Afghanistan robot

[Dick Linn]

Nathan is in a 443 acre camp in a 3 square mile secure area out in the middle of the "Desert of Death". There are thousands of Marines there, probably more than a few big mean ones. I think it is a pretty secure facility.

Hey there, Mario Gal! You doing OK? Nathan did get to hang out here at the house a couple times before he left.

[Molten]

Originally Posted by Dick Linn

I think it is a pretty secure facility.

History tells us that nothing is really secure.

[Dick Linn]

Originally Posted by Molten

History tells us that nothing is really secure.

Yes. I appreciate that more than most. Read my signature line carefully.

[Dick Linn]

Update from Nate:

I’ve got an update on our parts scavenging. We found a box originally used to control a camera. Contained inside (the box was brand new, too) was a 12VDC motor with a 4:1 tranny, a 24VDC motor with a 3:1 tranny. Don’t know how fast they spin or what their output is, but we’ll figure it out. Also we got 4 limit switches, 2 sensors that measure how far the sprocket has traveled, a circuit board, and there is a voltage regulator that controls 24V to 12V, but I haven’t figured out exactly where it is. If it’s on the board it could get interesting. This thing was a miniature goldmine for hardware. Got some really small chain and sprockets, 2 worm gears, and some bearings too. We’re going to look for another one so we’ll have two 12V motors and then test their capabilities to see if we can use them as drive motors. We’ve got the drive wheel and the tread itself drawn up in CAD, just need to put a few more components in and we can design the drivetrain/chassis right there in the computer with full 360 degree views of a 3D model. There’s tube stock aluminum over there, though it seemed a little thin to be a good frame material in my opinion. I’ll send a flashdrive or a CD with pictures and our design as we progress. The search for parts is coming along nicely and we’ve got some good prospects on where we might find another one of these boxes.

-Nathan
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Keep in mind folks, this is a project to keep them occupied in the off hours while they are stationed in a flat, featureless desert camp. I hope they don't start swiping parts off an Abrams tank or something.

[enrgizerbunny]

Alright. I was finally able to get the reply page to load, so this post may get long again.

We're currently in the process of designing the drivetrain and chassis in a CAD program on one of our personal computers. In theory we'll have a 3D model as we build.
I know these descriptions are vague, because my knowlege of the components is only what's printed on them.
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As of now we currently have:

A set of treads and all the necessessary wheels to drive them.
1 24VDC motor on a worm gear (window motor) rpm/torque/hp unknown
1 12VDC motor with 4:1 gearbox attached, rpm/torque/hp unknown
1 24VDC motor with 3:1 gearbox attached, rpm/torque/hp unknown
1 Gearbox 1:1.84 ratio, output shaft is perpendicular to input
Sprockets and chain, large and small. Not enough to complete project.
2 worm gears
3 bearings with the possibility of being used on axles
4 limit switches
2 Potentiometers
1 circuit board with about 6 capacitors among other components that would be difficult to desolder/remove
1 switch that will most likely serve as a main power switch
1 voltage regulator 24VDC to 12VDC (I'm still finding it, but I know it exists for the 12V motor with the gearbox) Not sure if it works yet or not, but it likely does.
12VDC batteries 880 cca
There's more than enough scrap metal in usable condition available to us as well. Getting things like keyed rods is more tedious, but available.
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I think there was a little confusion (my fault) when I said that everything was 24VDC. We have 12V batteries, but most things run on 24V. Yes, that means almost everything has two batteries wired in series. Since total output voltage =24VDC, most the components such as motors are 24VDC. If there's anything that runs on less voltage, it has to be stepped down at the component.

Our design is looking to incorporate a set of treads (think tanks anyone?)

two large wheels-1 drive, 1 roller
1 small roller wheel between the two which will hopefully be on a strut to move up and down with the terrain

Dimensions:
length of tread with wheels in place: ~32 inches
Height of tread with wheels in place: ~12 inches
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The treads will be the outside of the bot, no outer frame rail if I can help it. I think it will probably be just wider than it is long. We're going to try to build an arm or some sort of manipulator when we finish the drivetrain.

[enrgizerbunny]

Originally Posted by Dick Linn

Update from Nate:

I hope they don't start swiping parts off an Abrams tank or something.

On we would never do anything like that. The camera box that was practically new was damaged. It suffered some sort of trauma that caused all 4 of the screws attaching it to the mount to be sheared clean off, which also caused some internal damage, but it seemed to be practically new otherwise.

[MarioGal56]

Nathan said they have enough games now, He would like snacks such as:

Nip Chee (its a cracker by Lance)
peanut butter crackers
and any kind of snack you may take for granted over here.

[MarioGal56]

AND GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!! he loves Samoas.

[Dick Linn]

This just in:

"...Christmas wasn’t too bad and New Year’s was pretty good we had a fire in our burn barrel and made s’mores....."

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by Dick Linn

This just in:

"...Christmas wasn’t too bad and New Year’s was pretty good we had a fire in our burn barrel and made s’mores....."

Good for them! Anything to take thier mind off of where they are and what they are up against .................if only for a short time.

[maltz1881]

All of this is great and such but don't you think they may be a little difficult to ship? With everything that is going on in that region and with what happened here in Michigan at Christmas, security is high. If the military sees gears and motors, electronics and such, there may be trouble. Heck I couldn't even send canned vegetables to Canada. They destroyed everything.

[rkelly23]

If we sent them a few parts they could mount thier M-4's on thier robot and it could keep them occupied and safe!

[NC GEARS]

Originally Posted by Dick Linn

One of our former team members just deployed to Afghanistan. He says:

"One of my sergeants and I are starting on a robotics project, we’ve got some treads and we found some chain and sprockets, I even found a gear box, I’m still looking for another one."

So if anyone knows where there is "another gearbox" over there, holler.

I'll keep posting if anything comes of this project. Robot enthusiasts are nuts.

that makes sense homie g in the hizzle

[enrgizerbunny]

Eh, the whole thing kind of fizzled out when we had no controller for it, if anybody sent parts that I haven't recieved I'll ship 'em back when I get them, but I moved to a different FOB (Forward Operating Base) and we never started building. I'm going to send back the parts I have and probably do something in my spare time, lots of spare time.