tempestvr

March Release - T-wist 4

Hi Guys,

Here are the STLs, and the parts list and build instructions document for the T-wist 4.

Do let me know how you get on with this build, especially on discord if you can. In particular I'm interested to hear which servo you guys find works best with this. In theory any standard sized servo can be used and I think a 20kg.cm servo is probably massive overkill.

At the moment this is just hardware. I'm getting these up now because I know some of you will be itching to ge...

March Update

Hi Guys, here's my update for March.

This month I'm excited to announce that I have quite a significant upgrade to the twist mechanism to release.

With all the work on SR6 Beta it's been a while since I gave the OSR2 some proper attention. The twist axis seems to be the most popular axis on the OSR2, after the main up-down axis of course. In my mind it was overdue for an upgrade.

I've released three versions of the twist so far, but up until now none of them have been comple...

Tempest’s Dispatches Feb ’22

Hello there Benefactors.

It’s time for me to tell you all about what I’ve been working on in February. Mostly my touch-robot concept, and T-wist mk4.

This last month I’ve been wanting to get ahead of myself on the OSR2/SR6 stuff and get my big releases back to near the beginning of the month. That’s meant I had to release my SR6 bits quickly. After that I’ve gone from concept to finished design with T-wist mk4 in about 2 weeks. As you’ll see that’s involved a lot of ...

Livestreams & Sneak peek: T-Code and Twist

Hi Guys,

Here's a sneak look at what I've been working on all month, and links to this month's livestreams.

I'm currently performing the final tests on a brand new version of the twist receiver, which is probably the most popular OSR2 upgrade out there at this point. I've gone to a lot of effort to replace the Parallax 360-degree feedback servo with something much more generic, and this is the result.

Through the use of an additional gear built into the housing I've been abl...

February Release - SR6 Trays & Shields

Hi Guys, here are the new parts I am releasing this month. These are several alternate trays for SR6, as well as a new lid that has a mounting window for what I am going to call "shields".

There are already a number of different trays for SR6, and indeed the current standard one came in as a replacement for the original, which was designed to hold the Romeo BLE mini instead of the ESP32. In this release I have revised the standard tray to cover up the power bus switch hole, which has be...

February Update

Hi guys, it's time for a monthly update. We've just had the release of the build plans for SR6 Beta. This month I will be releasing some extra bits for SR6 Beta, and a livestream and video on the T-Code firmware. My Benefactors will also be seeing some progress I've made on a couple of other ideas I've been working on.

The part files for SR6 Beta have been around for a couple of months now but in the last few days I released the build plans. This is a 6,000 word document that will take ...

Tempest's Dispatches - Jan '22

Hi Guys,

Thank you so much for signing up to support my work as a Benefactor. This is the first in what I plan to be a series of monthly posts about what I've been working on; basically a digest of my dev stream posts from the exclusive Benefactors' area on the Discord server. This will be the juicy early development stuff that I don't share elsewhere.

That's one way of looking at it. The other is that you get to see in real time how my creative brain basically functions like a ba...

January Release - SR6 Beta Build Plans

Well I did it! Depending on which time zone you are in I kept my promise to release the SR6 Beta build plans by the end of January.

I am initially releasing just the document in this post. It's late here and after a day spent finishing this 6000 word monster I have to go to bed, but in the next day or so I will assemble the SR6 Beta pack and also post that here. In the meantime all of the STLs you will need have already been released in previous Maker tier posts.

That's apart from...

SR6 Power Bus Tutorial Video

Hi Guys, it's time for this month's Supporter tier release.

This video shows you how to build a power bus for the SR6, which uses an ESP32 microcontroller that does not have an easy plug-and-play interface for the 6+ servos used. There is some soldering required, but I walk you through it all, step by step.

For those of you who have not yet joined the discord server I highly recommend that you get on there, not least because you will be able to take part in future livestreams. The...

January Update

Hi Guys it’s time for a monthly update. This month we have the SR6 Beta Build plans (finally!), a power bus build livestream video, and more on what to expect from the Benefactor ($16) tier.

