Mecanum Mod to an R/c car?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Modding an RC car to have Mecanum wheels would be very difficult. Also unless you are planning on making your own Mecanum wheels chances are you will have difficulty finding ones that are small.

That being said, the simplest way to build an rc Mecanum would be either the vex kits or the mindstorm kits. I think Tytus has some designs out for either omnis or Mecanums at that scale. I also recall seeing a lego Mecanum wheel. If you decide to go this route I will see if I can find them again for you.

Now, to mod an RC car would require:
1) Mecanum Wheels (see earlier)
2) Minimally a 4 channel transmitter and receiver (most small cars have 2 channels)
3) 4 speed controllers
4) 4 motors (small, low current draw unless you want to spend a lot on speed controllers)

None of these are particularly hard to get, it may end up costing you more than you want to spend however.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/24218 is the picture of said wheels.

I'm with Andrew here. 4-channel transmitter/receiver wouldn't be terribly hard to find at a hobby shop, and neither would the speed controllers, though they'd likely be for R/C aircraft. Motors? Match the one(s) in the vehicle and get two or three more. The wheels are the hard part. It is quite possible to have them that small, but it'll cost you to get them made or to make them yourself.

Once you have the materials, just remove the electronics you don't need and put in the new ones...

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by EricH

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/24218 is the picture of said wheels.

I'm with Andrew here. 4-channel transmitter/receiver wouldn't be terribly hard to find at a hobby shop, and neither would the speed controllers, though they'd likely be for R/C aircraft. Motors? Match the one(s) in the vehicle and get two or three more. The wheels are the hard part. It is quite possible to have them that small, but it'll cost you to get them made or to make them yourself.

Once you have the materials, just remove the electronics you don't need and put in the new ones...

http://www.robotmarketplace.com/prod...GWS-GWT4A.html is the CHEAPEST (I have no experience with them) 4 Channel Transmitter/Receiver pair.

And thinking more about the Mecanums at that small size, how tough do they have to be? Its not like Tyus' where he was going to use them on a battlebot, if this is just for driving around a room somewhere would just having them printed and then using test tube cappers (the rubber ones)

Or would http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...light=Mecanums work?

There is really nothing stopping people from making small mecanums...

[Oliver84]

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm thinking that I'll go the route of making my own mecanum wheels. Mostly because of the challenge and also to try to keep the costs down as much as possible. So I would basically need to get a vex kit, make my own wheels, and get a 4 channel transmitter? I wonder if this is the most economical way to go about making this project? What would you guys recommend?

[gorrilla]

well if your using vex you might as well use the large omni wheels and put them a 45 degrees to achieve the same affect and it would be easier and cheaper

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Oliver84

Thanks for all of your replies. I'm thinking that I'll go the route of making my own mecanum wheels. Mostly because of the challenge and also to try to keep the costs down as much as possible. So I would basically need to get a vex kit, make my own wheels, and get a 4 channel transmitter? I wonder if this is the most economical way to go about making this project? What would you guys recommend?

If you go the vex route you already have a transmitter.

[Oliver84]

Oh ok, I missed that. So the vex kit is basically $300 which includes everything I need except the wheels. I could use the omni wheels for an extra $80 or so but I'd really like to use mecanum wheels. Which means I'd still have to make my own. So would you say I'm better off spending the $300 on the kit than trying to mod an existing r/c car and getting a 4 channel transmitter? I guess I should really compare their $199 Protobot kit with modding an r/c car. I think if I try to mod it, I would spend more than $199 in money and stress in fitting the motors, finding the parts, working the drive train, and all that fun stuff.

[gorrilla]

basically yes, but its your call

[Oliver84]

Great, thanks. I'll keep you guys updated on it when I get going with it. Thanks!