Hi @Christopherhelmke with regards to your Feeder boxes, why did you use the Socket Head Cap Screw on the face plate? if you used a Flat Countersink screw you can remove the small arm that must move out of the way when the Socket Head Cap Screw goes past.
I think the belt you chose was a good cost effective choice. If a full size conveyor belt would have doubled the build cost your justification totally makes sense. Your work is very inspiring!
Neat project! Appreciate this and your other videos. Appreciate your honest take that there's more cost effective options, but personally think projects like this are cool way to explore ideas, potentially discover something better, or at least help lead you to better future ideas (assuming R&D is your goal, vs max execution). Cheers!
Instead of tons of small rollers, consider using plastic guide rails (or wear strips) for the belt. it will generate more friction, but it would ease the assembly and reduce time wasted on 3D printing the parts. Or, use the same Teflon tubes under the boxes which can slide on them. Print simple guide bearings that slide over the tubes to centre the crate.
I love this channel. I'm a mechanical engineer and I love uniformity, repeatability, and simplicity. I'd love to work with you, but looks like you've got it covered. I wish we could get euro containers in Australia. There are no real standardised crates here that don't cost the world. One of my favourite crates just changed their design recently and now it doesn't fit in any of my systems anymore. I think someone in Australia needs to import the equipment to make these containers locally.
Eurocrates are just injection molded plastic. What makes them special is the standardization. You can find the full specifications in a DIN I believe. I suspect it would be no harder to get an injection molding shop producing them than any other similar sized object, and the real expense would be the mold making.
Hey mate, what containers have you been using? I love this series and watching curiously how it unfolds, I too love uniformity, repeatability and simplicity especially since it usually adds to reliability. There’s not enough like us in the world though!
@@dejan. I have been doing production engineering for about the last 18 months. We don't use our crates as part of a machine like this, but it's part of our process of transportation and assembly. We have been using the 20L Handy crates from Bunnings. They now only make smaller ones or collapsible ones. It's just not the same.
+1 for FlexiSpot. I use a small FlexiSpot desk frame as the base for a welding table. It's amazing to adjust the height of the workpiece and be perfectly comfortable whilst welding. The table is so versatile I use it for other workshop jobs, infeed/outfeed table, chopsaw stand etc...
Awesome video as usual. I work on automation projects at work, and would love to have the toolset to be able to make projects like this. Must keep learning :) Thank you for the video!
Amazing video, I have loved watching your progress! I have a few questions for your next video: -What was the path you took to find testing companies? -What is the time put into each of these designs? I would love to have a frame of reference to aspire to as I work on my own projects!
Hi Christopher, If you use a countersunk bolt head, the nut's head in the rotating plastic circle will not stay out. You don't need a moving arm to skip the head.
Eurobox or Eurokiste. One main supplier where I get my Boxes from is Auer Packaging. Another brand is SSI Schäfer but they are all stackable. You can get them in different sizes. You can also stack for examble two 30*40 cm Boxes on the one step bigger box (60*40cm). Greetings from Germany
Another truly amazing video Christopher, your attention to detail is unlike anything that I've seen before. For the next video addressing the questions, I'd really like to know more about your overall workflow, like how you come up with solutions to technical problems such as how you've come to design the locking magazines for the feeders, It seems really well refined which results in well thought out designs. Is that drawing board in the background a part of your design process and if it is, how and why do you use manual drawing techniques in combination with CAD? Thank you.
Boring solutions usually don't teach you as much as building your own solution. I usually take the learning part as a great positive over just buying something already made, even if it's cheaper and faster.
I have an interesting question. Why did you delete the video where you talked about Prusa and how Prusa missed out on innovations when Bambu Lab launched their printers? Because I think you are right, so I am just interested why you deleted this video. (Because my printers from Prusa are just not as good as expected)
Hi, the video quality (audio & image) was just so bad that It didn't really match the rest of the videos. So I changed it to "not listed". It is not because I have changed my mind about this :)
Nice to see the conveyor moving so well, the Teflon tubes were an excellent decision! My question: I have been recently fascinated with printed vibratory bowls and was wondering if this could be added to serve as a feeding method for non magnetic components? - They have their downsides in how to mount/dissipate the vibration but might be interesting! Keep up to good work as always!
Teflon has essentially no wear resistance - thos plastic bins will cut right through it. It is fine here as a proof of concept but will need to be replaced with something robust like Turcite (expensive) or precision ground steel rod.
Thank you for another great video! Questions - What kinds of business models are you exploring? I'd like to launch an open hardware business, like the LumenPnP, but think you need the "celebrity" side of youtube to make it viable. What do you think? Q - What is your process for selecting parts? I.e., i select electronic parts from JLCPCB's basic parts service as it guarantees they are "jellybean", so cheap and widely available. Is there a mechanical equivalent? Maybe a European McMaster-Carr? I'm in the UK so sourcing parts for prototypes is not straightforward like in the US. Q - How would you see this growing to a company? I.e. who would you hire first? Dedicated admin/another engineer, and how would you like to see your role changing? Q - Nobody ends up building what they wanted originally, they always build something along the way. What is your original end goal and how has it changed?
I'm loving this series but I just have one question. Why are there bolt heads hanging out on the rotating magnetic bolt pickup? Watching that bumper jump over the bolt heads is stressing me out but there has to be a reason.
First I dont think having the rollers conforming to the shape of the belt teeth is necessary, I also agree with the latter statement that using pvc belt would be better mostly because (if it aint broken....etc) But i do understand the attraction of making it myself. another point would be serviceability. I would belive that it took quite along time to assemble all the containers in the current solution. Anyway i love it !!!!
as someone who has worked on automated warehouses, you’re going to want to put an angled cover on the inside of your buckets. things will get stuck in there for 100% sure.
