new mounting panels:
Cardboard mockup of new mounting panel
To solve the motor collision problem, I decided to use taller panels and offset half the pumps up from the others.
I also realized I should mock it up in cardboard to make sure it would work
Successful test fit of new panel mockups.
This shows that the new design will work. You can also now see why the shorter panels, with all the motors at the same height, were not working.
Cardboard mockups of new panel design, rear view.
Satisfied that the new design would work, I set out to build it, and assemble the works:
New panel after punching...
The new panels are simple flat aluminum panels (no bent top and bottom edges), so I could just print a 1:1 template of the whole pattern, tape it to the plate, and punch all the holes with a Rotex punch. About 100 holes total, took about half an hour.
(The plates started life as "4U" 19 inch relay rack filler panels, which I sheared in half, giving me 4 9.5x7" panels)
Stack of punched mounting panels
Relay board on new power supply
The Anko pumps draw more current, up to 2 amps each, so I needed a beefier power supply. To fit it all under the dome, I stacked the relay board on top of it with some insulating spacers.
New Relay board
New relay board and power supply on top of pump head assembly
The new relay board has 16 relays in it; the original had 8. That means I can have some fun with my lighting systems and add a bell.
Pump connections to relay board
I learned to label the wires; writing on a bit of white shrink tubing with a fine tip Sharpie before shrinking it gives me an indelible tag firmly attached to the cable.
Mounted motors (drive shafts coming through) before pump body installation
This, although blurry, shows the pump drive shafts coming through the mounting panels, with an LED holder above each shaft
Mounted pumps
Pumps on mounting panel
These still have the original short "minimum working" piece of Norprene tubin in t
New control system under dome
New control system under dome
mounted pumps
mounted pumps -- blue light
One of the fun parts of photographing ThinBot is that the colors are different every time I push the shutter button.
New lighting effects
This is blurry, but you can see the light behind the one active pump, and the extra highlight lamps in the dome.
Next post: assembled with new hoses.
rewire inside the Arduino control package
I'm making enhancements to the control software and want to bring out more channels from the controller. The new plugs let me bring out four more lines, for a total of 12. 8 for pumps, 3 for lighting and bell control outputs, and one for a "Is there a glass under the spout?" input.
New connections in Arduino box, alternate view
You can see the re-soldered 25-pin cable connector at the very top of the box in the picture.
I also mocked up the design for the new mounting panels:
Cardboard mockup of new mounting panel
To solve the motor collision problem, I decided to use taller panels and offset half the pumps up from the others.
I also realized I should mock it up in cardboard to make sure it would work
Successful test fit of new panel mockups.
This shows that the new design will work. You can also now see why the shorter panels, with all the motors at the same height, were not working.
Cardboard mockups of new panel design, rear view.
Satisfied that the new design would work, I set out to build it, and assemble the works:
New panel after punching...
The new panels are simple flat aluminum panels (no bent top and bottom edges), so I could just print a 1:1 template of the whole pattern, tape it to the plate, and punch all the holes with a Rotex punch. About 100 holes total, took about half an hour.
(The plates started life as "4U" 19 inch relay rack filler panels, which I sheared in half, giving me 4 9.5x7" panels)
Stack of punched mounting panels
Relay board on new power supply
The Anko pumps draw more current, up to 2 amps each, so I needed a beefier power supply. To fit it all under the dome, I stacked the relay board on top of it with some insulating spacers.
New Relay board
New relay board and power supply on top of pump head assembly
The new relay board has 16 relays in it; the original had 8. That means I can have some fun with my lighting systems and add a bell.
Pump connections to relay board
I learned to label the wires; writing on a bit of white shrink tubing with a fine tip Sharpie before shrinking it gives me an indelible tag firmly attached to the cable.
Mounted motors (drive shafts coming through) before pump body installation
This, although blurry, shows the pump drive shafts coming through the mounting panels, with an LED holder above each shaft
Mounted pumps
Pumps on mounting panel
These still have the original short "minimum working" piece of Norprene tubin in t
New control system under dome
New control system under dome
mounted pumps
mounted pumps -- blue light
One of the fun parts of photographing ThinBot is that the colors are different every time I push the shutter button.
New lighting effects
This is blurry, but you can see the light behind the one active pump, and the extra highlight lamps in the dome.
Next post: assembled with new hoses.