Fully 3D printed John Deere 1/10 scratch build

[agriRC]

Hi Everyone

Heres the start of my first build. I have decided to fully 3D print the whole build where I can as I have two CR-10 printers to be used. Its based on the round cab series John Deere as these are what I drove when I first started driving tractors. I remember the sound of the straight 6. I will be looking to do a 2wd version after this 4wd.

Here is the specs I am aiming for

• FPV pan/tilt camera in cab with runcam 2
• sound module
• exhaust smoke generator
• front and rear Diffs
• rear diff lock
• engage/disengage front axle
• full lighting all around
• 3 point linkage/draw bar
• variable speed PTO
• buttons on rear fender to control PTO and 3 point linkage
• rotating steering wheel (better FPV experience)
• moving gear levers (better FPV experience)
• working cab door and rear window
• serial link to rear attachments
• custom app for controls with physical joysticks on the side of the tablet for driving.
• future mods include locking front axle, wire following for autonomous mode and front 3 point linkage

Tyres are printed from flexible filament. Custom tread pattern designed to be 3D printer friendly. Fustratingly the filament wasnt dry half way through the print as you can see slight difference in surface finish.



Heres the internals of the front axle. I had inspiration from mrcrankyface on thingiverse. I re designed his model to get correct width and include mud guard mounts. Also modified it to mount steering servo to the top. Axle works really well.



Servo mounted on axle with custom servo horn. I print using PTEG. After trying so many filaments I found it was the best to print with using kapton tape on the bed. It can be stringy with small spider webs over the print but nothing a lighter cant handle. It is strong and I have confidence in the drive train gearing. I will upgrade front axle to a lockable diff eventually. I also want to modify the camber sumhow. This means at full lock the wheels are angled so it will be more realistic.



Plenty of room under hood for smoke generator and batteries.



Rear tyre being printed with 5% infill. The filament was baked in oven for 6 hours to ensure there was no moisture absorbed. Should get plenty of traction.



There are some absolutely stunning all metal builds on here and some people with skills I could only dream of.

Nice to meet you all. More updates to follow.

agriRC

[Rascall Hunter]

Looking awesome!

[pedrcri]

pretty cool. what cad program did you use? I am making some parts myself to make my 7930 4wd.

[agriRC]

Originally Posted by pedrcri

pretty cool. what cad program did you use? I am making some parts myself to make my 7930 4wd.

I use fusion 360. Used to use sketchup a lot but soon converted when I realised there are plenty of complicated parts coming up and needed to model joints and moving parts. Very time consuming as I am a bit of a perfectionist but rewarding when done properly. 360 is such a powerful tool!

[agriRC]

The rear 3 point linkage is done. I am quite pleased how it turned out. Need to think of how to attach a PTO shaft now. I will probably just have a square drive and 2 grub screw to lock PTO shaft on place.





Draw bar is removable because when attachments are lowered the shaft will foul on the bar.

I realised that I need to install a spring system on the servo horn that controls the 3 point linkage. As normally hydraulics only lift the implement I want gravity (spring) to keep it lowered and moving up and down on the contours of the field surface. The same servo that operates the linkage will also operate a lever in the cab.

There will be gearing in the rear void to connect the motor to the PTO drive shaft. Actually still undecided whether to go belt or gear. Probably belt as its quieter though.

There is latches in the lower hooks to keep attachment in place. It is a bearing less design. May improve it to include bearings for next build.

I was curious to see what kind of view I will get from the runcam 2 camera in the cab. The wide FOV looks awsum. It looks a little fuzzy because the light is not good in my office.



This is screenshot. The runcam records in HD and sends a picture to the runcam app. I will build a holder on the controller for it. Eventually i will send video feed to FPV goggles.

As the camera will be pan and tilt I am tempted to add a peek axis. This means the camera will move left and right so I can look down the side of the bonnet. Ideal for ploughing.

