Finger Digger

grabcad

I used to have a toy mechanical digger but was frustrated that although it was realistic, I couldn't actually dig a hole with it. This is my solution. There is a socket on the back of the truck in to which you stick your index finger and grip the truck by its sides. The socket incorporates a printed spring so different size fingers are still a snug fit. If you push your finger down in the socket, the main boom of the digger lifts. If you move the tip of your finger forwards & backwards, the bucket on the end of the arm moves. moving the top of the socket moves the elbow joint. Thus, with a single finger, you can control the three axis of the digger arm and by articulating your finger appropriately, move the arm and bucket in a digging motion. The truck is modeled loosely on a Mercedes Unimog 4x4. The cab is glued to the chassis and the whole thing should be possible to 3D print, based on what I've read on the web. I'm not sure about the tolerance of the fit of parts, so some holes may need to be drilled out for smooth movement. I am new to CAD drawings - so the drawings don't looks that good compared to other peoples. I have no idea how you render something. The pictures are just screen grabs.