Print In Place Bearing

This is actually a WATTS part, but I thought I’d make a little blog about it. Unlike Nintendo’s original ROB, WATTS can independently rotate his torso and head 360 degrees. I fiddled around with bearings for a long time before I realized I needed something very particular and just made my own.

Printed on a Polyprinter 508, the rotation isn’t as smooth as a ball bearing, but it’s pretty great. This is an early prototype that connected to the base of the robot. The final one is actually mounted inside the spine, but the principle is still the same.