Will it move under its own power? We are going to find out! You can help make more videos like this at patreon.com/watchweswork We really appreciate it!
lol i already deleted the parts that dont work... well thats codeing i guess and i dont do it . do you think my basic experience would be of use happy to collaborate lol . humour aside thanks for the videos and somehow education happened grats on the success,
Really enjoyed this video, Wes. You’re the very definition of a Self-sufficient Man. And multi-talented into the bargain. Can’t wait to see this sketchy little monster making quick work of a tree! 😁👍🏻
Soon as the fancy board building montage started, I searched out your patreon and thought man he needs to advertise this after I didn't see it under the video description. I subscribed and then returned to watch the rest of the video, where you then said it was in the comments 😂
@timidater4803 I used to test and repair industrial control boards for pollution control and broadcast. I built their test fixtures. Wes did a great job with this. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I can’t remember the last time I was as impressed with anything as I was with this video. Reverse engineering a pilot project with nothing other than your own ingenuity? Amazing, truly amazing…
Wes, you need to add calibrations for each solenoid on the motor drive valves. You need to find the current command at which each track starts to turn and save into EEPROM. Then you adjust your solenoid commands using this "start current" so that you get a consistent initiation on each function. Typically, you'd also calibrate a "max current" point which provides the same reference speed for each function. For the solenoid dither, you need to tune these settings with the goal of minimizing the hysteresis of the actuator valve. To do this, you need to measure the position of the actuator in real-time as you sweep your solenoid commands up and down. A cross-plot of actuator position vs solenoid current will show the hysteresis. Then adjust the dither frequency (Hz) and magnitude (mA) to find the optimal set the reduces the hysteris and provides good linearity in the actuator. Typically, this is around 100 Hz and 150 mA peak-to-peak but will vary based on the design of the coil, valve, and current driver design. Once you've tuned the hysteris and calibrated each solenoid, you need to add some rate limits to your solenoid current commands in order make the machine track smoothly. Looks like a fun project, good luck!
Excellenty written. Maybe add a low and high rate switch to switch from a low rate current to the maximum / high rate coil current. Or to switch between low and high rate joystick to current mapping of the output pins.
I'm guessing the accuracy of the $3000 joysticks and the very lower cost one Wes choice out of his lower budget allowed on this project is required to deliver slight changes the operator delivers. Didn't understand everything you wrote about, but was able to catch enough to understand the basic idea.
…and I’m pretty sure Superman was raised around the corner. I think the corn must accelerate super powers, which explains Wes’s superior, innate abilities. No, really! 🔧👍
My wife has always been impressed with my ability to figure out and fix anything that breaks in the house. Cars, furnace, A/C, etc. I do not want her seeing your videos or she’ll figure out how much of an amateur I actually am.
LOL! See, the answer for your wife is that you don't have the right tools (for whatever job you're working on) so if she wants you to be able to fix things, she needs to be ok with you buying the tools you need for each job. Best way to get a shop full of all the tools you want :)
I like it when really smart people are super humble and sarcastic. It’s fun to watch you reveal a little bit of that here. I’ll take the guy from the cornfield any day.
Heck yes to a Wes Made Alignment machine. As an owner of several TTB Fords, steering & suspension geometry seems like black magic, and most of the local shops just throw up their hands, or just set the toe, and say "good enough". When I tried to find resources on doing it myself, there are plenty of videos and articles that show "how" to get a proper alignment, but it's all strings and tape measures, and maybe an angle finder or two. If there's any math, it's just "rule of thumb" stuff. Nobody can seem to explain the actual trigonometry involved in going from a reference angle to proper caster and camber.
I think you might be over-complicating this. The kinematics of a suspension system don't really matter for an alignment - unless we're talking about modifying the suspension for custom race/drift setups. After all, you can't change how it moves on a stock setup. I totally agree that most local shops suck at alignments, I think mostly because they just set the numbers to 'green' and call it done - despite some of those measurements fighting each other while technically being 'in spec'. Strings and tape measures have won a lot of races, and I've sent several street cars down the road using this method with no complaints. There's nothing wrong with it if you're willing to learn how to do it this way and are meticulous enough to take good measurements. There's no trigonometry involved, just simple subtraction for toe measurements, and leveling/reading of bubble gauges for camber/caster.
