Maybe not for now, but to bookmark for later: ultrasonic motors like the ones used in higher-end camera lenses are mostly silent, and have interesting features that may make them useful for subtle, quiet movements like facial animations. A lot of animatronic projects use servo motors for eyes, eyelids, etc and the loud ZZZZzz noise breaks the believability that you've made a living thing. I don't know how accessible USMs are, if they're economical or their performance is adequate, I just thought it good to mention. I haven't caught up on all your videos yet. One day I'd like to try something similar. I'm studying CG at the moment, have some very modest skills in CAD and 3D printing.
I had a look at a company that makes them. I was seeing prices like $500 per motor for closed loop, or 400 for open loop designs. Yikes! They look cool though.
@DaveMakes Ouch, that's too much. If that's the going rate, I'd suppose junking broken camera lenses would be cheaper, but that's a whole set of other problems to deal with. Interesting at least ✌️
I don't understand the TH-cam algorithm. How come one video suddenly gets 250K+ views in a month and yet an even better video such as this can go relatively unnoticed?
Makes me seriously want to consider building my own. Already have the printer and electronics laying around. Been over a decade since I've used Cinema 4D. It seems like it is much better equipped for CAD simulation and working with an Arduino/etc than Blender.
I think you'd be fine with blender if you wanted to use it. I believe there is a plugin for SDF modeling. Womp is another software i've heard a bit about that is primarily based around it, though I have not used it. My own experience with C4D has been very positive, so I can say that much. I've been using it for about 3 years now. There are a lot of different 3d modeling tools out there all aimed at different workflows and outcomes, it's frankly a bit confusing even for someone who's been at it for years.
@@DaveMakes Just found some SDF and gear plugins, as well as a way to connect Blender and an Arduino/etc so I'll try those out, they look promising! I'll let ya know if I come up with anything worthwhile!
Watching people use non-CAD software to do CAD is wack. A lot of things are far less streamlined, but then there are some things that you look at and think, "it's so simple, why can't it be that easy in CAD?".
You should look at strain wave gearing and servo motors if you can afford it. Else if you insist on using conventional gearing, you can buy gears from various suppliers, or barring that buy yourself a universal milling machine and universal dividing head to make your own. I would recommend a universal mill over gear hobbers/shapers ext due to it's greater versatility.
I have a good 3D printer. If you need to outsource parts lmk. I won’t charge you anything because I want one of these. You’re living my dream life bro. I want to help you make her walk.
You're better off getting metal servohorns/keyed flanges built for the ASMB-4B size motors. They have less slop and you can tighten the keyway as much as you like without worrying about breaking mounting hardware. Plus they have enough torque that you don't really need to gear them down.
thanks for sharing your insights. I haven't used this motor before. I may get the horn i've designed printed in solid nylon for strength. Maybe i'll do away with the gear reduction entirely if this motor is strong enough.
@@DaveMakes You're welcome, these motors are quite strong: lifts my android's arm and help balance the torso without any issue. The fun part is figuring out how to mount/find room for them since they are not a standard servo size :)
Interesting, you’ve prolly answered this already but why not use CAD? Fusion 360 is greatttt, granted it’s a lil annoying to have to only 10 active files at a time with the free version 😅 but it’s easy enough to deactivate and activate. Or is it a hardware issue? C4D is Mac right? Does F360 not work with Mac? Sorry, it’s been years since being a Mac user.
does Fusion have signed distance field modeling? I've never had a reason to not keep using C4D. robust modeling capability, rendering, simulation, animation. When I want to set up procedural rigs or components, it's not difficult at all.
@@DaveMakes honestly I’m not sure what that is hehe 🤭 but personally I use it because I’m a big fan of parametric modeling and being able to change things that are multiple steps back without having to redo all my work. 😅 I love having full control over every aspect of my design and I feel less stressed over decisions during the process because I know I can just scroll through the timeline and find the operation thats giving me trouble and tweak anything about it. I hated when having to undo everything I did and redo all of the operations when I was using blender for my designs. Plus it’s super 3D printer friendly and you don’t have to worry about checking to make sure everything is manifold and whatnot because the process ensures it will be 3D printer ready. Plus it’s got a built in pcb maker so I only have to lean one workflow/program and I can do everything I need. There’s tons of other stuff you can do with it to. It worth checking out honestly. :)
I think i've got a handle on a lot of those issues already. The thing is, I like to do other things as well, such as character animation, rigging, and rendering. I started out with Daz 3d, then moved to Maya, now I find myself using C4D, which I have been using now for around 3 years. It's working out very well for the wide range of things that I like to do. SDF modeling is excellent for 3d printing, and i've only dipped my feet into PCB design with KiCad recently. SDF modeling is a way of working with 3d objects that renders everything into positive or negative spaces, with some interesting ways to smear, or blend between them mathematically. For complex organic shapes, or even mechanical parts it seems pretty good. Works well parametrically too.
