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MeccanoMeccasaur2017

Page history last edited by jerry 6 years, 10 months ago

MeccanoMeccasaur2017

 


 

Introduction/Definition/etc

 

Similar to Erector Sets, with two included tools,

hex driver and double sided open wrenches,

one angled with a back, the other regular,

and instructions for 715 pieces, mostly nuts

and bolts, plus plastic, a motor, and

MeccaBrain, or similar, gearbox,

simple robot, with problems,

at least so far, missing parts,

and instructions that don't match

themselves, plus other issues...

 

 

Body

 

On sale, at the time, maybe still is

at ToysRUs, from ~$120 list or so to

~$40, seemed like a good way to

get another company's rendition of

a robot, while the G15KS, XL 2.0?

and now 16 are the top of the line,

with other special features,

but out of my price range

even at about half price (~$300 list

to ~$150)+...

 

Needed Improvements

 

For the price, I probably shouldn't

say much, but the level of effort

to assemble to even see if it does

anything interesting/ fun/ amusing,

is very high...

 

 

Time to Complete

 

Six and a half hours, some comments

on purchasing, on the store's site says,

but the boxing and marketing could

show that too, it clearly lists the number

of parts, and age (10+), but not how

long it would take, say you have a

rainy weekend, and some time to

kill, before school starts, and don't

want to pull an all nighter to see if

it works, or someone needs it

assembled (many call it built,

but designing is lacking, imho)

by a birthday party,

holiday, or say RobotFest2017

or similar...

 

CheckSums Needed

 

Some way of knowing if the kit is

complete, like total number of items

in the bag, and include a few extra for

those that fall behind the fridge, under tables,

only to be discovered while vacuuming,

walking (ooch!) or just plain missing

near the end (not there yet, but in theory)...

 

Bill of Materials (BoM), and contents are

typical for stuff like this, especially where you

source and buy your own parts...

 

Buying replacement parts for simple

stuff at local hardware stores, I'd like

a M4 bolt, of x mm length, hex headed,

etc...

 

The parts and sizes are listed, but

not really bagged to have what is in each

bag to total it all up, easily...

 

Sharps Needed

 

Opening plastic bags of mixed parts,

some make sense, how they

are bagged together, others don't...

 

Scissors, if a pocket knife,

Exacto (sp?) knife is too sharp,

and dangerous, as some places

you can't have sharps...

 

Like schools, and other institutions,

smaller kids around, pets, siblings,

sabatours, etc...

 

Recloseable Snack Bags

 

Scissors, and maybe Ziploc bags,

tea / yogurt cups, and other small parts

storage for assembling...

 

A bad bolt and nut didn't want to go together,

and label the bag with a magic marker/

permanent marker and may be on

masking/ drafting tape, if the bags

don't have a label strip like some

storage thickness bags do for

contents and expiration dates...

 

Clear Cups? Suggested?

 

Someone suggested clear cups,

with tops, like small juice ones,

or ones used for medicines,

pill taking? but only if they have

tops?  So parts don't go flying,

for packing/ unpacking, unless

unlimited space, etc...

 

Also the box top can be a workspace,

but might need more stability, for bigger

and later...

 

 

Magnifying Needed

 

Instructions are small, to count holes

bolts go thru and number of holes

and other perforations on the metal

and plastic for bolts, and types of bolts

simple or rounded, (names?)

 

Ten (10) year olds may have better eye sight,

but maybe not, could be disabled, eye

strain after doing this so much, etc...

A table mounted one, for hands free,

maybe for kit building, think models,

like airplanes, boats in bottles, Estes

rockets, etc back in the day... 

 

Soldering and electronics, are what

I'm more used too, back to HeathKits...

 

Detailed 3D Model

 

Debugging the assembly

and since so many diagrams are made

of stuff, having a 3D model that can

be downloaded, zoomed, panned, rotated,

etc to see what goes with what,

similar to the Meccanoid app

tutorial, moving waving hello

and shake hands, for the higher end

app enabled robots they make...

