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Back orders, manufacturing, NEMA 17s, and where’s my package?

Hello, Everybody! (I’m doctor Nick!)

I’m back from Black Rock City where I’ve been sequestered for the last 2 weeks. I’m delighted to be back at work filling orders and making awesome robots. It used to be I dreaded coming home to my j-o-b and now I find I can’t wait. I’m facing so many new and exciting challenges that keep me young and entertained.

Case in point, I just got word of my first damaged shipment. Uh oh! Craig (our unfortunate victim) was also really helpful with great tips about ways to improve the kit. He seems to know his stuff, talking about unique value propositions and tooling. As soon as I get a breather I’m going to be implementing most (if not all) of his ideas. Thank you, Craig!

I’ve also received my first order for printed parts. This is where I run into some manufacturing problems I’ve been trying to keep on the DL. You see, ladles and jelly spoons, so far I’ve had to depend on other people for 3D printing. This has proven to be a monumental disaster of enormous delays. Please tell your friends about my Indiegogo campaign to get robots into schools so I can afford my own 3D printer and (I hope) solve these issues once and for all.

One more good piece of news is that my first order of NEMA17s from china have arrived. They’re 0.3a each and come with a 1m wire and a D-cut on the shafts. That means they’ll be easier and tidier than ever for including in Drawbots. I’ve got to run them through some testing. Expect to see them in outgoing shipments really soon.

To prevent further chaos, I’m going to update all store inventory to “out of stock” if it has a 3D printed part until such time as I can get this sorted out. DONT PANIC – I’ll still be filling orders. It’s just a stop gap to slow down the orders until I can get this streamlined the way I’d like. All I’m saying is Please be patient with me and I’ll update here as often as I can.

I’m also going to put priority on acquiring some boxes for safer shipping. Do you know someone in Vancouver area that can supply them at a good price? Do you have a template for a cardboard box I could run through a laser cutter? I love the idea of making them on demand instead of lying around waiting for a fire.

I see now that happy customers = short delivery times + good communication. I’m dedicated to making you happy. If you have any ideas about how to make things better (or maybe just to share the love), please comment below.

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Drawbot at the Vancouver Hack Space Super Happy Hacker House 23

MCing the lightning talks at the VHS Super Happy Hacker House was a blast. I was really nervous about the robot because I had not calibrated or tested it before the event. In the end it turned out great! Sadly, the camera man forgot his equipment so I didn’t get the raw footage for a new Drawbot video. I’ll have to work on that, I think an Indiegogo campaign is in my immediate future.

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Drawbots in the Wild, Michael is awesomesauce

Did you know? As of this moment there are sixteen Drawbots in the wild.

I love giving people props for being mad crazy good, and Michael is 105% awesome. Not only has he built his own version of the Drawbot, he’s contributing to The github project.

Saturday night we’ll be taking raw footage for a new Drawbot showcase video at the VHS Super Happy Hacker House 23.

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Drawbot automatic centering with limit switches, new OSX app on the way

The analog pins on the Adafruit Motor Shield have never been put to use. Today I finally printed the new motor mounts listed on the thingiverse page. There are 5 small holes on the side of each mount. I put an exposed wire through each pair of holes and the bobbin thread through the center hole. When the pen holder comes up and touches the wires together, the drawbot knows it’s about to break a string and stops automatically. I can also use this to re-center the robot with Settings > Drive Manually > Find Home.

So now all I need is pen up and pen down and I’ll be satisfied the hardware for this machine is finished. Then I can spend more time on the business side of things. I long for the day when I’m selling enough of these that I can get a part time worker to help out. My goal is have one part time employee by my birthday in March.

In other related news Michael and Miguel have build & tested an OSX app package and are probably working on a windows one right now. That means everyone will be able to grab a much friendlier install without having to see github (read: leave my site). The assembly instructions will then move to my site, thingiverse will need to be updated to point here, and there’s probably a dozen other links I’ve forgotten I should include. Hey! If I put the assembly instructions on this site I can embed a video SHOWING the assembly process. Oh yeah, that’s the ticket. To bad I don’t have a camera to film it on. I didn’t realize my GoPro would have such a crazy fisheye. Maybe I can trade it to someone?

Don’t forget, the Drawbot – with auto-centering limit switches – will be making an appearance at the Vancouver Hack Space SHHH on August 18 (four days away). Come on down and participate! We’ll be taking requests for pictures, making a timelapse, and answering all your questions. I hear there’s even going to be a soldering contest. I’ll also have EL Wire on sale in case you still aren’t ready for Burning Man. Don’t miss it!

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Soldering Tips for Adafruit Motor Shields

Hi, Adafruit!

I recently ordered ten motor shields and have been diligently soldering them together. I’ve found a few tricks that make it a little faster to put the boards together and I thought it might be nice if you added them to your tutorial. My first board took almost 2 hours. I find with my current method I don’t need helping hands, because they aren’t. My latest board took about 30 minutes.

First I do the pieces that can’t hold themselves in place, starting with the central 74HC595N. Insert it, flip over the board, and lay it on a flat surface. The weight of the board holds it at just the right location. I use this same technique for the the resistor network, then the sockets, then the screw terminals, then the jumper.

For the capacitors and resistors I do them in two sets, based on which way they are oriented. It’s much easier to turn the board over and solder them quickly if the leads are bent in the same direction.

The servo pins proved to be a real PITA until I discovered I could put them in and then smoosh the IC foam onto the pin heads to hold them in place. Check they’re straight, turn the board over, and repeat as with the ICs.

The button is no challenge, just watch you don’t prick yourself when snapping it in.

The last part I do are the male shield pins, where I follow your steps to the letter. Then the L293D go in and we’re ready to test.

One last tip: the ICs don’t really want to go in because all their legs bend outward. insert one whole side part way, then gently run a fingernail down the legs on the other side and they should snap into place one by one. Then insert the rest of the way.

Thank you for making such clear instructions, and such a fabulous product! Everybody reading this, go buy some and tell them I sent you. Show me a Youtube video of your fastest assembly time so I can see how great is your solder fu.