Field noteOctober 27, 2026

Orbiter v3: a whole machine, alpha

The third generation of the Orbiter rig is out: a telescoping arm, a swing arm with a phone and a line laser, an electronics box and a FreeCAD assembly with working joints. It is the first whole machine, and alpha testing starts with it.

Orbiter v3 from the electronics box side: the box on the main rail, the elevation drive, and the raised arm with the phone head at its end — Orbiter v3: frame, drives, arm, camera and electronics in one model.

The Orbiter rig has its third generation, and for the first time it is a whole machine. The v2 drives and frame stay; around them v3 adds a telescoping arm, a swing arm with a phone and a line laser at its end, a printed box for the control board on the main rail, and a base whose cross rail now meets the main rail at 90°.

The files are open, under CERN-OHL-S, in the public repo: cad/v3/. STL and STEP of every printed part, the bought parts, renders, and a FreeCAD assembly with working joints — open it in the Assembly workbench, drag the arm, and the machine moves like the real one. They ship as release v0.5; the release notes have the details: v0.5 release notes.

A word on where this stands. v0.5 is a more or less battle-ready release, and alpha testing starts with it. We will keep improving it, and the software and the electronics will catch up. The control board in the box is a draft that has not been built or tested yet, so do not order it from these files. The server and the viewer still model the v2 arm; teaching them the v3 arm and the phone head comes next.