From The Ground Up (Advice Thread)

Hey Roland,

What parts sizes do you need? I can't guarantee I know sizes for every part you need but I should be able to help out with things like drill motors and such.

Minimally the Robochallenge blue wheels, (I know 100 mm is the diameter, but I don't know the depth) and width depth and height of an average drill motor.
Thanks a buuuunch. :D

Haha, I'm looking at my internals diagram here, and I'm thinking, what is a victor and why is it connected to my drive motors? Euuurgh. I hate being a noob who doesn't know where to find information.

A victor is a speed controller. It is used to take the output from your reciever and turn it into PWM that can be used to control the speed of your motor.

Drill motor dimensions are roughly speaking 50mm diameter (max) and 150mm long (including the shaft) the shaft is about 25mm long with a 3/8 UNF thread for 15mm along it being common.

:rofl: Thanks! I asked my granddad about it and he explained what it was, I also got a helpful lesson on volts, current, RPM and torque. :) Looks like I'm set for the designing stages! Yippeeeee! Thanks everybody so far. :D

The Robo Challenge 100mm diameter blue wheels have a width/depth of approximately 30mm. There is a boss in the centre of the wheel, protruding out one side. This is where the drill motor nuts are pressed/melted in to. The boss is about 25mm in diameter and sticks out past the wheel by about 5mm, making the total width roughly 35mm.

EDIT: Here's a pic:

[attachment=0:2184e0gr]blue_wheel_dimensions.JPG[/attachment:2184e0gr]

Hmm, I'm wondering whether or not the blue wheels are a good idea then, I'm aiming for a tornado-esque design, so I'm wanting as much surface area with the floor as I can get. I do actually have some small tyres at home I scrapped off an old RC monster truck which would fit the bill, but I stupidly didn't keep the plastic drums for templates, how might I go about building a set of wheels? I originally thought I could stick two blue wheels inside a rubber lining, but that might be too expensive and weak.

I hate to answer for him, but I think thats what k_c_r does but with a bicycle tyre outside the blue wheels and that seems to get decent grip. Could always try that with the RC car wheels you have and if that doesn't work you could either go with just blue wheels or the bicycle wheel idea, but maybe better asking Jamie how best to go about it first.

And of course there is the possibility that i'm completely wrong....

yes thats what i usually do, cut a strip of bicycle tyre (free from dumps\rubbish tips) and then screw it into the wheel. if its done right its great, needing little tlc and has great traction

I'll try that then, we have a massive amount of bike tyres in the shed, so that's good. So far I've got a definite list of parts, all I need now is a safety switch which I understand already, and a RC motherboard which I'm slightly baffled by! :D More questions! (no surprise) :?
I have no idea what sort of interface I should be looking for, and what is a BEC? I looked it up but I don't think it's a big english cheese...

The receiver would be your r/c mother board everything is controlled by this.

Note the receiver is about the size of a matchbox.

Don't panic about the channel port / plug markings they're fairly standard for all receivers and pertain to r/c planes.
http://www.modelflying.co.uk/sites/3...500_01_big.jpg

Your ESC [ Electronic Speed Controller/s ] will simply plug into it...the one shown below is a DUAL speed controller it will control 2 motors.

http://www.robotmarketplace.com/prod...rpionxl_lg.jpg

The receiver needs a voltage supply of around 5v.... ( the receiver shown has a Voltage Range: 3.5 - 9.6V )...you could use a small battery pack to supply the receiver.

http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk...ry_SPM9520.jpg

OR take a supply from your main batteries....we do this with a BEC [ Battery Eliminator Circuit ]

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...BEC_medium.jpg

To confuse things even more your ESC... like the Scorpion pictured here ... may have a built in BEC :?