By far one of the biggest challenges in this project was dealing with low stock of parts and even discontinued parts. In order to overcome this I had to bring out my creativity and use the resources around me in order to obtain all the parts. I started off simply by contacting suppliers about stock quantities and when that didn't go successfully I reached out to the Github Community who gave ideas. They showed me the CAD files for some of the parts, which I ended up 3D printing and gave me some suggestions about what to do for other parts. But with no ideas for the Pillow Bearing Block that was discontinued I took it upon myself to make my own part. Looking at the schematics online I created a dxf file to be laser cut at my high school and bought half inch bearings from amazon to insert into the blocks. After that I had all the parts I needed!
Batter Holders:
Front and Back Panels:
RGB Matrix Head:
Corner Steering Shaft & Encoder Holders:
PVC Pipe Clamps for RGB Matrix Head:
Arduino Shield Plate:
A cool pic of the laser cutter, cutting the plywood for the pillow bearing block:
One of the coolest techniques I learned from this project was the use of heat inserts when dealing with 3D prints. They allow for a good threaded screw to be added, which is often difficult to do with plastic parts. I used these heat inserts for my Falcon 9 Landing Legs project and they helped tremendously.
Using soldering iron to add heat inserts to RGB Matrix Head:
Adding heat inserts to PVC Clamping hubs:
