Solar Rover #3 - 3D Printed Brushless Gearbox

The Solar Rover saga continues!
relionbattery.com/products/li...
Solar Rover Video #1: • Autonomous Solar Power...
Solar Rover Video #2: • 3D Printed Cycloidal G...
Check out SimpliSafe’s holiday sale by visiting simplisafe.com/rctestflight. Get 35% off any new system + a free camera off their award-winning home security that keeps your home safe around the clock plus a free HD camera! It’s really reliable, easy to use, and there are no contracts.
STLs: www.thingiverse.com/thing:468...
Instagram: @danielriley_

[@rctestflight]

Check out SimpliSafe’s holiday sale and get 35% off any new system + a free camera by visiting simplisafe.com/rctestflight

[@anguscameron4753]

Hey

[@superdupergrover9857]

Have to say, your add is better than 99% of million+ subscriber channels. In fact, internet historian is the only one that comes to mind.

[@deadeyedsam850]

Wow many miles did the rovers GPS receiver clock for the season? IE. total distance traveled.

[@AlexusMaximusDE]

Simplisafe makes bad products and anyone who relies on them will gain nothing but a false sense of security.

[@AlexusMaximusDE]

@@lightcycler4806 I am aware. That's why I wrote what I wrote.

[@thelivingcat0210]

Rover: *stops to charge* Slugs: it’s free real estate Rover: it’s free lubricant

[@bergonius]

lol

[@jamble7k]

a rover that feeds on slugs

[@BenMitro]

I think that is called a symbiotic relationship that just emerged by placing a rover doing figure 8's in a grass field.

[@killsalot78]

@@BenMitro Technically wouldn't the rover actually be some sort of parasite?

[@BlauerTeeLp]

@@BenMitro This is exactly how symbiotic I feel to the world we live in

[@james3890]

"many slugs were destroyed in the making of this video"

[@progunerjie291]

na they're just lube its all planned

[@buzzmas8068]

@@progunerjie291 they’re Lube Planned

[@progunerjie291]

@@buzzmas8068 thx

[@yiritiik4771]

More than 1 but less than 4 million

[@Economan66]

The amount of likes in this vid

[@sebastiansosnowski3859]

Rover : "What is my purpose?" rctestflight : "You drive in figure 8"

[@robotman99lolface]

And it culls the slug population for lubricant

[@flatsurfaces1913]

Oh my god

[@aidanschmidt]

​@@robotman99lolface true dat

[@garrettledford1147]

"The gearbox is making a weird noise" "We're running fine again" It's those damn slugs

[@VeeAyyDee]

They lubricated them

[@syncringe1885]

@@belliduradespicio8009 Less flammable though.

[@withered_dragon_head]

"The gearbox is self healing."

[@aidanschmidt]

it is also the grass

[@zxwar1111]

When the slugs take a minute off of work Rover: help I’m dying I need lubricant. Slugs: dammit, Bill get back to work 😅😅😅

[@Everythingandcars]

The dislikes are the slug’s families

[@javierhillier4252]

Yep lol 😆

[@VascoCC95]

Only the ones who survived

[@artisticyeti22]

Lol

[@Tyo-yw9jh]

Rip Dislike count. KZbin must not like giving a voice to slugs…

[@forestreese1704]

"I'm growing mushrooms in my rover"

[@MikeMan21070]

Breaking bad - Fury Road

[@GavinRemme]

maybe they’re magical 🍄

[@MikeMan21070]

@@GavinRemme only one way to find out😂

[@poolec404]

That needs to be a t-shirt.

[@willhaney96]

Nasa has entered the chat

[@user-mv8rd6pv7h]

imagine living next to that field and a random guy just places an extreme loud rover there which drives day and night

[@metagen77]

Still I would not dare complain, lest he brings out more robot spawn lol

[@gbaker9295]

It sure beats an earth mover making way for development. That was the Unabomber's tipping point

[@492lautaro]

probably why the gps mast got beated up, if i were living next to the field i would've broken it

[@dronefootage2778]

perfect for air rifle practice, he's lucky i didn't live there :D

[@fluppet2350]

I hope he asked for permission on this. If he didn’t I am surprised it’s still there

[@BlueBenGo]

"This should be a safe video to watch while I eat dinner" Slugs

[@dialupdave6276]

S L U G S

[@cinegraphics]

Because slugs were the only animals that couldn't escape. Even turtle is faster than that.

[@thamghoul5719]

That's awesome that you convinced the slugs to provide much needed lubrication.

[@fire_nugit8549]

Lol that's why it lasted so long

[@javonthegreat6623]

@@fire_nugit8549 yup

[@TillmansRogue]

puts literal wings on the trailer... "looks like the wind is effecting the trailer"

[@UnitSe7en]

affecting*

[@brycegman8150]

@@UnitSe7en boi.

[@UnitSe7en]

@@brycegman8150 Got a problem with English, son?

[@brycegman8150]

@@UnitSe7en proper English, yeah

[@loganotto2769]

@@UnitSe7en which is which I was never taught

[@XmungaM]

The rover is actually kinda adorable, chugging along with its bright colored wheels. I would be really curious to see what plants you could grow if you towed a little flower bed behind the rover.

[@siedpe13]

Id recommend going with bicycle wheels and tires, like a 20" or bigger. The significantly larger tire diameter will make it very capable. Going with reliable wheels and getting your drivetrain out of the grass would help with a lot of your issues

[@newq]

There's actually a species of slug that was used to lubricate wagon wheels in Scandinavia in the olden days.

[@TheManfet]

Random fact of the day. You always learn something on the internet 😂

[@IanFiebigwi]

Wow! www.researchgate.net/publication/232672151_Black_slugs_Arion_ater_as_grease_A_case_study_of_technical_use_of_gastropods_in_pre-industrial_Sweden

[@johnsherby9130]

History will repeat itself?

[@meliudaj]

They are going back to thier heritage. Lol You can take the slug out of the wheel, but you can't take the wheel out of the slug.

[@forloop7713]

Good old viking days

[@28th_St_Air]

It’s the Slug-O-Matic rover. The slugs love all the premunched plant goo on the gears. Ps simplisafe isn’t paying you enough. Your adds are awesome.

[@thePronto]

It's like catnip for slugs...

[@Markfps]

This should be labeled as documentary, what a great job, amazing and very detailed. You're inspiring a lot of engineers out there, thank you

[@barmetler]

It's so cool to see how the rover almost was its own little ecosystem. Grass seeds growing, little bugs living in the motors, slugs ending their suffering, it's kinda beautiful, isn't it

[@aidanschmidt]

yeah it is a nature rover that kept the slug population in check

[@stephendoherty1275]

It's a mobile plant smoothie machine - Slugs love it.

[@11Denis11]

It's not just a plant smoothie anymore

[@fredrikhawes3387]

It loves slugs.

[@joesephrodrigues]

yea I was gonna comment that the mashed matter is super attractive to the slugs, its basically a rolling, fragrant chow wagon

[@Infinity-bn1wv]

To death

[@somethingelse4424]

@@joesephrodrigues chow wagon with en suite suicide booth

[@himarei]

Would have been nice to have a odometer on board so we can know the actual mileage. Next version maybe?

[@stevep8525]

I was wondering the same thing, GPS can't do it? How many miles did it travel?

[@Mansare94]

He could have fed the telemetry back into the arduino to log it but like he said near the end, he's not great at coding.

[@marsrover001]

$9 bike computer. Uses a magnet attached to the wheel and a magnetic sensor to determine wheel revolutions.

[@chknoodle2324]

@@marsrover001 The wheels weren't making good traction with the ground in several shots, I doubt that wheel revolutions would be a good measure of distance travelled.

