Assembling the Inmoov - Getting Started

I now have enough parts printed and my printer is cranking out new parts so that i thought I would start putting it together. I went to the website instructions and step 1 was right away a problem. Under neck and jay, I was told to: "Glue or screw “MainGear” to “NeckHinge” but I could not find any neckhinge anywhere in the STL files. What?? It turns out that it is the old instructions to the old files. I am not encouraged by this. This is a daunting project and already I have a doubt and uncertain about what I am supposed to do. That is why I am back here working on this blog!

This is wrong!

On the forum I found these instructions:

I don't know yet what this means. I'll try and figure it out.

So. first I will print the neckplate.

More Plate Problems

Following my first disaster of ripping a hole in the plate blanket in order to get my ear off, I put a new one on and had the same problem again. Fortunately my glass cover arrived so I had something else to try. While having that disassembled and cleaning it I discovered that I had the heat plate upside down and that might be why I encountered new sticking problems right off with a brand new blanket.

The Glass Plate

I received my new glass plate. I ordered a thicker one hoping I would be less likely to break it. Unfortunately I discovered that the adjustment screws would not let me back screw them down tight enough to get clearance for my new plate. My solution was to cut the springs down by about 1/4". After that my plastic was coming off the plate at the first layer. So I tried the glue stick and water, thinly spread around. It worked wonderfully! Unlike the glue stick on the blanket - that made a horrible, eventually burned mess. The next wonderful discovery was that with the new glass plate, once my print was finished, I simply had to wait until it cooled and you could hear it pop off. For the next print, I just take some tissue and dampen it, and swirl the leftover glue around. I love my glass!!!

Ear Printing Disaster

By now I have printed all of the head and face parts except for the ears. I have the speakers so I am using the design for them. I printed the left ear fine. When the right ear finished I had a problem. The build was stuck fast to the plate. I mean it would not budge. I tried everything and my printer was down for a day and a half. Finally I just gave up and got some vice grips and started smashing it. When it finally came loose it ripped a big hole in my bed cover. This was a new cover that I just replaced when I started this project. Ugh!!!

I put a new cover on. Now I will try printing with a raft. I am hoping the raft will let me get under this print. If it works I may use a raft regularly after this experience!
http://www.flashforge.com.hk/news/what-is-raft-in-the-3d-slicing-software

Here is my print starting on top of the raft.

Printing - My First Mistakes

I have a Flashforge Creator Pro that will be used to print my parts. It had been idle for a while and I had to do a couple repairs to get it up and printing again.
First, I had to replace the bed covering. That took a lot of scraping with a metal paint scraper tool and some gasoline to get the glue residue off.
Secondly I had to replace the nozzle because I had damaged it trying to unclog it. It was made of soft copper I think. I bought a stainless steel replacement and that is working great.
Most of the problems so far printing is when the plastic doesn't stick at the start of the print. I've found that that is usually because my plate isn't level or is too low. I tighten it up using a piece of paper. The paper should be rubbing on the nozzle when I have it right.

Don't Forget the Print Settings!
I was so eager to jump into printing that I did not check the recommended settings before I got started. I just went with the default settings in my printer software which was 2 shells and 15% infill. I had 2 broken parts. I cracked the face plate when I snapped it off the bed. Then, my son broke the jaw when he knocked it on the floor. I have already printed many parts, so I will just reprint if and when they break. But, any new part I print will at least have 3 shells and 30% infill. This still might not be enough for the 2 broken parts. The designs are just very thin at the breaking points. I would like to add some reinforcements but not sure which program I should use to do that right now.
Beyond that I probably should print solid parts for anything that has stress. We will see about that later.

Why do it? Isn't it too much?

I am a relative newbie when it comes to Robot making. I have messed around with Arduino micro-controllers but I haven't made anything significant. I decided I know enough to do this and a quick search on the internet of projects led me to the InMoov. It is advanced yet open-source. My only complaint might be that it does not yet have legs that work. But, maybe by the time I finish the top, someone will have made them.

Another reason is that I am a computer teacher at an International school in Laos. I want to create something that will excite some students enough for them to get into robotics and engineering.
Finally, my kids are now 16, 13 and 11. They are old enough to have interest and to take part. My second son will definitely get involved and probably do something in the future in a related field.
I enjoy this and it is fun!