The Personnel Canadarm
This idea has been brought to life
The personnel Canadarm is a miniature version of the Canadarm, that has all kinds of helpful tools for astronauts getting ready for a day on the ISS!
The Canadarm was brought to life by Lea Ducharme, a mechanical engineer intern at the Canadian Space Agency!
Maker blog entries
I finished the personnel Canadarm by fixing everything with strong glue.
Once the 3D parts are printed, I make sure each parts fit properly with the purchased components. I can now glue each sub assemblies together and let it dry to be able to fix those sub assemblies on the main assembly later on.
Step three : 3D model design also known as CAD (computer assisted design). The aluminum tube and the mirror that you saw in the previous post are now modeled in the software at the right scale. Each white parts in the picture are designed to fit the purchased components and are going to be 3D printed.
Step two is to purchase the required components to fit the idea of Amy's Personnel Canadarm. I can now precisely measure each components to fit everything perfectly with the 3D print that will come at the next step.
First, I draw a design concept to have a clear plan of what I will need to do. I now know what I need to model on a 3D design software, what I have to 3D print and what I need to buy. I am also able to approximate a few deadlines for myself.
What our experts think!
Amy, this is a really interesting idea to have a robotic personal hygiene assistant, well done. With Dextre, we have many different tools that we can pick up to accomplish different things. I would do something similar here where each function like the nail clipper or the brush and mirror are separate tools that the Personnel Canadarm can stow in a tool chest and then pick up when needed. Something else we would need to consider is how to make all of the electronics inside water proof since we don’t need to worry about that with Canadarm2 or Dextre.