[@sldkjh]

@@marsrover001 If he would put that on the wheel of the trailer that idea would work. When the bike computer can't handle the small wheel size you could convert it later on to the right distance. On the rover itself it would be asking for trouble when the rover gets stuck and the wheel keeps on spinning.

[@BloodyMobile]

"These gearboxes seem to have self-healing capabilities..." More like 'natural lubrication' capabilities... blerghs I'm also impressive with how resilient that little thing is, and also with the fact that it wasn't being kidnapped in all that time.

[@loganotto2769]

“I’m growing mushrooms in my rover!” That sounds like a quote from The Martian

[@easternasia8258]

Feels like thats equivalent to human growing weed to its backyard

[@carcomp101]

When your rover gets stuck, it reminds me of the NASA approach.. You need a bigger rover. :)

[@bushramukthar1488]

And a nuclear reactor in the back😁😁

[@shurmurray]

They borrowed this from an American car industry )

[@thePronto]

Actually, the NASA approach would be to get JPL to build a fake field and spend months trialing ways to get unstuck: then update the software with the new strategy. Daniel's way is faster and cheaper.

[@jyotiradityadeka2905]

@@shurmurray The American car industry

[@shurmurray]

@@jyotiradityadeka2905 mkay (:

[@EvertonLeiteC]

The determination of this man is rock solid.

[@simpleinverso8628]

As well as his bank account

[@ramslade]

I'd immediately give up tbh.. I don't have high hopes on myself.

[@builders8117]

That’s what it takes to make a rover

[@alexcrowder1673]

Hopefully he revisits this project. I love the idea.

[@trulyinfamous]

It's incredible how those 3d printed parts could last months of moving for hours a day.

[@o-manthehuman7867]

Me through the whole video: MAKE A DAMN HUBCAP

[@conormcmillan8666]

It would have been amazing to see what the milage covered

[@gator_productions]

Yes

[@protat0]

Agreed

[@ramslade]

Can imagine that over the past months it would've traveled quite far.

[@ISuperfan]

i have loved this series, and i hope you do a version 2.0 for 2021. thanks for the years worth of entertainment.

[@schnellbratpfanne3606]

Yes Please!!!

[@ziocrielo6148]

2.0? We on 3.0 dude. I think you mean 4.0

[@ISuperfan]

@@ziocrielo6148 oh sorry, yes 4.0 please.

[@PKMartin]

2021's rover could include the lawnmower attachment from the previous video, that'll really keep the grass controlled in the figure 8!

[@francispointofview7578]

Tie in a hidden gopro and do a timelapse from the rover with it plugged into your panels to charge

[@silverbullet126]

Really liking the long term testing :) Looking forward to a 2021 rover :)

[@aliasd5423]

Here’s a suggestion, have a couple cameras at one of the way points and when it reaches them take a pic and continue, that way you get a time lapse of one frame at the end of every lap, and you can see it degrade over time

[@zxwar1111]

Good idea I wonder if he could send me blueprints to make this

[@anthonylaing3897]

For such a long video I can’t believe I wanted more when it was done. Thanks for all the hard work and sharing.

[@Bw40099]

i love this guys content he always does an amazing job on everything

[@daet.4570]

yeah his stuff is always awesome

[@Bw40099]

@@daet.4570 yes i really love his autonomous planes

[@crazzyearl]

Awesome this video series gave me the confidence to create my idea i have had for 10 years. A robot to drive around my fields and scare the deer out. I converted my old fighting robot Bale Spear into the rover. As of yesterday it drove around the field on its own using a PX4 and mission planner. Long way to go but still learning and moving forward.

[@docmeta477]

The amount of noise for such a low speed makes me think that there is some gear grinding going on

[@WorldClassPanda]

you should rename this to "slugger chugger #3 - 3D Printed Brushless Slug murderer" edit: name the trailer "the voice of a thousand sacrifices" cuz it sounds horrible and also so many slugs killed

[@SaHaRaSquad]

Sluggy McSlugmush

[@rst6590]

28:05 Now we all know how those Alien Cornfigures are made!!!

