jambofan09

i am building a large custom cooler out of an old refrigerator or freezer and was wondering if anyone would be willing to give me some insight on how to make it remote control .... the biggest problem i think would be weight , when full it would weigh about 300 lb demensions would be approx 30 inches wide 48 inches long right now i am only in preliminary stages and if this is impossible thats fine but i would love to get working on it if it is a real possibility

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Nothing is impossible.


I would look at using parts from one of these.






Also have a look at this site: http://mobile.robotmarketplace.com


For steering you might wanna consider individual motors at the drive wheels and swivel wheels at the front, like on a shopping trolley (and most battle robots) rather than a steering rack.

Possibly even 6 wheels, with swivels at either end and drive wheels in the middle.
Or drive wheels in the middle and a single swivel wheel at either end.

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Or go all the way and put tank tracks on it.
Then you can take it anywhere.

jambofan09

i thought about the hoverround idea the question with that would be how would i make it remote contol after i get the axles and engine/transmission in , also @dirty_vinylpusher i dont think i will use tranks on it because if it gets locked up somehow it would be a pain in the @$$ to drag,

jambofan09

this is kind of what it would be like but not a pull behind, it would be RC , and i dont wanna pay the $2500 one of those cost

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Yeh that's what I meant with two drive wheels and two swivel wheels.


Have a look at the robotics site I linked to earlier.
They should have everything you need to set it up.
Making the drive wheels "steer" by controlling them individually will be easier than steering the "front wheels"

Also it will turn on a dime and be easier to manouvre.

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Some light reading which might be of interest.

http://www.robotplatform.com/knowled...ol_theory.html

http://www.4qd.co.uk/robot/start.html

http://members.toast.net/joerger/futaba.html

jambofan09

Thank you all of this is a great help but I'm a little confused how I could effectively steer from the back drive wheels I could understand what your saying if the front wheels were the drive and steer wheels but it sounds as though you are talking about rear tires

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Yep, basically the back wheels, the big ones, drive AND steer.
They steer the cart by having individual motors.

When both motors turn at the same speed in the same direction it goes forward.
When the LEFT wheel turns slower than the right, the cart will turn left, and so on.


The front wheels don't do anything, just swivel.



Have a look here, it might explain it a bit better.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8vAjZ3sm2Js



Actually this is probably a video you should watch.
I only watched a bit of this one, but there seems to be a few vids from this guy.

He's basically building what you wanna do, just with a lawnmower instead of a cooler box.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=__ZU1BuOJuM

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Same principle as these mowers, where you control (steer) the rear (drive)wheels individually with the levers and the front wheels just follow.













Hope that helps.
I really don't know how else to explain it haha.

Maj_Overdrive

My Feedback: (11)

These mobilty scooters used with dead batteries can be pretty inexpensive, $100-300 in some cases. If you have an old folks home near by you might want to check their dumpster. One place near me threw out a dozen of the things at once, most just needed new batteries.

I know being rc would be really cool but I have an idea for simplifying things a bit. Make it like a wagon. Take one of those mobility scooters, strip everything off the top, make a platform for your cooler. Then attach a long handle to the steering post making it like a wagon. Put the throttle control on the handle and you have a powered wagon. You're not going to be able to ride it anyway, so if you gotta walk with it why not just steer it manually. This way you don't need any rc stuff, or motor controllers, you're just modifying a mobility scooter to carry a cooler and putting a wagon handle on it.

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Nooooo!

Make it RC.




It'll be worth it in the end.
The looks you'll get, walking next to or behind it, as it cruises along by itself haha.

Anyone can drag a cooler box on a trolley.
Not many people can drive one around remotely.

n5n442

It sounds great.

n5n442

I have some details to communication with you.Could you give me an email account.,thks robert

Dirty_Vinylpusher

No

jambofan09

okay i am definitely wanting to make it rc and i think im going to go with the two motors on the back probably 24v, my next question would have to be will i need votage regulators on each motor to make sure they run at the same speed or would i just somehow connect each motor to each of the speed controls on the controlller i was thinking about using one of these motorson each wheel ( http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/0-P40-350.html ) once again i am new to all of this and was wondering what else i would need; i already have the wheels now if these motors will work i will get them ,

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Good stuff.


But this is where you'll need someone else to help with advice.
I only know the basic theory of this sort of setup.
When it comes to the electronic side of things I have no idea how to set it up.

I think that robot site has a forum section, maybe start a thread there?


Someone here might be able to help too though.


Keep us updated as this is an interesting project.

Dirty_Vinylpusher

Anything happening here?