Rolling Chassis

Been working the last few weeks on figuring out the center casters. None of the previous 2.5 - 3 inch casters seemed to be working for me. A couple builders, mainly the R2.0 guys, had mentioned trying a beefy 3.25 inch Gladiator Caster from McMaster. After a lot of staring at the issues with every two wheel combo I could find, I finally decided to go ahead and get the Gladiator. 

I'd hoped that the holes in the Gladiator Caster would line up with the JAG mounting plate, it was a little hard to tell based off the CAD drawing alone. Once I got it in hand, it was obvious it would be way off the mark. So the next phase of deciding how to mount the thing began. I didn't really want to modify the bottom flat JAG plate, which I would have to since the taller caster would need to sit higher up in the foot that the standard plate allowed. So I went looking at Lowe's and found a 4x12 inch piece of 1/4 inch steel. It was a little thicker than the JAG plate, but I figured its better to try cutting an off the shelf $10 piece than a hard to replace custom part.

I tried a couple methods to cutting this thing, but once I got a hard metal Jigsaw blade, it went pretty smooth, and cutting it exactly in half would be just the right size. I laid the JAG plate over the now 4x6 inch piece, centered it and marked hole locations. Then used a drill press to both drill and counter sink the holes where the plate would attach to the angled half of the JAG mounting system. I had figured out earlier that mounting the Gladiator Caster flush with one side of the new plate would put it almost exactly centered in the foot when moving forward, perhaps just dumb luck. So I marked the holes of the Caster and drilled those out next.

The biggest problem was that the caster would sit on top of the screws that mounted the plate to the angled piece via standoff couplers. I'd originally thought I'd just lock the caster screws in with nuts on the bottom side, screw in the plate, then place the caster over the caster screw nuts and get them to fit inside the rather large mounting holes of the caster itself. But, my Dad has a neighbor that can do Tig welding, so we gave him the plate to weld nuts onto the top side of the plate, thereby allowing a rather easy install of the caster itself.

Once I got the piece back, it was time to see if this plan was going to work out. I found some 7/8th inch standoffs at Lowe's, thinking that I'd try it with those first and then order whatever length I'd really need later. They ended up being the exact length I needed, another stroke of dumb luck. I also found a handy right angle ratchet driver set for $20 bucks that worked perfectly for attaching the JAG angled piece to the Center Foot.

The new custom plate went on with ease, and then the Gladiator Caster screwed in tight with some washers helping to span the rather wide holes it has. The great thing about this caster, other than being nice and heavy duty, is that it perfectly swivels 360º without hitting the side of the Foot. Its like it was made for this exact use.

So once I got the Center Foot all together, it was time to get R2 somewhat back together again. I put the Outer Feet complete with JAG Drive System installed back onto the legs. The now quite heavy legs went back on the frame, and the pretty hefty Center Foot went on as well. I immediately realized I'll have to lock the Center Ankle before I'll be able to see the whole thing in action, but holding the Center Foot down I moved R2 around with relative ease.

The other thing that became apparent was that I will have to cut a hole in the bottom of the frame and use the COM-8B adapter plate for the center leg. The Center Foot is still not sitting level, just like before I had the wheels installed. But all-in-all, I think the Gladiator Caster will work out well. It really makes me want to get the motors, batteries and RC elements in ASAP and get R2 rolling around on his own power.