Variobot variAnt Instructions Manual page 16

9) Prepping the Drive Shafts
Ideally, the bending angles of the 6 drive shafts
should be exactly 10°. However, they may have
some manufacturing tolerances.
The bending angles of the shafts determine
the range of motion for the legs. If a shaft is
bent too much, the legs may collide with
each other while walking.
To check the bending angles, use the angle
references below. If a shaft is bent slightly more
than 10°, gently press it together at the bending
point using flat pliers.
If it is less than 9°, hold the shaft with the pliers
precisely at the side of the bend and carefully
adjust it.
When variAnt runs into an obstacle, the impact
upon the gears is very high. To prevent the
gears from slipping on the shafts during such
situations, it's necessary to roughen those
areas beforehand.
Slide a shaft collar onto each of the long sides of
the 6 shafts; they'll be 5 mm away from the end of
the shaft (the width of a small gear).
Now, using the sandpaper, roughen the ends in a
longitudinal direction (1) all the way around.
When finished, remove the shaft collars.
5 mm
1
10°
6 bent shafts (80 mm)
6 small shaft collars
9°