There will be sum LEDs on the dash and my latest idea is to have a 128 x 64 pixel OLED screen in the cab. Basically an 'Isobus' system. This will show tractor and implement info. Will be cool to look at it from the FPV camera.

This build is turning into Farming simulator now Cant wait for first run.

PS I will clean my desk soon.

[egronvold]

A job well done so far. The parts looks much better than most printed parts. Time spent on design seems to be rewarded in the end.

[Wombii]

Yes, please do an oled display and document everything about that for us.

Everything is looking really good. Looks like you've planned this out nicely.

[agriRC]

Originally Posted by egronvold

A job well done so far. The parts looks much better than most printed parts. Time spent on design seems to be rewarded in the end.

Thank you. All parts will be eventually sand blasted/sanded then painted. Nothing worse to do a 24 hour print then realize it doesn't fit or holes do not line up. Checks must be double checked.

[agriRC]

Originally Posted by Wombii

Yes, please do an oled display and document everything about that for us.

Everything is looking really good. Looks like you've planned this out nicely.

Yes no problem. Arduino will be at the heart of the project. I will post code regarding the OLED for you. Will definitely look cool in any RC project.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/0-96-I2C-...UAAOSwax5YwjkE

I will be using the above.

I believe in the seven Ps
Proper, Prior, Planning, Prevents, P#ss, Poor, Performance

[agriRC]

Cab frame complete using 14 seperate parts. Rear window functional and will be connected to a servo. Wasnt the most efficient way of making the cab but saved a ton of supports when 3D printing. I did design with a door but just didnt look right. Will go back to drawing board in the future to include a functional door.

[frizzen]

Wow, i'm continually amazed at what's possible to design and print.

That's looking great, and really coming along well!

[RickBowling]

This John Deere project is amazing

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https://www.agridane.com - specs of agricultural machinery

[agriRC]

I have programmed the OLED display and made a mount to go in the cab. Looks awsum! Made my own 32x32 pixel icons for 4WD, Diff Lock etc. Then managed to drop the OLED and it cracked agghhrrr! New one will be here in a few days. I will add pictures and code for anyone to use/modify.

In the meantime I made the custom exhaust smoke generator.









The process is simple using the same principle as vaping. A Japanese cotton wick soaks up vegetable glycerine. Voltage is applied across a coil. The heat burns the glycerine creates a smoke and the fan blows it up the exhaust. The small 30mm 5v DC fan will be speed controlled and the voltage to the coil will also be controlled. This will allow me to sync the exhaust with throttle or RPM. I could simple show smoke when 'engine' is under load. Looking forward to tuneing it.



I have noticed that when you apply to much voltage to the coil you can get too much smoke and it finds every leak possible in the box. I printed some seals for the lid and fan and it works a lot better but it will still back up through the fan. I think I will need a bigger fan possibly 12V if I want serious smoke but for now I am happy with performance. For example I can turn on coil at a reasonable voltage the smoke will stay in box. When I turn the fan on it puffs out the exhaust. Looks cool.

Vegetable glycerine is the base liquid for vaping so you could add flavourings. Strawberry smoke sounds a good idea. I wonder if I add black food colouring will the smoke be black? I doubt it but will try for extra realism.

I will mod it to have 2 more screws to hold lid on to keep pressure constant along seal and a tighter interference around the exhaust(hence the Heath Robinson cotton seal attempt).

I can also refill by syringing glycerine back down the exhaust (WIN!). A refill seems to last forever though.

If you apply around 5 volts it will create a jet engine noise and you can see flames inside but does not cause damage. Do not know how I know this.

overall success.

OLED update to follow.

[agriRC]

I have done some research and found my 30mm fan throughput is 4.12 CFM. This is obviously not enough. Ideally I would like to treble this so will require a 50mm fan. So a re-design of the enclosure is required. Handy for for you guys to know for the anyone who wants to build there own smoke generator. I cannot confirm a 50mm will work but fairly confident. The vape coil I used was a 0.85 ohm clapton coil. There are many different types of coils out there for vape modders. Any should work.