[@MayankJairaj]

Yes you watched 30+ mins of a smol toy doing circles

[@mozkitolife5437]

35:04 "Here's an electrical diagram..." Haha... wait, what? That's spaghetti right there. _next shot_ Oooooh, that's better.

[@Oceam]

It looks small in the grass but this thing is actually HUGE!

[@krammehl]

You can hear in his voice that he developed an emotional attachement to his rover. Kinda cute desu.

[@RSmerlinRS]

solar rover... that DOUBLES AS A COMPOST BIN! By golly, I think you're on to something XD

[@TheRedComa]

I wonder if much of the wear-and-tear came from the skid steer design; every hard turn putting lateral forces on the 3D printed parts. I wonder if two drive wheels in back, with one or two free-wheeling caster wheels up front might improve longevity? Also I wonder if any improvements could be made to the navigational system to get the rover closer to the designated path, without too much variance and over-correcting. Great video!

[@leomolloy5067]

you could use the "gates belt drive system" on your next one. they invented really cool cogs that self extract dirt and mud.

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

I was intrigued by the claim of Gates having a new cog design and had to look up Gates belt drive to see what you mean. In short it's using a center ridge on the cogwheel to keep the belt tracking and not slide off. This way there's no need for side walls on the cog wheels which means lower friction and that any dirt can be squeezed out to the side. The design doesn't easily translate to making cogwheels for a gearbox though. You could come close by using the current chevron design but run them "backwards". That way the cogs would first intersect that the point of the chevron and as the wheels turn the contact area would expand out to the sides. That way any slug caught would be squeezed out of the gear. If the gear is run the other way it will tend to pack any dirt towards the center. This might be good if you want the gear to retain lubrication but not to eject bugs and the occasional cow patty.

[@PatrickKQ4HBD]

@@blahorgaslisk7763 so they are crowned like the tires on a bandsaw?

[@thomaskoot4044]

Please don't leave this project! keep improving Greetings form the Netherlands 🇳🇱🌷

[@Tachi778]

This is my favorite series ever! Can't wait for the part 4. Yes I see that it takes long time to make, but it makes it even more interesting.

[@giga-chicken]

Watching this video makes it actually pretty obvious why opportunity died. It's really hard for a robot to work alone for a long time, and there's nobody coming by every few days to rescue it from catastrophic failure.

[@jayzo]

I'm quite surprised at not just how this seems to run perpetually, but also that you've left it outside for days and it hasn't been stolen.

[@flomojo2u]

What an incredible amount of dedication and persistence! So cool seeing the long-term effects of a self-driving robot on 3D-printed parts.

[@funkstrong]

I really hope you revive this when spring comes around. There's something really satisfying in watching the parts you design experience instant real world testing. This should be some sort of engineering competition where everybody gets the electrical components and a few spools of PLA to see how far they can get.

[@michaelprice3031]

Been watching your vids for many years and every video is always a treat! I love how casual your vids are, like documentation for your work, while avoiding begs for subscriptions, likes, etc... Great work! Super cool!

[@fuba44]

Oh man this was a fun project, really really hope you will do a new version for 2021.

[@haljohnson6947]

next project, a camouflaged quiet version with more logging. You set it on one side of a desert, and see if it comes out the other side a year later.

[@proz71ful19]

Not laughing at you, but the problems that were happening to the rover were hilarious! Awesome project man. I wish I had your fusion skills too!

[@hawkinsm2103]

I'm sad to see this project come to an end. And yes I know I'm late, I only just found this channel. I want this series to continue. That rover gave me such determination.

[@Mr30friends]

Its awesome that something so crudely thrown together manages to work that well. BUT, its kind of a wasted opportunity to not improve the design slightly more before putting it through months and months of testing.

[@Nifty-Stuff]

Wow, I love EVERYTHING about this video! 3D printing, design, solar, failures, fixes, success. KEEP IT UP!!!!!

