Boca Bearing Workshop Station




We had a workshop area in our warehouse, but we wanted something better. And we got it. 

Thanks to our friends at Your Garage Organizer (www.yourgarageorganizer.com) based out of Dania Beach, FL, we have a top-of-the-line new workshop that everyone at Boca Bearings likes. 


Moris Almog, their senior planner and designer, was easy to work with to set up a workshop design that fitted not only our need, but our area in the warehouse. His team did a great job in the installation makeover -- putting together the parts, drawers and cabinets for what is an outstanding workshop station. Everything came out spacious and neatly organized.


Your Garage Organizer is a company that can accommodate designs from home garages to office space organizers, industrial companies and more.


But let some of these photos tell the story itself.


BEFORE




AFTER






Boca Build 2.0 Geared Sliding Puzzle Part 3: Fabrication Details

I used the measurements off of the two aluminum handles I made earlier to create 13 more.


The parts that get glued in the wooden panels are the same for all 15 panels. .389" x .4" (high) shoulder for the Boca bearing to sit on and a 1" x .25" plug that is sandwiched between the wooden panels.


DIY Stunt Wire System -- Part 2



Things are getting exciting! We've successfully built the first prototype stunt wire system with upgraded bearings from Boca Bearings! Assembly was quite easy, and we were off to the races to test this wacky contraption!

For our first test we used 55 lb weights on either side. Our test pilot, Ian, weighs 145lbs -- which means with the system in place -- he only weighs 35lbs! That's basically what you would weigh on the moon!


While the system worked, the harness was quite uncomfortable, so for the next part we'll be investing in some proper harnesses designed for bungee jumping. But during the testing we had some pretty funny moments, take a look at the blooper reel:


Stay tuned for the next update when we work out some of these kinks and improve the system!

James H.

August 26, 2015

DIY Stunt Wire System -- Part 1


Love action movies? Wish that you too could leap tall buildings in a single bound?

For actors and stuntmen, it’s literally a day job. But for the average person, the closest you can get to feeling like a super hero is bouncing on a trampoline, going bungee jumping, or playing around in a gymnastics club.

But that's no fun!

But if you have enough ceiling space, we can show you how to make your very own stunt wire system! You too can feel weightless, see what it's like to walk on the moon, do a double or even TRIPLE back flip ... The possibilities are endless.


What is needed:

Kevlar rope -- recommend 3 mm diameter (2000 lb load capacity)
Low Friction Pulleys -- we made our own using grooved ball bearings from Boca Bearings Regular pulley housing -- some kind of harness, preferably bungee
Weights

Estimated cost is around $250-500 depending on material sourcing.


James Hobson

Vintage Tool Box 3D Printed: Follow-up


This posting will cover troubleshooting, unpacking set up and shipping the tool box 3D printer for Boca Bearing. It is very similar to a Prusa, running on Pronterface and using Slicer to generate the G-code.


I have created configurations for Slicer that contain all the setting I have been using for my prints in PLA. Once the an STL file is loaded in Slicer and the proper settings are selected, the G-code is exported to be used in Pronterface.


Here, the printer is connected, the G-code is opened and settings such as the extruder temperature are determined. Once this is done, we print.


Here, I will show how to pack and unpack the toolbox for daily use. The spool holder, spool and power supply all fit into the toolbox for transportation.


This video discusses some tips for printing in PLA on the tool box 3D printer. I usually start things hot so the first layer sticks, then things get dropped down to around 190.



For shipping, the spool, spool holder and power supply are shipped separately to avoid things smashing around during shipping. The tool box is bolted to a board that is the floor of the crate. This board is supported by 6 springs that lie between this board and the very bottom of the crate to help absorb some of the shock from the truck.


Here is the last shot of the printer as it is sent off to Boca Bearing.

Chad B.
August 19, 2015

Boca Build 2.0 Geared Sliding Puzzle Part 2: Fabrication

This is the second (of 3) posts for my most recent project with Boca Bearing of Florida. The sliding puzzle is in the last stages of design and at the beginning stages of fabrication.