@@DaveMakes I totally get that! There are some things I still hop over to blender to do since I have the workflow down already. And yea F360 is really only good for designing parts, pcbs, assemblies, etc or like CAM applications. Anything organic or requires sculpting I do in blender. And oh wow that’s sounds really cool, I’m gonna have to look into that! Thanks for taking the time to reply 😊 all the luck on your project! Can’t wait to see where it goes!
I definitely do. It's very handy for setting up relationships between things. For example, if I have two gears with a herringbone twist on them, the relative size of each gear will need to dynamically alter the amount of twist. so different gear ratios need different twist ratios as well. hmm, that feels like a mouthful to type out. Suffice to say, xpresso is very useful for rigging :) I'd be happy to do a video about this.
Here's an example of using xpresso to set up the different relationships of the mechanism. Not an instructional video, but this is definitely a typical way to make use of it. th-cam.com/video/uabLeeSLujA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=hjWXz5GaJD4KySVy
I would highly recommend using a metric threader to make your screw connections. I use mainly eyeglass screws in my builds. M1 to M2 for example. They also have threaders for those as well. You can literally get thousands of screws for nothing. Much like cameras or phones these days, they just thread the case or internal plastic frame instead of using nuts. So far, they have been really strong connections.
I've been working with screws like M2, M2.5 and M3 mainly. The metal threads of the M3 nuts are necessary for the M3 screws to have enough bite - particularly if I am going to be taking the screws in and out several times to change anything. That seems to be the main issue with plastic. if it's just going in once it's ok, but if the screw needs to be removed many times the plastic threads just vanish. The bite goes away. I do like the idea of getting a tap set for small screws though, I should do that to play around with it. Smallest tap I have right now is M3. I've been looking at some tiny metal working tools - lathes and milling machines for clock makers. that kind of thing. Small taps might be very useful for making some tiny metal components for the robot.
absolute cinema
NEW VID LET'S GOOOOO
Helps me understand blender more too. Thanks
Happy to help! Blender is great
Maybe not for now, but to bookmark for later:
ultrasonic motors like the ones used in higher-end camera lenses are mostly silent, and have interesting features that may make them useful for subtle, quiet movements like facial animations. A lot of animatronic projects use servo motors for eyes, eyelids, etc and the loud ZZZZzz noise breaks the believability that you've made a living thing.
I don't know how accessible USMs are, if they're economical or their performance is adequate, I just thought it good to mention. I haven't caught up on all your videos yet. One day I'd like to try something similar. I'm studying CG at the moment, have some very modest skills in CAD and 3D printing.
I had a look at a company that makes them. I was seeing prices like $500 per motor for closed loop, or 400 for open loop designs. Yikes! They look cool though.
@DaveMakes Ouch, that's too much. If that's the going rate, I'd suppose junking broken camera lenses would be cheaper, but that's a whole set of other problems to deal with.
Interesting at least ✌️
even if the motor is silent, the gears meshing and moving will make noise.
@@MaximilianonMars we could make a crowd fund for expensive parts like this :p
Cool! Thanks for sharing how the process looks like
Certified gravatar moment
I don't understand the TH-cam algorithm. How come one video suddenly gets 250K+ views in a month and yet an even better video such as this can go relatively unnoticed?
Most likely someone posted it somewhere, e.g. on X.
Makes me seriously want to consider building my own. Already have the printer and electronics laying around. Been over a decade since I've used Cinema 4D. It seems like it is much better equipped for CAD simulation and working with an Arduino/etc than Blender.
I think you'd be fine with blender if you wanted to use it. I believe there is a plugin for SDF modeling. Womp is another software i've heard a bit about that is primarily based around it, though I have not used it. My own experience with C4D has been very positive, so I can say that much. I've been using it for about 3 years now. There are a lot of different 3d modeling tools out there all aimed at different workflows and outcomes, it's frankly a bit confusing even for someone who's been at it for years.
@@DaveMakes Just found some SDF and gear plugins, as well as a way to connect Blender and an Arduino/etc so I'll try those out, they look promising! I'll let ya know if I come up with anything worthwhile!
Watching people use non-CAD software to do CAD is wack. A lot of things are far less streamlined, but then there are some things that you look at and think, "it's so simple, why can't it be that easy in CAD?".
Agreed. Going from roblox modelling to cad in high school was frustrating.
Why does that program has all this features to create gears in a blink of an eye if it isn't a cad software????
You should look at strain wave gearing and servo motors if you can afford it. Else if you insist on using conventional gearing, you can buy gears from various suppliers, or barring that buy yourself a universal milling machine and universal dividing head to make your own. I would recommend a universal mill over gear hobbers/shapers ext due to it's greater versatility.
I have a good 3D printer. If you need to outsource parts lmk. I won’t charge you anything because I want one of these. You’re living my dream life bro. I want to help you make her walk.
Thats really cool! Cant wait for the Updates
You're better off getting metal servohorns/keyed flanges built for the ASMB-4B size motors. They have less slop and you can tighten the keyway as much as you like without worrying about breaking mounting hardware. Plus they have enough torque that you don't really need to gear them down.
thanks for sharing your insights. I haven't used this motor before. I may get the horn i've designed printed in solid nylon for strength. Maybe i'll do away with the gear reduction entirely if this motor is strong enough.
