2026 October club evening.
It was to be one of the last club evenings under my control and I had not much left in the way of plan B's or C's! Last minute I was told that the principal speaker, Peter, had a fall and hurt his back. Forces around me rallied and Michael came up with a reduced version of the talk and our chairman said he would cobble together something, and it all came together as an enjoyable evening.
We started with current things going on in the Society noting that the next club evening was the AGM and there were vacancies on the committee. Nominations needed.
With that the evening was handed over to Michael who again told us about the Willesden depot and the heritage of the site right from Brunel father and son to the era of Eurostar. Michael said that there was always something new to uncover and the Brunel grave site was adjacent to the tracks in the Kensal Green cemetery. The route of the Eurostar tunnel was possibly aligned with passing under the grave of Brunel and there is a plaque noting that his remains are directly overhead.
Michael had various photos and plans of the area and went on to explain the historical use and current use of the buildings and where the many tracks were sited including the Broad gauge from 120+ years ago. We had a nicely researched talk which attracted several questions to which Michael had ready answers. There was a good round of applause for Michael.
We had our break earlier than usual and I used my time to talk to a new, to me, audience member, Steve. We spoke about similar interests and what he was making and I said I would introduce him to fellow members with his interests. Always nice to have new members.
After our break the bell was ringing and we trooped back to our seats. We now had our Chairman Mike and he told us how he had brought to 'life' the commander on his very large German Tiger tank, swastikas not allowed so normal crosses identified the tank. There was some debate about current views of what was acceptable in our rather high-minded society, (just saying!). The figure's articulation was quite complex and based on a kit of 3D printed parts which ended below his waist. The body shell had various servos fitted to move the limbs, I think there were 5 off 9-gram servos buried out of sight in the body.
At this point I was wondering how Mike was going to control the movements and drive the tank as I get lost after 4 controls on a transmitter! Mike went on to explain his on-board control system using an Arduino control board and the stable buck converter voltage supply. The movement was discussed by all as to how you would realistically pick up a pair of binoculars and raise them to your eyes. When you think about it the way a person would do it the movement is complex as it also involves scanning the area from one side to the other.
At this point a member could contain himself no longer and echoed my own thoughts about control of tank together with the commander. Mike said that the commander was automated and went through a routine separate from the driving of the tank. The different speed of raising the arms up was handled with many short but carefully timed pulses driving the servos. The control of the servos was by a control board which emulated the drive from a radio control receiver with 1 - 2 msec pulses every 20msecs.
There was a lively interaction of questions and answers the whole time. It was certainly something different but does illustrate the availability of miniaturisation that can now be had off the shelf and there are even smaller servos to do this.
My very real thanks to our speakers for rescuing the evening and it was a good one to boot! Other thanks go out to the members who prepare and dismantle the evening moving chairs and tables with speed and efficiency. To Jack and Neil for having the tea and coffee freshly made and ready to serve.
Next month there is the annual AGM, it is the first time that it has been in November having been moved from April to allow for accounting purposes. The entire evening will be a study in 3D printing, an introduction to the idea, a deep dive into the way it works (NB no coding!) the way industry is taking it on board and Freddie will be our host for the evening. He will also tell us of his experiences and what he is doing now.
I am looking forward to it, the Ephraim project update is again postponed, sorry Tony, and will possibly be fitted into the Christmas evening. I look forward to seeing you all next time.
Until then take care,
Roy Verden 18.10.26