Would a battery like this work? And if so, Does robot shop provide a charger that’s compatible?
And what mounts/hubs would I need for the gearboxes the motors and the wheels you suggested?
What gear ratio do you suggest? (could you give me a ratio for 2 or 4 motors)
And will I need a mount for the P80 Gearbox?
If I got something like a 100 ah battery would I be able to plug it directly into a motor controller?
EDIT: Oh wait I just looked up what ah means and realized that does not matter that much. Its the wattage/amperage that matters.
And a arduino mega should be able to communicate with the motor controllers via serial with the rx/tx pins?
And in the manual when it says microcomputer, is it referring to a micro-controller?
And should I be able to do gradual acceleration without encoders?
I was going to use the Arduino for stuff like headlights and cooling fans. (do you think it work better to control the arduino and the motors with a remote? or should I use a xbee?)
And does robot shop have a giant scale servo with continuous rotation?
I was going to use a couple of dismantled flashlights for the headlights. (Already tested them out with my arduino uno)
Although I might just use a camera with night vision.
And would the code for communicating with the controller be something like this?
Serial.println("!AC 1 2000")
And what cords will I need to connect my arduino to the motor controller(s)?
I feel like a complete idiot for asking this, but if the ratio is 10:1 then it will multiply the torque by 10?
And will a single 12 volt battery supply 2 of the motor controllers?
And when the motor sizing tool gives you the estimated torque, is that for each motor or for all of the motors combined?
And do you guys have a robot/kit that could carry a 70 pound payload? (Im hoping it will be under $3000)
Does this robot come with a battery and does it require delicate soldering?
I can do basic soldering but I cant do anything like solder a xbee to a arduino board.
In order to move an 80 pound turret, the robot will need to be ~100 pounds.
That’s going to be a massive robot. Keep in mind that an ATV or snowmobile weighs around 300 to 500 pounds. To give you an idea of size, the Rescuer Remote Controlled Tracked Platform weighs 187 lbs. The widened HD2 with batteries weighs about 100 lbs.
At this time we do not offer any track systems which are strong enough to support that weight - the systems we offer are intended for lightweight to medium sized robots (<30 lbs for example).
We do offer motors which can move this size robot, the best of which would be the CIM plus P80 gearbox. We also offer a selection of other gearboxes intended for use with this motor. You still might need four motors and we suggest taking a look at our Drive Motor Sizing Tool. In order to control this motor, you’ll need a fairly powerful DC motor controller.
The microcontroller you choose has very little to do with the size of the robot. Each CIM motor can consume up to about 40A continuously, and if you use four motors, you’d need either two 50A+ dual motor controllers, or one ~120A dual motor controller, so a few 2A motor shields is out of the question. You would only need one Arduino Mega to communicate with the motor controllers, and you should not be using a 9V battery but rather a voltage regulator being fed from the main battery pack.
Most DC motors don’t come with leads, which should be soldered to the tabs - using very thick wires (to carry the current). If you’re planning to embark on this project, you’ll certainly need some experience with soldering.
Is there a particular reason you want to start with a robot of this size?
Yup - that should work well.
Here is a rough idea of the weight of the robot: Each CIM motor weighs 46oz (2.875 lbs), and each motor will need a gear-down which itself weighs 50oz (3.125 lbs). Each controller weighs 0.5 lbs. So the weight of four geared motors and two controllers would be 25 lbs.
Next, you need four wheels which can support 100 lbs (6" Plaction wheel as just an example) which is 0.66 lbs each (plus weight of the hub at 0.15 lbs). Next, you’ll need the frame itself, which should ideally be made out of Aluminum, and could weight ~10 lbs.
Last, the heaviest item will be the battery, and in order to get a decent run time (say, around 20 min), you might consider lead acid, which would be 20 lbs+. The total weight of the robot which would move the turret at a decent speed would be ~50-60 lbs.
You can control it directly via R/C, but the connector is not ideal - you can either push the wires directly into the port (not great), or use a breakout board with the matching connector. Refer to the user guide pages 53+. You can likely find the mating connector on Digikey.
We currently do not have a battery which is powerful enough to run the CIM motor. You would need a 12V, 10Ah or more. If you want to operate it for a decent time, you’d need at least 30Ah, and have a spare ready to go.
You would need to make it or contract out. You can consider starting with a dense wood.
This confirms that the paintball mini gun used in the show “Community” at the end of season 2 was real.
Yes, that would work. Notice that the weight is ~32 lbs. If each motor consumes around 10A continuously (for a total of 40A), and the robot has a total efficiency of ~45%, then that battery should last for about 20-30 minutes.
When you design the base, make sure to do so such that the robot can turn properly with as little resistance as possible. You may even want to consider only two motors (with a higher gear ratio) and using swivel casters in front and in back.
You’ll need RB-And-09 (0.5" bore, mates with Plaction wheel), as well as a key and two 0.5" bore shaft collars per shaft (McMaster is a good source). The wheel would need to be mounted very close to the motor, and ideally have the shaft supported at the end as well.
For two motors, using the Drive Motor Sizing Tool, you would need about 3000 oz-in of torque. The CIM motor provides 345oz-in, so you would need at least a 10:1 gear ratio, perhaps a bit higher to be safe. If you use four motors, they would each need a 5:1 gear ratio. Consider 2x RB-Ban-79 which is a 12:1 gear ratio. You would need a pair of casters at the front and at the rear to help support the load.