It's Alive...

A few hours this evening, and the odd burst over the last two weeks mean the axRap now has a brain and beating heart.

It began on dark, mild night when the organs of an old ShuttleX SSG were removed...

Dragged back to the lab under cover of darkness, the heart of the shuttle was stripped down to the bare essentials...

All surplus connections were removed, the auto-sense connection soldered onto the bleeding stump where the 3.3V wires used to be. Power-ok (gray) and a 5v line were kept for a possible future application. Power-on (green) and a ground were connected to an old toggle switch then everything was sewn back together by hand...

Then it was time for the saw, at it's mercy was some left-over 6mm plywood from the bottom plates. A few quick strokes, a flurry of the bone drill and a makeshift cradle for the heart was ready...

With the Shuttle's blood barely dry on my hands, I turned my attentions to the brain. A further application of saw, drill and heavy duty threads produced the base of a cranium - with cooling fan. Arteries were laid in, held in protective spiral bindings, and with a flick of the switch I bestowed animation upon this lifeless matter. Admittedly, the animation was merely the drone of a cooling fan, but still - it's progress.

Given it's 1am, I need to get some sleep - so connecting the first of the stepper motors will have to wait until tomorrow. Before I sleep again, I'm hoping to have at least one axis moving under Sprinter firmware, including an endstop.