Most awesome thing you've ever seen!!!

[The Happy Friar]

just google/yahoo for hinges.  that brings up some cool ideas. 

That would be awesome to see in real life. 

[Paril]

just google/yahoo for hinges.  that brings up some cool ideas. 

That would be awesome to see in real life. 

Yeaaah but I need to use non-metal parts due to lack of access. Wooden dowels would be the quickest method for me

I'm probably going to show it around the town (yes, the entire town, that's how small a place I live in) and, if it gets enough PR, sell it on eBay.
Or, save it for QuakeCon if I ever get to go!

-Paril

[The Happy Friar]

I found PVC hinges via google.  Might work.

[:iR:goatkilla]

started loading the page i saw some long hair , i was like its got to be tits!

lol wasn't but its a hella cool project nehow hehe

[Yendor]

Problem B) Wiring
The wiring in this component will contain several wires going in and out of the main body to supply power to the appropriate LEDs and the motor for the chaingun. The problem is whether the main upper-body portion of the model will suffice size-wise for the electrical components to fit. Once printed out and cut this can be easily figured out, but as a before-hand-guess, it's nearly impossible to judge how far in or where I'm going to stick the circuit board. Wires going from the body down to the tracks (for LEDs) will be fed through the center "cord" (which MIGHT be replaced by a spring of variable length, depending, because the body of the supertank SHOULD be able to move ala those lamps you see with the weird metal things that can move and stick) and reach their destinations. Another problem was that the motor might be spinning too fast for the chaingun to handle; the resistor in the schematics is subject to change, and as of yet is unknown what voltage I will need for it (the battery is 9 volt and the motor spins at 8,300 RPM.. can anyone do any math to figure out what I could use to slow it down to about half speed?)

-Paril

Dude that is completely awesome!  That BFG is just big enough to be a PC case!!  Hmmm - BFG computer case

About the motor, you will absolutely need to use a gear motor for this.  There's no way a plain motor (especially a small one), will be able to turn the chaingun at anything resembling a slow-enough speed.   I would say you want about 180RPM (that's 3 revolutions per second).  Since your motor's going about 46 times too fast, you'll need some gearing, and the best way to get gearing is to get a motor with it built in.   
Check out http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/DCM-110/MINI-RIGHT-ANGLE-GEARHEAD-MOTOR-W/CONTROL-CIRCUIT/1.html

The other alternative would be a stepper motor, but you need to provide a driver circuit.

To that end, and also for controlling LEDs and such to make 'em blink how ya want, I would ask:  Do you know the C programming language?  If you do, you should learn about microcontrollers.  Texas Instruments comes to mind - thye have a development kit that includes a USB programmer/debugger stick, a small proto/evaluation board, and a full C compiler, for $20!  It's a great little system, and the chip itself is a 16MHz RISC-core processor for built in hardware multiply, a few I/O lines, A/D converters, timers, etc...

Link: http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/ez430-f2013.html

Of course this means getting into some basic electronics, but you seem to know how to hook up LEDs and such...enough to play with the MSP340 system...

Cheers and keep up the good work!  Awesome indeed!

[peewee_RotA]

Do you know the C programming language?

Tee hee hee 

[Paril]

Interesting.

My one friend suggested a potentiometer for slowing down the motor, would that function or do I absolutely need a gear motor? I'll check Circuit City...

As for the LEDs, I'm just planning for them to all be on at once, nothing fancy in flashing due to requiring more than I can handle doing at my experience level and willing-to-learniness. Yes, I do know C.

-Paril

[Yendor]

Interesting.

My one friend suggested a potentiometer for slowing down the motor, would that function or do I absolutely need a gear motor? I'll check Circuit City...

As for the LEDs, I'm just planning for them to all be on at once, nothing fancy in flashing due to requiring more than I can handle doing at my experience level and willing-to-learniness. Yes, I do know C.

-Paril

A pot (potentiometer), while simple and easy, will only yield sorrow.  This is due to the two main properties of a DC motor:
1.  The speed of the motor is determined by the voltage being fed into it.
2.  The mount of current that the motor draws is determined by the mechanical load that it has to drive.

Since nothing is perfect, even the best motors will slow down when you put a load on them.  To prevent this, people use fill DC Servo systems, in which a computer monitors the speed of the motor and pumps more current into it automatically to maintain desired speed and position.

At any rate, with a pot in series with a motor, when its running at a given speed, you place more load on it, which causes more current to flow, which in turn causes more voltage drop across the resistor, which means less voltage for the motor, which means the motor slows down... as I mentioned, only sorrow.

You'd be better off running the motor using an LM317T voltage regulator.  This is a three-terminal device that looks like a transitor.  With the LM317, one capacitor, and two resistors (one's a pot), you can get a regulated voltage for your motor which is adjustable.

This will only decrease the sorrow a bit, because motors don't behave well as very low RPMs, especially with less than precision-engineered loads (ball-bearings, perfectly balanced,  and such).  A paper and wooden-dowel system will present load variations (mainly stick-slip, which causes much torment in making something turn nicely).  A gear motor will greatly reduce problems.  You could also devise some system of pulleys and O-rings, especially if you can fine a motor with a small v-groove pulley on the end - just use it with an o-ring around the body of the turning part of the chaingun, and you're there!

So, good luck !  Cheers!

[Paril]

The only thing required to move via electricity would be the chaingun itself spinning.
I plan to stick to dowels for the rest of the movement (rocket launcher 180 degree spin around axis and rocket launcher "arm" spin around chassis in a cylinder-shaped hole) mainly because of simplicity.

Anyway, I'm uploading the first batch of pictures!

The only problem I have in mind right now is making some sort of stopper so the rocket launcher doesn't turn too far..

-Paril

[Paril]

First batch of images, Blog-style!
This is a 56k-friendly post, but the images themselves are of a HUGE resolution. I recommend you be using Firefox to view this.

So, the first step was for me to upload the .pdo (Pepakura cutout) to my webserver so I could download it...


...from my dad's computer (has the printer!)


The first thing I do is print out only the first page to see how the folds make out, and if they are do-able.
Note that my leg is visible in this shot. I am not wearing pants, however I am tastefully clothed in boxers.
YOU CAN'T CENSOR ME


Same shot, different angle.


Here's the Printer window, showing you the glorified size and length.


Aaand the printer itself, gracefully printing away at it's own pace.


I ran into this error a whopping 4 times!


...MOVING ON


Here's the final printed-out stack held in my hand. Don't see it?


The stack from the side!

Be prepared for more!

[soh]

http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00212.JPG
http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00213.JPG
http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00214.JPG
http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00215.JPG
http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00216.JPG
http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00217.JPG
http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00220.JPG
http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00221.JPG
http://parilsprojects.org/lolbfg/DSC00223.JPG

LOL let's hear it for Paril!

What was it?

[peewee_RotA]

Paper Models made out of the quake 2 models

There's still at least one left up on planet quake
http://planetquake.gamespy.com/View.php?view=POTD.Detail&id=4010

[Th0m@s29]

Wow this is awesome!