Re: Tote bot
 

If you wanted to use pneumatics on the drive train, you could use a butterfly type drive, with the back traction wheel up inside as the axle/pivot point and just use 4 mini pistons to keep the tote elevated and be able to pop the wheels up inside. http://www.teamneutrino.org/seasons/...bot/butterfly/

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I can just imagine that conversation.
" so this chart shows..."
" excuse me, but what is that thing doing?"
" fighting crime. Against boxes. Next question"

Our robot is named the black knight. I just got the idea of painting the box joker colors and giving the black knight a cape. Lol.

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Update to the project
We have chosen a chain driven mechanism with two Andy mark motors driving them in a tank drive system, with a Omni wheel in the back. Ventilation might be a problem seeing as the tote will be closed. We chose victor motor controllers for the drive motors. Using the old control system will take up a lot of space so space is limited for anything other than the core drive system. Possibly some LED lights or some gizmo to improve the ridiculousness of this robot
I will post a photo tomorrow, as it sits the robot is just the tote, we laid the electronics out in the tote to see if it'll all fit. The wheel slots have been cut out of the tote. The sprockets need to be drilled out to accommodate a screw to connect to the motor shaft. The wheels are the old KOP white high grip small wheels. The Omni has yet to be chosen. The robot shouldn't reach too high of a speed overall. Both wheels will be on the same axle to save space, and each will have its own motor.

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Try it without ventilation first. Drive it around for a while then quickly stop it and check the temperature of the Victors. If you cannot hold your fingers on them, they are too hot.

The tote has a fair amount of surface area. Heat will pass through the walls to the outside. The plastic is not going to be a good conductor of the heat but it may be good enough. You may want to install one of the large fans that comes in the KOP to circulate the air inside the tote. The more driving around you do, the more heat the Victors will dissipate. This is offset by the air flowing over the tote as you drive. Some of the smaller AC motor controllers (under 50hp) we sell at work get put into large, totally sealed boxes due to the dusty environment they are being used in. There are formulas for calculating the size of the box needed based on the heat generated by the motor controller, the surface area available to dissipate the heat and the ambient temperature.

Re: Tote bot
 

You could always poke a hole in the bottom where stuff won't be seen, and add a fan if needed I suppose.

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Depending on where the totebot will be driven, it can suck in a lot of dirt.

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Well, if it's a 120mm computer fan it probably wouldn't be to difficult to get a washable filter for the intake.

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Maybe the hole at the bottom could be an exhaust, and the air intakes could come from, say, widening the gaps between the lids and the tote at the hinges. I don't have one in front of me but there are certainly places to discreetly drill holes or widen gaps. Totes aren't really airtight.

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Try it without ventilation first. If the components get too hot, Jays suggestion is probably the best option. Filters are an item that must be maintained to be effective. They are not at all effective if they are damaged or are left off.

Maybe you can add a window motor and make the flaps on top open and close for added effect.

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I will be sure to test it without ventilation first. and the flaps popping open would be hilarious especially if something pops out of the box when they open.

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the large fans are very stupid loud, I wouldn't want to put one in a enclosed space like the tote bot, but I would be willing to use several small ones

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If you are going to use smaller fans, install them so that they are on opposites sides and cause the air in the tote to circulate. For example, one installed on the right side pushes air toward the front and one on the left pushes air to the rear.

Something popping out could be good, say a small version of your school mascot. Otherwise, maybe you can fit in a small single-shot T-shirt cannon powered with surgical tubing, for simplicity.

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This is the original totebot, as far as I know. We were present at the Indianapolis District Event and the Purdue District Event, but we didn't get the chance to drive around much at either. We love checking out all the other totebots that have popped up in the last few weeks. We even drove around with 3940's briefly at Purdue!

It's a lot of fun to have, and it was a lot of fun to build!

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I've seen that already but I must say we're not going to do anything nearly as advanced as that