Thread: My 3 axis skull...in progress

Tweet

Very nice! How much? No, seriously. lol..

What program are you using to control the servos? That's where I get confused.

I am using Brookshire VSA (http://www.brookshiresoftware.com) to control the servos. I also bought an SSC-32 servo controller from Lynxmotion (http://www.lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx?productID=395), it can control up to 32 servos and is compatable with VSA. It runs off the serial port. In addition I purchased a Kit 74 Parallel card (http://kitsrus.com/jpg/k74v2_1.jpg) to control lights I want to run with VSA.

VSA is easier to use and understand than it looks. Once you read the FAQ's and play around with it for a while, you will be on your way.

Lynxmotion was VERY good with tech support. I called them and they answered right away and helped me get set up on the spot. A+ to them.

HalloweenBob,

I just wanted to congratulate you on the design of your 3 Axis mechanism. Brilliant. What I love about it is the elegant simplicity. It uses an absolute minimum number of components and delivers maximum results. That's the epitome of good engineering.

You can see the mechanism I built for my skull on my website. Simple, but it only provides pan/tilt. I intend to build another skull for this year's show based on your design. Fortunately I can do the machining myself.

Did you come up with the design yourself, or were you inspired by anything?

Thanks,
PeterM

Plus, how's your progress on your other one?

wow awesome I dont think I have seen a talking skul with this much movement before great job.

Thanks guys. I did design it (For the most part) myself. I had decided to use a rod end as my main motion component, and played around with layout if servos for some time. After I had decided on a layout, I came across Twisted Dementa's version of the 3 Axis Skull. It was almost identical to what I had laid out! After seeing that, I knew I was on the right track. (http://twisteddementia.com)

Anyway, I have been busy programming routines for the last few weeks. I have one complete and two others in process.

I have just now started building my other 3 skulls. I will be uploading detailed pictures in the next few days

Can you tell me if you purchased the small aluminum arm or made that yourself?

If you are talking about the small aluminum arm that extends from the center rod just above the rod end, yes, I made that. It was just cut from a piece of aluminum. Then I drilled a hole in the end and tapped it so I could screw in the linkage from the servo which rotates the skull left and right.

You could just drill a hole and use a nut on the other side if you don't have a tap set.

Was that what you were asking about?

Yeap, thanks that exactly what I needed to know.