Afghanistan robot

[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.