Components Chassis Electronics Informatics Transport, safety, and charging Box Project Management Optional features
Current status Project Progress and Status

Puzzling Robots - Chassis design

Current status of PCB design

We are at version 6!

V6 chassis complete with charging slider in FreeCAD

Production instruction

Important: Download all FCStd files if you want to change sth of the design

Fort just the parts, download all STL files. Print list per robot:

Download files

Assembly instruction

  1. Screw on the arcade button first
  2. Slid in the nuts into the little slot and warm it up a bit to secure them
  3. Connect the top and the bottom at the side that is longer on the outside using the screws. To combine the halfs turn one upside down
  4. Mount the electronics

Note: All files and images are made in FreeCAD. Components printed on either the Prusa XL or Prusa MK4. Sliced in Prusa Slicer.

Roadmap

From left to right, oldest to newest: Comparison of the printed Versions.

From top to bottom: oldest to newest

  1. V1 Initial design:
    Left: modular corner design; Right: initial sketch
    After that there was a more detailed sketches and failed versions:
    A better sketch of the corner 3D design

    This approach works but required a lot of printed parts and many screws. In general, I was not quite happy with it.

  2. V2 New design.

    It now features:

    • Less separate components to print
    • A battery lid
    • A way to attach a button and RFID modules
    Assembly view of V5 puzzling Robot chassis

    Test results:

    Battery holder could be a bit smaller but fits in the battery and button. Battery lid needs to be redesigned
    RFID module and card in comparison to the chassis. The RFID module does not quite fit smoothly but I'm happy with the size.
  3. V3

    Based on the test results, this design features:

    • Added a screw hole in the middle to attach electronics
    • Resized the button holder
    • Added a battery holder
    • Fitted the battery lid
    • Added space for the screw head
    • Added inlaid nuts

    I also added a slider to slip into the battery charger pins. More information on the storage, transport, and charging box

    Assembly view of V6 puzzling Robot chassis

    Test results:

    The battery holder works nicely and the battery lid size is now fixed.
  4. V4

    Updated design based on the test results:

    • Changed the position of the screws for electronics to better fit the components in the circuit
    • Added more inlaid nut holes
    • Resizing charging slider connections
    Assembly V4 design

    To test it, I took it to a gathering with some friends with various backgrounds (industrial mechanic, truck driver, pre-kindergarten educator, mechanic engineer, software developer, sales manager, electrical engineer, children aged 4-8). This is their feedback (and some of my observations):

    • Mechanically sound design especially with the inlaid nuts. The only mechanical concern would be micro vibrations that might loosen the screws. Can be fixed with securing nuts or anti vibration spacers.
    • The sides should be closed.
    • Children are also going to use however, not only the intended way. Make sure it is solid enough that they can be stacked and stepped on.
    • The button is really solid. Someone was always pressing it throughout the night.
    • Make all corrosive parts easily accessible to replace them in case of failure.
    • Round the corners to avoid injuries!!!!
    • Use only little colors to make them more easy to distinguish for young children and elderly.
    • The 3D print is quite sturdy - during the hole trip it did not take any damage, not even a scratch.
    • Suggested game options:
      • Picture and Voice - Visual speech training
      • Use it as a remember-what-I-was-about-to-say-or-do button
      • Who can press the button the most within a certain time frame
      • Make (pixelart) puzzles according to what the card shows
      • Create a path between to buttons. Depending on the color of the light, each side of the cube is either open and can make a path or closed to block that side (to make it more difficult: buttons change sides at a certain time)
      • Based on the last idea: maybe even electrical circuits?

    The design is still fully compatible with the previous designs.
    Left: fixed the battery lid screw problem. Right: inlaid nuts
    Individually the halfs are frail: the black one broke where I had to exchange the filament, the blue one bc I applied to much force in parallel to the printing direction.
  5. V5
    V5 of chassis

    The new design features the suggestions and fixes some issues of the previous model:

    • Adding side plates
    • Added a top top plate to hide the screws
    • Rounded the corners
    • Changed the direction of the screw outs from the bottom
    • Adapted the sizing of the first few inlaid nut holes
    • Changed the shape of the RFID holes allowing the module itself and the screws to be attached easier

    Test results:

    Left: RFID module fits quite neatly; Right: sizes fit well.
    Stuff that can be improved: Left: the hiding the screw plate has a lot of tolerance; Right: some of the holes for the inlaid nuts are way too big and the side plates too thick.
  6. V6
    V6 chassis complete with charging slider in FreeCAD

    Updates:

    • Fixed the issues in the last model
    • Inlaid the RFID modules
    • Flattened the outer shell to print considerably faster with less waste and no supports
    • All the little add-ons underneath the charging slicer can now be screwed on instead of printing with supports