 

Bringing that technology down to

the older and lower tech kits

may help, some assemble,

instead of frustrated and give up,

and therefore not buy another,

plus bad reviews, meltdowns,

and other problems...

 

Rechargeables?

 

4x C? cell size batteries are required,

while higher end Meccanoids, in the $100+

have rechargeables included, but

the instructions don't say alkaline,

so will see when assembled, if it works,

or just try them before done, to see?

 

Have to figure out wiring first, as the

mechanical may not matter for that,

but plugging it all in would help,

LED eyes, and brain to motor,

etc...

 

4x C Rechargeables Worked OK

 

About three or so plugs,

each a different plug shape/ number of

pins, so I could not get wrong

(idiot/ kid proof?), but one

(LED for Eyes?), seemed

to have a daisy chain option,

a second plug nearby, which

didn't get plugged in, as low on wires,

and motor and noise (LOUD) made,

so could just try the electronics,

without a skeleton, space frame, etc

 

 

Open Source and Protocols

 

The higher end stuff shows some

internals, and protocols, with descriptions

of how it works, kind of theory of operations

stuff, but this doesn't...

 

The manufacturer's website has a

build your own bot with Arduino

on the corporate site, but finding replacement

parts, and reuse, some kits you can make

multiple things from the same parts,

but not this one...

 

Linux Support?

 

I didn't see that for the more

expensive stuff, either, so

buying only to not be able

to upgrade unless I have

M$ WinBlows, or Mac OS X,

working, could be a problem,

especially for firmware upgrades,

etc...

 

Other Meccano Options

 

RC cars and trucks, and a

Ducati motorcycle, planes, jets,

ships, and various age ranges

and complexities (Junior, Tech, etc)

exist in the products listed/ marketed,

but not talked to people how have

them and have done them, besides

those in the store, around me,

and hostile sales, wanting 10

out of 10 on customer surveys,

basically crapping on my cheaper

purchase trying to get more money out of

me, predicting I would be unhappy,

and making it so, by the crap,

while something happening behind

me, as I left, someone fired,

down on the ground, police

anti gang activity, internal disputes,

etc...

 

Not that different than the

TargettedWowWeeAccessories2017

attacks at the same and similar store(s)...

 

 

Links

 

Meccano.com

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano

 

http://www.spinmaster.com/product_detail.php?pid=p20733

 

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=85546006&cp=2255956.3209580.50611026&parentPage=family

 

Best Buy carries one of the lower end

MeccaNoids, but not the Meccasaur one,

nor the high end,

newest and most expensive...

(IIRC the 2 ft not 4 ft advanced one(s)

but check the details, and maybe they

start carrying more of the line?...)

 

Kohls, Target, Walmart? and some others

(the Meccano app lists where to get,

but not which stores just chains)

probably have more selection, and online,

but I like seeing the box, in  a brick and mortar

store, instead of searching for missing delivery

problems...

 

Conclusion

 

Summary of experience or similar

 

Annoying, that it only gets to the

13th or so instruction step/ panel of

53 English? pages and pages

(other languages of operating the

brain part once completed in the

back pages) before you find

documentation problems,

not sure how many more I will find,

if I even complete the kit assembly...

 

No Joy, as they say, at least not yet,

testing my patience, and resolve,

requiring customer support, and likely

waiting for the correct parts, 5 holed

metal bars, evenly spaced, as some others

have unevenly spaced, but the inset

shows created a one to two double sided

hinge with a bolt as the hinge/vortex

at the end hole, only showing other places

one, and only have the one, so would it

be strong enough to only use one instead

of the partially shown two???

 

It's a big robot toy, standing over a foot,

maybe two (Three!), with other kits 4 feet

for the big ones, and two feet for the smaller

ones, so maybe difficult to carry around,

unlike the WowWee CHiP, MiP and

MiPosaur, but not as sharp as I had

originally thought, the corners are rounded,

even the bolts are edged a little, and

plated...

