Skipdiving Robotics

[plargen]

i think the was a link to all the pages somewhere on the forum but if i cant find it i can always scan it in and post it

[plargen]

lol i already scanned it a while back

[daveimi]

Thanks! Will also have a Google see what else I can find. I could make that pretty easy.

[daveimi]

Been trawling the web and there are hoardes of people making rc robots from wheel chairs and using a Sabertooth 2x25! I'm getting a bit excited after reading how to dismantle the brake at the end of the motor, going to set-to and pull the wheel chair apart in the next few days lol.

[daveimi]

Thought I should put up a couple of pictures of my wheelchair motors. After an hours scrap with the wheelchair they're finally off. Unknown to me was the fact the six bolts that clamped the motor assemblies to the frame also held the gearboxes together. I whipped the six bolts out only to spend the next hour trying to work out how it all went back together. Needless to say they're all back together and ready to have the electromagnetic brakes taken off the end and the inner tubes straightened up in the tyres. That will be another riveting evening in front of the telly. Even though it's boring stuff I good about the fact that everything is getting checked and cleaned up as I go so there's no nasty surprises further down the line.

[psychostorm]

Don't trying using a sabretooth to drive a heavy. The pushing involved for a featherweight has gotten the better of that.

It's an ok pairing for a Dalek as it doesn't have to turn as quickly or have anything pushing against it.

[daveimi]

I'm guessing it's heat build up from the motors under strain / stalling that gets a bit much?

[daveimi]

I thought I would stick up another couple of photo's. I've taken the electric brakes out of the end of the wheelchair motors for something to do, and the second photo is the finished drive ready to build into something. Having a mare trying to find ways to mount the whole thing with the stupid frame attachment they come with. Last photo is the pandemonium getting Rag N Bone ready for Doncaster on Sunday.

[daveimi]

I've attended my first event!! Thank you to everyone at Doncaster yesterday who chatted to me and listened to my ramblings and helped me keep the thing running! I had the time of my life, utterly fantastic day! Apologies for bolting at the end, my brother and his friend had to get back for work and we'd read the email as the show is on 12-3:15, not one show is 12, the other is 3:15. So they ended up in a flap as I'd promised them we'd be back yada yada haha.

Robot got thrown all over the place in each of the 4 rumbles but with a bit of tightening up etc each time managed to keep getting back in the arena. I learnt heaps and bounds about stuff, and want to say a massive thank you to everyone for sharing all their info with me. I've got two general areas to sort, one being the spike is rubbish and ineffective, and the other being the robot is too slow / too low voltage. My solution is 2fold!

1. Bin the spike and make a dozer blade type thing for the front
2. Get a decent 18V/24V pack and some nice motors

Gonna have a week to mull it over and then set to. Thought I'd bung a pick up of the robot after yesterday all dented and battered haha.

[daveimi]

I took another picture this morning so thought I would put it up. After the spike being rubbish I've decided a blade would be better. I spent twenty minutes last night grinding and drilling a piece of metal into a rough shape and bolted it on to see what it looked like. It would need building up, shaping properly etc. but I was greatly enthused by this development. On my "if it looks about right it probably is" scale this looks like a decent addition. The robot is also halfway through a re-wire to 14.4V and has been moved round internally. This is so eternally dull however that I won't bore you with a picture. I am gonna change the name because Rag N Bone sounds stupid.

I am planning robot number 2, only because half of this is wrecked and I thought well if I need to re-make anything I might as well incorporate everything I've learned. My wheel chair motors have been abandoned in the dining room for a bit, and I am getting the itch to build an antweight, only put off up to now by the fact I can build feather 2 cheaper than starting an ant.