[@bikeforever2016]

That machine is amazing. It just kept going and lasted way beyond my expectations. Congratulations on a great job and a cool video. Can't wait for the new project.

[@williamdowling7718]

This channel is criminally under subscribed. No matter how much attention and praise you receive as a result of your amazing, well edited, thorough, entertaining, and engineering-heavy videos... It's not enough. I'm endlessly amazed by folks who not only have a mind for engineering... But also the hands on skill and problem solving of fabrication.. But also the ability to conceive, film, and edit entertaining videos of themselves doing the previous two things. Keep up the good work.

[@seffmoney]

I don't know if you think of it as such, but this is one of the coolest art installations ever!

[@woutvansteenkiste8464]

Would it be possible to program the rover to, go backwards for a meter when it detects that the rover is stuck

[@console8574]

Well, yes.

[@mikehawk4517]

No, completely impossible. NASA engineers still work on this mystery to this day

[@nicocorrao6593]

Watching your channel has made me really start to consider going back to school for robotics/mech engineering. This is just so damn awesome. Nice work man!

[@katanamd]

This is an amazing project. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[@joedafpv6770]

3d printing gears!! next you'll be making air powered planes!!!

[@bblz9171]

Hmm... Where did I see that before....

[@marc_frank]

hm hm hmm

[@aydwal9051]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[@jesterblackguarde8464]

Tom Stanton already did all the work, so why not!

[@ivanjdrakov1957]

@@bblz9171 Tom Stanton.. Sweet

[@modelrc9500]

Holy crap you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this

[@netts2315]

Bout' 6 months?

[@marklio]

Fun video. I run on the trail by there all the time, and I'm pretty sure I heard that thing a few times late last year. I never thought I'd learn what that noise was from a random youtube video. Cool stuff.

[@thesoupin8or673]

An absolutely incredible addition to this excellent series. Can't wait for more vids on future iterations of this. Hoping for fully enclosed gearboxes, an odometer, and perhaps a more official trailer, I thought it was a nice addition. Also, I will once again advocate for motorboat/sailboat/submarine content, because I loved the autonomous boat vids and I think you could really have fun with that stuff. Love all your content, and can't wait for more!

[@AllDayBikes]

1:36 When I seen the wheel in your hand, holy shit this is bigger than I thought from the thumbnail.

[@colinhill8427]

I know you are a huge fan of hyperlapses, but can you imagine setting up some sort of timelapse with this rover? that would be cool!

[@oscarless_oscar]

I respect the time and dedication you had to this project. Great work, very enjoyable video to watch! 👍🏻

[@beratkoc3701]

Again an amazing video from Daniel. I can't tell you how much I love this dudes content. I hope there is many more to come!

[@lhotakfpv4113]

Man, this guy must love this project if he did 3 vids on it

[@OZtwo]

Are you planning to add any type of 'AI' to it and see if you can have it figure out how to get unstuck?

[@Mansare94]

He's used an ardupilot for simplicity so I doubt it'd be something he'd try, it'd be interesting though.

[@thePronto]

@@Mansare94 Yeah, that GPU would murder the power consumption.

[@KeiranR]

I really appreciate these long format videos, thank you ...

[@unimprezzedmclastname4220]

It'd be interesting if you ditched the PLA and used ABS, ASA, or PETG for the gears and wheels to see how that affects the mechanism's durability.

[@tramsgar]

Great (mutual) stamina! Thanks for the vid, very interesting project.

[@jamadir]

I love this series so much! Please design an improved version next year!

[@xplore7359]

Loved this series, Really impressive what was achievable especially with printed parts!

[@tommuhlemanjr.3871]

Daniel, you are amazing. I have been following your exploits for many years and I have just been so impressed with your engineering skills and scientific curiosity. I know that some day you will be part of a team flying a spacecraft to Mars and I’ll be able to say I knew you when. Keep working hard and keep these really cool videos coming. Thanks and have a great Christmas.

