June '23 Update (Patreon)

Somehow it's now June!

This month I want to put out my last update on SSR1 for a while. I am going to release an improved set of case parts with better joins and a mechanism upgrade that should make the device a lot faster.

I seem to be catching up with myself, which is good. Having got SSR1 Alpha3 out there I still have a few improvements I want to make before I draw a line under it and move on to other projects.

The outer case in its three sections doesn't quite mate up in the way I would like, so I have been putting in some design hours to improve the mating features, and the printability of these parts.

The mechanism is also overdue for a speed buff. I believe that in its current incarnation the motor is maxing out on speed and that this is the limiting factor, rather than the available torque of the motor. I am therefore going to exchange a bit of torque for mechanism speed by increasing  the size of the drive gear.

After last month's fandango soldering the AS5048a encoder during the livestream I am also looking into an alternate encoder that would be much easier to work with.

Going forward I've been wanting to put down SSR1 Alpha for a while now so that I can explore some other ideas that have been brewing. For example I definitely have some ideas for a squeezer mechanism that I want to investigate. I might even make it servo-driven for a change!

I have also promised the folks at SLR that I will add official WiFi support to my devices in the very near future, so watch out for that!

For my Maker ($8) tier I plan to release SSR1 Alpha4, which will be an upgraded case and mechanism. It will be some updated printed plastic parts, but shouldn't require any new components.

My Benefactor ($16) tier newsletters are now up to date! If getting an insiders view of my work process interests you and you want to go the extra mile in supporting my work consider becoming one of my Benefactors.

For my Supporter ($2) tier this month I will be livestreaming on Wednesday 21st June at 11pm BST (5pm EDT). I will be showing you the work I've been doing to speed up the SSR1 mechanism.

All the best!

Tempest