Our steel tread section, complete with 32 CNC
machined
aluminum wheels and bearings, and real rubber
treads. As you can also see, we have recently
installed
our B9Creations CNC machined, fully operable
Soil
Sampler, that works just as it did on the TV
show.
The Sampler is operated by the touch of a
momentary
switch located inside the Programming Bay.
The component below the tread section is a
heavy
duty rolling platform I built similar to the
studio
version likely used for the TV show. It allows for
easy
movement of our B9 when we need to do cleaning
around the house or simply to place him in
another
location. If not for this, it would be necessary to
break
the robot down any time he needed to be
moved.
Rare studio photo of the Hero costume on his
rolling platform.
This may have been the actual rolling platform
used during shooting when cabling the robot
was not convenient or practical. Note the
construction
of the platform's outer perimeter that actually
boxes the
tread section in. This would enable pushing
of the robot without fear of it sliding off.
This photo clearly shows the great clean look that
can be achieved by not
screwing the side panels to the tread section. Our
panels are attached similar
to the original robot's side panels, except there
was one small screw
at the very top on the original robot. However, the
way I installed our side panels,
this screw was not required.
The panels are nice and tight fitting and
slip on and off in a split second. If we
decide to motorize our tread section in the
future, having side panels installed in
this way will make servicing motorized components a
very simple and convenient
matter. The "club standard" way of installing 12 or
more tiny little screws to hold
the side panel to the tread section did not thrill
me, and is a great deal of work.
In addition, Mike Joyce's animated Soil
Sampler should be available to
members soon. Although I never planned on Mike
anodizing the parts,
this only compliments our attachment system,
increasing it's usefulness.
I'll not only be able to demonstrate the Soil
Sampler for our guests, I can
also show individuals what a well made and finished
component it really
is simply by lifting the side panel off.
They are removed as easily as opening and
closing a drawer. In addition,
if the sampler should require servicing, the value
of our side panel
attachment hardware becomes even more
clear.
This is the first time brackets such as these
have been used to attach
styrene side panels to the tread sections of a B9
robot. If members
wish to incorporate my attachment system into their
project, but
have already drilled the screw holes in their
panels, you don't need
to replace them.
Bondo works extremely well when applied to
styrene. Simply fill and
detail the holes and your panels are ready to
accept my hardware. I'll
be putting together a simple step by step procedure
to assist members
that wish to attach their side panels in this
way.
The brackets have been specifically designed
to fit snugly
over the lip of the steel and slide downwards.
Top view of our side panel. When installed
correctly using my
attachment hardware and procedure, there is
virtually no spacing
between the styrene side panel and the steel tread
section.
The edge relief you see
below the hinge on the flat shelf area took about
50 hours of work
for both sides. I found it was necessary to
actually blend the edges of the relief to the
point you can't see them because unblended and
primed, they looked terrible.
This is where all the hours were spent. We are very
happy with the result.
I spent some time trying to figure out what
to use for the simulated bearing for our hinge.
Incredibly, my wife comes home with the caps you
see above. When I saw them, I
immediately thought they were perfect. They are
designed to snap in and the "C"
clip was installed for effect. The only thing I
will be changing is the screws. Phillips
head screws really don't belong on a B9 robot. I'll
be changing these to slotted. If
not for the fact the new screws have to be primed
and painted, they would have
been installed already.
