mini-artic-loader

Methodology

This will very much be a 'junk yard project'.  As much as we can, we will have to scrounge for parts to repurpose for this design.  We plan to buy much of the steel at the scapper.  The running gear will be from a production vehicle and used in its stock form as much as posslble so maintenance can follow the same path(s) as the donor vehicle(s) would.

We plan to track and share every aspect of this project from the planning stage though completion.  The work will be tracked through my typical project planning process here, which will provide all of the niceties of reporting, calendar, activity log, and so on.  The work will be divided into sprints, and the output will be documented in this wiki which will have public access.  We will mirror updates on Machine Builders Network and reference the public content here using hyperlinks (many members use dropbox or photobucket).  That forum will be used to post my progress, ask for and receive feedback, and provide a well-known place for referencing the build.

For design, we plan to use SolveSpace.  It is akin to Fusion360 or SolidWorks, but FOSS. There is a limitation in that, while it is parameteric, it doesn't (yet) support using variables properly.  We hope to address that as well as time goes on.  The slvs files are text-based and will be under version control (svn).  That repository will be linked to this project.  When referencing SolveSpace assets within this documentation, they will be italicized and have an extension of slvs.

For workspace, we will use the basement office for planning and documentation and half of the workshop for the build, with an area around behind the shop for storing parts and scrap.  Before the actual build can begin there are several smaller shop projects that need to be completed first.  Those will be done as time allows, in parallel with the planning phase of this project.