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CEB controller box
  • hey guys, i think im going to make a CEB press electronic box.

    im going to try and use the directions we're trying to get polished up on the wiki.


    thought i'd keep a log on here as it goes along.

    going to order the arduino and magnets and such tonight.
     
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  • i got the boards and a box today. soldered the break out board. going to do the pwm's tmrw. mosfets on backorder. the outdoor box i got is a little different than the one they used before, guna have to figure something out for the main pos neg terminals.
     
  • awesome! will be excited to see how this build goes. do you know if any one else has posted a build log of the CEB box before?
     
  • i finished one of the PWMs minus the mosfets

    i started a picture album but im using my phone camera so theyre not great pics :/

    https://picasaweb.google.com/dorkmo/Ose?feat=directlink
     
  • finished the second PWM a few days ago. i got some 3/16" thick lexan plastic to mount the two back to back. looking back i think i could have just used some wood or thin particle board of some sort. i went to the hardware store and got some 1" nylon thumb screws and some spacers. cut some holes in the lexan. i drilled out the holes on the PWM boards because they were a little small. anyways i added the pictures to the album in my last post. what do you think about mounting it sideways like that?
     
  • Looks solid! Seems like a more efficient use of the space. Perhaps if it slotted in into place it would be easy to remove the entire piece of lexan to do repair work.

    I wonder from the videos of the CEB in action how vibration will affect the lifespan of the controller circuitry. That thing shakes like a beast. Would it be prudent to use dampers or shock absorbers? I work with HVAC systems, most are mounted on some sort of rudimentary shock absorbers (usually heavy springs). I would imagine it would be pretty easy to add something in the box itself or where it is mounted to the CEB.
     
  • making it a slot sounds like a super idea. i think ill try and tweak what ive got and turn it into a slot. not really sure how im going to mount the arduino. it has to be facing out because it has connections all around. and also there needs to be room below and behind for wires to exit the box through knock-outs.

    ive also been thinking about the vibrations. to me it seems like it doesnt even need to be connected to the rest of the unit? maybe if it was on a pole that was staked into the ground or just had some feet to stand next to the machine? maybe it could have a little hook so that it could hang from the press some where when you want to transport it.
     
  • i made some slots out of square dowel rods. worked out great. i took a few pics for the album.

    i think if i put a long dowel on either side for the arduino and then maybe short pieces at the bottom on the front side so you'd put it in and slide it down into the bottom and then maybe some sort of hole and a clip at the top to lock it in?
     
  • i finished all the mounting.

    after doing all that i feel like there should be something easier. i started working on a sketchup drawing and going to design something for 3D printing. i dont have a 3d printer and i dont really know what the rules of designing something are or what format it should be in but i figure i could tweak it later.

    im pretty happy with what i ended up with but it was a lot of work, and there wasnt much room for error. drilling holes in a bunch of stuff hoping everything would line up perfect. it didnt always, was sorta painful at times.
     
  • heres a link to my first sketch. going to add on a bit tomorrow.

    http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=abd9c5a7d79a6bacb38804396e417a9b

    building a stand up to the arduino will take up some space in the bottom of the box thats clear for wiring with the configuration i made previously. plus the molex connector on the lower PWM will be an obstacle.

    i made the model editable if anyone has any interest in tweaking it.
     
  • Hey right on man, looks great. I wonder if you could find someone with a 3d printer to make the mount and ship it to you. Seems to be a lot of holes to drill thru the box but it's definitely secure in there!

    I wonder what the process will be for updating OSE technology designs and instructions... I mean your controller is maybe the first one built independently, and you must have had thoughts on marcin's instructions. If you continue to develop the design, what is the process for adding your contributions to the standard controller box design? Maybe after the controller is done you can do a quick summary of the improvements you made, issues you had etc. Then it can be emailed to Marcin or whoever and the recommendations can be consolidated with the wiki. Just a thought, there will need to be some sort of processes in place if distributed production of these things happens.
     
  • welp, i think i finished the drawing up to the point where someone could print it out and test it and then tweak it from there. do we know anyone that has one? i'd love a critique of what i drew.

    didnt get around to wiring yet. the mosfets are supposed to arrive via UPS tomomorrow, might solder then em wensday thursday.

    i think on designs that there should be a system for different styles to coexist. i feel like a lot of the design stuff for gvcs will need to be constrained by what tools and raw materials are available. the one i made probly would have never ended up where it is if i had a 3d printer. but i do have a drill press and some wood and other ods and ends. i think the end goal for each design definetaly needs to be to use the fewest variety of materials. mostly becuase each different thing requires whole different sets of machines to make. a cool thing about 3d printing is that it relies on one raw material.

    on instructions i think its important to split the building down into manageable parts. ive been tweaking the wiki page for the controler box but i never really got into mounting. there wasnt a whole lot of detail before, what they did made sense but if you have something different you get derailed from the instructions and have to find a new path. one downfall of wiki is that related information gets put on different pages. had to battle that a little. conor has been doing a good job consolidating stuff.

    i duno, just some thoughts.

    onward! :D
     
  • Good point about the different styles depending on what is available. I think that encourages a greater discussion about how much reliance OSE tech has on manufactures from existing capital (all that tubing and hydraulic stuff for The Liberator ain't easy to make), but that can happen later.

