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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

VFS Inclino, Imperio, Origo News ??

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Ernesto Lomeli said:
Next thing i know were doing probe work and my FF4 for some reason doesnt reach the gears on the probe.
DSC_5183.jpg

IMG_0129.jpg
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You know, I bet a Willytec would reach :thumbsup:

That's a pretty cool camera there. :)
 
Ernesto Lomeli said:
The motors are great, but they are a little noisey for interior work.
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OK, this is a worry. A couple of people now have commented on how noisy the motors are. Like many, I was under the impression that this system would be as quiet or quieter than other wireless systems.

Could those who are receiving their units chime in on what their thoughts are having tested the system? Is this just an issue with a few, or is the "normal" noise level of production units actually too loud?

I've waited patiently for this system, but this could be a deal breaker for me.
 
Stephen Webb said:
OK, this is a worry. A couple of people now have commented on how noisy the motors are. Like many, I was under the impression that this system would be as quiet or quieter than other wireless systems.

Could those who are receiving their units chime in on what their thoughts are having tested the system? Is this just an issue with a few, or is the "normal" noise level of production units actually too loud?

I've waited patiently for this system, but this could be a deal breaker for me.
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Ok, perfect time for an update on what happened last week. We built up over 25 systems and had them ready to go from the assembly side of things. After assembly we bring them into the office and program the motors - thats when we run them for the first time and find out about any issues. On the motors from last week I found that the noise level was higher than the normal levels we have been seeing. I decided to hold off on shipping the units until we found out what the problem was - so thats why some of you received tracking numbers and the package was never picked up.

I had a chance to take the motors apart at the beginning of last week and found that the latest batch of harmonic drives had tolerances that were out from previous orders. Upon talking to our supplier the drives appear to be matched - ie the outer splines need to stay with the inner wave generator assembly or they don't operate effectively. This was the first we've heard of this and the reason it came up was that we separate all the assemblies, clean them, then heat press them into the machined pieces that go into the final assembly. We are now going through over 750 parts and trying to match them up... its a little laborious. I'm confident we will get this squared away soon and start up on shipments again. Just so you guys no... this isn't exactly an easy little product, there are a lot of custom parts that have to interact with one another flawlessly in order to operate correctly. We will post as soon as I have solid ship dates, should be by the end of the week.

If you are interested... here is an exploded view of the motors.... theres a lot of stuff in there.
inclino.jpg
 
CVB said:
Ok, perfect time for an update on what happened last week. We built up over 25 systems and had them ready to go from the assembly side of things. After assembly we bring them into the office and program the motors - thats when we run them for the first time and find out about any issues. On the motors from last week I found that the noise level was higher than the normal levels we have been seeing. I decided to hold off on shipping the units until we found out what the problem was - so thats why some of you received tracking numbers and the package was never picked up.

I had a chance to take the motors apart at the beginning of last week and found that the latest batch of harmonic drives had tolerances that were out from previous orders. Upon talking to our supplier the drives appear to be matched - ie the outer splines need to stay with the inner wave generator assembly or they don't operate effectively. This was the first we've heard of this and the reason it came up was that we separate all the assemblies, clean them, then heat press them into the machined pieces that go into the final assembly. We are now going through over 750 parts and trying to match them up... its a little laborious. I'm confident we will get this squared away soon and start up on shipments again. Just so you guys no... this isn't exactly an easy little product, there are a lot of custom parts that have to interact with one another flawlessly in order to operate correctly. We will post as soon as I have solid ship dates, should be by the end of the week.

If you are interested... here is an exploded view of the motors.... theres a lot of stuff in there. <image not duplicated, see Curt's post>
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Hi Curt,

Thanls for the update, and the pic, wow, impressive. So if I understand correctly, somehow they match the parts together, and when you reassembled the motors you didn't necessarily put the same parts back together. How do they match the parts ?

I guess that makes it extra difficult for you, you have to keep the parts of each motor together so they are assembled back with one another. Is there a way you'll be able to match those parts you've dissassembled ?

Cheers,
Damien
 
Thanks again...
 
Damien Molineaux said:
Hi Curt,

Thanls for the update, and the pic, wow, impressive. So if I understand correctly, somehow they match the parts together, and when you reassembled the motors you didn't necessarily put the same parts back together. How do they match the parts ?

