Need a Bot to help me out with moving things

[jfischer]

I know these might sound like some stupid questions, but thought someone might be able to help me out, or point me in the right direction or show me a few things they have built.

I am in a wheelchair, and it has come to a point that I really don't have anyone to help me out with things. I am looking to build something that can help me transport something from the front of my house, to the walk in basement, or to my shed. I am looking for something that I can unload something out of my van, drag it over, or place it onto, and then by remote, can drive it down to my basement.

Terrain is a slight hill, with gravel, and some concrete walk way. I have to be able to stay in the chair and drive it down there. I have been into R/C racing for over 20 years. and have a good knowledge of controllers, etc there, so that is a start.

I have both a Mig, and Tig welder and can weld with respect to what I am making and it holds together :-)

Don't need anything with super speed or power, but would like to have a size of say 24"x36" or so. That way I could unload dog food, or anything that I have, and be able to tie it down, or make some removable sides if I need to put sheet good, or other flat things on it.

I would think something with a 8-10" tire should be able to manipulate the terrain ok. Have been into building some R/C rockcrawlers over the Winter, and wish I had a bigger version of them as they would do the trick :-)

Any help or pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated,
Thanks, Jeff

[Geof]

Not stupid questions but questions that can be complex and expensive to answer.

Here is a link to an organization that has been set up for answering questions such as these. I have no idea if there is a local chapter in your area:

http://www.tetrasociety.org/


You give no indication of how much expense you can accommodate and how much assistance you have available for doing the building so the following may be totally impractical.

My first thought about what you want to do is that you should try and get an old power wheelchair; obviously you travel the route your 'Transport Module' will travel so a wheelchair can do it.

For many years now power chairs have had tilt and recline seating systems which are operated by linear actuators so this is the type you need; you don't actually need the seat system but you want the actuators and the joystick control module that can switch between driving the chair and adjusting the seat.

Strip everything off the wheelchair so you just have the base with wheels, motors, batteries and controller and build a hoist or maybe some kind of forklift arrangement in place of the seat; use the actuators to move this. Wire the actuators into the control and lengthen the wire between the joystick and the wheelchair so you can drive the Transport Module from your chair.

The forklift arrangement I am thinking about is like the ones you see at The Home Depot where the forks extend forward from the drive base.

Technically I think this would all be fairly straightforward; cost ?????

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by jfischer Have been into building some R/C rockcrawlers over the Winter, and wish I had a bigger version of them as they would do the trick :-) Any help or pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated, Thanks, Jeff

You mentioned you wish to build it, why not build a larger version of the rockcrawler?
One source of hardware maybe scrap golf carts or industrial buggies.
These would have the traction motor and battery compartment, you could always downsize it by cutting the cab of or stripping for parts.
You could probably get away with a 12v automotive battery instead of the 24v or 36v, this would lower the max speed and decrease the power pack size.
But still give it stability.
Or Geoff's idea of a scrap wheelchair could be cut down and a adapted?
You can also get low voltage DC hydraulic pumps and cylinders surplus, that could be used for lifting/loading mechanism.
Al.

[Weldtutor]

Originally Posted by jfischer I am looking to build something that can help me transport something from the front of my house, to the walk in basement, or to my shed. I am looking for something that I can unload something out of my van, drag it over, or place it onto, and then by remote, can drive it down to my basement. Terrain is a slight hill, with gravel, and some concrete walk way.

Hi Jeff,
The 2 ideas above are both quite interesting & might prove workable.

Another possibility would be a 12 volt winch connected to a wagon or wheeled platform.

If the hill is not sufficient to travel down by gravity a winch to pull down & another to pull uphill might work.

Two pairs might be needed for north/south movement & east/west if right angled turns are required from your van to storage areas.

[One of Many]

If you chose to get a robust base setup with all the motors and modify that for your needs, you can get the R/C receiver controllers from many manufacturers to work with your radio transmitters. They come combined in one unit or individual function matched to the application.

Vantec

IFI Robotics

Robot Power

Playing off Weldtutors suggestion, a tow dolly or wagon and a hitch pin to the wheel chair might suffice for light things.

DC

[jfischer]

Thanks for some of the ideas. I have thought about the route of getting a old electric chair, but seems that most I have found are either totally worn out, or they are in the $500 up range, and hate to spend that just to hack a chair up that you have no idea of how much use is on the motors. I have found a few companies that sell motors, and they seem to start in the range of $150 and go up from there. Really not sure of how big of motor I would need for a bot that would carry 200-300 pounds, (have to consider the weight of the bot also into things)

I would like to make it out of as much aluminum as I could to keep the weight down, but don't want to go broke on buying it

In my area, (around the Washington D.C. area) the golf carts go for a pretty good price unless they are just junk, and I did think about that, but there is a LOT of cutting up on it to get out of it what I would want, and could probably find the motors for them at surplus or rebuild places.

I don't need anything to lift things, just a nice place to put things to haul them, and why I was asking around, thinking maybe a few out here had built them. I have found one or two in pictures, the one below is what got me interested and thinking in the first place, and maybe it will give you more of an idea of what I am looking for.
Below is a link (couldn't seem to insert a picture without an attachment).
http://www.thefishnet.com/rollrobot.jpg


A member here Nick (monte55) has a good video on YouTube of one he built and that is a nice one, it can be seen here.

