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Old 06-22-2021, 04:16 PM
dremu dremu is offline
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Default 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

(oh, if you don't see pix here, see https://rctruckandconstruction.com/s...7&postcount=16 )

Saw one of these on the interwebs

https://www.bigsquidrc.com/exclusive...-sign-trailer/

[NB: I know nothing of this other than what you read there, just though it was cool.]

and as usual, I though, I could do that myself.



When am I gonna learn? It actually wasn't bad, other than some printer issues and fitting it all into a tiny space and making it work my way. Had to have trailer lights and an iBus plug to work like all my other trailers and work with all my trucks.

Anyway, the end result is fun:



And with the legs retracted and the head rotated sideways, all ready for travel. Ball hitch is sort of visible there on the sanding sponge, with safety chains of course. (The ball hitches are pretty safe, but I've had my big trailers pop a pintle hitch on uneven terrain in my yard, so the safety chains are actually useful ) Springs are chinesium D90 type, axle is similarly a Tamiya-style trailer type, tires from RC4WD, nothing exotic in that lot.



There's a plug with iBus and power to send turn signal info from the tow rig.



The display is an Arduino Mega with an LCD shield. The BigSquid thing used LED's, which are likely much brighter, but higher power drain. Plus the LCD is very flexible in terms of display (font sizes, colors, whatever.)

The Arduino makes it easy to read the iBus and run the turn signals. One problem with that is that some of my trucks have channel 1 reversed, because their tierod is behind the axle or whatever weird thing with the steering. The Arduino makes this easy, as it swaps the LED's back via software if channel 1 is reversed, so that the left turn is always left.



Managed to sneak a 3S TX pack into the "generator" box on the trailer, along with some switches. The big one on the left is power, and the little one on the right tells the Arduino whether to reverse channel 1. Finally, the middle one is a push button to switch between different displays. I mean, it's an Arduino, isn't their purpose in life to blink LED's (err, LCD's) ?

It has a few canned displays pre-programmed:







the push button just cycles through each.

Then I got bored one afternoon and added some animated options as well:

https://youtu.be/kglY3AF9x-k

https://youtu.be/14G4-jdmG54
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Last edited by dremu; 06-22-2021 at 04:32 PM.
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  #2  
Old 06-22-2021, 04:24 PM
dremu dremu is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

Was a bit nervous about the battery right by the power wires, so the switches are soldered and then heatshrinked (heatshrunk?) over each wire ... and then heatshrunkedified over the whole thing Just To Be Sure.



Had fun with the wheels. CAD'ing them up was a headache, but I wanted a boring wagon wheel as opposed to the shiny stylish stuff you see so often these days. Eventually managed these:



inset for the lock nut up front, just big enough for a 7mm nutdriver or a four-way, and the usual 12mm hex in the back (the Tamiya-style trailer axle still has a drive hex, even though it's not driven ..shrug.. ). Previously I've printed "lugs" in a second color, which works well in larger sizes. This time they're kinda small, so I opted to just do holes, seen there, and then self-tapping screws for the "lugs":



And ugh, the inside of that wheel needs more filing!

One of these days I may draw up and print a boot for it, as I see the real DOT ones with boots on them now and again. (More often you see them with the wheels off when in use. I understand that folks might steal the wheels, but why steal a DOT trailer? ..shrug.. )

As with most of my builds, it's a fun exercise in CAD work and an exercise in frustration trying to make it actually come out... but a conversation piece regardless.

-- A
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Last edited by dremu; 06-22-2021 at 04:31 PM.
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  #3  
Old 06-22-2021, 06:07 PM
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egronvold egronvold is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

A nice little project! Adds scale realism
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Old 06-22-2021, 06:22 PM
TaltosVT TaltosVT is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

Nice!

I keep thinking about making one of these, but I only have a resin 3D printer, and I'm afraid the results will be too brittle for use. I've mulled over making the trailer out of metal instead, but haven't seriously looked into it.
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Old 06-22-2021, 09:46 PM
dremu dremu is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

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Originally Posted by egronvold View Post
A nice little project! Adds scale realism
Thanks. "Little" is of course relative as relates to the word "project" , but yeah, good fun. Plunk down some of the many traffic cones



and I'm good to go.

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Originally Posted by TaltosVT View Post
Nice!