@@blackmesaresearch2 One man's overcomplication is another man's learning process I guess. 🙂 I have nothing against strings & tape measures. And eventually I was able to dial in a setup that didn't eat tires and handled well. The reason I'm looking for something more in-depth is my desire to not have arrived where I did by basically trial and error. If I could read the level/angle finder and do some math and figure out how many degrees of caster & camber I actually had, then I would have saved many steps. On an A-arm vehicle with cam bolts, adjusting & checking alignment isn't that big a deal. On a Twin Traction Beam/Twin I Beam vehicle, an adjustment involves removing the wheel, undoing the pinch bolt, removing the alignment bushing, then reinstalling everything.
fastest way to align a ttb is to align your tires with the frame first, make sure the pitman arm is at 90 degrees with the steering wheel matching and then measure between the front and back edges of both tires, then drive it with 4x4 on, if you are off it will pull when you give it gas and can make guesses as to which side needs adjusted based on the visual pull you also get vs the body, just had to do this the other day
As a mechanical engineer turned electrical engineer with some computer curiosity mixed in, this series has been a ton of fun to watch. Love learning new things!
As a guy that went to Electronics Institutes in Pittsburgh back in the 70's and had to learn the operation of vacuum tubes,(plate-grid, etc) to transistors ( npn / pnp). I'm just a dinosaur now! But.retired and happy! Don't wanna learn anymore, but love to watch (in awe!)
0:45-18:37 is undoubtedly the greatest transition from mechanic to engineer/programmer in the RU-vid automotive genre, and I partake in said genre almost exclusively. Wes, that segment has the ability to stand on its own as an educational clip used in community colleges as an aid for teachers. Bravo!
As a high school electronics student, electrician, and lifelong shade tree mechanic I think this is the greatest and most inspiring content I have seen. I’m amazed at the breadth and depth of your knowledge Wes!
I'm not sure how many people in the world could repair the engine,reverse engineer the missing controller and build a new one but I am glad you ended up with it. I'm enjoying this series!
Wes I've got zero understanding of this but your explanation/working diagrams made it interesting & understandable. Love to see more videos. Wireless would be cool.
I am blown away by all of this. I have owned an IT support company since I graduated high school (1995) and I’m semi-retired having made a good living in tech, yet, I wouldn’t even know where to begin with this project. I understand the general concepts and I own an excavator so I understand the principles of hydraulics, but watching you build and 3D print your cutting board was magical. As a business owner I also understand time and money too and your explanation about why patreon is important was THE best explanation I’ve ever heard. I always thought it was stupid that people just gave other people money to see them do dumb things, but watching your videos is like taking a course on how to get things done. I would LOVE to see a very detailed video on how you would convert that to wireless. How much do you need to do it? I also wondered while watching…if building that machine today would make it a viable product? Maybe the pumps are junk or newer design pumps would work better and be less sketchy. Regardless, this has been awesome to watch, but I understand it’s hard to monetize. Know there are alot of us nerds out in the world that believe you are an alien for being able to combine fixing a 7.3 diesel and programming c++!! I wish I was your neighbor we could do amazing things together! Great work!
you need a transmitter and receiver of some sort (many options, some more application-suitable than others), signal-loss failsafe (some wireless options make it easier than others), control-encoding protocol if you don't use something turn-key (many to choose from) my brother and I built a little R/C skidsteer about 60 pounds of anklebiter using a wireless Xbox controller, which the machine-side transceiver has a built-in signal loss monitor that can be used to E-stop On Lost Signal
Loved your class on hydraulics and electronics, Professor Wes. Not to mention the programming part and the video editing. You are truly a renaissance man.
Damn Wes. I wish I had even a fraction of your knowledge on electronics. Very impressive. I'm looking forward to seeing that thing wireless, and I have a feeling you are going to get it working better than it ever did in the first place.
John, good to see you doing something other than starting excavator on fire! Sorry, just a little jab! LoL 😂😆 Eagerly awaiting your next video on that tractor!
How about doing a collaboration with Wes helping him pick up a few thousand subscribers? I have a feeling your subscribers would definitely enjoy Wes's content!
The shot at 23:03 of you literally taking your robot for its first walk on a leash could not have been more perfect. I’m in total awe at your ingenuity and sticktoitiveness. Bravo, Wes! 👏
I sincerely hope some high school shop teacher sees this and shares it in class. Your ability to articulately explain the problem and then walk through the repair process is bar none. Fantastic job Wes.
