RS Media Robot Disassembly
Contents |
RS Media Disassembly Instructions
What You'll Need
You'll need several Philips style screwdrivers. One should be a fat but thin point one, one small one and one that is long handled and medium sized. You can test these out on some of the screws on the robot to get the right size. Be careful as the screw heads strip easily!
You'll also need needle-nose pliers (long tip) in case a screw takes off for parts unknown.
Model Car Glue just in case you accidentally break something.
Paper towels to wipe off gear grease from your hands. Or you could wear latex or vinyl gloves.
Small and large baggies, masking tape, pen. This is so you can mark the parts and keep track of what goes where.
Small flathead screwdriver is useful for prying things off. Just be very careful doing so.
100% acetone (found in nail polish/nail care area of your local drug store) and q-tips. I find these are useful for dissolving the rubbery glue that holds the connectors together.
X-Acto or "hobby" knife is also useful for scraping off glue.
Regular Pliers are useful for prying off parts you can't get off with the other tools.
Torso
Remove torso screws embedded in sides. Note that the longer ones are on top, shorter ones on bottom.
Remove shoulder screws. Note that the long ones go in the inner area and shorter ones on the outer area.
Remove the front panel and disconnect the red/black power cable.
Remove the inner shoulder screws. The one with the ring attaches to the grey area and one without attaches to the white part (motor assembly).
Remove the tiny screws that hold the black rubber cables to the body.
Remove the inner motor assembly screws on the sides. These are longer screws with a small head.
Remove the back plate. Keep speaker away from other components!
Remove the speaker assembly if you plan to work on it or repaint the robot.
Disconnect the Speaker Cable.
Note the parts and label them.
Remove the ribbon cables:
9 4 LCD front of robot
Remove the rainbow wiring set.
Front plate should come right off.
Open side USB and SD Card slot panels. Tilt the doors to the side and feed through the opening to loosen the board. Remove from back. Tape hole assembly and covers together so that you know which one goes with which. The Line In/USB goes with the USB door, and the SD card one goes with the "Java" door.
Neck/Head
Remove neck brace.
Remove screws on left side of head.
Remove the sensor connectors from the board.
Remove the screws inside the head to remove sensor covers.
Remove top board screws (left side has orange spacer).
Remove bottom assembly screws.
Carefully rock and remove assembly. Center sensor is glued in, so be careful. Glue should pull off eventually.
Remove center cable from board. It's glued in with yellow glue so you may need acetone and a Q-Tip and/or a hobby knife to loosen the glue until you can pull the connector out.
Arms
Arms can be pulled off at this point for easy disassembly.
Remove all arm screws and save left and right sets. Note we will be considering "Left" and "Right" as if we are facing the back of the robot.
You can also remove the white piece from the end of the arm.
Hands
Pry up black connector and remove hand sides.
Remove board (pull up) and motor assembly.
Remove screws with rings that fasten fingers to hand piece.
If repainting the robot, you might want to remove black rubber WowWee logo on the hand pieces. You'll probably want to reglue them in during reassembly.
Remove ringed screws from two large fingers.
Remove small screws from pads inside fingers.
You don't have to do this unless you need to, but there are also two side screws on each finger. Be careful as there is a tension spring in there as well! It's tricky to get that back in if you reassembly the finger! If you're painting the robot, you can leave the finger pretty much assembled once you get the spring tension cables removed.
To remove the spring tension cables, you need the small screws from inside the finger pads removed. Separate the finger parts. Note the cable loop inside. Pry up with a screwdriver and thread out the back hole. You can then reattach the finger pieces and loosely (not all the way tight) replace the finger pad screws. You can then mask and paint the finger as is.
Label the springs and pulleys as you go along so you know which one goes with which finger. Also label the fingers so you know which one was where.
Remove speaker screws.
Remove speaker. Keep speaker away from other components!
Remove center screw from media nav panel on hand. Tape screw into piece with wires so not to loose the screws.
Bottom Half
Remove waist and bottom screws.
Facing the back, remove the top and mid thigh screws. Note that the short screws go on top orange part. You will need a long screwdriver to reach these!
Also remove the one from the front.
Remove knee and foot screws.
Remove pivot pins.
Remove thigh pieces. Note that the outer thigh and foot covers can't be removed yet until we remove the wiring and leg.
Feet
Remove the two large screws that fasten the legs. Note that these have a series of spacers on them. Keep them in the same order and put tape over the screws so they stay together when storing for reassembly.
Remove three inner screws in white part. Note the large screw goes in the center.
Remove the two inner screws on the white part.
Remove leg. Note that there are white plastic rings inside the clear parts. If these should get left behind and you can't get them off, use a pair of pliers to pry them off carefully. They go in knob first inside the clear part. The inner ring goes inside the knobbed ring. Note that you'll want to protect your hands or have a paper towel handy as these are heavily greased parts.
Label the wiring assemblies. Remove the wiring harness holders. Note the small screw goes on the white one.
Remove the connectors. These are very hard to remove as they are glued in so be very careful! You'll probably want to soften the glue with acetone, use a hobby knife to loosen the glue and use a flat head screwdriver to slowly and carefully pry up the connectors. Note where each one goes.
You don't have to disassemble the whole foot if you don't want to and are painting the robot. But in case you do need to get inside, remove the feet screws. Note the long screws are on the bottom.
Remove the foot parts and be sure to label the bumpers!
The right foot is where the power adapter is. Be careful when working in this area as this is a potential shock hazard! Remove the power adaptor connector.
Remove the battery plates from the bottom of the feet. If you're repainting the robot, you might want to leave these on (just remove the batteries).
If you're repainting the robot, remove the bottom rubber feet.