[@lorenzoporciani]

Do you think putting those gears in salt and "cook" them could help with having more resistent parts?

[@danieljenkins4213]

That's exactly what I was thinking about. I was wondering if the powder salt solidification would make those gears tougher.

[@lorenzoporciani]

@@danieljenkins4213 probably not even all of them need to be annealed, I think only the smaller and most stressed gears need the treatment. Also the gearbox cover would probably be better if cut out of something instead of 3d printed and the inside wall and all the junctions should be lubricated with graphite, it's quite easy to find and it's a really good dry lubricant

[@danieljenkins4213]

@@lorenzoporciani I think the problem with any lubricant will be all the stuff going in will scrub it away. The gearbox should be better enclosed if possible, and there was another comment about "self cleaning" teeth which would help tremendously

[@lorenzoporciani]

@@danieljenkins4213 if it has already DRY lubricant things should stick less, also it is better than nothing

[@hunterbear2421]

I think there shouldn't be any salt that would be the lub it gets from the slugs it kills won't help anymore

[@MrCybergladiator]

Good work. This video was awesome, loving this series. What about magnetic drive like in a sealed water pump for a fountain, that might make it easier to keep the gearboxes sealed

[@chrisstout5289]

Absolutely amazing. Good work.

[@poobertop]

When you said that you didn't care to much for the design I thought "Dude, do it right!". Well after all that time and only a few tweaks, it clearly exceeded all of our expectations. There's something about your janky models that gets under my skin a bit but ultimately you achieve what you set out to accomplish a learn so much along the way. Loved this project, nice infinity sign.

[@DuchessEvie]

I've been waiting for this one

[@mattsmith5260]

One of your most entertaining and best story telling videos yet. A+! You need to do a weather balloon launched gps guided glider plane that will return to home projects!

[@bethtargett4304]

It's been great to see the progression of your rover. I remember watching the first video you did out of curiosity, and I can't wait to see where you'll take it next.

[@coregmr]

I really appreciate how much effort you put into this Project, i wonder if a small "debree ejection slot" at the back of the gearbox housing at the fastes spinning gear would make sense, because then it could work all the organics through the gearbox and would be allmost flowing right through it!

[@Paul-iw9pu]

The rover and tank videos are just the best :)

[@Rouverius]

Man, why do I feel like I've been watching a documentary on Wall-E's backstory? Great job, lil' Solar Rover!

[@ViniciusCZanini]

Thank you very much for this amazing content! 🙏🏻 I love to see autonomous robots “powering themselves”

[@abdulkader5470]

What a long journey. I am blown away.

[@pterodox123]

Wow, that was beautiful! 24:04

[@ageroorda783]

Yaaasssss, waiting for thissssss!!!❤️❤️

[@lanthan598]

You should put the gear system somewhere hidden and then put a belt system to the drive shafts,sure it may eliminate tank steering,But it will ultimately use less current,more speed and be protected

[@birdseyeview1543]

Quite a long term durability project, smattered with humor and endearing autonomy. I have secretly named him Tedison. Well done Daniel.

[@tomblack4198]

Pleas do a second try in the summer! Would be awesome 😍

[@johanfarnestam7652]

Hey! Love your content! So much inspiration... Have you thought about putting a metal detector on your rover, and instead of having the "beep" you could log it and geotag the places for further examination? Running the rover autonomously over a beach with metal detection would be a fun project?

[@lukedavid8099]

Can't wait for v4! Such an oddly satisfying creation!

[@oisiaa]

Please do this again next year! I love the long duration autonomous solar rover concept!

[@Nico-the-lupo-driver]

I have never clicked a video faster!!!

[@Tk-di5vd]

I've been waiting for this to be upgraded with shocks to help keep all wheels planted. Seems to be slipping around a bunch.

[@matthewfallon2288]

you should try to mount the wings to the side of the rover and have them fold in during the night and open during the day. less weight less friction of that trailer.