Polymorph / Shapelock Android project

[ElectroMaster]

Thought this was very interesting!

XRobots.co.uk - Android 10

 

[ericgibbs]

Thought this was very interesting!

XRobots.co.uk - Android 10

hi,
Very novel ideas.

Just think of the hours the guy has put into that project.

I am going to rush out and buy 10,000 shares in 'Shapelock...

 

[Krumlink]

You can do that with hot glue and hot water

 

[Krumlink]

Wow that's a really cool website, I am definitely book marking it.

 

[Sceadwian]

This will make the greenies happy. It's a biodegradable plastic.
Apparently it's even a bio/medical friendly plastic. I'll have to make a mental note of this stuff, bit expensive but really cool stuff.

Polycaprolactone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[kchriste]

Very interesting site. Judging by the rest of the creations:
**broken link removed**
we should keep an eye on this guy. Very interesting stuff. I wonder if the plastic will be strong enough once some weight is added to the #10 robot.

 

[ericgibbs]

If Shapelock is made 'soft' by heating in water,
wont the heat from the motors remelt the Shapelock and cause the motors to work loose,

OR am I missing something.

 

[Mickster]

I guess some of you may have already seen this, but for those who haven't, Polymorph / Shapelock (Polycapralactone) is used quite extensively here:

**broken link removed**

I do intend to make one of these someday...

 

[Mikebits]

If Shapelock is made 'soft' by heating in water,
wont the heat from the motors remelt the Shapelock and cause the motors to work loose,

OR am I missing something.

Good point. The melting point is 60 C, so hmm, that could be a problem. How much heat do you suppose the motors give off?

 

[MacFeegle]

I'll be interesting in seeing his control circuitry to make it walk and how long it will run before the batteries need charging.

 

[arhi]

Good point. The melting point is 60 C, so hmm, that could be a problem. How much heat do you suppose the motors give off?

I'm not sure how this "polymorph" behave but I was near a bunch of different "plastic like" "sand/granule/substrate" that melts "first time" at low temperatures (e.g. 50-70 degrees C) but when they harden "next time" melting point is above 100 degrees .. One I was particularly fond of (and cannot get again ... ) was "re melting" at ~50 degrees, but you can "fix" it by cooling it down to -5. After that - it is rock solid.

For the small parts I use some "dentistry" mixture they use to make bracelets. It is expensive as hell, but easy to manipulate and strong as a stone.

 

[uaefame]

Lets say the DC motor heat reaches 50 degree celieus and nothing happen to the polymer, what will happen if the robot goes to the sun under no shadow it will melt up side down!

Is it not sad to see a nice robot melt down!

 

[ElectroMaster]

Hi guys,

These questions can now be asked directly to the creator of android 10 in the new forum hosted for the site XRobots.co.uk.



James is the creator and will be coming and going so check it out..

 

[jamesbruton]

Thanks for the new forum ElectroMaster.

I just wanted to comment on the 'melting issue'... I'm hoping that the motors won't get that hot for long enough periods to melt the polymorph and have it fall to pieces. Even in hot water, a lump of Polymorph takes some time to melt through. It's supplied in small beads which melt quickly due to the increased surface area, but once you try to remelt it it takes longer for the whole lump to melt right the way through.

Also, the actual gearbox that the motor is attached to is plastic, so this shouldn't get too hot. Provided the gear box is held in place then the motor should remain in place too.

Really this machine is a prototype to see if this method of moving (with motors and strings etc) is viable for ongoing android construction, so it's not going to be working 24/7 or anthything in any case - just a few mins here and there for testing/demos.

I'd like to build the top half too, the head and arms, but we'll see how the rest goes first, so they may or may not get built...

 

[Krumlink]

Wow he came to our forum! Welcome!

 

[jamesbruton]

Thanks Krumlink... I posted a few things in the other section too:

I had a forum on my site a couple of times before, so hopefuly some of those people will come over here too.

 

[Sceadwian]

If you're worried about softening do your 'positive' in shape lock, get it exactly how you want it and then make a plaster mold of the shape locked piece. Use that as a mold for a more permanent thermoplastic model, then you can reuse the shape lock. Win win, and probably cheaper than making a lot of stuff out of shape lock.
Also I'm lazy and don't want to look it up. What temperature does this stuff melt (not become soft) at?

 

[jamesbruton]

That's an interesting idea although not really practical for the robot how it is now because the motors are encased in the plastic and there are lots of loops etc. It would have to be a multi-part plaster mould and it would be a nightmare to pour moulten plastic into. I'd be better off with a slight redesign and engineering it out of sheet material if I wanted to make a second prototype.

Not sure what temparature Polymorph actualy melts to liquid, I've used it with simmering (just off the boil water) but it's still quite 'in one lump'...