Development of small 3D-printable electric rail vehicle
Budget: $250 – $750 USD
Short brief:
I need a 3D-printable vehicle that travels on a rail for a trade show display. The vehicle's outer shell design will be provided, but it needs to have a functional interior with a motor and wheels. Read whole brief for full scope.
Ideal skills for this project include:
- Experience with mechatronics design
- Experience with building fully functional prototypes from design
- Proficiency in CAD & 3D modeling software
- Experience with designing for 3D printing
- Experienced with electronics
- Knowledge of vehicle mechanics
In detail below:
(see attachments for quick visual overview)
Develoment of 3D-printable Vehicle traveling on rail for visual display
I have a project where a small vehicle will travel on a rail. This serves no practical purpose but is part of a visual display. The rail consists of 50mm flatsteel (or aluminum) with 4mm thickness.
The rail has not been constructed yet but is thought to be flat steel or aluminium. The rail goes in a loop and is rising and falling throughout the space it is installed (indoors). Ideally it should be able to run for up to 8 hours continuously before charging. When power button is activated it will run laps on the track until battery runs out.
The vehicle itself should be 3D printable, so that design can be done remotely and printing and assembly locally. One requirement would then be that you have access to a 3D-printer so that you could do functional tests of the design. I have made some functioning prototypes with N20 motors (around 100-200 rpm). These motors and design were too noisy, so design and components needs to be rethought in parts or fully. The previous design has been run on 2x 18650 batteries.
Attached are some more details of the previous prototype, if nothing else for inspiration.
Attached is also an STL with the outer organic shell shape.
Attached also video with sound, of previous prototype, vehicle not fully enclosed, but still way too noisy.
Design in video also runs a bit wobbly, would ideally like something that runs smoothly on a rail.
Requirements:
Final product should run silently. In the video of the previous effort the noise seems to be amplified when the motor is under load. Moving speed of the vehicle is around 100-300rpm (~Ø10mm wheels)
You should give some reference to projects you developed that are relevant in this context.
Any components, such as motors should if possible be of a type that is easily available from multiple distributors online.
The design must be 3D printable (FDM), tires for wheels are ideally printed in TPU filament for better grip to rail and so that they can be made easily locally.
The design should ideally be able to run for at least 7,5 hours with 2x 18650 batteries.
The design should take into consideration that the vehicle must be possible to remove from the track for recharging, or to replace with another already charged vehicle. One should be able to perform this without too much effort. It seems wheels might benefit from some clamping force, to lock tightly to the rails in order to climb without slipping, so maybe there is some springloaded section to enable prying of the vehicle. Just a thought, you may come up with better solutions.
In previous design wheels are directly attached to motor, and motor was loosely fitted in the chassis with a TPU "spring" so that it had some flexibility, allowing wheels to lock tightly to the rail, aiding in ascents without loosing track and slipping. This flexibility also facilitates taking the vehicle on and off the track to exchange with a newly charged vehicle so that the one replaced can be set aside for charging.
The final design should have space to incorporate following components I am open consider ideas for alternative components as long as same functionality is kept:
power button (I have a 3D-model of thought button)
DC barrel plug for charging batteries (will share 3D-model)
compartments for 2x 18650 batteries (open to discuss battery solutions as long as they fit within design requirements). (I have made a 3D printable solution that seems to work well and can be reused).
I'm currently thinking that the design should be as simple as possible and without any MCU, but am open to discuss this if there is any good reason to implement and it can fit within the design / space constraints.
Latest design had two direct drive motors in front, and a passive wheel (steel roller ball) in the back. I am open to discuss other suggestions here including going back to two rear wheels as sketched out in some of the material, if that makes any sense. It would be good if tracking of the vehicle is smooth when making turns.
I'm envisioning the design process would be in stages:
First present description of thought components to use in the design
Then design a functional bare-bone prototype without the organic shell, ideally you test this yourself and submit a video with sound, as well as 3D files so that I can review and test locally.
The next stage is to make the mechanical components fit within the outer organic shape of the vehicle. There should also be a way to lock all parts together, this solution should be unobtrusive and elegant. Something that snaps or screws together? Should allow for opening again as well.
I will take some time to review and decide on any proposals/bids (up to a week) submitted for this project. So no need to rush proposals.
I would appreciate weekly updates from the person working on this project. In the proposal it would be good if you sketch out a timeline.
I've previously made a circular testtrack of Ø1meter that is fully 3D printable on a 18x18cm print bed (around 400grams total) could share this if needed.
