Feline Mass-Transit
Dec. 6th, 2006 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
astillarToday's Cosplay Lesson:
A man's reach need not extend beyond his penis.
The bus part is complete. Mostly. I still need to install the steering wheel and mirrorbox, but structurally the bus is "complete". Those two things should be done by the end of this week. The bus is doing well so far. I discovered that it has a safety factor of 4*. I didn't include any safety factor in the design, so this is a pleasant surprise. However, with the modifications I've made since the last strength test, that factor might've dropped to 3 or 2 in some places. I should really check on that before I admit passengers.
I'll need to roadtest the bus soon, before I get too far into the "cat" part of the project. I wish my brother were here; I could really use an assistant for the road test. Since the Nekobus was designed around my bodily proportions, I have to be the test pilot so I'll need someone with a modicum of mechanical aptitude to act as an observer and take notes, pictures, troubleshoot, etc. But heck, I don't even know where I could test the bus. The bus has a wide turning radius so a parking lot would be the best location, but at the same time I'd rather not be bothered by traffic and ignorant/curious pedestrians. Where could I find a deserted, secluded parking lot? Hmmm.
I'm really pleased with how easily and swiftly this build has progressed. I guess all that design time is really paying off. I haven't encountered any dead-ends or "surprises" (like I did with GIR and Tagmec). But once I start on the cat part it'll all be new territory; I didn't design that far ahead. I'm not too worried though. The model I made some time ago gave me a pretty good grasp of the mechanics behind the legs, I think. I do foresee one problem with the legs though, but I won't find out the magnitude of that problem until after they're built. Like the legs of a centipede, the Catbus' legs move in a cyclical motion; there's always one foot on the ground, one foot rising, one foot falling, etc. I've designed the legs to mimic this circular rhythm. This rhythm should look very good, the faster the Catbus moves, the more fluid and realistic the movement will look. I've yet to find out how fast I can make the bus move, but let's put that concern aside for now. The problem is when the Catbus stops running, the legs will remain in this dynamic position instead of having all paws on the ground and that won't look right. In other words, even when the bus is standing still, the legs will be stuck in the air, as if frozen in mid-stride. I would like to make the Nekobus "smart" enough that the legs would come to rest on their own, but I'm not smart enough to figure out how to do that. And I fear the solution would be way too complicated to attempt anyways. So to avoid this problem, I figure when I take the Nekobus to a con I'll drive it the first day with the legs running, just to wow the crowds. Then the second day I'll disconnect the leg linkage so that all paws are on the ground and just leave the Catbus parked for photos.
Ugh. Another thing I just realized is that once I put legs on the bus, I'll need somewhere open to roll the bus around while I fine-tune the cat's anatomy. . . . . It's either that or build a bus-sized treadmill. NOT! Hmmm. I guess that's one thing to keep in mind while I'm looking for an apartment this month. A ground-floor apartment with room to run, yes.
* For you non-engineers, the "safety factor" is a multiple of the design load that a structure can withstand. In this case, the safety factor of 4 means that the bus can support 4 times my weight (almost 800 pounds). Pretty awesome, huh?
A man's reach need not extend beyond his penis.
The bus part is complete. Mostly. I still need to install the steering wheel and mirrorbox, but structurally the bus is "complete". Those two things should be done by the end of this week. The bus is doing well so far. I discovered that it has a safety factor of 4*. I didn't include any safety factor in the design, so this is a pleasant surprise. However, with the modifications I've made since the last strength test, that factor might've dropped to 3 or 2 in some places. I should really check on that before I admit passengers.
I'll need to roadtest the bus soon, before I get too far into the "cat" part of the project. I wish my brother were here; I could really use an assistant for the road test. Since the Nekobus was designed around my bodily proportions, I have to be the test pilot so I'll need someone with a modicum of mechanical aptitude to act as an observer and take notes, pictures, troubleshoot, etc. But heck, I don't even know where I could test the bus. The bus has a wide turning radius so a parking lot would be the best location, but at the same time I'd rather not be bothered by traffic and ignorant/curious pedestrians. Where could I find a deserted, secluded parking lot? Hmmm.
I'm really pleased with how easily and swiftly this build has progressed. I guess all that design time is really paying off. I haven't encountered any dead-ends or "surprises" (like I did with GIR and Tagmec). But once I start on the cat part it'll all be new territory; I didn't design that far ahead. I'm not too worried though. The model I made some time ago gave me a pretty good grasp of the mechanics behind the legs, I think. I do foresee one problem with the legs though, but I won't find out the magnitude of that problem until after they're built. Like the legs of a centipede, the Catbus' legs move in a cyclical motion; there's always one foot on the ground, one foot rising, one foot falling, etc. I've designed the legs to mimic this circular rhythm. This rhythm should look very good, the faster the Catbus moves, the more fluid and realistic the movement will look. I've yet to find out how fast I can make the bus move, but let's put that concern aside for now. The problem is when the Catbus stops running, the legs will remain in this dynamic position instead of having all paws on the ground and that won't look right. In other words, even when the bus is standing still, the legs will be stuck in the air, as if frozen in mid-stride. I would like to make the Nekobus "smart" enough that the legs would come to rest on their own, but I'm not smart enough to figure out how to do that. And I fear the solution would be way too complicated to attempt anyways. So to avoid this problem, I figure when I take the Nekobus to a con I'll drive it the first day with the legs running, just to wow the crowds. Then the second day I'll disconnect the leg linkage so that all paws are on the ground and just leave the Catbus parked for photos.
Ugh. Another thing I just realized is that once I put legs on the bus, I'll need somewhere open to roll the bus around while I fine-tune the cat's anatomy. . . . . It's either that or build a bus-sized treadmill. NOT! Hmmm. I guess that's one thing to keep in mind while I'm looking for an apartment this month. A ground-floor apartment with room to run, yes.
* For you non-engineers, the "safety factor" is a multiple of the design load that a structure can withstand. In this case, the safety factor of 4 means that the bus can support 4 times my weight (almost 800 pounds). Pretty awesome, huh?
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 01:36 am (UTC)and m crying that i need a power drill.. you need to live closer to me!! haha
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 02:32 am (UTC)...and still hilarious.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 05:15 am (UTC)also.. test drive in the parking lot of the burger center late saturday (after the farmer's market has cleared out)... it's usually good and deserted.
Nice feet!
Date: 2006-12-07 05:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-07 02:14 pm (UTC)