Running 24V 150W Gold Motors on 12V

drills are very easy to modify to get into a robot, but if your not too keen on using them, then pulleys will work great. i use pulleys on ploughbot to get the drive from the gold motors at the back to the front. pulleys and belts could end up costing more than an extra drill or two though(mine do but i havnt researched the average prices for pulleys and belts)

Good look with your robot, and if all else fails, go with Eds ida of 2 diagonaly powered wheels(blue/LH2 ran like that amd performed suprisingly well)

ok ive been doin a little research and i think drill motors would be the best idea for me as they include gearboxes and ill get chargers/batteries for them. So can someone show me where i can get good priced drills ?

Also im having a little trouble working out exactly how robots are controlled, usually i would just buy all the bits and have a fiddle but im really want to know what im doing before i buy stuff as i dont have a huge budget and i dont want to break anything so could someone please give me a for dummies explanation of how my receiver interacts with my speed controller, how my speed controller then interacts with my motor and where along the line and how do i acheive tank style steering, oh and why do i get servos with my transmitter and receiver, what do i do with them.

Please forgive my ignorance - im sure you guys had to ask aswell sometime !

Yo Andrew - Try Maplin.co.uk or your local Homebase or B&Q for cheap drills.

As for how to control motors and so on using your transmitter, radio kit, speed controllers - have a look here - http://www.stupoo2000.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/teamkat/technical.htmhttp://www.stupoo2000.pwp.blueyonder.../technical.htm

Mr Stu

wow fast reply ! Im checkin out that site right now

ok, drills either

12V http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=37950&TabID=1&source=15&World ID=&doy=8m3http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...15&WorldID=&do y=8m3

24V http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=44605&TabID=1&source=14&doy=8 m3http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...rce=14&doy=8m3

I guess, 24V is better, as its easier to work with the lower currents etc ?

But i just want some advice incase i manage to buy the only drill that its impossibe to remove the motor from or something

How can i find out the wattage of the motors without buying them and testing them?

If you really wanna get into the nitty gritty of how the receiver interacts with the speed controllers etc try here

http://homepages.which.net/~paul.hills/http://homepages.which.net/~paul.hills/

Andrew, Im not sure what the 24 volt drill is like, but I bought two of the 12 volt drills a wee while back - that gave me my two motors, four batteries and two chargers for just under £30 (plus I ordered a power LED to take it over £30 and get free postage) not to mention two (in a manner of speaking) speed controllers - the drill triggers. So far Ive only had them running in a test chassis and havent actually used them in battle yet, but they seem to be fairly reasonable for the cost, more than adequate for a robot.

Another bit of advice regarding how to dismantle them, just make sure that when you unscrew the drill chuck that you turn the screw clockwise (as opposed to the normal way of anti-clockwise) to remove it otherwise you may chew up the screw head and might have to hacksaw them off - I learnt that bit the hard way :sad:

All thats left after that really, is to remove the drill motor from its casing and decide what to do with the torque ring (the black collar) whether you want to leave it on as it comes (probably a good idea) or take it off and modify it to a fixed torque holder (an area Im not that skilled at doing - best for someone else to explain it probably)

Regards
Jamie

Unlike most people I have actually tried to modify 24V drills. http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...dID=9&doy=8m3>

Hi Andrew, If your not sure which drills to use keep in mind that most people who use drill motors and gearboxes use the 18V ones, the 12V or 18V from Maplin seem to be fine, but be careful of drills with Hammer Action as they are more complex and harder to adapt for robot use, same goes for 2 speed drills, as you will never use the low speed and its just wasted weight. The 550rpm ones need bigger wheels (6) for reasonable speed but some are 700rpm and smaller wheels can be used.

ok well i think ill get the 12V drills as i will be able to buy 4 of them http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=37950&TabID=1&source=15&World ID=&doy=8m3http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...15&WorldID=&do y=8m3

Ive just thought though, for speed controllers, will i need 4 electronize controllers for 4 motors ! Is there not a cheaper way ?

Also for batteries, should i connect all the batteries in parallel and they will just last much longer ?