Vulcan Modules

Analysis for where modules can be reused between Vulcan systems. A part that can serve many purposes makes a case for a higher investment.

Motors

Brushed

The purist in me doesn't like this idea, but the reality is they're cheap and fairly powerful and require much less complex drivers. The major drawback is the brushes wear out, but the target audience consists of the best candidates to fix such an isue

Brushless

A module that combines a brushless motor and driver will be extremely valuable in many places. If this is feasible, it will probably be worth including several of them in the final design.

Something in the range of 150KV.

However this also goes back to building the motors.

Induction

A 2.25 HP motor will use 15A@110V.

Control

Linear

Probably built off either the brushed or brushless motor, a standard linear drive will integrate into many cnc systems. It can also be helpful in systems that are not fully automated, for instance, positioning a stop on a miter saw.

PCBs

It may be possible to take multiple related circuits and merge them into one PCB. It's then feasible to make many prints of that one board.

For instance, I expect many of the low level electronics boards to be built around the ATMEGA328P TQFP. A design that makes it easy to add standard sensors and comms would allow for a single board to work in many different roles.

Handle

For many hand held devices, we will need a handle. It should have a trigger connected to a potentiometer, a thumbwheel connected to a rotary encoder and a 3 position switch. Either litium cells or AA battery clip.

There is a dedicated micro controller. When it boot it checks one bit to see if it should go into master or slave mode. In slave mode, it will listen as a I2C device and can run many programs. In master mode the switch chooses either the trigger or thumbwheel and the output varies based on that.

If the input voltage is zero, the output voltage comes from the internal supply. If a voltage is supplied, the handle only acts as a controller.

Case Studies

• Flash light
• circular saw
• drill
• hand vacuum