YouTube - Got Bot?" target="_blank">YouTube - Got Bot?

YouTube - Got Bot?" target="_blank">YouTube - Got Bot?

I will do an attachment here also of the bot that got me to thinking, just in case my link above doesn't work.

[TOTALLYRC]

Here is a link to a basic cart with nice tires and the price is right.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38137

Shouldn't be too hard to drive one or both of the rear tires and you could rig up a hitch for the chair if needed to.

Another other option and if you were closer to CT I could help you out with, is to get an riding tractor or mower for the drive components. Most have nice tires and rear differential. You could then get a geared dc motor from one of the surplus sites and a dc motor controller. I have several nice astro flight speed controls that would work and would adapt to R/C very easilly.
A 12v battery should give plenty of power and you are not going to be racing this thing, just moving stuff around the yard. You can also keep your eyes open for a childrens electric riding toy, Power wheels??? such a a jeep like my nieces have. Nice drive components and since you are4 into rc, adding a speed control and a large servo should be easy.

Mike

[jfischer]

Hello Mike, I already have one of the trailers like that, and a Hitch I made up on a oid chair, which was fine when I was younger, but getting older, hill seems to be steeper, and guess after seeing a few of the different flat looking bots some have built, I am taking it on as a challenge, as it will be something that can be used a lot, for many things.

I have the tractor, and a Johnny Bucket for the front of it, but that means I have to jump over to the tractor, and then I am without my chair.
I need something that can be done all by myself, as I don't have any help around anymore.

The kids car stuff just won't have enough power, or weight capacity to carry things like I am wanting. The ones like I had in the video, or the picture are what I am looking to build, I would just like to see more pictures, to get some more ideas on it. I hate to half*** anytrhing and feel this is worth taking the time to explore and see what others have made, and make it right.

You are right, the R/C or control part is the least of my worries, and that shouldn't be that much of a problem.

Just asking for more choices, oh and I am in Northern Virginia so if you know of anyone local that might be able to give ideas or help I would appreciate it.
Jeff

Originally Posted by TOTALLYRC Here is a link to a basic cart with nice tires and the price is right. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38137 Shouldn't be too hard to drive one or both of the rear tires and you could rig up a hitch for the chair if needed to. Another other option and if you were closer to CT I could help you out with, is to get an riding tractor or mower for the drive components. Most have nice tires and rear differential. You could then get a geared dc motor from one of the surplus sites and a dc motor controller. I have several nice astro flight speed controls that would work and would adapt to R/C very easilly. A 12v battery should give plenty of power and you are not going to be racing this thing, just moving stuff around the yard. You can also keep your eyes open for a childrens electric riding toy, Power wheels??? such a a jeep like my nieces have. Nice drive components and since you are4 into rc, adding a speed control and a large servo should be easy. Mike

[TOTALLYRC]

I was assuming that you didn't want the skid steer like the bot as it can chew the lawn.

If skid steer is ok, then it shouldn't be that hard to build. Get 4 matching tires similar to the cart I linked to, better if the have keyed hubs. 4 pillow block and matching shafting.

Put a large chain sprocket on each shaft and away you go. you may have to set up 2 stage gear reduction with a jackshaft or you could find a geared motor to make it easier.
It all depends on what you can do by yourself and what you want to spend. It seems like it would be easiest to start with a motor and drive system and then build around it.

You could actualy combine 2 rock crawlers and use a y cable to the steering servo's. put a platform on top and they should handle 50lbs easily, maybe 100 if you test it out first.

Just a couple of ideas.

Mike

[monte55]

Hey Jeff..........Nick from Miller site. I see you found "The Zone" This is a very good site. I made a CNC router/plasma machine in the fall of 2006. Just about everything I needed to learn to build came from this site. they're are many good helpful people here.........
Nick

[jfischer]

Hey Nick, yes, I found this site a long time ago, and read a lot when I was thinking about converting my vertical mill over to CNC. Finally dedided to register so I could ask a few questions, or give input.

I am getting a few more ideas on the Bot. Now to start trying to collect parts. Hate to have to go buy a bunch of new stuff, so if anyone out there has motors or such they might want to sell, get in touch with me.
Jeff

Originally Posted by monte55 Hey Jeff..........Nick from Miller site. I see you found "The Zone" This is a very good site. I made a CNC router/plasma machine in the fall of 2006. Just about everything I needed to learn to build came from this site. they're are many good helpful people here......... Nick

[tonybert]

Jeff,

This may seem out of the ordinary but take a look at the First robotics competition, I've been helping my son's high school (Centreville High up the road from you!) with their robot. This years competition is a form of robotic soccer. But getting back to the point, this years robots are about 2x3 ft with 4 wheel drive (tank drive) with 12 volt systems with chain drive and gear transmissions etc. The basic parts are pretty expensive but if you look into the kit of parts for sources, it could be done.

Btw there are also teams at the Manassas high schools.

Tony