[agriRC]

Here is the cab 'Isobus' system.







I created 32x32 pixel icons for PTO,DIFF LOCK,4WD and BEACONS. When they are enabled the image is then inversed to look illuminated. Screen measures 0.96" diagonal and is crystal clear. When it powers up it shows the john deere logo. The code below takes serial commands 1, 2, 3 or for and toggles the icons respectively. The fuel gauge will be battery level and RPM will be throttle. This code was developed for testing you will need to modify to include in your projects but you can see how it is done. I will include different screens for implements. The screens will then be changed via the remote.



I made a enclosure for it and mounted it in the cab roughly where it would be in real life and also give me a good view from the FPV camera.

[agriRC]

I am assumeing you can install the arduino IDE, connect arduino, find COM port, Wire up display to the I2C pins etc. Below is the code I used. You will require the associated libraries Adafruit GFX and Adafruit SSD1306.

Copy and paste code from the next post into ****Place Bitmaps Here*****.

Upload and your ready to go. Open comm port and set baud rate to 9600. Sending 1-4 switches the icons and sets a random fuel level and RPM.

#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>
#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>

#define SCREEN_WIDTH 128 // OLED display width, in pixels
#define SCREEN_HEIGHT 64 // OLED display height, in pixels

Adafruit_SSD1306 display(SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT, &Wire);

int PTOSPEED = 0;
boolean DIFFLOCK = false;
boolean FOURWD = false;
boolean BEACONS = false;
int RPM = 0;
int fuelLevel = 0;

//****Place Bitmaps Here*****

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600); //Start serial comms
  if (!display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, 0x3C)) { // Address 0x3C for 128x64
    Serial.println(F("SSD1306 allocation failed"));
    for (;;); // Don't proceed, loop forever
  }
  display.setRotation(2); //rotate display as this is how the OLED is mounted physically
  display.clearDisplay(); //Clear buffer
  display.drawBitmap(0, 0,  johndeere, SCREEN_WIDTH, SCREEN_HEIGHT, 2); //Draw john deere logo to buffer
  display.display(); //Display Buffer to screen
  delay(1000); //Wait for one second
  display.setTextColor(WHITE); //set text colour to white
  drawScreen(); //run procedure called drawScreen
}

void loop() {
  if (Serial.available())  //Read serial and toggle variables by sending 1,2,3 or 4
  {
    byte in = Serial.read();
    {
      if (in == '1')
      {
        if (PTOSPEED == 1000)
        {
          PTOSPEED = 0;
        }
        else
        {
          PTOSPEED = PTOSPEED + 500;
        }
      }

    }
    if (in == '2')
    {
      DIFFLOCK = !DIFFLOCK;
    }
    if (in == '3')
    {
      FOURWD = !FOURWD;
    }
    if (in == '4')
    {
      BEACONS = !BEACONS;
    }
    drawScreen();
  }
}

void drawScreen()
{
  display.clearDisplay(); //clear buffer
  if (PTOSPEED == 0)
  {
    display.drawBitmap(0, 0,  PTOA, 31, 32, WHITE); //display PTO off image
  }
  else if (PTOSPEED == 500)
  {
    display.drawBitmap(0, 0,  PTOB, 31, 32, WHITE); //display PTO on image (500rpm)
  }
  else
  {
    display.drawBitmap(0, 0,  PTOB, 31, 32, WHITE); //display PTO on image (1000rpm)
  }
  display.drawRect(0, 0, 31, 32, WHITE); //Draw rectangle around PTO image

