The Tech Stuff
A more or less coherent glimpse into the construction of the Explo 01.
In reverse chronological order, the latest at the top.
Streaming!
Paid a visit to Trond in the IT-Dept. to learn about our progress on the streaming side of things. Our goal is to have the Explo 01 detect open WLAN and stream live video to the explo01.net website. I want both the camera showing the inside of the cabin as well as the cam used by the pilot to navigate to be streamed.
This is Trond's workspace, where he's set up a neat little array of cams. And of course, it works!
Next up: Fixing the gears..
Gear Video Update
At higher speeds, the gear box is still pretty unstable. Instead of coming up with a proper solution at once, I took some videos of the chains flying around.
The above link leads to a 1,46mb .3gp video file.
Next up: Fixing the gears..
The Backwheel
Today I finally created the long awaited new back wheel for the Explo. Using two lawnmover wheels, with one of the Explo's old back wheels as a spacer, I welded together this rather fancy roll.
I plasma-cutted the hubcabs out of sheet metal, fixed them to the wheels and welded them to the axle.
Here's the newly assembled Explo.
Next up: aligning and welding a cog to the axle.
Gears, V1 & V2
To power the Explo, I'd like attach a tumble drier motor to a set of cogs and chains, gearing the high rpm motor down..
This is the second setup. Unfortunately, the first dissolved almost completely during the first test run.
Behold, the new and improved gearbox. A crude combination of welding, soldering and some carefully applied brute force produced a surprisingly smooth combination of gears..
Next up: A solution for the back wheel problem, or maybe some more interior design.
Refitting the PC
After the last multimeter read-outs from the newly fitted cage, it was high time for a better isolation of the motherboard. A sheet of plexi salvaged from a Rimi Supermarket bread display fitted perfectly.
Also, I got a new haircut.
Next up: Getting the new gears to work.
Dumpster Dive Readouts
Explo 01 concept more or less done. Spent a great deal of time salvaging electronics from dumpsters all over Bergen. Spent an equal amount of time looking grimey and smelling funny, apparently. However, came across some great stuff, two pcs, a working toshiba sattelite notebook and much more. Out of all this, I assembled the Explo's core and brought it online. Joy!
Next up: No idea.