@@DaveMakes You're welcome, these motors are quite strong: lifts my android's arm and help balance the torso without any issue. The fun part is figuring out how to mount/find room for them since they are not a standard servo size :)
is the robot your own art or did you take it from an anime?
the cartoon character I generated with ComfyUI with a mixture of different Loras, using SDXL. She's meant to resemble my robot design.
What a cool thumbnail 😊
If there are backlashes in some mechanisms, then you can use the gears from this video: th-cam.com/video/MwIBTbumd1Q/w-d-xo.html
What do you think he going do with it when it done? 😂 I'm joking, I think it's very Impressive your doing this with what seems like from Scratch. 👍
Are you using plastic gears just for testing or are you gonna use them on the final android? cause i think those break easily
if they break, i'll have them printed in aluminum.
Other options are nylon, or casting them in a strong urethane myself.
Do you have any degree that allows u to know what u doing with the mechanical parts?
Only accumulated experience working with 3d parts. My education is art and animation related.
Interesting, you’ve prolly answered this already but why not use CAD? Fusion 360 is greatttt, granted it’s a lil annoying to have to only 10 active files at a time with the free version 😅 but it’s easy enough to deactivate and activate. Or is it a hardware issue? C4D is Mac right? Does F360 not work with Mac? Sorry, it’s been years since being a Mac user.
does Fusion have signed distance field modeling?
I've never had a reason to not keep using C4D. robust modeling capability, rendering, simulation, animation. When I want to set up procedural rigs or components, it's not difficult at all.
@@DaveMakes honestly I’m not sure what that is hehe 🤭 but personally I use it because I’m a big fan of parametric modeling and being able to change things that are multiple steps back without having to redo all my work. 😅 I love having full control over every aspect of my design and I feel less stressed over decisions during the process because I know I can just scroll through the timeline and find the operation thats giving me trouble and tweak anything about it. I hated when having to undo everything I did and redo all of the operations when I was using blender for my designs. Plus it’s super 3D printer friendly and you don’t have to worry about checking to make sure everything is manifold and whatnot because the process ensures it will be 3D printer ready. Plus it’s got a built in pcb maker so I only have to lean one workflow/program and I can do everything I need. There’s tons of other stuff you can do with it to. It worth checking out honestly. :)
I think i've got a handle on a lot of those issues already. The thing is, I like to do other things as well, such as character animation, rigging, and rendering. I started out with Daz 3d, then moved to Maya, now I find myself using C4D, which I have been using now for around 3 years. It's working out very well for the wide range of things that I like to do. SDF modeling is excellent for 3d printing, and i've only dipped my feet into PCB design with KiCad recently.
SDF modeling is a way of working with 3d objects that renders everything into positive or negative spaces, with some interesting ways to smear, or blend between them mathematically. For complex organic shapes, or even mechanical parts it seems pretty good. Works well parametrically too.
@@DaveMakes I totally get that! There are some things I still hop over to blender to do since I have the workflow down already. And yea F360 is really only good for designing parts, pcbs, assemblies, etc or like CAM applications. Anything organic or requires sculpting I do in blender.
And oh wow that’s sounds really cool, I’m gonna have to look into that! Thanks for taking the time to reply 😊 all the luck on your project! Can’t wait to see where it goes!
First
Your Hannah bot is so gorgeous. I had an ex that looked just like her.
Do use xpresso for creating linkages/relationships between individual parts? Would love to see a bit behind the scenes on that!
I definitely do. It's very handy for setting up relationships between things. For example, if I have two gears with a herringbone twist on them, the relative size of each gear will need to dynamically alter the amount of twist. so different gear ratios need different twist ratios as well. hmm, that feels like a mouthful to type out. Suffice to say, xpresso is very useful for rigging :)
I'd be happy to do a video about this.
Here's an example of using xpresso to set up the different relationships of the mechanism. Not an instructional video, but this is definitely a typical way to make use of it. th-cam.com/video/uabLeeSLujA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=hjWXz5GaJD4KySVy
I would highly recommend using a metric threader to make your screw connections. I use mainly eyeglass screws in my builds. M1 to M2 for example. They also have threaders for those as well. You can literally get thousands of screws for nothing. Much like cameras or phones these days, they just thread the case or internal plastic frame instead of using nuts. So far, they have been really strong connections.
I've been working with screws like M2, M2.5 and M3 mainly. The metal threads of the M3 nuts are necessary for the M3 screws to have enough bite - particularly if I am going to be taking the screws in and out several times to change anything. That seems to be the main issue with plastic. if it's just going in once it's ok, but if the screw needs to be removed many times the plastic threads just vanish. The bite goes away.
I do like the idea of getting a tap set for small screws though, I should do that to play around with it. Smallest tap I have right now is M3.
I've been looking at some tiny metal working tools - lathes and milling machines for clock makers. that kind of thing. Small taps might be very useful for making some tiny metal components for the robot.