Tractor v17.10 Future Work
Thu Mar 15, 2018
We don't have anyone working on MicroTrac right now, but Abe is continuing on the larger tractor and its power cubes. Last year's v1, we got a decent product, and v2 can be a marketable model with some small refinements, mainly the loader geometry. I think we may also want to revisit the drive motors, because we really complicated the drive sprocket (welded and rewelded a couple of times) - so we should clean that up - and also reduce the drive sprocket from 8 to 6 teeth to get 25% more torque. Since we also changed the tensioner - the tensioner is different in CAD than in real life - that needs to be updated. All together - cleaning up the drive motor/tensioner is the main thing left to make this highly replicable. We would want to add the specific details of the hydraulic fittings and placeholders for hose routing in the CAD, so that is transparent in the CAD. Once we do v2, I think we can plan on actually marketing the microtrac - and selling parts kits. I think the product can stand on its own as a decent machine. With the CNC torch table, that can be a decent small enterprise.
This is what would be required prior to an August workshop -
- Update CAD - 6 weeks
- Do detailed build instructions for the tractor - 6 weeks. This means all fab drawings, step-by-step instructionals, CNC cut files (we plan on deploying the torch table by June). This would be put into a basic MicroTrac Build Manual that we can print out and give to workshop participants. People were asking for that the last time, and we could do better this time.
- MicroTrac Design Guide - 8 weeks. Write up documentation on how to design and build the MicroTrac - so if people want to build their own variations - they can. This means that they have to understand the basic structure, loader geometry, hydraulic fluid flow calculations, speed/torque calculations, sizing the pump, sizing the motors, basic hydraulic circuit, etc. This is all over the wiki - it's time to clean it up and publish. This could also be an information product that people can download, or buy via on-demand printing.
At the 8 weeks mark prior to the workshop (June 15) - that would be the absolute cutoff for posting the workshop. We would want to run the workshop around August 15. We would build largely on the tractor from last year by reusing most parts - so this is quite doable right now at relatively low expense. If you would like to do this, then we could do a 50/50 revenue share - after all workshop expenses including materials and logistics. I would plan on charging $300-$500 per seat for a 3 day workshop. Tom Griffing is interested in running another solar Power Cube workshop - which we can do the day after - where we essentially build a solar power cube to mount on the tractor for slow drive.
The idea is that we set up the MicroTrac builds as a regular workshop that we can offer, and we'd like to train others to build these tractors as well - to develop another open source product ecosystem.
So if you want to do this, then the CAD + Complete Build Instructions would have to be done at the June 15 mark. This is an absolute cutoff, which would pave the way for the MicroTrac Design Guide. June 15 is important - first to give people enough of a heads up on the workshop - and second - I will be preparing for a 5 week immersion program that OSE is starting this September - so June 15 is a real cutoff where the full CAD and instructionals nneed to be done. Otherwise, we'd have to abort the workshop if the required assets are not in place. Full documentation is key for an effective build - which we can improve on from our last experience. If this is something that you're interested in, please let me know.