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Need some technical advice on a remote controlled robot

Bignate603

Bignate603

Lifer
Me and a few friends have decided it may be interesting/fun/wicked cool to make a remote controlled robot and maybe enter it in a battle competition if we can find one in our area. Our tenative plan is to have it built off a simple frame with basically an overturned metal bowl as armor with blades on it that spins (I know it's been done, but it works). That design would need 3 motors (one to spin the armor with extreme RPM, then two for driving/steering with much lower RPM but higher torque) While we've had basic electronics and the like, we are at a loss about what kind of motors and batteries we should use. This would be on a majorly constricted budget, like a few hundred maybe and a load of free time. Ideas of where we could salvage motors would help. Because it's all battery powered, we would need DC motors so that limits our options and keeps us away from demolishing say an electric weed whacker cause it's AC.

Thanks in advance
 
But with AC you have so much more open to you!! Lawnmowers roto tillers....you know get any 5HP briggs and stratton use it as the drive engline and you will out accelerate anyone


Nate
 
problem is that if i use AC i would need to convert from DC to AC. I'm sure i could do it but the problem is that we were planning on a bot that weighed about 50 pounds. That would keep costs down but it limits our flexiblility.
 
Sealed lead-acid batteries have these features:

Good: tuns and tuns of current for those three high-power motors
Good: increments of 2v
Good: easy to charge
Good: TOUGH
Good: CHEAP
Bad: HEAVY
 
Actually, if I were you, I would put the thought of AC out of my mind. You'd just be adding dead weight with an inverter, plus AC motors wouldn't give you the raw take-off torque of an average drill motor.

Consider an idea I had long ago for a battle robot: Tesla's Demonchild. 🙂 The whole idea is that the heavily-armored robot would build up a huge voltage and discharge it through the opposing robot. Radio down, the enemy would be dead in the water. Mwa ha ha. 😀
 
Bignate, no offense, but I would stop right where you are and give this up.

#1) You are not involved enough to be a Battlebot engineer. You have to be willing to say "I will FIND $$$!" "I will LEARN electronics!" "I will NEVER run with scissors!"

#2) A project like this you have to jump in with both feet. Sell your rock collection to get a used FM modulated servo controller or a PLC.


But you have asked my opinion for info to help, and here it is....



<< motors and batteries >>



Gotta go either DC or stepper. AC is tooooo inefficient and heavy. NiMH is the way to go for batteries, unless you got the room and allowance for weight, then go lead acid. Lotsa amps, not alotta $$$.




<< Ideas of where we could salvage motors >>



My brain is shot right now, but here is a few things I can think of... Car window motors, fan motors, cars period, junk yards, flea markets, surplus, neighbor's garage, Power Wheels that kids drive, industrial scrap, &amp; more.

I have a few 90vdc limited slip variable geared drives that would rock for a new bot, but you don't want them. Too expensive, and you need 0-90vdc for drive.
 
Monel, we are going all out on this bout, but we are still a group of 5 16 and 17 year olds, can't pull together tons of cash real fast. As for experience, we just want to have fun and build something. If it works, cool, if it doesn't, we chalk it up as a learning experience and try again. Salvaging from cars may work, i can have free run of a junkyard cause i know the owner. Oh, and we have the controls, one of my friend's fathers was into builing remote control boats. He's going to help us wire that but we still need the actual motors. A good drill motor from a drill that ran off a battery pack would possibly work to spin the armor... Shold have the high RPMs, low power consumption and be in the right voltage range. Maybe even take apart one of those battery powered circular saws. That leaves two low RPM motors that would have to be the same. We could use farily high RPM motors and gear them down, how much pickup you think drill motors would have if you geared them down massively? I can probably get drills, buy them if we have too.
 
Drill motors would work for the wheels. Becareful with your robot, maybe you should just build a &quot;nonviolent&quot; robot the first time. The blades are dangerous and if you don't know what you are doing things could go wrong. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck.
 
we're going to plan it to have the cover and blades but we don't need to add it till we have everything else working. my friends aren't stupid (well most of them anyways)and we'll be careful. Hmm, now i just need those drill motors and some scraped bicycle gears, chains, and i think i'll have enough to start messing around.
 
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