    Yeah I know what you mean, the wiki is a bit spaghetti-ish. I was looking around trying to see where I could pitch in but without standard style guides I'm finding it a bit tricky. While the open source model is super, I do think there still needs to be a bit of quarter-backing for the documentation effort. Marcin seems pretty caught up with product development, so I wonder if one of the people that has been recruited with be coordinating that effort.

    Be sure to take some notes about your build! We can then append them to the CEB build page.

    Also, Idea, wouldn't it be a cool to have a log of all the OSE technologies that have been built by the community? just so there's a record of who's built what and what capacities exist in different places.
     
  • There is a lot of real world experience in organizing and documenting complex engineering projects, which includes open source software projects among them. One of the methods is to divide a more complex device into "functional blocks". Each block has specific functions (what does it do) and a set of interfaces (how does it connect to the other blocks). If you write those things down, then people can make alternate designs, and it should still work with the other parts. The "latest version" of the total machine (like a CEB press) can be upgraded incrementally by block, or you can maintain several versions. For example one set of blocks if you are going to buy parts ready-made, and another set if you are going to make your own parts from scratch. Data storage is cheap enough these days that you can keep a history of every version and change.
     
  • @Daniel - Do you know of any Open Source platforms that can be used to track design versions for different projects? Would be important for the complete scope of OSE.
     
  • Also, Dorkmo! How goes the progress? Excited to hear how it's going.
     
  • heyo! i just added a few pics of the trailer plug setup im workin on. took me a week to build up the strength and courage to pop out the knock-outs on the box, not used to hitting stuff so violently lulz. i only got one plug to test with so now that im happy with it ill run by the napa store tomorrow and get its mate. i put another whole inbetween for the electrical line to the battery and for the 3 sensors. i think im going to try and find a switch on an extention cord so it can just hang down.. also i sort of ran out of room for holes. i would have liked to had plugs for the sensors they wont fit size wise in the box. in a bigger box it would probably be easy to just set in two more 5 pole plugs. there are 10 wires to the solenoid and 9 wires to the sensors and 2 wires for the power. each plug is about 12 bucks. if you went all out that would be about 50 bucks. the plugs are pretty simple in general so i think maybe with a little time i or someone could maybe draw a 3d printable version that would need some sort of wire terminals inserted some how to make the connections. otherwise i dont think off the shelf plugs are worth the expense for our minimalist goals and shouldnt be included in future designs, but they will be fun for my pimped out box :)

    i probly need to do an hour or two of wiring tommorrow to finish it up then im planning on driving up to the farm saturday morning to drop it off so the guys can use it in a build or at least study it and salvage the parts. :P

    then on to the next project! what should we do ebell?
     
  • Man, that's awesome! Mega props. I particularly like the 3d model for the internal circuit frame. Do you have any way to test it out to see if it'll work? Haha do you live close to the farm? If you could make another you might be able to get marcin to pay you for the work on it. Distributed manufacturing ftw!

    Hmm, what's next? Updating the documentation maybe? I could help out with that this week probably. I was thinking there really needs to be a streamlined standard. Something so that the first page of a technology is really general, but gets more technical as you click through to specific parts of the build. What was your experience using the wiki to build this?
     
  • heyoooo i dropped by the farm! marcin was pretty busy. when i rolled up he was unloading a trailer with all the steel for all the projects for the next couple months. 4 presses and a tractor or two i think he said. pretty neat to see the raw material as it came in. he said he had been talking to someone about doing some steel rolling. i showed him the box, a quick little run through. he seemed surprised i wasnt an electrician or something lol. i hope it works like its supposed to. he said he had been up all night preparing for a meeting he was having later that day. i forgot who with. he gave me a quick tour of the buildings, was pretty cool. kinda funny having seen all the videos and stuff you feel like you've been there a million times. after the tour i let him get back to business. its really nice countryside up there. ill have to build something else so i can go visit again :P maybe they'll have a CEB bed and breakfast by then lol
     

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