 

Pocket size MicroMeccaNoids,

or similar names exist, in the ~$40 

list range, which dance, etc,

but I haven't seen, nor tried those,

colours (green, blue, red) and bash /

crush type model names, exist,  iirc,

etc...

 

Other small things noticed are square

nuts, and the other type, which to use?,

matching the length of the bolt, to the

diagram (you actually place the bolt on

the paper diagram to match size/ length,

drawn part to scale) and a Tips section

in the beginning, do all those techniques

apply to this kit?

and having a ruler/digital caliper?

for measuring the bolts,

and nuts and clearances, down to the

millimeter, for finding which of what size,

not that metric is a problem, used to be

growing up, some have standard SAE

mentality, though I never really liked

all the fractions used...

 

Magnetizing the tool, wrench might help

one dad type review poster mentioned

using tape to hold the nuts on, so maybe

try that, sometime too... Clear cellophane tape,

like for extra sealing letters...

 

Punting

 

Several other thing while thinking about

it originally, I'm now forgetting in the middle

of the early morning, but might make it up

here, or not...

 

Maybe finish it by Father's Day,

or another weekend, will see...

 

No, I'm not giving it away...

And Don't Bother Asking...

 

Discussion

 

A place for feedback on the page presented

 

How many projects have you started?

Only to find problems, incomplete and other

challenges?

 

Have you found problems with maps?

Say bicycle maps, the Arlington County

Comfort map, doesn't include two big hills

and bridges near the Arlington Mill

Community Center, locals may know,

but the plowing (now funding cut?

but the adventurous, may find

monsters in those hills, etc,

or Adventure Cycling Associations

cross continent maps, trans American,

have Errata you can download and print

out, showing changes, maybe that is needed

here too?

 

What guarding techniques does it use?

Motion sensors in the head?

Sound only?

Sneaky people get beyond it?

Motion detectors, if someone

tries to steal the bot/alarm device?

 

How loud and is it controllable?

Say playing with it when finished in the

middle of the night?  Waking neighbors?

 

Lateral forces crush it?

Like the go cart like thing at RobotFest

a High School club, the space

frame mostly had forward crashing

forces that I noticed, so sideways

forces, to keep it together?

The FPV drone frame, the sales

and support guy stood on the frame,

but I don't think this is anywhere near that,

sideways forces it would crush,

and don't try that at home kids...

It's big, so won't be underfoot

as much and some HiViz colours,

so even low vision might see it,

when off and not heard...

 

Compare to MiPosaur, later on?

No ball, remote, app, etc, but

can assemble, and take apart,

perhaps, without as much worry,

of breaking off the tail?

Permanently...

 

Clear gearbox might have helped,

to see inside what is going on in the motor

part, side ways and wobbling, waddle

action likely...

 

How much articulation do you need?

And at what cost?

 

Do you want human looking,

animal looking, extinct or still roaming

the earth type creatures?

How much sound, voice commands,

visual commands, app enabled?

Or just for offline use?

So no smart phone needed?

Does positioning the robot's arms/

legs/ tail, etc make a difference in

programming?

How detailed an app is needed?

For an experiment, learning,

or what other fun?

 

Do you learn to dance from robots?

Is music required?

How about yoga?

Just because the robot can do it,

doesn't mean it doesn't hurt carbon

based life forms to try it...

Much less older people...

 

License

 

Creative Commons Share and Share Alike,

Non Commercial, Non Derivative,

for the whole site's contents

unless otherwise explicitly stated

 

Page History

 

20170509 Jerry

  1. Adding C Rechargeable Battery Test
  2. Worked section
  3. a couple of reparagraphing/ word wrap,
  4. small edits, see diffs...
  5. etc

 

20170507 Jerry

  • Jerry created this page to log a new robot kit 
  • and issues with it, so far...

 

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