While not all the details are complete, the design for the pins and handle for moving the cogs is finished. This has been the biggest challenge and I will continue onto the full fabrication of a cogged panel. If it works, then I will duplicate the fabrication for everything.

The pins are machined from a piece of round stock aluminum I pulled from the dumpster at school. When they hired someone to put handles on the gallery doors, these were the left over pieces that were tossed in the trash (there were at least 4 of them). I use a machinist or drill press vice to hold the round stock because it will twist in my fingers.

The Drone Scene in South Florida

The drone phenomenon is here to stay. That's what the indication is as noted at a recent informative meeting held by the South Florida Drone Group at the HackLab in Boynton Beach, Florida in August.

The Boca Bearing Company, who supports the group and the drone industry among other technological and mechanical industries, was invited to attend this meeting -- one that had a very good membership turnout which currently is 84-strong and growing.



The meeting was organized by founder Marc Asselin, who has formed the AMA (Association of Model Aeronautics) Charter group called the South Florida Flying Club. The group was created to facilitate the use of approved flying parks in the area.

The first park the club is in talks about with the city of Boynton Beach to have access to is the Ezell Hester, Jr. Community Park, a location that offers two outdoor flying areas for drones and RC helicopters and one indoor flying area for FPV and aerial GP racing.



Boca Build 2.0 Geared Sliding Puzzle Part 1: Design


My next project for Boca Bearings will be a sliding puzzle similar to the the ones seen in Cogs (skip ahead in the video about 40 sec). It is based on the picture sliding puzzles where you have to slide several panels around to un-jumble an image. Check out Instructables for an example of how to make a sliding wooden puzzle.

This design is in an early state of development, it is only a mock up and will ultimately be wooden or 3d printed cogs with wood panels. At the beginning of a design I usually jump between arranging physical objects and drawing them in the computer using Rhino. For this build I laser cut several gears out of acrylic, fit them with Boca bearings and placed them on a 12" x 12" piece of acrylic I had sitting around.




Traxxas TQi Telemetry Radio and App: Part 4 -- Car run and performance


Boca Bearings used: SKU: #58-160C-2OS-AF2

Website:
http://www.bocabearings.com/bearing-inventory/18462/58160c2osaf2-traxxas-jato-nitro-off-road#4066


Introduction -- Boca Bearings and my Jato:
http://bocabearingsworkshop.blogspot.ca/2015/04/traxxas-tqi-telemetry-radio-and-app.html?m=1

Part 1 -- "Somewhat" stock Jato:
http://bocabearingsworkshop.blogspot.ca/2015/04/traxxas-tqi-telemetry-radio-and-app_27.html?m=1

Part 2 -- Videos of Jato bearings replaced with All Boca Bearings:
http://bocabearingsworkshop.blogspot.ca/2015/05/traxxas-tqi-telemetry-radio-and-app.html?m=1

Part 3 -- Telemetry set up and testing:
http://bocabearingsworkshop.blogspot.ca/2015/06/traxxas-tqi-telemetry-radio-and-app.html?m=1

Consistency:

It cannot be said any other way about my venture with Boca Bearings. I did not realize that this would so clearly make this Jato one of the fastest Jato's with run times over and over exactly the same. If you ever want to do "Speed Runs" the first thing is "consistency." If you can't send it down the lane every time each time all the time, there is nothing to compare. I've been able to create a screaming Jato that does this all the time. Below I have 13 speed runs that just go fast every time.

This has everything to do with the fact that I am getting power to the ground with every speed pass. The coolest thing I've noticed is that that any slight change that might slow down the vehicle causes the car to feel like it is slowing down and a real bore to run. I think I've spoiled myself in getting used to these speeds. I need to go faster and faster.

