Xylophonomatic

RE: Xylophonomatic

tech_nut81 — Tue, 09 May 2017 14:56:58 GMT

I've added another update with another video. On the bright side, I did get forward motion and some music. However, that was before it slammed into the wall and refused to turn while backing up.

Constructive comments, thoughts, and/or ideas are, as always, appreciated.

RE: Xylophonomatic

tech_nut81 — Wed, 03 May 2017 13:42:36 GMT

I've added a brief update in the blog along with a video of my prototype. I hope to have everything completed and uploaded next week. This week as well as the past two weeks have been really hectic with the spring semester coming to an end. Tomorrow, (May4th), is my last day of this semester and I have 3 final exams to take [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-7c6655cf-db53-4aca-84a7-9cb6dea5a6f3/contentimage_5F00_402.png:16:16], then I'll have a couple weeks off before summer semester starts [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-7c6655cf-db53-4aca-84a7-9cb6dea5a6f3/contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16]. So, I should have plenty of time this weekend to finish up the xylophonomatic.

Oh, and to all the people that were helping me with the problem of getting this thing to turn, TY. I ended up removing the axle from it's casing, cutting it in half and adding another motor so that I can control each wheel separately. I had to modify the axle casing a bit so that the second motor would fit, but it turned out quite nice.

RE: Xylophonomatic

beacon_dave — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 19:16:29 GMT

I think when tackling a project like this you need to be aware of the 'essence' of the original toy that you should try and retain where possible.

For me, I think the overall shape and colour scheme and the red bubble wheels is quite iconic, along with the vision of a young child tugging it along on the string and the rather uneven 'tune' being played.

In making it autonomous I think you are perhaps almost looking at trying to add a Pixar Animation 'lost toy looking for its owner type' quality to it, and thus where possible it needs to retain the elements of the original to make that happen.

With the skid steer idea, I was envisioning a matching set of red bubble wheels which would help keep a similar looking theme to it and this would also allow you to maintain the existing linkages to the hammers. How well it would skid steer given its overall length is another question. The existing wheels look quite smooth so may slide depending on the surface and final weight.

Another approach may be to make the original wheels steerable with servos and perhaps use a continuous rotation servo for the drive. It doesn't really need to go at high speed like a RC toy - only at a child's walking sort of pace. This however would likely mean disconnecting the hammers from the wheels. This may not be a bad thing anyway as the motor drive would have perhaps tended to give it an unnatural evenness to the playback of the notes - you wouldn't get the uneven 'lumpy' playback experienced when it gets pulsed as it is tugged with each step and when it winds down as it coasts to a standstill. One of the reasons I suggested the synth approach as you could add some of that unevenness back through programming and not have to worry about the mechanical linkages.

RE: Xylophonomatic

Workshopshed — Sat, 22 Apr 2017 10:19:07 GMT

Perhaps the car wheels could be placed above the xylophone wheels and touching them so rotating the car wheel causes the xylophone wheel to move. To get the skid steer as per Dave's suggestion you could free one side from the axle so it rotates independently.

RE: Xylophonomatic

beacon_dave — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 19:38:45 GMT

With a bit of redesign you could perhaps steer it BigTrak style, with two independently controlled motors in the centre of the xylophone.

( There is a BigTrak conversion going on over at this blog:

BigTrak Conversion Part 1 )