A printed docking port

On Friday the final 3D printed elements needed to assemble a single docking port came out of the printer, they assembled smoothly, albeit with some screws that were fiendishly tricky to insert. The port unit includes, working outwards from the centre of the robot to the face of the port: an omniwheel, the DC motor to drive said wheel, a DC motor driving the docking hooks, the spikes and pits to help align a robot's port with the port of another as they approach, and ofcourse the hooks themselves. A space left inside the middle of the port provides a convenient region in which to locate circuitry for the motors' H-bridge drivers, for the docking port beacon and communications LED and for circuitry behind the infrared detectors.

As yet the port is purely a mechanical prototype, electronic components have not been added, once they are videos of initial tests will be posted here.