What's new in my car since Part 3:

A) Jaco "whites" to the rears

B) Helicopter gyro to assist with keeping it straight "ESky Professional Gyro EK2-0704"

Some could argue that the gyro is cheating and allows the electronics to make the car go fast. My analysis of my speed runs using telemetry allows for a unique -- unbiased analysis to counter this thought. If you compare my RPM to my GPS. This is a calculated theoretical speed which is "RPM" multiplied by "Transmission ratio" multiplied by "wheel size". The element that links all the data is my RC-mounted GPS. This is real-time -- recorded data points every 10th of a second. What makes this different than a regular GPS is that it can actually plot an acceleration path with the hundreds of speed readings recorded on every run.

I will demonstrate using the charts below that the light dotted grey line (calculated theoretical speed), closely follows the GPS speed. This means that power from the engine crank is being applied to real GPS speeds with mostly a consistent line. Everything that's been done to the Jato is getting the power from the crank to putting distance behind the Jato! And it's working. Without proper bearing spin-up the Jato power train couldn't do that. What I mean is without the performance of these Boca ceramic bearings none of this happens in the first place!

OK, here are my speed runs using my "Pure Setup" conditions. This combines all the Boca Bearings and other setup changes made through the previous submissions, where now the Jato is; running fast, temps are cool, and there's smoke! Let's race:


This "pure setup" of my Jato is only for speed. Everything that I've done with Boca Bearings since my first submission is about my top speed. The GPS says it all at the end. From a consistent climbing speed of 55mph to 58mph within a 12 minute total record time for this submission. I am pleased with how the car consistently runs fast...er. Of course I've edited so we only see the compilation runs. I can assure you I was getting faster and better top speeds on each pass. What impressed me the most is that the car was ripping it up even on the return laps to the starting line. I thought I'd test out a different ratio reducing it by 0.25 and what a huge mistake that was. This car is so finely tuned that it made it feel very slow at 50 mph!

I am very pleased with the way the car is slowly increasing top speed with every pass. I can only assume the bearings are breaking in. Please keep in mind that I've only put approximately 6 tanks through these bearings from installation and they are performing after each pass. The best part is that next few line graphs of my 13 speed runs in the video show a consistent calculated to actual acceleration curves.



















Note the little spike in theoretical acceleration curve (dotted grey) early in the acceleration of the GPS curve (solid black). This is the lower ration of the first gear shifting in the second gear. All theoretical is calculated on the second gear, hence the early shift pattern. This is likely why the curve looks as though it plateaus near the top and has a more gradual acceleration. But every curve is virtually the same data points repeated every time - 13 times. This is consistency!

Note: this was the acceleration curve before any Boca Bearings were used:


Note the theoretical curve isn't anywhere near the actual GPS (black line). Also note the acceleration (angle or profile of the black line) isn't as predictable.

The Traxxas real-time GPS speed values means I don't have mis-calculations of my top speed. Take a look at what happens when I spoof the GPS by intentionally losing the GPS signal and having the GPS satellite signals picked up on the other side. What you can do to spoof a "top-speed" reading is run it under an obstacle that loses the satellite signals, once you regain the signal the GPS throws out a huge reading. The Telemetry GPS rules this out very quickly, here's how:



You think, yeah I got it! When the data is plotted from my Traxxas telemetry GPS I can see how it goes off the charts and gives a false top speed. Be warned this happens, some GPS systems are programmed to ignore outlier values, however, this time they are only about 15 mph higher and not considered outliers.

This is how my RC has improved from my first spin tests in Part 2 of bearing replacements.




This has been an awesome experience. I want to thank Boca Bearings for making it all happen. I hope you can enjoy the difference as I have shown here.

August 4, 2015

Simple Robotic Arm Made Out of Cardboard Pieces

        

    So there has been a halt to the progress of the Autonomous Rover. So I decided to do a quick simple project. I already wanted to work on this project but the printer is down so I can't 3D print anything at the moment. So I went ahead and used cardboard pieces to make parts of this simple robotic arm. I started off by first just cutting out pieces of the cardboard where I would mount the servos onto.