I guess that makes it extra difficult for you, you have to keep the parts of each motor together so they are assembled back with one another. Is there a way you'll be able to match those parts you've dissassembled ?

Cheers,
Damien
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Your questions were already answered:

"ie the outer splines need to stay with the inner wave generator assembly or they don't operate effectively. This was the first we've heard of this and the reason it came up was that we separate all the assemblies, clean them, then heat press them into the machined pieces that go into the final assembly. We are now going through over 750 parts and trying to match them up..."
 
Damien... thats correct. Apparently we have to keep the drive components matched. I have never had this problem in the past but apparently these drives all differ fomr one another by a small amount. I can't say Im surprised given the pain we've had over the past year.

Please note that we are taking actions to make sure this doesnt happen again. We have already had our tooling shipped from Asia to our shop here in California. We have already found a couple good die cast manufacturers local to us that we are going to pass the tooling over to so we can have tighter control on the parts. We are also using a local shop for all our plastics now. We can't afford to keep having these sorts of problems, its bad for business.

Lastly we are working on our own gear drive in parallel with all this harmonic drive stuff coming up. We intend to manufacture our own cycloid drivetrain that should be quieter and faster while allowing us to control the tolerances instead of an outside supplier.

Ok, Im going back to work.. cya guys.
 
Thanks for sharing the diagram, Curt. I can see where the beans go in, but how do I adjust it for expresso grind? Is that in the remote? (rim shot)
 
Dominic Cochran said:
Your questions were already answered:

"ie the outer splines need to stay with the inner wave generator assembly or they don't operate effectively. This was the first we've heard of this and the reason it came up was that we separate all the assemblies, clean them, then heat press them into the machined pieces that go into the final assembly. We are now going through over 750 parts and trying to match them up..."
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Thank you Dominic ;-)

but my questions are : How do the motor manufacturer(s) match the parts?

And will VF be able to dissassemble the 25 motors already assembled and match the parts that go together? and I might add, how?

These questions were not, and have not been answered.

Cheers,
Damien
 
We are the motor manufacturers... I assume you meant the harmonic drive manufacturers?
The harmonic drive guys probably have several dozen under paid workers that do nothing but match up drives all day. ts not impossible to tell if they dont match, the ones that aren't matched have a small amount of interference that makes it difficult to assemble, ie you have to apply a little pressure to assemble the parts instead of having the parts just drop in. We are taking the parts out and manually checking that all the parts go together with zero pressure applied, the problem is that it takes a little trial and error before you can easily tell if the drive is matched... not impossible though.
 
I have somebody else's Imperio and Inclino currently. Have spent very little time with it but was pleasantly surprised to have it work the first time trying.

Overall, for what VF is charging, I think they've done an amazing thing. They've gotten 80-90% of a Preston's functionality at a tenth of the price, with the likelihood of further, higher quality expansion very high.

I made a little video too: http://vimeo.com/4735298
 
CVB said:
We are the motor manufacturers... I assume you meant the harmonic drive manufacturers?
The harmonic drive guys probably have several dozen under paid workers that do nothing but match up drives all day. ts not impossible to tell if they dont match, the ones that aren't matched have a small amount of interference that makes it difficult to assemble, ie you have to apply a little pressure to assemble the parts instead of having the parts just drop in. We are taking the parts out and manually checking that all the parts go together with zero pressure applied, the problem is that it takes a little trial and error before you can easily tell if the drive is matched... not impossible though.
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Thanks again Curt :-)

Looking forward to using my Inclino/Impero combo.

Cheers,
Damien

PS Sorry for taking you away from your work ;-)
 
Would be fantastic.... if my follow focus shipped soon.

After toying with it (unfinished) at NAB, I'm readier than ever.
 
timb said:
Hey Seth ... did it actually arrive ? Also what number are you ?

Please let us know how it works for you.

Cheers, Tim.
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Hey Tim!

It did arrive (woohoo), unfortunately though our camera went in for a routine collimation with Panavision on the same day. Should have the cam back tomorrow so we can test it out..
S
 
I had my VF birthday 13th May, 1 year since i paid for my FF, this is longer than an elephant pregnancy.
 
And i haven't received one single email updating me on the status of my investment...not one...it has to be the poorest service i have ever received. 1 full year and nothing, i must be very patient or crazy...or both?
 
ooops...sorry no i did get an email, in March, 10 months after making payment...super efficient.
 
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