I did some preliminary drawings during lunch time, different from the ones I have home but just to give you the idea and discuss it in more detail so as to proceed during the weekend with a more detailed assembly. Below you can see the hand drawing of the release mechanism, pardon my sketches as I was eating at the time The idea is that the user pulls both knobs to release the transmission and then he pulls out the cartridge. The cartridge may be spring loaded but this is something I will see as I go along, space is limited anyways in there... Belowe you can see the blue thing which will be the removable cartridge, there will be a lexan beneath the paper, in order to write notes (either when out or in the roadbook) . Below you can see how the knobs would work, you pull them to the left, and then you pull the blue cartridge upwards. The motor would be in the middle left just to the right of the two orange pulleys. Again, do not mind about the general dimensions as this is just to show you and discuss the options (the cartridge is way eccentric at the moment for example ... ) Below you can see just the cartridge itself. It needs some modifications, but just to give you the general idea. All the axles are able to rotate, the top ones will be made from teflon and rotate freely while the bottom ones will be from Aluminium and rotate because of the motor and the pulleys that connects them together. (in the picture above the orange pulleys will be connected with the green ones - edited, I wrote with each other before... man what was I thinking... ) The frame will have spacers and some stiffeners in order to stay together and the roadbook cover will have some rubber spacers that will push the frame downwards in order to avoid vibration damage. The bottom side of the RB will have guide slots anyway in order for the cartridge to slide in, then the knobs will secure the transmission and then the cover will make sure it stays still ... Once out (as you see it above) you will have two spare knobs (these I plan to make them larger with a winch type knob so you can rewind at the start quickly) which you will use to turn the paper, mark the thing etc. I could not avoid the usual paper/tape fixation on the axles. It is the best way to make sure the paper will stay there once you reach the end of the roadbook or go back to the start. The only real problem, or challenge if I may say, are the knobs (they get in the middle of the thing :eek1) ...I have a couple of other solutions at hand but this seemed more logical at the time .... :eek1 Once I finalise it then I will try and make some give away units to people here to test. Guin pigs are always welcome May be will put it on one of Paul's towers and crash test it The other idea, which exists only in paper at the moment is to have it sliding from the side. The loading would be from top again, but you would drop it in, and slide it to the left. I have to make the assembly to check but it seems better at the moment as we avoid the springs and everything. The forces are low so even a 5mm engage length should be enough to transfer the rotational force and keep the paper rolling Loading aside, There are another couple of things which I want to work on. These will be considered as I go along and only the waterproofing is a major thing to consider while I am on the design phase. The others will cause minimal changes so I will proceed with them in a later stage... 1- The lighting. I have talked with a local guy here and he is preparing a series of LED's. I want to hide a mini switch somewhere inside the thing to make the user able to choose from amber, green and white/blue. Some people respond different when driving at night so it I thing this would be a nice feature. 2- The IP factor on the thing. this is a tough one as there are rotating parts and you are relying on o-rings and then there is the cover but I plan to take all the cables out from the bottom side using a cable gland, make sure the cover is watertight and minimise the number of holes on the shell. I have done this before for industrial machinery so I see no reason of why it cant be done here. Sand can be a real pain so the more I can keep it out of this thing the better it will survive in the long term... 3- I would like to add the option to be battery powered from a lithium RC battery which you can recharge. This way you would not have to mess with bike electronics etc. it is an option the IMO's have so I don't see why the RB's should not. I will make add on things to the assembly, much like the nav tower I have designed. 4- Another way to spice things up would be to make it in parts and the buyer assembles it ... Some people just like to get involved and get to know how things work so this option will be both cheaper and preferable for some users ... Thoughts ? :huh
You and Paul will get the first prototypes no matter what ... In the video I can see a lot of crash dummies as well so we may have to extend the offers there
Wow Dimitri, that was fast! Looks really good and a lot different then I thought you going to do, that has a lot of promise! Now if you want it broken into pieces send me one, but you need someone real to test that, so much different then whats out there, this will take off!
That is a nice neat idea. You'll have to make desk top holder with a motor for putting the scroll on as you mark it.
you want as much room as possible on the spindle areas as roadbooks sometims can get thick when rolled up especially with thick paper and NO ONE wants to slap in an extra one during the day!
the roadbook looks great. keep up the hard work. its great to see all the innovation on this site let alone this thread.
