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Sawppy Steering Coupler Volunteers For Fault Tolerance Test

A project log for Sawppy the Rover

Motorized model of Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance For Under $500

rogerRoger 03/08/2019 at 20:390 Comments

Whenever I’m getting Sawppy ready for a public appearance, I power up my rover and drive it around a bit to make sure all the mechanical bits are functioning. I did the same for preparation for Sawppy’s appearance at SCaLE 17x and I saw the right front wheel – historically the most problematic part of any rover – is wobblier than I expected.

This usually indicates a set screw is backing out, something that was much reduced after I started using Loctite on the set screws. But when I reached towards the coupler with a wrench to turn the set screw, I realized this situation is different. The PETG plastic for the coupler has cracked.

For context, here’s the non-cropped version of the image to show location of this coupler in Sawppy’s front right wheel assembly.

This is a new failure! And a bit of a surprise, too. My experience with PETG to date has been that it is very tough and willing to flex instead of break like my experience with PLA. It’s held up well through multiple public appearances, driven by enthusiastic children who were none too gentle with the rover. It appears we have finally reached the breaking point for PETG.

Or… have we?

The rover is still driving and nominally functioning. System performance has degraded but strictly speaking, the system has not yet failed. The crack allowed more movement in wheel steering than designed, but the movement is still constrained instead of turning freely out of control. I would call the latter case, which happened to Sawppy earlier, an actual failure. This isn’t quite it.

And now I’m curious about what potential stages of system degradation will be, so I’m going to leave the cracked coupler in place for now. I will build a replacement and have it on hand for a field repair, but the cracked coupler has just volunteered itself for a test of Sawppy fault tolerance. How much further can Sawppy go on a cracked coupler?

(Cross-posted to NewScrewdriver.com)

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