I am that high school shop teacher that will be sharing this next week. My students and I thought we were onto something last year when we made VEX robotics controllers trigger lawn mower solenoids and drive drill motor robots running off drill batteries. Those students will eat this high level engineering up!
As a student just getting into electrical engineering and software. This video was 30 minutes of pure bliss. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit with your knowledge of electronics, that was mighty impressive.
Wes, as a company owner I had to long ago understand that I might be a visionary but that the key to growth was to keep a sensitive eye out for those whose talents and drive would move the company forward and raise the standards-the bar. They also had to be teachable and be able to teach. You are that kind of person. Your family should be proud
This video was BADASS!! It was totally awesome watching you geek out and figure it all out. I’m impressed as hell!! You have a limitless amount of skills, totally jealous Wes!! Nicely done!!
You were both literally AND figuratively 'bread board' prototyping this thing... Amazing. And as for this kind of content and more of your 'cornfield engineering' ideas I can simply say YES!
I know you keep saying you don't have Electrical Engineering skills, but as a former Electrical Engineer and now a Project Manager, you did exactly what we used to do (and still do) all the time. You made a working "bread board" (that is what we call it) prototype, splayed out into working sub-systems, manually wired up, and got a working prototype. Easy to develop on, easy to troubleshoot, exactly how it is done in the real world. Now that you have it working, if you had a student version of OrCAD or some other PCB layout tool, you could design a PCB controller board to reduce the "sketchiness" and probably get a online PCB house to fabricate a board for you. As a wireless interface you could probably use Bluetooth, WiFi, or other similar short range data interface to your controller. This has been a very cool project. If your local High School has a STEM or Computer Science class you could offer up the programming as a class project to the school. This would be a cool learning experience for the students. There is probably some up and coming SW programmer that could assist with this. Definitely worth a membership. I'm in.
@@indylmc have you been living under a rock? PCBs are relatively cheap to get made now, potentially as low as $5 for 10 two layer, 100x100 mm boards, of course shipping is extra though.
Kicad is good enough for most PCB design work and since it is open source it is completely free to use, no need to try and get student licenses or pay for licenses just for work like this.
I took electronics classes in the 60s. The term breadboarding came about because early creators used the wooden boards that were common in many kitchens for mixing and kneading bread dough on. They were about 2 feet square, the wood surface was perfect for laying out electrical circuits and the boards were cheap to buy back then. We used the wooden boards to lay out circuits to prove the design. They started getting some of the plastic boards in my senior year.
@@WatchWesWork Alongside your idea for a homemade Alignment machine, how about a homemade locking tool chest, seeing if you can beat the price of a Snap-On tool chest
As an industrial electrician, I'm glad you followed the standard working procedure of hitting and releasing the E-stop a couple times for shits and giggles after installing it.
It was very need, and I did not understand any of it but I loved it Wes. I would love to see more like this in the future. To see your face light up was amazing and worth the wait for a new video from you. Cheers
That sir was an excellent video, very clear explanations, educational and entertaining at the same time. Really appreciate the effort you go to in making these.
I was waiting for Mrs. Wes to say “have you seen my cutting board?” Glad to see you found a project to bring us along with. Definitely seems to have captured your interest and keeps you excited about.
I've made many trips to Walmart for plastic electronics mounting trays aka cutting boards. I thought I was the only one with that idea. Those flexible plastic cutting mats also make good battery cell separators / insulators.
Amazing! Great work! This is project is second to none, such a cool Unit and the process you’re going through to get it working is super interesting. Thanks for sharing
Wes you are amazing, I've worked with hydraulic systems for over 40 years. Retired now, what you did and explained was one of the most impressive feats I've ever seen. The programing aspects are way beyond my experience but you somehow made them understandable. You truly are a soft spoken humble genius, thank you.
Wes, I'm a 76 year old EE ( Purdue Un.) the first computer I programmed was a PDP 8( 8 bit binary) it used Punched paper cash register tape ; lamps and photocells shining through the holes in the tape or blocked by no hole. I learned Fortran IV programming as a freshman in 1965. I absolutely loved this video. I loved being " geaked out". My family insists I always have been! Keep up the great work for those of us who are entertained by arcane stupifing engineering projects. Excellent work.
