This is prototype 2 of the Fan Powered Vex set, the only differences are that it now has 2 fans instead of 1, 1 extra battery for that new fan and the body is triangle shaped. I took it to a big open field and I tested it on flat ground. It reached 20MPH from the previous 12. These are really powerful fans…believe me they are designed for RC Jets. I will have a video soon of it. There are just 2 problems it has no brakes and no steering. I know I know "how the heck do you stop this thing!?" … well first off one of the fans is manually turned on so there is no speedcontroller. The second motor has a speed controller so I can tune the speed (10-20MPH). When I want to stop I turn off one fan and let it drift to 10MPH then stop it by running after it just like a soccer ball… except faster (with the other fan still on full power because it is a manual fan, I will soon be getting a new ESC for that). I thought I would post this and see if anyone had any ideas:
Ideas for braking?
Ideas for steering?
I would be a big help because everything I think of required me to somehow damage the VEX set. (example: all the wheels are free they have nothing but a plain shaft attached to them. If I were to make the wheel do a dead stop the wheels will get out of shape because they were being draged while this thing was going 20. So I need something that wont hurt the bot)
I think I have an idea to help you with your steering. But you’re going to have to sacrifice your original 3 wheel design. I suggest you turn it into a 4 wheel drive and using a rack and pinion setup of gears turn it into a car drive.
or, if another speed controller is acquired you could use the fans for steering. Slow one down as you turn its direction, kinda just like our larger robots…
Yes! Your were right when you put it to neutral it stops then when you reverse it goes backwards, but not on full power. This means I can steer and brake by going backwards. W00t thanks so much! My plan B was to do it like jets when they land on aircraft carriers with that rope and hook idea. Thanks so much, I will try to get a video of it as soon as I can.
As for steering you can do it the same way new cruise liners do it, rather than put a rudder behind the fan turn/angle the entire fan. This if done right would take -/= power to do that moving rudders or turning the front wheel. This technique has made cruise liners much more fuel efficient and is now standard, granted this is air, not water and fuel isn’t your concern. It is still a way to solve the problem at hand.
You know how jets landing on aircraft carriers with a cable, does anyone think that would work for this? Like have a cable out and have it hook on and slow it down?
The only thing that i can see possibly going wrong with that is if it hit the cable and then bounces back… Do you plan on just having a length of cable pulled taught between two poles or something?
Why not just have it track in a circle? Bind up one wheel a bit, get in a large area of pavement, let it go, and when it comes back around at 20 mph, throw a coat on it.
Or you could just grab a friend and put him 75 yards downrange.
ummm … I did that to my friend and trying to catch a chunk of metal going 20MPH that has 2 fast fan blades is not a good idea. He actually slowed it down by kicking it a bit (not enought to damage it) and then jumped forward and used his hands to stop it. You can really get hurt trying to stop it.
It also now has a name now, it’s called “Kamikaze”. The reason is that if you don’t stop it … it will commit suicide. There are no brakes no controls and it’s going 20MPH in a specific direction, so it’s a Kamikaze… sorta.
Your were right when you put it to neutral it stops then when you reverse it goes backwards, but not on full power. This means I can steer and brake by going backwards. W00t thanks so much! My plan B was to do it like jets when they land on aircraft carriers with that rope and hook idea. Thanks so much, I will try to get a video of it as soon as I can.