I keep thinking about making one of these, but I only have a resin 3D printer, and I'm afraid the results will be too brittle for use. I've mulled over making the trailer out of metal instead, but haven't seriously looked into it.
'Sfunny, I keep thinking I should look at resin printers =)) No idea why other than it's something new, must be interesting. ABS certainly isn't brittle, but it can be a pain to work, especially when your printer gives you grief. Many of the parts, if you look closely, are wonky in various ways, but not quite enough that I can justify redoing the whole bloody thing.

As for metal, I could weld up a 1:1 like that in a snap, but my welding-brazing skills at small scale ... no. No way. Welding is an art, and I'm only enough of a hack to do it at full size.

Either way, I dig that the Arduinos (or even the R-Pi's, not my thing but some people love 'em) are so cheap/commonplace/well-supported, that we can add this level of realism easily. I actually looked into doing Bluetooth or WiFi, but BT turned into a whole thing to make work with iOS, and adding the height of another shield made the display box kinda clunky. This is simple, and simple is good. The box end comes off with just the two screws if I want to reprogram it, USB plug is right there, bada bing bada boom. I can have the sign say "I AM THE GREAT ONE-EYED BALL OF APPEALER" if I wanted =))

-- A
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Last edited by dremu; 06-22-2021 at 09:49 PM.
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  #6  
Old 06-24-2021, 03:32 PM
jerry56 jerry56 is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

That is really slick... you Arduino guys are like wizards...
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Old 06-24-2021, 08:38 PM
dremu dremu is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

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Originally Posted by jerry56 View Post
That is really slick... you Arduino guys are like wizards...
Thanks, but eh, it's not as bad as it looks. All the various bits have software already written for them ("libraries", and thankfully the more recent Arduino software has come a LONG way in managing those, almost STANDARDS now! =)) ) Then you just pick and choose "I want to use the LCD display", set it up with "it has this many pixels and is this orientation" (0*, 90*, 180*, 270*), and then say "I want to use this font with this color and put these words in this place." Graphics are a bit harder, but that's the general idea. Mine's a bit less than 300 lines of code (heavily formatted, as I'm a stickler for visibility) but it would be half that if it didn't do the iBus turn signals and was just the display.

The hardest part, actually, was that to get the right "look", like light bulbs or LED's, was I had to find a font that had the round "pixels" like that, and then import it into the LCD stuff. Took me an afternoon, but I think it paid off in making it look "right", if that makes sense. If the letters were square (or heaven forfend, high resolution) it just wouldn't be right =))

-- A
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Last edited by dremu; 06-24-2021 at 08:41 PM.
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  #8  
Old 06-25-2021, 12:56 PM
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

That's a REALLY sharp looking trailer!
Killer looking display!

(Looks over at my arrow board, hangs head in shame, and takes my blinky Leds back to the back of the class)
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What do ya mean "Cars are neither Trucks or Construction"?
It's still scale, and i play fairly well with others, most of the time...
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Old 09-02-2021, 12:41 PM
dremu dremu is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

Stuck in traffic the other day, saw one of these signs on the road, and then cones dropped at the sidewalk with bars across them to block foot traffic. Another "How hard can it be?" moment ... hmm, it's just a cylinder and two toruses (torusses? torii? Whatever the mathematical term is for a donut!)



Making it in two colors required a bit of jiggling in the design, but not bad.



The one thing that bummed me out is that the real ones are collapsible, telescoping, and I don't think the scale would permit enough strength to do it in plastic. I could have used brass tube, but then the paint would get scratched off, plus trying to match paint to the plastic on the ends, ugh. But with the printer it's easy enough to do up different lengths and, once the thing is set up, hit "print another copy", so I have a coupla sizes.

I was lucky this time as the white and orange are both the same brand of filament, so the machine settings held nicely. You'll note the shade of orange is a bit different from that of the cone, which was a different brand. Fiddly business is printing, and a bit of dark magic... but great fun when it works out.

-- A
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Last edited by dremu; 09-02-2021 at 12:52 PM.
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Old 09-03-2021, 08:41 PM
dremu dremu is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

I really hope the Public Works people finish the roadwork, or I'll be printing toys forever =)) Had another "How hard can it be" epiphany:



(the four guys on the left.) Took some Googling to determine that these are called "traffic delineators", but with that, got the pix to make them up. As with the bars with the loops, the orange and white are printed in one piece; the black octagonal base is separate. Hole down the center so the orange glues in, et voila:



In retrospect I'm not absolutely sure the scale is right (they're like 80mm high), but then my menagerie kinda varies anyway, so they should mostly fit in.

