Ah, I see why your doing this. You want the cover to connect from the idler to cover all the track rather than just the middle where there is an empty space. I assume this is to protect eveything and make things look neat and clean. Nice Idea, I like it! 8)
lol, i dont get ur explanation of it, its to be able to cover the tracks by making the idlers which is my primary spacer be longer therefore able to put a cover over the track
i plan to use aluminum C stock again to make the track units nice and sturdy, basically the same way i am making the frame now 
Ok, No I do understand, but from your posts a few days ago I thought you were just covering the middle section of the tracks instead of the sprockets as well (which is better).
If you still dont understand dont worry lol, all I can say is its a good idea 
erm, im covering the whole track section, sprockets included, well, on the top atleast, think of an upside down U and put the tracks and stuff inside of that, and that will be it
for the track units i will probably use a length of custom cut and threaded rod
and from there i will use nuts on the outside, seems good
until i get the material i basically have anything to do
anyone wish to discuss the types of possiblities or ideas that would work with the rover? this is the time to get any idea out, and i would be quite happy to hear anything you have to say, suggestions, critisism, new ideas for me, future expansion ideas, as this being helpful, i think it would be fun, i would like to try and work out all the ideas that you guys come up with and see if i could design it and sketch it out to get it to work properly in real life
again, any type of ideas that would be able to work for the rover and expansions for it, everyone welcome for input, and ill try to sketch out any ideas i have to the best of my ability, i think it would looks good, ill show them too you too 
oh well, let me know
Chunga,
Have you checked out www.smallparts.com ? they have a lot of fantastic raw materials that could help with your design.
hey, a quick update for my rover, i got the corner peices that i will be making the track units with
i was going to work on it this saturday, but i have a track meet (long jump and mile wish me luck )
so, i am going to get some work on once the track meet is over
other than that i has not really done anything besides sanded the C channel down and made it pretty
Ok, another update:
i am just going to go with normal aluminum rather then the diamond plating, the diamond plating is nice and all, but its wicked expensive, and i can get plenty of regular aluminum sheets for much cheaper, so i will be doing that
Huh,
i can get aluminum for a couple cents a plate
well, good news, i have just recently aquired a job, and therefore, will be able to carry my project out with relativley no hinderances unless i cant do some part of the rover
i start monday in training and get my first pay on wed.
so, it wont be long before i will be able to finsih my rover :D:D:D:D:D
Can’t wait
Nice 8)
Hey guys, good news, i finally have the money i need to finish the rover, on saturday i will be filling up my Simon Mall Visa and order the stuff then
my order is going to include a whole bunch of stuff, tracks, track sprockets, track idlers and some pico switches
i have also decided to equip my rover with some LEDs (thats wat the picos are for) i wil have 2 light towers monted on pan and tilts, or maybe just 1 on a 4-5 DOF arm, i will also have 2 LED lines on the undercarraidge of the trover…well, mounted just below the corner of the rover, these wil be able to swivel up and down with a servo, so in total i will have 1 tower at the font as well as a row of LEDs and vise versa at the back
i have discussed this with robodude and i decided to have 15 18,000 mcd LEDs per LED bunch, so that comes to 60 LEDs in total which he thinks is too much
i found agood deal for the LEDs for 65 cents each
i will need al this light for exploring, btw, i am looking someone to design some PCBs that could hold all these LEDs, PM me if u would be able to do this for me
i plan on adding a camera later and will add Infrared LEDs so i can be sneaky in the dark and see with the camera, rather than light the are up and scare things away with the 60 LEDs in the area that im exploring
thats its, see ya after school
I want to see some pics. 
sounds cool! Im designing some PCB’s to hold my LED’s. pretty neat project.
I will get the pictures up as soon as its built , i need to go get the aluminum still, but i might just get enough to mount on the top and sides for right now, and i will finalize it later when i get further paychecks
ok, i got the money for all the tracks and stuff finally! exhausted sigh i wil be ordering the stuff finally on monday, after i get out of school
aslo, i have been working on some PCB schematics to simply allow me to spread the power out and add switch to the many things in the rover, heres an overall schematic, no detail with the other PCBs
img2.putfile.com/thumb/6/15913425025.jpg
let me know wat u think, ill post some little drawings of the LED PCB and fan PCB later , btw, while spreading out the power, do i need any type of device to keep the voltage from dropping a significant amount? from the first switch of the Saber tooth, to the last switch of the Fan PCB?
you could use a voltage regulator board. Id suggest making your own to suite your power hungry needs 
well, i dont need to reulate any voltage, i just dont want it to drop over the coruse of going to the 3 different boards it will be supplying, maybe some caps? idk tough, advice would be great 
, i also plan to run the pan and tilts right from the VEX board for right now, i just want to get a base platform up and running, then i can get more complicated later
ah, now I see what you mean. Alright, Caps may help.