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PET vs PLA

A project log for 3D Printed Robot Joint with Active Compliance

A general purpose robot joint using a cycloidal gearbox and an ODrive modified to support active compliance

tim-wilkinsonTim Wilkinson 05/21/2019 at 21:360 Comments
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the joint printed in PET (light blue) is much smoother than the joint printed in PLA (dark blue) - and the blue PET PRO from Matterhackers is rather nice. I've mostly been prototyping in PLA because is easy to use, but it clearly wears quickly and heats up when testing (and PLA doesn't do well when it gets hot). The joint is also easier to back drive, which is a property I hope to use to measure the load on the motor in order to provide compliance.

I'm still tweaking the dimensions of the various parts for the best compromise of fit and tolerance - it's something to obsess over while I wait for the position encoders to turn up.

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