LonelyBot

Belt Box Finished

2010-06-15T07:12:00.001-07:00

A combination of old and new video, the belt box gets finished by reworking the motors and installing the belts.

Pre-Maker Faire Post: Hull is Finished!!

2010-05-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I rushed to finish the hull prior to the Maker Faire but was too busy to post video - this is the first of two posts from back in time.

The Maker Faire was a huge success, there was LOTS of interest in LonelyBot and I got to meet lots of very cool people. Welcome to all our new mailing list members!

In this video I quickly complete all of the steps that took me two months to do on the last half of the hull, and give it a coat of paint for the show (I'm still deciding if the paint is going to be a long-term solution or not).

[If you're new here and reading this in your email box, you must click the link to visit the page in order to see the video thats posted right here -->]

LonelyBot Live at the Maker Faire!

2010-05-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

Day 1. Details and pre-Faire updates to follow this week.

LonelyBot Is Going To The Maker Faire!!

2010-05-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

Come see LonelyBot at the 2010 Bay Area Maker Faire!!

http://www.makerfaire.com/bayarea/

May 22nd and 23rd, 2010

San Mateo County Event Center

San Mateo, Calif.

TechShop Inc (home of the Shopbot you saw in my videos) has invited LonelyBot to exhibit in the TechShop Pavilion. Please come say hello, and criticize my workmanship up close! ;-)

Now... 3 days left to finish fiberglassing, sanding, painting, get the belt box running, and find a trailer.

Pfft, what could go wrong?!?!

Final Epoxy Coat #1

2010-05-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

This video probably won't win any Oscars, but here I apply the last coat of epoxy on the first side of the boat.

Still deciding what to do about the fact that I have to do all of this AGAIN on the other side. Sigh.

Exterior Fiberglass #1

2010-04-12T08:24:00.001-07:00

The first half of the exterior fiberglass gets its first coat of epoxy!

Final Sanding, Epoxy Basecoat

2010-04-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

Today I came back from the dead to finish sanding the hull seams and apply the epoxy basecoat.

Sorry for the hiatus these last couple months; life intervenes.

Hull Prep part 2

2010-02-08T00:45:00.000-08:00

More hull sealing and sanding before fiberglassing the exterior.

Stitches Removed, Hull Prep Part 1

2010-01-31T20:11:00.000-08:00

Finally the stitches can be removed and I can start prepping the hull for exterior fiberglass.

Deck Frame Glued [Pic]

2010-01-27T22:53:00.000-08:00

Epoxy fillets aren't interesting enough for video anymore, so I won't subject you to a minute and a half of lame music and my ass crack sticking up in the air (you're welcome)... but since I still want credit for a hard night of gluing the deck frame in place, here's a picture.

Yes, I know it doesn't look any different, just roll with it, ok?

Deck Frame Drilled and Stitched

2010-01-20T08:37:00.000-08:00

I've had just about enough of drilling and cable-tieing, thank God the deck frame is the last stitched-and-glued component!

Deck Components Cut and Layed

2010-01-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

The belt drive is on hold due to a problem with the timing belt pulleys I ordered, so I'm switching back to hull construction for the moment. Last weekend I cut the deck components and today I layed them out.

More Belt Box Progress

2010-01-09T12:35:00.000-08:00

Today I made a few new parts for the gear box (belt box, actually) and then assembled the halves of the case and installed the shafts and bearings.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Gearbox Progress

2009-12-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

I'm back in the game after a hellish two weeks due to the end of the semester! Today I finish half of the gear (er, belt) box.

[Editorial: Is it really too much to ask to be able to buy a Santa hat to wear in one's nerdy video blog? Its the middle of flipping December, how on Earth could there not be a single Santa hat at Target or Walmart?!?!]

First Sponsor!! Also, Gearbox Started

2009-11-22T23:08:00.000-08:00

HUGE thanks to Castle Creations (www.castlecreations.com) for donating the motor controllers for LonelyBot! I've used Castle products in the past for research projects and they were always great to work with - this time was no exception. Thanks again Joe!

To make good use of the controller I started work on the gearbox (belt box, actually) today...

Bulkheads 2, 3, 7, and 8 Installed

2009-11-16T19:58:00.000-08:00

[Sorry for the multiple emails, Blogger had an outage today and the previous posts were invisible.]

Only three bulkheads left before you get videos that are actually interesting again...

Halloween Special!! (Also, #5 Bulkhead Installed)

2009-10-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Today I began installing bulkheads, starting with #5... what was that?... did you hear something?

Hull Fiberglass, Part 2

2009-10-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

I very quickly finish of the other half of the interior fiberglass.

I'll be taking a short hiatus due to business travel this week, but expect to start installing bulkheads next weekend.

Hull Fiberglass, Part 1

2009-10-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

After a short wait for a new epoxy delivery, half of the inside of the hull is fiberglassed.

Just a Quick Update

2009-10-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

I've been passing the last few days preparing the inside of the hull for fiberglass...

Hull Seams Taped

2009-09-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

With the addition of fiberglass tape over the mostly-dry fillets, the hull seams are DONE!

Hull Seams Glued

2009-09-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

Today I made the epoxy fillets that hold the hull together when the stitches are removed...

Stitching Finished - It Looks Like A Boat!!

2009-09-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

I completed stitching all the panels today and ::poof:: a boat appeared!

Stitch Holes Drilled... well, mostly

2009-09-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

Today I prepped the panels for assembly, and got about half the stitching holes drilled...

Sectioned Hull Pieces Joined

2009-09-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I joined the parts of hull section into single pieces. And no, I was not doing this for 6 hours, it just took that long for the first set of joints to dry...