  if (DIFFLOCK)
  {
    display.drawBitmap(32, 0,  diffLockB, 31, 32, WHITE); //display diff lock on image
  }
  else
  {
    display.drawBitmap(32, 0,  diffLockA, 31, 32, WHITE); //display diff lock off image
  }
  display.drawRect(32, 0, 31, 32, WHITE); //Draw rectangle around diff lock image
  if (FOURWD)
  {
    display.drawBitmap(64, 0,  fourWheelDriveB, 31, 32, WHITE); //display 4WD on image
  }
  else
  {
    display.drawBitmap(64, 0,  fourWheelDriveA, 31, 32, WHITE); //display 4WD off image
  }
  display.drawRect(64, 0, 31, 32, WHITE); //Draw rectangle around 4WD image
  if (BEACONS)
  {
    display.drawBitmap(96, 0,  flashingBeaconsB, 31, 32, WHITE); //display beacon on image
  }
  else
  {
    display.drawBitmap(96, 0,  flashingBeaconsA, 31, 32, WHITE); //display beacon off image
  }
  display.drawRect(96, 0, 31, 32, WHITE); //Draw rectangle around beacon image
  display.setTextSize(2); //Change text size to 2
  RPM = random(750,3000); //pick a random number from 750 to 3000
  display.setCursor(50, 42); //set cursor text location for RPM position
  display.print(RPM); //print RPM variable
  display.setTextSize(1); //Change text size to 1
  display.setCursor(100, 42); //set cursor text location
  display.print("RPM"); //print RPM after variable
  int fuelLevel = random(0, 31); //Create a random variable for testing Level gauge
  display.drawBitmap(-5, 32,  fuel, 31, 32, WHITE); //Draw fuel gauge symbol
  display.drawRect(26, 33, 10, 31, WHITE); //draw gauge outline
  display.fillRect(26, fuelLevel + 33, 10, 31, WHITE); // draw solid infill for gauge level
  display.display(); //send buffer to display
}

[agriRC]

To keep this thread tidy here is the link to the software download.

Arduino File

A handy piece of code below. This will scan the I2C bus to tell you what address your OLED is.

#include <Wire.h>
  
void setup()
{
  Wire.begin(); 
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("\nI2C Scanner");
}
 
 
void loop()
{
  byte error, address;
  int nDevices;
 
  Serial.println("Scanning...");
 
  nDevices = 0;
  for(address = 1; address < 127; address++ )
  {
    // The i2c_scanner uses the return value of
    // the Write.endTransmisstion to see if
    // a device did acknowledge to the address.
    Wire.beginTransmission(address);
    error = Wire.endTransmission();
 
    if (error == 0)
    {
      Serial.print("I2C device found at address 0x");
      if (address<16)
        Serial.print("0");
      Serial.print(address,HEX);
      Serial.println("  !");
 
      nDevices++;
    }
    else if (error==4)
    {
      Serial.print("Unknown error at address 0x");
      if (address<16)
        Serial.print("0");
      Serial.println(address,HEX);
    }    
  }
  if (nDevices == 0)
    Serial.println("No I2C devices found\n");
  else
    Serial.println("done\n");
 
  delay(5000);           // wait 5 seconds for next scan
}

If you would like to make your own icons simply create a 32x32 pixel bitmap image. Load it to LCD Assist software Then copy and paste the generated code into the arduino sketch. You may have to toggle between horizontal and vertical if you are getting jibberish displayed.

If you have not got photoshop then paint will do or pixlr.com is a free photoshop online.

Happy programming. Will look cool in trucks. You can manipulate multiple images to look like a TV in the cab or a posh dash.

AgriRC

[agriRC]

Its nice to have a break from fusion 360 and printing so dived into more software. I had a quick go at the controller. Handy using an android app as there no limit to channels. Also easy 2 way comms. Steering wheel works nice and added levers for a bit of effect. About 80% done. Looks ok for a couple of hours work so far. Its on a 10" screen so buttons are big. Woul like to add a H gear selector. Currently thinking how to do it.



Made using App Inventer 2. Check it out. Its free.

[egronvold]

These small computers really takes the hobby to another level. Nice of you to share

[Wombii]

That display looks really good. Very good job! I expected a simple text display, not sharp good looking graphics. I'll have to reconsider making the center console display in my fire truck functional now.