Grant Maree

Designing. Building. Testing. Sharing the process.
Aerospace Engineer

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@jetla404 Walking robot dog!

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@Wild_Arms_RandD How much thrust are you expecting from these?

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

RICO is (almost) walking now!!! Everything checks out on the electronics and hardware side, but I still need to refine his walking gait. This is step one of many. The plan is smooth walking, then adding Jetson vision + LiDAR for autonomous navigation.

I did catch him at the end!

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

“A clean shop is quiet. It’s a place for real reflection.”
- Adam Savage, Every Tool’s a Hammer

Clean desk. Clear head. Big believer in cleaning up after a productive day and making a list of lists of lists for next time.

Somewhere at the bottom is “Finish RICO”

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

All the current electronics fit. The last thing is to attach all knee and thigh servos for the legs. I still need to cut down the body supports and leg tubes for the new design. Hopefully he'll be walking again soon!

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@tomtomlou I design and perform tests for high-temperature materials (real job). Also building a robot dog (sick side project on my profile).

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

Building your own hardware really makes you think about design decisions past you made. I have four internal bolts for mounting that allen keys will not reach. Time to get creative!

It fits though, so Rico V3 is coming along.

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@Reaction_Compos Believe it or not, I just read that at work looking at new daq systems.

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

I should also mention the addition of a front facing stero camera and 2D LiDAR sensor for autonomous moving. That is the long term goal of it of RICO. I wanted to design for it now for the full vehicle layout to see if I needed to make the platform larger.

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

The first version of RICO V1 had many problems including not enough torque from servos, play in leg movement, and poor electronics layout. Now on V3 (V2 was a rabbit hole), I am buying stronger servos, shortening legs,and improving layout of electronics. Wish me luck!

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

I should also mention the addition of a front facing stero camera and 2D LiDAR sensor for autonomous moving. That is the long term goal of it, so Iwanted to design for it now instead of an addition later.

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@HalfCatRocketry What is the throat material? Graphite or phenolic?

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@bebeal This is my favorite trick for vacuum systems

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@Reaction_Compos That looks great!

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

The best way to gain experience in this new domain for me is to build and test. I have worked a lot with 3D printed design and mechanisms but never tracked.

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@Reaction_Compos No need for fatigue testing on these parts!

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@elonmusk @SpaceX @gleesonjm I imagine it’s a combination of three issues: saltwater exposure and impact would limit the useful engineering data from recovery, the recovery operation itself would be extremely expensive, and bringing Starship back into the US would cause import issues.

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@zachglabman @Reaction_Compos That would depend on the job 🫡

[Grant Maree @maree35172]

@bscholl Time to start prototyping with a ducted fan design before the turbo jet arrives!

[Garth Maree @Reaction_Compos]

Little brother didn't want a real dog so he made RICO, robotic integrated canine operator.
Filament wound carbon fiber tubes from the shop and much less likely to shit on the floor
@maree35172

#buildshit