This month is definitely the month when I’m going to upload the SR6 Beta pack, which will include all the relevant part STLs, parts list, and detailed step-by-step build instructions. I have already slipped the release on this twice, so this time I am going to make a concerted effort to get it f...

December Release - OSR2 Bearing Arms

Hi Guys,

This is my release for the month of December. It's the part files for a pair of arms and a support link for the OSR2 that use rod end bearings. I've been a bit more careful in the design of these because they take bending loads that the SR6 links don't, but they seem to work just great.

You will need 4x M4 male rod end bearings, and 8x M4 Nuts to use these parts.

I have also included the same 4mm spacer part that I included with the SR6 links. You will need to use t...

Schedule update

Hi everyone, I'm back... sort of.

It's been a week or so since I came down with the dreaded COVID and I'm starting to feel a lot better. My energy levels have been very low and the head fog that they talk about is definitely real. I want to say a big thanks to everyone who dropped me a message to wish me well. It definitely helped!

My problem now is that my work schedule is in tatters. The SR6 build plans are well on their way, but they still need a lot more work and I've still go...

vamX integration for OSR2 and SR6

Hi guys, here's an exciting bit of news for you.

I've just heard from the creator of vamX that he has integrated both versions of my T-Code Serial Controller into the latest release.

This is exciting because vamX is a very successful plugin that aims to make the user experience of playing Virt-a-Mate much more akin to playing a game rather than a sandbox. It also has a simply insanely huge selection of content and features including looks, scenes, clothing, animations, speech syst...

Quick update

I’ve been feeling unwell and it turns out I have COVID. It’s been a bit rough but I think I’m now through the worst of it. It’s really messed up my pre-Christmas schedule though. I’ll let you guys know more when I’m well enough to get back to work.

December Update

Hi Guys,

It’s time for an update on what I’ve been up to recently. This month we have an anniversary, some page changes, and the full release of SR6 Beta.

First of all today is a special day for me because it’s the two year anniversary of the day that I first set up this Patreon page. It’s been one heck of a journey, and not something that I ever expected. At the time I had just put out for free the cutout plans for a plywood contraption called OSR3, and I was just respond...

Video - SR6 Beta Blog

Hi guys, this is this month's development blog post. I show you the SR6 Beta, with the new links and enclosure.

Upcoming Livestream

Hi guys.

I have been invited to take part in an upcoming livestream event with Open Arousal. The intention is to talk about automated edging machines, past present and future, though I'm sure we're likely to get onto other topics as well.

This is the first time I've participated in something like this so it should be interesting.

The event goes live at 6pm GMT tomorrow (Nov 21st).

Be sure to tune in if this interests you.

(Edit: The stream is now available to wat...

November Release - SR6 Bearing Links

Hi Guys,

It's time for this month's $8 tier release, which is an upgrade for the SR6. This is a new set of links for the SR6 that use bearings instead of the old wiring grommets.

Whenever I produce a design I generally have two rules: keep the design as simple as possible, and only use parts that are easily available. Yes the design might be twenty times better if I use a Brit-Tech Hyperwidget Doodad 4000, but if you guys can't get your hands on a bag of them then that doesn't do ...

Introducing the T-Vibe, and SR6 Beta News

This month I have something of a freebie on offer. As many of us have moved away from using the Romeo BLE mini to the ESP32 I was wondering if there might be another application for those discarded boards. At the same time I became aware that the erotic hypnosis community, in particular an artist called Shibby, are starting to make audio files with scripted "haptics". I guess a bit of positive reinforcement goes a long way in hypnosis.

Anyway, the T-Code tech that we have in this little...

SR6 Beta - Early Release STLs

Hi Guys! I'm excited about this one.

This is an early release of the SR6 Beta1 part files. These are all of the STL files you will need to build an SR6 alpha.

What it includes is all of the parts required to build the new enclosure and arms. The rest of the SR6 Beta can be built up with the other parts that have already been released: tray, linkages and receiver (standard or twist). See the last SR6 release from July for this.

