This the creation of a buddy of my at MIT and a former FIRSTer.
Some of you may know him from his “How to Build your Everything Really Really Fast” instructables. And his newest cart design includes a few parts most of you may recognize.
Powered by two RC Brushless motors with RC airplane controllers hooked up to 37v/10AH of LiPo it will do about 30mph. And after driving one of these, they are pretty damn scary…
More info at his site: http://www.etotheipiplusone.net/ (great read). I can try to answer any questions or direct them to Charles.
How are the vex transmissions holding up? I have a few large outrunners laying around and It looks like it would be fun to modify one of are test bots with outrunners.
Small small world. I think I met Charles when he came to a regional up here with a MORT alum who he is friends with at MIT. Learned that Charles also knew Sean Cantrell (who at the time was with 1771).
Well the problem with cheap chinese motors is they do explode now and then… Those brushless motors are about $40 each and 4x as power dense as a cim, each one can pull about 2000 watts.
He has other goPRO video on his other carts on his site, and video of this one should come once things settle down in boston.
So far the vex gearboxes seem to be doing fine, I like the cable shifter idea instead of using pneumatics. The motors he used already had an 8mm shaft, so he just milled in 2mm key way and machined an adapter plate.
Thanks, have you guys looked at the simonK firmware for brushless ESC’s? It allows you to add RC style forward/brake/reverse to Airplane ESC’s. I have had some good results using the firmware on some small brushless vehicles. It also seems to reduce some cogging over the stock firmware and allows for more advanced configuration.
This looks like way too much fun. I would have to go for a steering wheel, or a handle bar. Looks like something we should be racing in the parking lot after pits close…
Well they kinda do, in the parking lots of Maker Fairs. http://www.powerracingseries.org/ I don’t believe this kart is race legal (PPPRS has a $500 budget/no LiPO rule).
Perhaps Charles was being too modest. Charles was the reason that 1771 existed. When he was a junior at North Gwinnett HS, he heard about FIRST and decided to form a team at North. He lobbied administration, begged a teacher to be a sponsor, found a build space at another school that already had a team, found a few other students to be on the team and started it all. With no mentors, no money and no experience. Charles was already at MIT when I joined 1771, but he was the genesis of the team, and it grew from the roots he created.
