December Release

It's 1st December, so it's time for SSR1 Beta!

I have been really unwell for the last week. The SSR1 design has come together very well the last couple of months, as I demonstrated on the last livestream, but unfortuately I just lost nearly all of the time I set aside for finishing up and writing initial assembly notes.

I did promise 1st December though, and thankfully someone invented the expression "Early Access" for just such occasions as this. This should be a very simple build, especially for anyone who has the Alpha version of the design as a reference. The non-printed parts list is more or less identical (apart from the ESP32).

I do have some extra notes, which I will put below. Obviously, my next release will be a much more substantial set of build instructions! In the meantime the #maker-chat channel on the discord server is the best place to ask for help if you get stuck!

(The files are protected with the december password because of an ongoing Patreon security flaw. Check your email. As a $8 or $16 patron you should have received the passwords in your welcome email, but feel free to contact me if you have any trouble finding them. The files are also available on my discord server.)

Assembly notes:

Fasteners
Use M3x5.7mm heat-set thread inserts (7x)
-4x in the case base
-2x in the rail cap
-1x in the belt tensioner

Use M3x6 countersunk bolts (4x)
-4x to mount the drive pulley to the motor
-4x to close up the case cover

Use M3x16 bolts (6x)
-1x to mount the idler pulley to the belt tensioner
-1x to control the belt tension (with M3 washers)
-2x to attach the rail cap to the case base
-2x to mount the lower motor to the case base

Use M3x10 bolts (2x) to mount upper motor to the case base

Use M2x8 bolts (4x)
-2x to clamp the belt on the receiver (with M2 washers)
-2x to attach the encoder mount

Use M2x10 bolts (2x) to mount the PCB clamps

Use M2x5 bolts (4x) to mount the SFOC board

Writing connections
The SSR1 Beta1 uses a Waveshare ESP32-S3-Zero or equivalent. The pin numbering on this is different to the DevKit v1 used on SSR1 Alpha.

Use a 20v USB-C trigger module for power, connected to the +/- terminals on the SFOC board.

Motor controller connections:
ESP32 4 -> SFOC EN
ESP32 3 -> SFOC IN3
ESP32 2 -> SFOC IN2
ESP32 1 -> SFOC IN1
ESP32 GND -> SFOC GND (don’t forget!)

Encoder (MT6701) connections:
ESP32 10 -> MT6701 DIR
ESP32 12 -> MT6701 SCL
ESP32 13 -> MT6701 SDA
ESP32 5v -> MT6701 VCC
ESP33 GND -> MT6701 GND (can use the spare GND on the SFOC for this!)

There is no hall sensor currently.