As always the STLs are supplied in the print ori...

SR6 Beta Sneak Peek

Hi Guys,

This is the long awaited, long promised, first look at SR6 Beta. A new design that I am very excited to be sharing with you all!

I have to say that over the last year I have been very surprised by the popularity of SR6. When I first released it I considered it to be a designer’s self-indulgence rather than something that a significant portion of my userbase would want to build. All I can say is I was pleasantly surprised.

So here it is! SR6 Beta is clean-sheet red...

SR6 Update - Farewell SR6 Alpha!

Hi Guys, just a quick update on what I'm up to this month.

This time it's all about SR6 Beta. I've already put a lot of time into this design over the last few months, but this last week everything has really come together. I've done a lot of 3D printing, I've disassembled the old Alpha prototype for its parts (pictured above), and I'm pleased to be able to report that the Beta prototype is now sitting on my desk.

The new design uses exactly the same parts, software and geometry a...

Building a better squeezer

Hi Guys.

I know I promised an update on SR6 beta but I've made some progress with the squeezing mechanism project so I thought I'd share this with you. SR6 is still motoring along but it'll be a few days before I have something to show.

A short while back I made a blog video about my past work with squeezing mechanisms. What I want to do is to be able to build a squeezing orifice into the base of a modular case, potentially as an extra scriptable axis. The inspiration for this is ...

September Release - T-Code Serial Controller v3.1

Hi guys.

I've mostly been working on SR6 Beta this month but I do have a release for you.

This is an important update to my VaM plugin. I have fixed a bug in the motion tracking, which was causing a "jerk" effect in the event that the protagonist's member temporarily lost contact. The new motion should work with a really smooth connect/disconnect cycle. I've done a lot of testing and it seems to be working great.

The other thing that I've added is support for the T-valve. Di...

Start Here! OSR2.1 Build Plans - September '21

Hi Guys,

If you are new to the OSR2 this is the place to start. This post contains the complete build instructions and part list for the OSR2.1, the latest version of the OSR2. It also includes the T-wist and T-valve add-on modules.

This is a minor incremental update of the definitive OSR2 pack originally issued last November. The main hardware changes are the new T-valve base and Twist clip ring gear. There's also a new ESP32 OSR2.1 base, with a page about it added to the instruc...

September Update - Plugin & SR6 progress

Hi Guys,

Like a lot of us I've had a busy summer, with illness and a couple of major life events. I want to get back to business as usual, so this is my update for September.

I'm pleased to say that this month I have gotten down to some serious detail design work and the detailed design for SR6 Beta is taking shape. The main difference is a total redesign of the base and enclosure. The Alpha design was always a stopgap and in the Beta I want to achieve the same ease of constructio...

Video - Virt-a-Mate Serial Controller Plugin

Hi guys, this is this month's development blog post. I show you around the new Virt-a-Mate plugin.

August Release - T-Code Serial Controller v3

Hi Guys, here's this month's $8 release - early access to this new plugin. I've put in a lot of work on this over the last couple of weeks, and I hope you agree the results are amazing.

This plugin automatically tracks character movement in the scene and outputs T-Code commands to drive a multi-axis stroker robot (MAxSR) to a selected serial port. This is the third generation version of this plugin, v3.0, with support for 3 movement axes and 2 rotation axes (pitch, roll). More (twist, ...

August Update - Next Gen Virt-a-Mate plugin

Hi Guys,

Damn do I have a treat for you this month!

I've been promising this for a long time and I finally got around to it. I have re-written my Serial Controller plugin for Virt-a-Mate and I am really excited to share the results with you.

This is the third version of this plugin, but I believe that this represents a massive step change in the OSR2/SR6 VaM user experience. This is because there are two new features that make a world of difference.

The first is the...

Squeezing Mechanisms

Hi guys, here's the video blog post that I have been promising for a while.

In this video I show you some of the mechanisms that I came up with before I started working on stroker robots, and how some of those ideas could soon be coming to my OSR2/SR6 designs.