I did some testing of the new rover over the weekend. It’s using a Sabertooth 2 x 10 RC motor controller, Hitec Laser 4 four channel RC system, a 7.2vdc, 2800mAh battery, and a simple pan and tilt made from SES components. The BEC function of the Sabertooth was defeated by pulling the Red wires from the two plugs that go to the receiver. The 7.2vdc battery pack powers the receiver directly from a servo wire extender with one end cut off and connected to the Sabertooth power terminals. The pan and tilt servos are plugged into the receiver in channels 3 and 4. The display is a 12vdc unit from Supercircuits. I made a battery box from a plastic enclosure. It houses two 6vdc 2800mAh batteries with a power switch and the plugs for the display and the 2.4ghz camera receiver. I was able to get over 300 feet of usable range. The camera receiver needs to be mounted up high to get reliable video though. The test was a big success. 8)
looks cool. was it outside (or a 300ft. room )?? How did the new rover perform with the added clearance?
I’m still looking for a good outdoor base so I can play with GPS…
-Drew
Will it climb a 40 degree incline, and is there enough ground clearance to put a mower blade (even a 7-8 inch diameter one)? Because if it can we can make like 4 or 5 of them, add gps, zigbee, and some sort of a base station/host to keep track of things and it’d save me a lot of painful hillside mowing.
edit: and as I’m sitting here thinking about this… it’d do a great job of freaking the neighbors out too.
Freaking out the neighbors is my specialty. hehehe
I’m testing the 40° incline… Wow I even impressed myself. lol The thing climbed a 45° incline with ease. I know you are joking, but I wanted to test the climbing ability anyway.
The Sabertooth 2x10RC’s BEC won’t current limit until at least 500 mA (750 typical) and you’re not going to run into any problems with heat dissipation from a 7.2v battery. For running a simple Pan/tilt with standard servos like say an HS-425 you’d almost certainly be okay using the BEC to power everything. Of course, if the servos are happy with running straight from 7.2v, that’s no problem too (just don’t backfeed a nominal 7.2V into the Sabertooth…)
Hey John, Thanks for the clarification. I basically just resorted to my conservative nature and disabled the BEC. I will give it a try and see how it goes powering everything from the Sabertooths built in regulator. It’s certainly easier to plug and play that way… 8)
I may not be joking quite as much as you might think I am. I have been momentarily distracted (by a scout project) from my intended summer project of a robo-mower capable of mowing my property, and I’m not kidding about the need to operate on 40 degree incline. My house is on like the side of a hill and 40% of my property boundry is bordered by a grade varying from 20 to about 40 degrees and a Z differential of about 8-9 feet at the worst spot. You can’t walk a mower down the slope without winding up half way across the road at the bottom by the time you stop. If you fall on your ass you can’t let go of the mower or it will be across the road and in the neighbors flower beds by the time it stops moving. I really want a robo or at least r/c mower 'bot. I dunno if I will get it done this summer, I kind of doubt it at this point, but I’ve already almost got the wife sold on this. My tracked ROV is making good progress on the control software and video front. The scout is something fun that happened along and I get to use my new MatchBoard on. Sooo… kidding about lawn mowing robots on 40 degree inclines… not so much. 8)
muh hah hah hah hah.
Have you considered securing a rope to the back of the mower, and using that to lower it down the incline and haul it back up? A velcro strap could override the operator interlock for mowing that bit of the yard, and be removed for the rest.
Not to deflect attention from your idea - just a “quick and dirty” that might work in the meantime.
(we now return to your regularly-scheduled robot discussion)
YES! Videos! Great!
The last videos of a rover that you have on the website are of the 4WD1, and it doesn’t even move. Just the arm on top of it.
Then Some really old ones of what I guess is an even earlier model.
Yes updated rover videos are long overdue. Right now I only have parts for the single prototype rover. As soon as I get some more parts here I will be able to get the old rover projects recreated with the new chassis. Each one will need video. 8)
Right now I’m charging them sequentially. I have received some 12vdc 1600mAh packs and I am getting in some 12vdc 2800mAh packs. I am ordering in smart chargers that can charge 12vdc batteries.
oohhh… 12V 2800ma nimh would be good… and a 15A switching buck regulator pcba for $25 (that doesn’t need a heatsink the size of the mars rover to operate) to make lots of nice 6V for servos would be cool too. cool… get it… cool. don’t make me break out batchpcb again. 8)
)?? How did the new rover perform with the added clearance?
My tracked ROV is making good progress on the control software and video front. The scout is something fun that happened along and I get to use my new MatchBoard on. Sooo… kidding about lawn mowing robots on 40 degree inclines… not so much. 
8)