I did some further testing of the periscope lift mech tonite. Got it partially installed in the dome. Just placed inside on the dome plate to see how much room I had to play with all around.

I was hoping I’d have enough space in there to add a small servo to rotate the periscope as the mech only raises and lowers – But it really doesn’t look like I’ll have the room.
I also need to widen the hole in the dome as the periscope housing touches in several spots.

I think things will improve once I get the housing glued together and more square, but this was a good test to make sure I’m on the right track.

I’m going to sleep on it tonite and try and figure how I can get the thing to rotate – even if it’s just 90 degrees.

As it lowers you can see that it touches the dome.

Big milestone for me tonight. I finally got around to wiring up my dome periscope lift mech to a speed controller and my VexLabs RC setup.

This is my first time wiring up anything like this, so I was a bit apprehensive. The good news is I didn’t pop anything and it worked first time.

I was really surprised on how fast the little motor spun the mech up and down. So fast that the threaded rod squeals a bit. I may have to program in limits on the controller to cap the max speed.

Here’s a quick photo of the test setup and a video

For the test I used a SyRen10 Speed Controller.

I got a lot done this weekend. All the major/required holes are now drilled out and test fitting of all the bits that poke through.

Took my time on the last hole, the back PSI, as there wasn’t any room for error. I used the same hole cutter method as before but went extra slow and double checked all my measurements.

I also installed all the holoprojectors with some screws that go through the inner dome.

I still need to JB weld the screws in and I’m not sure if I’m happy with the result. I’m worried that the screws may eventually give out or pull through the dome.

I got to work on some of the electronics and made up some quick housing for the PSI circuits. Nothing fancy just some 1 1/4″ PVC pipe couplers and end stops/plugs. I cut down/sanded the plug make it easier to remove, and added a slot to feed the wires in. I also stuffed the tube with some bubble wrap to help diffuse the light. Eventually I’ll change the wire and hotglue the circuit board into the cap/plug.

I was anxious to do a full test fit of all the dome parts installed, so here’s a quick photo of th rear logic and a holoprojector installed

Here’s a test video of the rear logic and psi in action (ignore the wrong color on the PSI 🙂 )

Now I need to cut out the final outer dome panels and start thinking about painting.

I guess I also need to decide if I’m going to cut the remaining pie panels to make them open.

After a lot of thinking and consulting with Victor and Calvin I decide I’m pretty much done with the dome sanding/fitting. There’s some minor gaps but I can tweak them later and some may work themselves out for various reasons and decisions later.

I think I’ve been procrastinating and using the gaps as an excuse not to starting cutting some holes, so tonight was the night.

I started off with an easy one – the front holoprojector. It went a lot quicker and easier than I’d thought and the result was excellent if I do say so myself.

Basic Steps

• Overlay outer dome and mark circle.
• Find center of circle using some quick math.
• Decide on diameter of hole to cut and first mark with a compass then set the drill hole cutting tool the same.
• Double check slightly larger marked hole with outer dome again.
• Center punch hole.
• Drill pilot hole.
• Drill hole the same size as drill cutting tool bit.
• Start cutting.
• At some point I broke thru on some spots so stopped.
• Dremeled pie wedges using a reinforced cut-off wheel and snapped off the pieces when done.
• File off burrs, hold breath and test fit.

That’s it, and to be honest it was pretty easy really. I’d decide to make the hole exactly the same diameter as the outer hole. If I screwed up I figured I could always sand/file it bigger, but making it too big might be a problem. The holoprojector fit perfectly and a quick test fit of the dome looked really good.

Check out this video of my wobbling/bobbing drill bit.

I was about to drill another when the battery died on my cordless drill, so I’ll have to wait till tomorrow now.