OSR2+ build recommendations

DIY
1

I am looking to build my first OSR2+. If you were building your first setup, would you build the basic design on Thingiverse or a different version?

I am thinking of using DS3235SG servos.

I also noticed that the free plan has a Romeo BLE mini. In my research I see that a lot of people are using a ESP32 instead. Is that the preferred method?

I would be grateful for any first time builder recs!

Thanks.

2

Def use the esp32. Much easier to program. It also forces you to use a power bus which is a very good thing to do.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have a build guide that you would recommend?

4

I’ve just started to build my OSR few days ago. I’m using OSR2++ design (from Thingiverse) with ESP32 (S3 version is on the way, but for the test I’ve used ESP32 Lite and it worked well). I used the firmware from https://github.com/jcfain/TCodeESP32 - I even managed to connect via wifi (but bluetooth kept disconnecting).
Today I assembled all the printed parts and I’m waiting for the power supply, which should arrive on Tuesday. Without it, I cannot test everything together because of limited power.
Now I’m wondering how to position arms on servos to be able to use the full range of motion :wink:
And I didn’t use any guides - so far it wasn’t necessary.

5

I wouldn’t go with the basic design, if for no other reason than the lack of a cooling fan. Servos get hot, especially with faster scripts. Hot enough to cause serious burns, and hot enough to fail eventually.

You should pony up a measly $8 for one month to access the Tempest Discord, where you can find more designs and ask for help.

Beyond that, I do recommend ESP32 over Romeo BLE, though it’s important to note that not all ESP32 boards are alike. They have different pinouts and different physical layouts. You need to find the board you will use, then make sure the mounting area for the board is spaced correctly before printing. It’s not that hard to modify the STL to move screw holes a little bit. I use Blender for that, which is very user-unfriendly, but has a lot of capability.

As already mentioned in a previous reply, with the ESP32, you will need a power bus. I’d argue you also need one with the Romeo BLE, since you can’t push a whole lot of power through it. So you need to figure out what you’re going to use for said power bus.

I use pins soldered into small pieces of strip board, which I screw into the base (requires modified base). I create jumper wires with Dupont connectors, which requires a special crimp tool or a fair bit of finesse with needle-nosed pliers. If you don’t want to do any soldering, you can go with WAGO connectors or something similar, which will work with bare stripped wire, but they do take up more space.

The upshot is, you should determine all the parts you’ll be using in the guts, and have them all on hand before printing anything, so you can be sure things will fit. I crudely model all the bits in Blender to lay things out and see visually that everything will fit. You also need to remember that wires take up space, and more than you might think. Don’t make them longer than they need to be.

Regarding power, I use two DC adapters to create two separate 7.5V power buses. No reason you can’t use a more powerful power supply to create a single one, but like I said, decide on that before printing anything. Having two DC inputs requires modifying the base as well. You should also have a switch for each power bus that feeds a servo, so you can turn them off quickly.

As far as servos go, I’d recommend you go with the Flash Hobby M45CHW instead. It’s more expensive ($30-40 versus $20-30), but a lot quieter.

6

Thank you for the info! I got on the Patreon/Discord. Lots of reading to do.