Ah yes, the PDP 8. Remember it well. I worked for NOAA doing hydrographic surveying and that computer was our mainstay back in the 1970's. Water depths along half of the U.S. coastline were acquired with it. Always liked it. Simple, robust, and reliable.
Purdue AAE grad '94. Aerospace is full of decades old Fortran code. I started off with F77 but eventually stumbled into older NASA code that used overlays (poor man's memory management) and Hollerith constants.
Your mechanical,computer engineering, code writing, electrical, filming,editing,….ect…..ect…..ect….ect skills are absolutley amazing!!!!! All of us viewers are so blessed to be able to watch someone that’s so talented! Keep up the great work wes!!
First, a DIY alignment rack would be legendary! And you could probably set yourself financially for a very long time if you make a usable model! Second, it's absolutely insane that you put this much work into making this machine work just to make a video for us to watch! We appreciate your efforts Wes! This video blew me away.
This is an incredibly fascinating video and project. You are really flexing you strengths and spreading your wings on this one. Really awesome stuff, keep up the great work Wes!
Wes, this is the first time I have ever posted a RU-vid comment because your technical mastery across a wide range of different fields is breath taking and compelled me to do so. I watch a lot of very smart and very practical people on RU-vid such as Scrappy Industries, Cutting Edge Engineering and Diesel Creek, but this takes the cake. Thank you and keep them coming.
Nice work! At what point does the machine become self aware, go back in time, and attempt to kill Sarah Connor? Because we'll need to pull the plug before that happens.
As a Patron, a network admin, and a shade tree mechanic, I fully support more videos like this too. I’ve created a few things from Arduino and Raspberry Pie at work to solve specific problems, and it’s immensely satisfying. Keep up the great work.
Hey Wes just wanted to say I was hoping to see this thing again. It’s definitely been interesting and thank goodness you have the patience for it. Keep up the good work
Wes, as a former ASE Master Technician, and now a software engineer, your videos really hit home with me. I’m 62 now and absolutely love to watch you diagnose and fix a complex issue, as well as projects like this one. Keep doing this, I’ll be joining Patreon for this stuff. Also, YES, create the alignment machine!!!
I don’t comment on all of your videos, but this one I felt in need to do so. You’re wealth of knowledge surpasses mine tenfold. As a master automotive technician I so appreciate the things you do and share with your public. Good job as always. I look forward to the next one.
Two joysticks for tank steering might be easier than the single joystick. I piloted many robots in high school and college and always preferred two joysticks instead of 1. You can get clever and have a switch that changes what the joystick is controlling, just like an MPG handwheel on a CNC machine can jog any axis but only has one wheel. Absolutely more engineering videos!
Yea, had a scissor lift with a single joystick forward/back left/right setup like Wes made and it was horrible to drive! Never could get it to reliable move how I wanted it to either.
Your modular track setup should make two joysticks easy, relatively. Maybe better quality joy stick from Remote Control model airplane gear? When you have to fix the new unit to install it, well...
Honestly Wes has the kind of mind that if he was born in the 1920’s or 30’s this is the brain that deciphered the enigma machine or created the timing Mechanism for torpedoes in depth charges. Your truly amazing my friend
No one decyphered the Enigma machine. It was commercially for sale. Before Poland fell they sent one to the British. What they did was figure out how to crack the wheel code fast. Which was an impressive feat. But mainly they did it through gaming stupid operators. Some would always sign off the same way. That would give the code breakers cribs. If you had a handful of letters you could work back from there.
Amazing. There's so much in this video. The moving hydraulic diagrams with explanations, the comparison of 80s/90s tech with what you can do today, the valve centering model, a bit of 3D printing, a bit of coding, a bit of signals analysis, a bit of electronics, jokes, danger. It's got it all!
What you performed as a "side" project, is just incredible. I'm a mechatronics technician by trade and this is right up my alley way. Seen the project going through its phases is awesome and probs to you for for building everything on the control side from ground up, it's truly impressive. Please keep on going and take your time, stuff like this is not worth the rush💪💪
You are doing a great job at making something out of half of something a bunch of others built, with old nolage and a design and build something to make it work. Hats off to you, keep up the great work. Will be watching 😊
I have to say that you’re precisely the right person to own this contraption, because I can’t imagine anyone else having the right combination of mechanical and electrical know how, not to mention the patience, to get it functional. Just friggen brilliant!! Well done!