I need a 3D-printable vehicle that travels on a rail for a trade show display. The vehicle's outer shell design will be provided, but it needs to have a functional interior with a motor and wheels. Read whole brief for full scope.
Ideal skills for this project include:
- Experience with mechatronics design
- Experience with building fully functional prototypes from design
- Proficiency in CAD & 3D modeling software
- Experience with designing for 3D printing
- Experienced with electronics
- Knowledge of vehicle mechanics
In detail below:
(see attachments for quick visual overview)
Develoment of 3D-printable Vehicle traveling on rail for visual display
I have a project where a small vehicle will travel on a rail. This serves no practical purpose but is part of a visual display. The rail consists of 50mm flatsteel (or aluminum) with 4mm thickness.
The rail has not been constructed yet but is thought to be flat steel or aluminium. The rail goes in a loop and is rising and falling throughout the space it is installed (indoors). Ideally it should be able to run for up to 8 hours continuously before charging. When power button is activated it will run laps on the track until battery runs out.
The vehicle itself should be 3D printable, so that design can be done remotely and printing and assembly locally. One requirement would then be that you have access to a 3D-printer so that you could do functional tests of the design. I have made some functioning prototypes with N20 motors (around 100-200 rpm). These motors and design were too noisy, so design and components needs to be rethought in parts or fully. The previous design has been run on 2x 18650 batteries.
Attached are some more details of the previous prototype, if nothing else for inspiration.
Attached is also an STL with the outer organic shell shape.
Attached also video with sound, of previous prototype, vehicle not fully enclosed, but still way too noisy.
Design in video also runs a bit wobbly, would ideally like something that runs smoothly on a rail.
Requirements:
Final product should run silently. In the video of the previous effort the noise seems to be amplified when the motor is under load. Moving speed of the vehicle is around 100-300rpm (~Ø10mm wheels)
You should give some reference to projects you developed that are relevant in this context.
Any components, such as motors should if possible be of a type that is easily available from multiple distributors online.
The design must be 3D printable (FDM), tires for wheels are ideally printed in TPU filament for better grip to rail and so that they can be made easily locally.
The design should ideally be able to run for at least 7,5 hours with 2x 18650 batteries.
The design should take into consideration that the vehicle must be possible to remove from the track for recharging, or to replace with another already charged vehicle. One should be able to perform this without too much effort. It seems wheels might benefit from some clamping force, to lock tightly to the rails in order to climb without slipping, so maybe there is some springloaded section to enable prying of the vehicle. Just a thought, you may come up with better solutions.
In previous design wheels are directly attached to motor, and motor was loosely fitted in the chassis with a TPU "spring" so that it had some flexibility, allowing wheels to lock tightly to the rail, aiding in ascents without loosing track and slipping. This flexibility also facilitates taking the vehicle on and off the track to exchange with a newly charged vehicle so that the one replaced can be set aside for charging.
The final design should have space to incorporate following components I am open consider ideas for alternative components as long as same functionality is kept:
power button (I have a 3D-model of thought button)
DC barrel plug for charging batteries (will share 3D-model)
compartments for 2x 18650 batteries (open to discuss battery solutions as long as they fit within design requirements). (I have made a 3D printable solution that seems to work well and can be reused).
I'm currently thinking that the design should be as simple as possible and without any MCU, but am open to discuss this if there is any good reason to implement and it can fit within the design / space constraints.
Latest design had two direct drive motors in front, and a passive wheel (steel roller ball) in the back. I am open to discuss other suggestions here including going back to two rear wheels as sketched out in some of the material, if that makes any sense. It would be good if tracking of the vehicle is smooth when making turns.
I'm envisioning the design process would be in stages:
First present description of thought components to use in the design
Then design a functional bare-bone prototype without the organic shell, ideally you test this yourself and submit a video with sound, as well as 3D files so that I can review and test locally.
The next stage is to make the mechanical components fit within the outer organic shape of the vehicle. There should also be a way to lock all parts together, this solution should be unobtrusive and elegant. Something that snaps or screws together? Should allow for opening again as well.
I will take some time to review and decide on any proposals/bids (up to a week) submitted for this project. So no need to rush proposals.
I would appreciate weekly updates from the person working on this project. In the proposal it would be good if you sketch out a timeline.
I've previously made a circular testtrack of Ø1meter that is fully 3D printable on a 18x18cm print bed (around 400grams total) could share this if needed.