This conveyor system has a major advantage over the fancy belt, in that you can change every detail about it. The belt may be a lot less work, but it's more complicated to deal with during prototyping, and probably scales worse with smaller setups. If someone has half the length you do, does the belt only double their upfront investment?
Am I the only one to think that a packing machine, at the base of each stack would be really helpful : The idea is that the machine put a bag between the end of the chute and the conveyor, as soon as one type of screws/nut/washer was counted and dropped into the bag, the bag is closed either by sealing or ziplock and put down into the conveyor's case. It might not be that difficult to close the zip type bag, with two rollers pressing the sides together, but I have no idea about the reliability of such a design
Not a personal question, but: Have you thought about designing your own 3d printer? I'm making plans for my own, and I'm curious to what ideas you have and how you'd tackle certain problems! Videos are always great to watch, cheers.
What Software do you use for the mechanical design of the parts? If someone wants to replicate your CNC machine, do you have any advice? Thanks, great videos!
Why didn't you try just weighing out how many screws / other things you needed? Also why not bury the screw so you wouldn't need a moving arm when the wheel goes around eliminate a point of failure? Thanks for the cool videos and work. Awesome machine Also :)
Awesome job, Im assuming you use magnets for picking up the fasteners, novel idea, but this will be problematic, if they are Stainless, Aluminium or Titanium, then this system can't be used, and yes a Flexowell Steep Incline Style Belt would have been an expensive choice indeed, this is setup more is more like a pocket conveyor that uses 2 seperate belts with a pocket or bucket suspended between them, also using the timing style belts allows you to have precise control.
thats a nice question! :) i've never played satisfactory, & i didn't knew the the game until someone commented the name under the first video. It looks awesome! will have to give it a try!
Which 3D-Printers do you use for the Parts you sell? And which Printer would you choose if you had to start over? Im just keen to know if I should keep investing time and money into my Ender 3...
@@bansci Yes, but I suppose thats not the printer he started printing with. Also I am not sure if an expensive Printer like Bambu is capable for a large quantity of parts. I figured the Bambu might just be for rapid prototyping and development instead of the whole production...
@@schorsh6450 yeah, but these days people run print farms on the P1P, and if your getting started you can't beat the A1 mini (no need for the multi-material system)
Hallo Christopher, ich hätte eine Frage, welche CAD Software nutzt du um diese Dinge zu planen? Großartige Arbeit, meisterhafter Ingenieur. Viel Glück mit den Beta testern!
This is what I imagine it to look like when you task an AI to count screws and it fully escalates and the AI destroys the whole world to maximize the solution further and further
This is cool but I'm so confused why this guy is putting so much effort into re-creating a 'toy' conveyor system? It can't be just for the YT views, even a few 100k doesn't make any $?
I think the roller should have a smooth groove as it is not critical that it engage with the belt. It will make the coveyor more reliable as a bearing fail will not result to a total failure but a degraded state
right decision on your part, to not get one of those belts. I'm working in the conveyor belt field. they don't got completely closed chambers, like you got now with separate boxes. would make it a hassle to get the screws, and nuts of 2 adjacent spaces on a belt, to not mix. Good job your doing!
Great work, I love the iterative way you approach the design. I also get a bit of a sci-fi vibe when I see the way all the parts are ID'd and numbered. I'm curious to see how the restocking of the stock / part boxes will be achieved without the need to restack them.
Im sure just by looking at the way you are *gestures vaguely at complex electro mechanical system*, that you have some engineering in your educational background. This project is really multifaceted though so it has me wondering how you learned the bits that weren't covered directly in your post secondary education focus of choice.
Do you have any advice for version and part tracking? I see you have part numbers but where do you track this information and how do you keep track of design iterations? Do you know of any resources to help learn this aspect of engineering?
This is awesome man - yeah, I would like to know your background also from a family perspective: did you have any engineers in the family that you played with from a young age?
6:53 - You've done it a hundred time already so I expect you are already thinking of a quicker way to mount bins and other parts to your CNC table. For each operation you plan to do more than 5 times, just make a fixture. I am not advocating for a universal system that will work for every possible shape. I would just make a design and attach it to a piece of plywood. When you're done. Store it for later use. For those boxes there, a plywood board with snap-in/snap-out 3D printed detents can improve your productivity. It can have a cam on the side if you want something extra. Now that you've designed it, next time a slightly bigger box shows up, re-print the detents and cam and get another piece of plywood.
Part Commonality / Parts Reduction (whatever you want to call it!) is good though, so despite the PVC Belt potentially being “better”, from my perspective at least, using standard Belts (used as Timing Belts, and in many FDM 3D Printers etc thus readily available to most people) and the Boxes one will already need to make this device is quite neat!
Will all positions of an order be fed into the same box to then be packaged by the packaging unit? Or will each position be fed into the packaging machine separately? ...it seems a bit counterintuitive to firstly sort and count the parts, then add different types into one container in contrast to counting and packaging each type separately. E.g. for my Voron build it helped tremendously that each type of fastener was separately packaged.
The PVC belt may have been the better solution BUT testing the system with a lower cost solution that still works extreamly well is the better option for now. Great work so far Christopher and thanks for sharing such a great design ;) Cheers Stephen :D
I saw on LinkedIn you have been studying industrial engineering since 2017. Firstly, are you still completing that degree/program? What type of classes did you take and how did you get such wide-ranging engineering skills? In the US, an industrial engineering degree surely would not leave a candidate with the mechanical or electrical prowess that you have.
Quick though about the 'pvc belt' - how about printing own belt? I mean something close to a tanks catellpilar where each section of catellpilar would be a tray. Just a thought I havn't spent much time, from somebody who doesn't have any idea about your project (for sure not a specialist at all), but this is internet - why not sharing :D
