Bruder 574 RC conversion weekend project!

[SteinHDan]

Hi!

I know there has been a lot of Bruder 574 conversions, but not one like this one..

The goal was to try to convert the Bruder 574 to RC with the very least amount of work during a weekend. (Easter had a long weekend and thus it would be possible)

Note that there is no steering servo in this conversion!





There are some 3D-printed parts in the front and in the back:



The front and rear axles are 30mm aluminum tubing with 2mm walls.


I re-used the wheels:



All the wheels are drive by a 12v 24rpm gear motor:




The hubs I got from Ebay didn't have a thread, so I tapped a M4 thread in them:




I 3D-printed a stencil to help guide where the holes should be:




Then I assembled the rear pivot:




















Cut away the fake axle to make room for wires going from the front to the back:




Assembled the front section:




Like in the rear there is a small screw holding hitting a small hole in the axle that fixes it in the printed part:






The motors are held in place by two M4 5mm long set screws, one on each side (for balancing the position in the tube):






I remove one screw from the firgelli actuators and re-insert that into the holder. That way the actuator is fixed inside the holder:

[SteinHDan]

I re-purposed the original Bruder axles in both ends of the boom cylinders. The new lengths were 100mm and 85mm. I cut away that part that previously held the wheels.






I 3D-printed another stencil to help guide where the holes in the bottom should be. It's important to do this before cutting away the original axle mounts, otherwise there will be no reference points:






3D-printed a stencil for the top holes as well:












The top cylinder is mounted with two M4 screws:




For the boom cylinder mounts, i just added something to avoid them sliding inwards:

[SteinHDan]

Video:


https://youtu.be/MBxpjOn_Arw

[SteinHDan]

In case anyone wants to try the same approach, here are the 3D files:

The full model in Fusion 360 format:
- BruderLoader+v13.f3d

The individual 3D-printed parts:
- BoomCylinderMount.stl
- FrontBottomHolesTemplate.stl
- FrontSideSpacer.stl
- FrontStructure.stl
- FrontTopHolesTemplate.stl
- RearAxle.stl
- RearAxleMountFront.stl
- RearAxleMountRear.stl
- WheelBoltsTemplate.stl

[frizzen]

That is awesome! Great conversion, and thanks for offering up files so others can follow your lead.

[SteinHDan]

Thanks, Frizzen!


Here are some specs on the parts too:
- A normal 4ch RC transmitter and receiver (for once no embedded PC :-) )
- 1 x 3S battery ~2000mAh
- 2 x Sabertooth 2x5 R/C
- 4 x JGA25-370 12V 24RPM
- 1 x L12-S Actuator with Limit Switches - 30mm - 100:1 - 12 volts
- 2 x L12-S Actuator with Limit Switches - 50mm - 100:1 - 12 volts


The steering is controlled by wiring the motors such that both the front and the rear part move as tanks, but in opposite directions. I only use one controller for both the drive and steering. The other controller controls the boom and bucket.

The wiring for the drive motors:
- Channel 1: Front left motor + rear right motor
- Channel 2: Front right motor + rear left motor

The first motor controller works in mixed mode. The other in normal mode.


Stein :-)

[Efroeh]

Awesome conversion very well thought out design. Great job

[TheBennyB]

Fantastic work! Really awesome stuff, good thinking on the templates as well.

[SteinHDan]

Thanks, Efroeh and TheBennyB!

Stein :-)

[Rvjimd]

Very cool, thanks for the detail, I like the different ideas you used!

Jim

[SteinHDan]

Here are two videos of the first dirt digs:













At least it digs normal dirt with small rocks and all, even if it's not a full bucket on each load. :-)


Stein :-)

[kaptain Jack]

Man, thx for sharing the files, very kind of you. And job well done.

[Rvjimd]

Turned out really nice! Thanks for the files! I haven't yet, but will download them just in case I decide to do one of these!

Jim

[SteinHDan]

I see that I've left out some information:

- The aluminum axle tubes are cut to 135mm length.
- The wheel hubs (4mm axle) were bough here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/322385127356


Best regards,
Stein :-)

[skeeter]

THANKS for the link to E-bay parts! I've been trying to find those for a project I've had laying around. I ordered one each, 3, 4, 5, & 6MM. Once I see which one(s) fit the best, I can them buy more of them.

[skeeter]

A great big THANK-YOU, sir for sharing the STL files. With todays addition of a 3D printer, I can now make one of these. I'm excited to get started, just have to wait for the delivery of the Bruder loader to get here................That, & have some spare time. LOL! I know when winter gets here, I'll have more than enough spare time to complete ALL my projects, & then some.

[SteinHDan]

Thanks, Skeeter! :-)

Congratulations on your newly acquired printer! :-)

I've also put the files up on Shapeways if there anyone not owning a 3D-printer but still wants to get the parts made:
- https://www.shapeways.com/search?q=s...D+loader&type=
I think Shapeways is very expensive, though...

There is a third alternative and that is https://www.3dhubs.com/
There you can get the parts printed on someone's 3D printer close to you.


Best regards,
Stein :-)

[Rvjimd]

Skeeter,

I'm jealous, sounds like a LOT of fun getting to learn and play with a new 3D printer and converting a loader! You should start a build thread including setting up and using the new printer!

Stein,

Thanks again for sharing the files and knowledge!

Jim

[SteinHDan]

Thanks, Jim! :-)

Stein :-)

[SteinHDan]

I bought a smaller radio for my sons to get a better grip:

- https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...er-mode-2.html




It did not have self-centering for all the axis on the joysticks, so I opened it up to see if there was just something to screw loose or something like that to get it to self center.

But there was a part missing to get the self-centering functionality. I copied the design in Fusion 360 and 3D-printed a new part.

- STL file: http://d1t2tbzmskak12.cloudfront.net...tickCenter.stl












Also, the spring was missing. I took that from an old donor radio.




Putting it back into the radio:






The end result:
(now with self-centering on all axis)







Stein :-)