RC Lawn Mower/Status Archive

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Start - Oct 11th

  • Chassis
    • Don welded the remaining motor chassis to the main chassis. ~Oct 5th
    • Sadly, Angela blew her knee out dancing at the kletch :( Don took up the welding torch and was able to attach one of the motor chassis to the main chassis. --Omegix 19:08, 28 September 2010 (CDT)
    • Angela got some practice in with the Welder. The scooter chassis needs to be angle ground smooth so that she can weld two flat surfaces together. --Omegix 12:44, 22 September 2010 (CDT)
    • Prepped the scooter chassis so it's ready to be welded to the main chassis. --Omegix 15:09, 20 September 2010 (CDT)
    • Ratmandu repaired the electrical short in the welder. All ready for the next welding session! --Omegix 15:09, 20 September 2010 (CDT)
    • MIG Welder at the shop currently isn't feeding the metal through. There appears to be an electrical fault causing the trigger to not close the connection to the electric motor that feeds the metal. Angela said she would come back for another welding session once we had the welder repaired. Anthony and Copie both said they would be willing to help weld as well (I think Copie said he has a welder he can bring from home if we need one). --Omegix 09:26, 15 September 2010 (CDT)
    • Don and Omegix cut the extra metal away from the scooter with an angle grinder. Need to build up chassis so that scooter has something to attach to. This is going to require someone with better welding skills than Don or I have :P Maybe Justin or Preaux would be up for it? Picture of Modified Scooter Assembly --Omegix 13:14, 24 August 2010 (CDT)
  • Wheels
    • One of the wheels has less traction than the other. works well on pavement, but need to get matching wheels for rougher terrain. ~Oct 5th
    • Wheels are currently flywheels and only turn in one direction (forward). Need to figure out how to get the wheels to turn in both directions when the motor spins in reverse. --Omegix 12:44, 22 September 2010 (CDT)
  • Motor Control
    • Need to pick up wire connectors for the MC board for quick connect/disconnect. ~Oct 5th
    • Have purchased three of the MOSFETS used on the Victor 883 to see if I can repair it before committing to purchasing parts to create a brand new MC board (or purchasing an OTS board). --Omegix 14:31, 29 September 2010 (CDT)
    • Have contacted Micheal Spiceland about availability of spare motor controller. --Omegix 15:03, 29 September 2010 (CDT)
  • Motors
    • New motor purchased today, its on its way. --Omegix 19:08, 28 September 2010 (CDT)
    • One of the Victor 883s won't turn the motor in reverse, the other one is working fine. Going to check with ratmandu if he has any extra mosfets to see if the Victor 883 can be repaired. --Omegix 12:44, 22 September 2010 (CDT)
      • This page may have the specs for the Victor 884 MOSFETS. Need to confirm they are the same MOSFETS on the Victor 883, and then compare to the MOSFET that ratmandu put on the broken Victor 883. --Omegix 13:29, 22 September 2010 (CDT)
      • Forum opinions seems to indicate that one burned out MOSFET would not disable the Victor's ability to drive in a direction, and that an entire leg of the H-bridge (although unlikely) would have be burned out. --Omegix 13:29, 22 September 2010 (CDT)
    • Confirmed that the motors worked with the Victor 883 motor controllers. Kinsey provided a PWM signal to the control board using an Arduino. We noticed that the motors were unresponsive to going in reverse. This may be a bad control board, or a motor that can't go in reverse. Will investigate soon --Omegix 15:09, 20 September 2010 (CDT)
      • Schematic confirms that motor can turn in either direction. Will confirm its a busted motor control board on Tuesday by testing with the never-been-repaired Victor 883. --Omegix 15:28, 20 September 2010 (CDT)
    • The other test of the battery charger, batteries, and motor went well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata&v=muSJdvpVChs
    • The extra new motor and assembly had a burned out motor. Need to call micheal and see if he has any extra, or potentially purchase a replacement motor --Omegix 19:02, 26 July 2010 (CDT)
    • An additional scooter frame with motor and wheel has been given to us by Micheal, as well as two batteries to power the motors. --Omegix 10:45, 18 July 2010 (CDT)
    • Have left a voicemail for Micheal Spiceland inquiring about the motors. --Omegix 10:48, 13 July 2010 (CDT)
    • Opticron's coworker (the one that supplied the scooter)is checking into what scooter components and motors he has left that he would be willing to part with for low, low prices. --Omegix 13:56, 9 July 2010 (CDT)
  • Turns out friction drives are much better suited for smooth surfaces. This put us back to an original problem, motors. Don looked around the store room and found an electric scooter engine that Opticron had donated to the shop. With one more 250W motor, wheel assembly and some batteries, we should have a drive solution.
  • New Approach: So far this project has been building a RC Mower, Preaux suggested a new approach, build an RC frame that a lawn mower attaches to. This will allow you to change out what you're driving around, including an RC Drink Cooler.
  • Drive System: The Motors do not have a slip differential built into them, meaning that when they get jammed on something, the motor will keep turning and eventually burn itself out. Preaux suggested using a friction drive, where the thick rubber wheels connected to the motors lay up against the bicycle wheels. As the motor turns, the bicycle wheel will turn in the opposite direction. If the wheels hit something, the motor will turn grinding against the bicycle wheel instead of on itself. Probably bad for the wheel, but those are cheaper to replace than motors.
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