Mecanum Mod to an R/c car?

[Oliver84]

Hey, I was just wondering if anyone's heard or attempted to modify an r/c car so that it can run on mecanum wheels? I know there would be a lot of modifications to make and I'm not even sure if it would be worth a try but I'd just like your opinions on it. (if it's not even feasible, a simple no would suffice. I don't want to start a flame war)

[MrForbes]

That would take a lot of modification! most RC cars have one motor, but mecanum wheels require a separate motor for each wheel.

[EricVanWyk]

It sounds like a fun project. As Squirrel said, you'll need 4 separate motor drives. I think most R/C cars just have the one drive motor and the steering. The first task is probably to find an R/C toy that already has 4 channels.

A buddy of mine, Wayne Penn, is really into R/C cars. Maybe he could be convinced to share his wisdom.

[Oliver84]

So it would be easier making one from scratch? I don't have too much experience with electronics but really want to see if I can make an r/c mecanum wheeled car. Just figured it would help me out because I'm not really sure where to start.

[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.

[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...

[MrForbes]

For an idea of what it might take to build a little mecanum robot, you can search this forum for

vex mecanum

also here's a short video of one we made at home, the wheels are home made and the rest of the robot is pretty basic vEx stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K1-wFjNvJ4

[gorrilla]

Originally Posted by squirrel

For an idea of what it might take to build a little mecanum robot, you can search this forum for

vex mecanum

also here's a short video of one we made at home, the wheels are home made and the rest of the robot is pretty basic vEx stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K1-wFjNvJ4

was that tapping sound just the rollers hitting the floor?




Also if you dident want full 3-axis movement couldent you just put two on the back and have a kid of oval movement with the right tweaking? that way it would be kinda easier

just my $100-$99.98

[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!