-- A
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Last edited by dremu; 09-03-2021 at 08:44 PM.
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Old 09-04-2021, 04:41 PM
jerry56 jerry56 is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

Pretty cool....I'd have to print in one color or the other and paint but that's doable
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Old 09-05-2021, 10:50 AM
dremu dremu is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

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Pretty cool....I'd have to print in one color or the other and paint but that's doable
Or these are shaped such that you could print and glue together.

In retrospect, mebbe I shoulda done that and then glow-in-the-dark painted the white, get some a real reflect aspect to those parts, but ..shrug.. live and learn.

-- A
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Old 09-05-2021, 05:05 PM
Zabco Zabco is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

If you are in the US and want to make accurately scaled traffic control signs, cones, barriers or what not; go to

https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/

and you can download the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD for short. This is the US standard for everything to do with traffic control. Part 6 covers all construction related signs and devices.
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Old 10-22-2021, 02:07 PM
ddmckee54 ddmckee54 is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

dremu:

Just wanted to let you know that you inspired me into trying an LCD project.

I'm working on a gag gift for the HR director where I work. I've been giving her a boatload of crap since the day she started, and this is just more of the same. Depending on the mood she's in I either call her the HR Goddess, or the HR Dragon.

Inspired by your screen I'm working on an Arduino driven LCD touchscreen that, depending on the mood she's in and which option she selects, will randomly select from 10 HR Goddess answers, or randomly select from 10 HR Dragon answers. OR, it will randomly select from ALL the answers - HR Goddess answers, HR Dragon answers, and several non-comittal but generaly smart-aleck answers.

Thanks for the inspiration, I don't think I would have ever tried a project like this if I hadn't seen this thread.

Don

Last edited by ddmckee54; 10-22-2021 at 03:04 PM.
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Old 10-24-2021, 08:14 PM
dremu dremu is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zabco View Post
If you are in the US and want to make accurately scaled traffic control signs, cones, barriers or what not; go to

https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/

and you can download the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD for short. This is the US standard for everything to do with traffic control. Part 6 covers all construction related signs and devices.
Ooh. I'm nerdy enough that I'm gonna do that ... for complicated reasons, I once spent an afternoon reading the state vehicle code as relating to whether doors are required on vehicles. Short answer is: no, as long as you don't make the officer angry enough to dig through the VC =))

Quote:
Originally Posted by ddmckee54 View Post
dremu:

Just wanted to let you know that you inspired me into trying an LCD project.

I'm working on a gag gift for the HR director where I work. I've been giving her a boatload of crap since the day she started, and this is just more of the same. Depending on the mood she's in I either call her the HR Goddess, or the HR Dragon.

Inspired by your screen I'm working on an Arduino driven LCD touchscreen that, depending on the mood she's in and which option she selects, will randomly select from 10 HR Goddess answers, or randomly select from 10 HR Dragon answers. OR, it will randomly select from ALL the answers - HR Goddess answers, HR Dragon answers, and several non-comittal but generaly smart-aleck answers.

Thanks for the inspiration, I don't think I would have ever tried a project like this if I hadn't seen this thread.

Don
Must be a small company. Until recently I've been working for giant corporations with mandatory annual HR/harassment trainings and a total lack of sense of humour.

Years ago, at a smaller company, I did up a PC to sit in my office window running Berkeley System's screensaver (they did the flying toasters, which dates this.) Anyway, they had a module that would draw a random graph or pie chart or whatever with random captions. You fed in a dictionary of words, like "Global Temperature vs Piracy" and it would give you something like this



(that example is obvi much more recent, but you get the idea.)

and then every so often it would switch to whatever other random nonsense. I vaguely recall adding one that said, for no particularly good reason, "I am the Great One-Eyed Ball of Appealer", and people just accepted that I had a screen in my window showing that. Not sure if that says anything good about me or not =))

-- A
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Old 01-16-2022, 12:52 PM
jerry56 jerry56 is offline
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Default Re: 1:10ish 3D printed DOT "Construction Ahead" sign display

Were the traffic control signs at Cabin Fever yours..???
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