Airsoft Mine? Pt 3
So here is the latest on this project. I’m going to try a little different format for this post, so if you like it or don’t, please tell me down in the comments.
Snapshot of Updates:
Swapped out the 1806 motor for a 2204
Redesigned the PIR housings to include “engineered” supports for better print quality and less post-processing
Got distracted with another side project
2204 2300Kv Motor (left), 1806 2280Kv Motor (right)
Long Version:
As I was testing out the mine, I found that I was unhappy with the amount of time it took to spin up the mine to its “stand-by” and full speed RPMs. I happened to have a 2204 motor lying around from my FPV drone racing days and decided to swap that in. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a drop-in replacement, and I had to reprint the motor mount with the new screw size and spacing.
After this, I had to redesign the PIR housings that are on the electronics plate. This redesign was prompted because I brought the mine to a friend to get some possible improvements. Well, I left it in my car, and the legs and electronics plate deformed. They were made out of PLA for ease of printing, and I knew that this was a risk, but I rolled the dice. I was kind of surprised by how little time it took to warp and deform. PLA (Polylactic Acid) is a common 3D printing material but can be prone to warping under heat. The final version will be printed out of PETG (maybe ASA), so warping should be a non-issue. PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol) and ASA (Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate) are both more heat-resistant materials. Anyway, all that to say I had to add engineered supports because the auto-generated ones were lacking in print quality, and I had to spend way too much time cleaning up droopy filament.
I also got really distracted by some other side projects, but thankfully, I was able to pull myself back from them and continue work on this.
The next steps for this project are:
Get the circuit off a breadboard and soldered onto some perfboard. A breadboard is used for prototyping electronics, while perfboard is used for more permanent prototypes.
Attempt to shave some weight off the flywheel for faster spin-up.
Review and clean the code.
3D printed PIR housings, testing out the best engineered supports for minimal waste and post-porcessing.