Why not make a Big Trak type robot?

Community General Discussions
1

It occurred to me, I haven't seen anyone make a Big Trak clone lately.  For those who don't know, Big Trak was a Milton Bradley's toy in 1979-80 that was recently brought back.  It was a truck that could be programmed to Move Forward a certain number of "units" (about 13 inches), Stop and Wait a certain number of seconds, Turn left or right a certain number of degrees (but, you had to test it on each type of flooring), Fire a laser gun, dump out stuff in a trailer, etc.

I think with today's tech (and a shaft encoder), hobbyists could vastly improve the concept and add new commands like Follow the Wall on the Right, Move Forward until 1 unit from object, Wait Until Sound, Open Hand, etc.  And even program it on a smart phone.

It would be a pretty cool homemade toy.

2

I’m starting to work on a similar design, but I’m going BIG.

I loved my Big Trak when I was a kid. Heck, I wore out 3 of em. lol I’m working on a similar design for my first robot,but I’m going a lot bigger. Like large push mower big. Maybe even bigger. And I probably will run a similar trailer arrangement. I’m starting to source parts right now. My son is getting ready to take a class on writing android apps, so maybe he can come up with some useful ideas for some kind of control/wireless tether setup.  I liked the way the axle arrangement was too, so I may put a similar setup, but with some kind of suspension system to hold it tighter to the ground. I’m still thinking though.