This is indeed my intention. But does anybody know the approximate thickness of a thick paper roll? 50mm ? :huh I can adjust the parameter but it will change the size of the RB so better to know it sooner than later :eek1 Projector will be 3D, I am looking somewhere to put a pair of glasses for other people to join in . I was also thinking of a scented candle holder :huh. You can create the atmosphere to spice up the mood if it happens to talk to a nice lady while fixing the bike in the bivouac and in case of an EMG you will be the one with the light Honestly I have to make a list of these things and make a design which has everything... That would be fun . The Transformers Roadbook ThankS cheering is always appreciated Well, I continue... Late at night (by the typewriter light ) I did some better drawings. The dimensions are better in this trial. I run into my first problem and I slept on it at approximately o4.oo am in the morning ... I will overcome it someway but this is a tricky ... The width of the Roadbook holders that I have seen, is approximately 2oo mm. 2o5 ? Something like that. I run 22omm at the moment which is not good . Nobody wants a wide thing running up there... I just have to redesign the spring loaded mechanism and make it more compact. Now at three o' clock I wasnt very productive (the beer may be? ) so I left it as it was and I will give it a thought later today. I am sure it can be done but it will be tricky with the spring and the machining of the parts... I have it in my mind I just cant design it I will go through it during the weekend and have something better by Monday. I may have to redesign the shell in a more futuristic way which will give me some space within (I was thinking of having some space for a couple of spare parts in there like pulleys and the LED switch I was talking about before). The mechanics (motor, bearings, pulley size etc) will be done once the shell and the mechanism are completed. The above is the Roadbook itself. The lexan is bolted on either side of the frames and allows you to write on the paper. It should also help to distribute the light better for night riding. As you see it above it is very wide (now crankshaft will like it because of its wide screen features but anyways ... ) , The other thing I do not have with me here is the tulip heights. I would like to be able to see three tulips at any time and go for this target no matter what. I hate to see two and a little more. It makes riding easier if you see more info so you plan ahead. In the Figure above you can see the cartridge. The slots in the lexan are there to help you put your fingers in and pull it out. Four identical slots, 1mm deep will be machined or laser engraved (depends on the manuf. process but it can be done easily) where the four legs of the cartridge are so it can be positioned correctly. There it not much room for positioning error anyways. There is room for improvement by adding sliding arms which you will pull upwards and they slide into the red frames above. 'T' shaped so you pull the thing with your fingers. Let me know what you think... D.
The biggest / longest roadbook I have in my hands is day 2 from Albania, in 2 seperate pieces... I can lend it to you. Tape them together and roll them up. PM me Following the roadbook idea closely, the bell is starting to toll for my Touratech piece of crap - even though I bought a used spare recently
Touratech piece of crap is what I also have at the moment... Scared to death when the gears will eat their teeth out ... Appreciate the gesture and I accept the offer for the roadbook ...
I love innovation as much as the next guy, especially when it streamlines a process. With this issue, after I get over my initial "hey that's cool" reaction I pondered a couple of things: 1. How much cost do you think this apparatus will add to to the cost of a road book? An F2R 750 is right at $200 less expensive than the MD, which RMS carries for $575. Do you think this could be produced and still kept at a price point comparable with the current ceiling? 2. The cartridge seems ideal if there is only one map roll for the day, but what happens if there is a second? I cannot see how you would carry another cartridge on your person. Just a couple of thoughts, Ken
Cost is always an issue of course but value needs to be considered. If the price point was the same as the other current offerings, then it's a no brainer, especially if you could buy spare cartridges. The build your own concept is also interesting, because you would understand how it goes together and buying repair parts would be possible, since everything is bagged.
А зачем так усложнять конструкцию ! Why so complicated design?
Can anyone tell me the diameter of the biggest dakar roadbook when rolled up? On the cartridge idea: I like the idea of a quick change roadbook cartridge but I don't like the idea of having to carry it. Its easy enough to put your roadbook scroll in a nice zip lock bag and store it on your person...but a cartridge, even a compact one, starts getting bulky....and if it has hard parts its one more thing to cause damage to your body in a fall. How about eliminating the entire catridge assembly and redisigning a roadbook to take a prerolled scroll (alreaded wound about an axle). So instead of dropping a frame work into the holder you pull your prewound scroll out, remove the old, drop the new one on, feed the end into the drive axle, and go from there...sort of like loading a new paper scroll into a plotter. Expanding further you could use a design similar to the moose catridge style side loading route chart holder. The side plate of the routbook holder could come off...the road books could be wound unto some sort of splined axle tube which would engage with the drive axles. splines could be as simple as an oval shape or anything to maximize engagement.....the main risk I see with this idea is keeping them clean so that you don't bind...open to suggestions. I will draw something up in a bit.
What I found time consuming and frustrating is loading the roadbook into the holder, that's the utility of a cassette style design. Seth and Dimitri, if the spindles for loading the roadbook are identical and when you're finished with one and have the next prewound on a new spindle and just swap it out in the cassette, then you're there. The next roadbook is in your ziplock waiting, pop out the cassette, swap spindles, pop the cassette back in and go. How much time and frustration does that save? That's my take on the value Dimitri's design brings, it's brilliant. As far as complexity? Roadbook holders are already a bit complex, especially when it comes to loading. Show me something simpler that will do it better.