My motorized rangefinder - VIDEO

I just finished my motorized rangefinder! Here is a video:

http://a.domaindlx.com/TheCrimsonGho...helmet_jfj.wmv

I used a servo with an elaborate arm-mechanism to save some space. I'll post some details if you want. All in all it cost me maybe $20 to make, that was just for the servo.

Dude, you have GOT to post info on this!! Parts list, schematic, instructions, whatever! HURRY. I might use this option for Halloween.

That's an awesome job! Can you control the rate of the up/down motion?

What kind of bucket is that?

Hey Jango_Fett_Jr,
I remember you asking questions in my thread and you said you had gotten a servo etc etc. Did you make that with my zip zap tutorial by chance?

Sa-weeeet!

Congrats on a job well done.

That's awesome!

That's extremely cool!
It looks like it goes a tad fast but is still really cool.
I would be interested in how exactly you did all this.

Great job.

krillindb wrote:
Hey Jango_Fett_Jr,
I remember you asking questions in my thread and you said you had gotten a servo etc etc. Did you make that with my zip zap tutorial by chance?

Hey krillindb. Although I was quite inspired by your tutorial, this is actually my own creation, with some help from my friend

I'll post some photos soon!

Alright, cool, cant wait to see pics of how you did it.

SAAAAWEEET!!!!!!!

Yes! Yes!
The details we need.Give to us...PLEASE!!!!!!

Link not working for me, got a message saying remote hosting is not allowed.

b.fett wrote:
Link not working for me, got a message saying remote hosting is not allowed.

same for me

Link is working for me now.

Great job.

I posted on the RPF about this, but good job!

Nice Job!

Awesome video and looks terrific!!! That's the speed I like for the RF.

PLEASE!!!...post pics and tutorials here...I need to do the same on my helmet soon!

Robert

Here's the only pic I have at the moment with my attempt at a diagram:



The blue dots are screws that go from the outside of the helmet through to the inside. I will cover the heads of the screws with bondo eventually.

The servo I have covered with a piece of foam just to make it more comfortable for me. I made a small aluminum arm which has a small strip of sintra attached to it. This sintra is screwed into the rangefinder stalk. The sintra also has a weak spring attached to another screw just to give it a little help coming back up (the servo isn't too too strong).

I apologize if not all of this makes too much sense right now, but the helmet is still at my friend's workshop so I will take some more detailed photos soon.

This project was more of a personal job just because I wanted to have a motorized rangefinder, but not have to spend too much on a super small servo so the helmet could still fit my head. This took me a while to do, I had to go through about six other designs before coming up with this one, and even then it took a while to get it working. The angles and positions of all the screws and such are just right so it works. I will try my best to describe this in a simple way.


Thanks again for the compliments!

Wow, what an ingenious design! Great work! Far superior to mine in my opinion.

Great Video! What size servo did you use? Are those Bobo's rangefinder LED's?

The servo I used I do not quite know what kind it was. It appeared to be a regular generic sized servo. I didn't want anything too big, but it was too big to put in my helmet next to my ear, hence why I moved it to the cheek area.

The LEDs I used are just 2 red blinking LEDs connected directly to a battery. I wasn't too concerned with the sequence of them, I just wanted them to blink.

I assume that the spring is to compensate the weight of the RF on the way up....am I right? Looking at it from the physics point of view, I assume that the Aluminum RF stalks are too heavy for some servos, but if you have the regular or fiberglass RF stalk, it will work great.

Now, what did you used as the switch to activate the on/off switch? Is that part of those Mini-remote controlled cars around?

Robert

Yes, the spring give it an extra pull on it's way up to make up for the weight.

The switch I used came from a toy helicopter from a dollar store. There is a switch that makes the helicopter propellers go backwards and forwards. I stripped it out and hooked it up between the servo wires and the battery.

wow the video and the servo

that's fantastic

Cool! The effect of moving fast just gives the impression of being able to kill people with it if being close enough

What I'm trying to figure out is a way that you could conceal the wire, battery and most important...the on/off switch. I was thinking about doing something with the gauntlet switches to actually make them functional (if doing a wired version)

Robert

Exactly, I'm just going to run the wire down my neck and arm to my gauntlet, and have the switches on the gauntlet to make it more functional.

I went to the Dollar Store to find any toy that works with any kind of switch, but found none. What kind of toy did you buyed to use the switch from...I mean, what kind of toy should I look for?

Is there any way that I could use any other kind of switch, like the ones actually used (accurate) that could be a working one, or get one from Radio Shack?

Robert

It's kinda hard to tell where to find it because I bought mine at a store called "Dollarama" here in Ontario, Canada. All I remember is that it was a little helicopter toy that had a red and green button on it that made the propeller switch direction. The stupid thing is that I can't even find those toys anymore. I would have bought a bunch and shipped them out to whoever wanted one, but I can't find them anywhere.

I haven't seen any accurate switches to do that at Radio Shack, it's kinda tough to make a switch that reverses the polarity of a servo.

Huh!...I think I know what are you talking about...there are a few toys around that uses the same kind of scheme or controls around. Let's see what I have under my sleeve really soon....

Robert