Hydraulic reservoir design is complete and all the parts for the it are in.
Also, and all the parts for one valve assembly. Will be building the
reservoir
and enough plumbing to get one cylinder working. Then start working
on
full servo control of one cylinder.
The Toyota 5ME fuel injected engine is now running!!! MAJOR Break through!!
WhOOOOOHOOOOO!!!! Once the fuel injection computer was wired,
and a new fuel pump was installed, it started right up! The thing purrs
like a kitten.
Fixed a bunch of minor crap on the engine, plumbed up the cooling system,
transmission hydraulic fluid cooler, etc. All the usual stuff.
It's kinda cool
to see a bigass engine sitting outside of a car, ready to run!
Major break through with the hydraulic control valve problem. Worked
out
a few design ideas ( with the help of Mr. Foo, electrical, mechanical, and
software engineer extraordinar ) that should pan out to affordable and
reliable servo control valve system.
Engine is hanging from a winch. Had to fix a broken tranny drain plug
bolt.
Dropped the pan, put a new filter in and fixed the threads.
April 2001
My new shop is now fully disorganized, equipped, and ready for something big.
The Bug has been calling and now I listen. Bug construction begins again.
First thing is to clean the engine.
Can't get the Bug out of my head.
I lie awake at night dreaming about the possibilities.
Constantly designing in my head.
I now believe I understand what addiction is all about, or at least obession.
Many months to move into the warehouse and set-up shop. Warehouse is
rented, we're not broke ( just out a bunch of cash ) and we have a great
community of artists in the space. It's worth everything we've put
into it!
The place is awsome!!
Ignored Bug project, worked on other projects:
Pneumatic Spanking Machine
"Out of Code" sculpture
Various gizmos and gadgets
July 2000
Rented 8000 square foot warehouse in SF!!! Paba ( my business partner
)
and I have done the impossible! At the peak of the San Francisco dot.com
foolishness, we have actually managed to rent an affordable warehouse space.
Well, affordable if we can manage to sublet enough space so we don't go broke.
Ran out of space in the one car garage. I knew this was only going
to be a
short term shop, not sure what I'm gonna do now. It's too packed to
weld,
or plasma cut. Control valve issue still unresolved. Project on
hold.
Deep Sadness.
125GPM hydraulic pump has arrived, with three cylinders, pressure relief
valve, filters, and various hoses. Almost enough to make one leg operational.
Have serious issues regarding control valves. I need 18 proportional
control
valves. They are expensive, very expensive.
Engine is mounted on test frame.
Radiator mounted. Fuel tank and other misc components obtained.
Check out the photos
!
Much time spent building a shop
Engine was obtained from Ace Wrecking.
The engine is a 6 cylinder, fuel injected, Toyota 5ME. It's made of
nearly pure
obtainium; very rare. Special thanks to
Bill
and Jerico
at Ace Auto/Scap, Inc.
You guys are the BEST!
Check out the photos
!
Obtained welding equipment and basic metal working equipment.
Early 2000
Took 10 weeks off full time job to set-up shop and work on bug.
Now operating out of one car garage that is part of my apartment
building. Not only is it small, but I share it with my roommates; who
are also
mechanically inclined and into wacked shit. The neighbors hate us.
Our next door neighbor confronted my roommate, Paba Phree. He didn't
like
the noise Paba was creating, "I can't stand it when you hammer like that".
Mr. Phree, raised his hammer, scratched his head with the claw and
yelled, "WHAT?!?!".
Problem resolved.
Late 1999
Book Learn'n. Mail order six books on hydraulic theory and practical
application.
Up all night reading. Ordered many catalogues. Much time spent
finding suppliers
for various components.
Mid 1999
Had serious issues with neighboring business and toxic gas build-up in living
quarters, a bad studio mate situation, and a building inspector that tagged
us:
Unsafe, Out of code, and Non-Complient.
Reluctantly moved out of warehouse studio with remaining roommates.
Early 1999
Initial back of the napkin design shows that it is possible to build a hydraulically
actuated six legged walking machine. All calculations are well within
an order
of magnitude of feasibility. I think it can be done.
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