An RC Tank Chassis That’s Not Messing About https://hackaday.com/2023/12/26/an-rc-tank-chassis-thats-not-messing-about/ #TransportationHacks #hoverboardmotor #TankTracks #tank

I'm interested in building a #StirlingEngine that has enough power to spin a hoverboard motor. Not entirely sure of what scale I'm in for, that sounds like I have a lot to learn. I have a large canning cooker that I hope to use as a sand battery.

#PowerGenerator #generator #HotAirEngine #SandBattery #HoverboardMotor

3D Printed Mecanum Wheels For Hoverboard Motors

At this point, somebody taking the motors out of a cheap "hoverboard" and using them to power a scooter or remote controlled vehicle isn't exactly a new idea. But in the case of the FPV rover [Proto G] has been working on, his choice of motors is only part of the story. The real interesting bit is the 3D printed omnidirectional Mecanum wheels he's designed to fit the motors, which he thinks could have far reaching applications beyond his own project.

Now, that isn't to say that the rover itself isn't impressive. All of the laser cutting and sheet metal bending was done personally by [Proto G], and we love the elevated GoPro "turret" in the front that lets him look around while remotely driving the vehicle. Powered by a pair of Makita cordless tool batteries and utilizing hobby-grade RC parts, the rover looks like it would be a fantastic robotic platform to base further development on.

The Mecanum wheels themselves are two pieces, and make use of rollers pulled from far smaller commercially available wheels. This is perhaps not the most cost effective approach, but compared to the alternative of trying to print all the rollers, we see the advantage of using something off-the-shelf. If you're not sure how to make these weird wheels work for you, [Proto G] has also released a video explaining how he mixes the RC channels to get the desired omnidirectional movement from the vehicle.

If you're content with more traditional wheeled locomotion, we've previously seen how quickly a couple of second-hand hoverboards can be turned into a impressively powerful mobile platform for whatever diabolical plans you may have.

#parts #robotshacks #hoverboard #hoverboardmotor #mecanumwheels #rover

Hoverboard Turned Heavy Duty Remote Control Rover

They might not be the hoverboards we were promised in Back to the Future II , but the popular electric scooters that have commandeered the name are exciting pieces of tech in their own way. Not because we're looking to make a fool of ourselves by actually riding one, but because they're packed full of useful hardware that's available for dirt cheap thanks to the economies of scale and the second-hand market.

In his latest video, the ever resourceful [MakerMan] turns a pair of hoverboards into a capable remote controlled mobile platform perfect for…well, whatever you want to move around. Its welded steel construction is certainly up for some heavy duty tasks, and while we can't say we'd ever tow a SUV with it as shown in the video below, it's nice to know we'd have the option.

The project starts by liberating the four wheel motors from the scooters and carefully cutting down the frame to preserve the mounting hardware. These mounts are ultimately welded to the frame of the rover, with a piece of diamond plate screwed down on top. On the bottom, [MakerMan] mounts the two control boards and a custom fabricated 36 V battery pack.

He doesn't go into any detail on how he's interfacing the RC hardware with the motor controllers, but as we've seen with past hacks, there's open source firmware replacements for these boards that allow them to be controlled by external inputs. Presumably something similar is being used here, but we'd be interested to hear otherwise. Of course you could swap the RC hardware out for a microcontroller or Raspberry Pi if you were looking to make some kind of autonomous rover.

Don't have a welder or convenient collection of scrap steel laying around? No worries. Prolific tinkerer [Aaron Christophel] put something very similar together using bolted aluminum extrusion.

#toyhacks #transportationhacks #hoverboard #hoverboardmotor #motorized #remotecontrol #rover #wheelmotor