Sat 9 Oct 2010
Open Source Soil Pulverizer – Prototype II
Posted by Marcin
We have finished the second prototype of the open source soil pulverizer – an important labor-saving device for soil-handling in CEB construction. It is useful because it combines digging-pulverizing-loading the CEB press in one device. See the fabrication and the first test run:
Open Source Soil Pulverizer Prototype II from Marcin Jakubowski on Vimeo.
It should also be noted that the pulverizer action above is powered by a single, 18 horsepower Power Cube I. This is not bad at all for a lawnmower engine. Also, compare the present results with Prototype I to see the simplifications. For one, we have eliminated the hydraulic cylinder of Prototype I for opening the mouth. We replaced this cylinder with a simple, passive chain – which does the task automatically as the loader bucket is tilted down.
The Prototype II dxf design file, including swept motion analysis, is available for download.
It is encouraging to see a device that is now much closer to Full Product Release. Overall, the Pulverizer II is much more stiff and stable. The rotor rests on height adjustors, which also allow the rotor to jump over bumps since the down pressure is caused only by the weight of the rotor assembly. Moreover, the increased torque on the shortened tines prevented stalling of the rotor in hard, dry soil. This is so far quite pleasing – especially since we are using only 18 hp of power. The next step is adding the second Power Cube – the Power Cube Prototype II that we just finished. We’ll report on this topic next.
We are introducing here the prototype of the OSE Label - a product label for post-scarcity economics – pursuant to OSE Specifications and the OSE License for Post-Scarcity Economics. Here is the descriptive label for the Soil Pulverizer:
Note the low, dedicated parts cost of $200 for the Soil Pulverizer – made possible by utilizing a product ecology of other components that are already part of the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) infrastructure. This is a further demonstration of how the GVCS is a set of Lego blocks for creating real infrastructures. If we consider the cost of the hydraulic motor and bucket, the total price for the Soil Pulverizer would be about $800 for materials.
If you are up for some more video, here is William’s footage of the Pulverizer test run with the real sounds:
As such, we’re getting closer to effective CEB construction with improved equipment which is leagues beyond our initial CEB building adventures.
