The Hexapod’s CAD is DONE! Or at least V1 is finished. I integrated the PCBs into the main shell, added a battery component, put in a bunch of sensors and LEDs, and generally finished up the CAD. This is a pretty big milestone, as I can now 3D print, assemble, program, and test my creation. Over the next few days, I will be taking this guy from the screen into the real world. It’s been a journey, from initial planning, leg design and prototyping, PCB design, and finally outer shell appearance and sensor integration. The most challenging part of the mechanical CAD was making everything fit! The robot is pretty compact, and the electronics take up a ton of space. I ended up hanging the Pi from the top of the robot to get everything to fit. I think I will have enough space for wiring, but it will be close. That is the main reason why every PCB trace is overspecced, so I should, in theory, have minimal temperature rise.
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How do you get all the 3D models for the electronic components? Do you import them from somewhere, or do you model them yourself? In Fusion?
@Hummelkoenig some, especially custom footprints/cheap clone boards I model myself using calipers, which, while not perfect I have not had any issues with making the main outlines. Others I find directly from grabCAD- there’s many, many files there. Always make sure what you are downloading has decent reviews and double check critical dimensions, as it is a user created repository. Adafruit also has official CAD for all their sensors, etc. on their github, so for the IMU/PCAs I took from there.
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