Dang Wes a true level 10 project. You are really a man's man. Your ability to break down complex physics, programming and mechanical concepts into easy to understand and simple demonstrations is genius. You are teaching 10s of thousands of people how to trouble shoot and understand problems. Getting your Robot working is a triumph in and of itself. However the true triumph is getting us to understand how that thing works and teaching us the process so we can apply it to our problems and projects. Thank you for sharing your talents, your process and your adventures. And God bless your wife for her understanding of a man's need to piddle with projects.
This is incredible, thank you. I would love more engineering videos, and I will be watching with my son who is doing robotics in high school and wants to study engineering. This both practical and theoretical content is amazing. Definitely subbing to patreon.
This was more fun than a room full of puppies and way more educational! Wes, you are truly one of a kind, just like your robot. Heading over to Patreon.
This is really one of your best videos. Education (great diagram explaining the hydraulics), storytelling, video production, Wes exploring new stuff, humor with the wife, this has it all. Absolutely love that format. Must have been a great joy for you when driving it for the first time down the driveay. Felt happy for you. Thanks for that!
Wes, this project is hands down the coolest thing I've seen on RU-vid. I agree, the combination of mechanical and technical challenges would likely have made a Cambridge grad run the other way, but not only did you breathe life back into it but made it (mostly - for now) operational. Just friggin awesome - I'm headed to patreon to lend a hand. Very cool.
I was just glad to hear you say that what I thought was an Ikea bamboo cutting board forming the base of all the electronics, wasn't actually a bamboo cutting board. Because that would have been sketchy. Absolutely love this project. You're awesome Wes.
Wes....I've watched you religiously for years now and have never commented. I love all your content and especially the variation in it. You put forth a TON of effort and it shows. Having said that, this is, BY FAR, the best video you have EVER made thus far. Keep up the awesome work my friend! I sooo look forward to your videos. You made my week dude... you're a good man.
Excellent video Wes :) also bet lots to thinking to figure out and glad got up running also moved on Controlling box you made too ! Hope see more improvement you do next to and very good information so far Wes :) !
First thing Sunday morning I wake up and watch this episode. I'm immediately chuckling out loud and fully engrossed by your analytical way of solving this electromechanical, hydraulic mystery, killing machine's manual of operation. Your sense of humor significantly heightens the experience. This is the ultimate, industrial version RC toy. Make it wireless and you could sit in a watchtower and run a logging operation. The perfect epilog was with your wife's comments . You are blessed to have each other. Thank you Wes !!!!!
I've not made it though the entire video yet, but as a novice at...life. From 10:37 to 10:47 is probably the simplest and most profound way to explain a hydraulic pump connected to a hydraulic motor. Wes, thank you for distilling very complex information down to very simple concepts that the rest of us can understand.
As a mere mortal with 30 plus years of twisting wrenches on HD equipment I salute you Wes. You explained everything we needed to know to follow along and understand what is going on.
you have totally outdone yourself! I'm a retired electrical engineer who does all of the 'hobby' type stuff you have done. It's not as easy as you demonstrate, I can only speculate the time you've spent on this project, bravo!
Wes, to me you are an automation and mechanics god. Absolutely one of your best videos. Love these sort of projects. Funny, great explanation of what you are doing, overall a fantastic video.
Great job Wes!!!, Really love this type of video. I’m surprised there isn’t a company out there that wouldn’t want to sponsor you and in turn you use there components. Really is a lot of fun.
Watched it twice so far.Your most interesting project to date. I now understand why a friend who teaches at TAFE (Technical and further Education College) here in OZ has made the viewing of a number of your videos compulsory for his students. His objective is to show them how to go about problem solving. You are all the things other folk compliment you on and a fine teacher too. I'm into my ninth decade and still learning. Thanks.
Wes, as a senior level mechanical engineer with a couple of decades of experience with hydraulics, controls and programming, I have to say your capabilities are quite impressive. I've been a fan of yours for a while. But this is next level. I think this one video is the best thing I've ever seen on YT. Well done, sir. I'm headed to Patreon now.
G'day wes.been a big fan of yours for a few years now. Building that electronic control unit has really impressed me. You're one smart fella. Keep the videos coming
