ENTRY #5 Nam Go
ngo@me.umn.edu

 

Hi Shawn,

Attached are the sketches of the VF-1 leg design that I came up with
while sitting at work today (please don't tell my boss that I took
most of the afternoon off to draw these sketches, LOL).  The drawings are
rather crude and do not include such details as dimensions, tolerances,
and the locking mechanisms required to hold the various parts in place.
Nevertheless, I have decided to enter them in your contest and hope
that they are acceptable.

In coming up with this VF-1 leg design, I tried to stay as close as
possible to the original transformation process.  The key features
of my VF-1 leg design are: (1) two sliders to mimic the hydraulic jacks
seen the original pictures, and (2) a so-called 'hip joint' to connect
the legs together.  Below are the sequence of my leg transformation
from fighter/gerwalk to battroid:

1. Snap leg assembly into sliders.  Locking mechanisms built into
    upper parts of legs prevent leg assembly from falling off.

 

 

2. Rotate leg/slider combination forward.

 

 

3. Leg/slider combination after some rotation.

 

 

4. Slide sliders forward to allow for hip joint to snap into slots
    on nosecone.  Press (red) buttons on side of legs to release
    sliders from leg assembly.

 

 

 

5. Fold and push sliders back.

 

 

To go from battroid back to fighter/gerwalk mode:

1.  Unfold and move sliders forwards to mate with leg assembly.
2.  Press (blue) button on nosecose to release hip joint from fuselage.
3.  Push in sliders and rotate leg/slider combination back until legs
    touch backside of chest panel.

For easy viewing, the whole leg transformation sequence is shown in
'nam_vf-1_leg.jpg'.  Please let me know if you have any question
concerning my VF-1 leg design.

Regards,

-Nam Ngo