Hybrid View
-
30-09-2012 #1
I’ve always wanted to covert a Model Tank into a house guard or a garden rover, but never actually got around to starting one. There are certain things I want from it. Good range, lightweight and tracked, ultimately to have the ability to climb stairs. I see it as a little home sentinel, that can detect movement, sense smoke etc , that I can control from a web page or an android phone. It might sound silly but as a contractor I often spend a lot of time working away from home, although I have good neighbours who watch out for each other, they wouldn’t be able to sense a fire immediately and warm me, or want to tackle a burglar. That’s what I’m aiming for in the long term with a bespoke built robot, the tank is my R&D phase and if the Robot never appears then I have RC FPV BB tank I can play with in the garden.
Anyway I bought a Heng Long Walker Bulldog
*Not my tank but for reference.
There’s nothing fancy about it , no smoke or sound, and after a few hours playing around shooting various things (badly) it got a tad boring lol
So now it looks like this:
The idea is of what to create... is evolving as I go along. I first thought of using a wireless camera via my Wi-Fi network. This is fine but is very very limited. First of all the range would be poor unless I added repeaters or boosted the signal somehow. Anyway I decided to go for first person view equipment. Lots of range , lightweight for RC planes and lots of things on the forums to help me decide the correct equipment for my project.
The ultimate idea will be to use my CNC / Casting equipment to build a really robust rover , so this is my R&D phase plus I can have some fun.
So for the camera setup so far I have:
RX / TX
1.2GHz 800mW 8 Channel Digital Wireless AV transmitter & receiver
Camera
WDR700 OSD Color Camera 550 Lines SONY Super HAD II
Pan and Tilt
260 Degree Pan & Tilt Camera Mount
However as I said before this is evolving , mainly due to the fact I underestimated the space I have for the equipment.. next post will be control equipment.
Fiction is far more plausible when wrapped around a thread of truth
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
-
30-09-2012 #2
iv just been looking at what it would cost to use t2.5 belt for tracks :( ....a tad pricey once you get towards 1m lengths and 50mm width .... especialy if you use double sided
a shame because im guessing they might climb carpet at 45 degrees and would be nice n quiet for sneaking up on any cats taking a dump in your garden lol
-
30-09-2012 #3
-
30-09-2012 #4
I'm saying nothing lol :) but your not far off the "Mark"
Hence why I’m thinking of swapping cameras to
1/3 SONY Colour 700TVL CCD Waterproof Camera, IR Distance: 50m
Give me more of a Stealth ability at night lol !
Fiction is far more plausible when wrapped around a thread of truth
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
-
01-10-2012 #5
be careful splashing loads of cash on posh branded ccd .... in my experience all things being equal (chip size and lens quality) i never could tell the difference between a branded and a ten bob ccd board
they all seemed to "hunt" for white balance etc and the picture quality tends to be pretty bad.
i used to stick them in a paraglider wings during flight before gopro got its act together :)
make sure you get a slack hand full of lenses one really wide one 150+ degree field of view would probably earn its keep (standard threads are 12mm x 0.5mm pitch)
-
30-09-2012 #6
So part 2 Controller.
Well I’m not sure here, I have an Arduino Nano, which would server the purpose in all honesty, mainly because there’s actually not much to it.
It uses 6 motors and 2 servos.
The 2 x servos are for the pan and tilt camera,
and the motors are :
2 x motors for the final drive
1 for turret rotation
1 for Depression and elevation of barrel
1 for winding the plunger back for the gun.
But that’s leave a bit of problem, I have the
Arduino Servo & Motor Shield for 2 Servos and 4 Motors (Adafruit)
Which means I fall short by one motor control otherwise it would be perfect. Size weight control all excellent.
I thought about replacing the gun mechanism with a solenoid type of device, though good in theory I’m not sure, anyway that’s the least of my concerns it tertiary to the actual use,( though slotting a bb in the rusty sheriffs badge of a squatting feline at a 20 paces would be pretty kewl, and rewarding for that matter ).
The wireless control comes from marrying the Arduino with 2 Xbee pro’s
On 2 x Adafruit XBee Adapter Kit - Point to point and mesh wireless networking Arduino
Cheap kit / Prepare to solder
They rate at about 1 km
I have been able to control the Pan and tilt using Processing and Arduino sketches. Very simple, tutorial. Be careful though so far I have only found my Mega AXT has been able to supply enough power to the servos and servo board at the same time, I have now 9v external powers on each and every board and it works spot on. This is one of the reasons I’m looking into a power distributor similar to RC helicopter boards, either buy one or make my own.
Fiction is far more plausible when wrapped around a thread of truth
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
-
30-09-2012 #7
Why not go for something like this? we are using one for an octopod we are building.
32 Channel Servo USB Controller board for arduino MCU PIC | eBayIf the nagging gets really bad......Get a bigger shed:naughty:
-
30-09-2012 #8
Fiction is far more plausible when wrapped around a thread of truth
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
-
30-09-2012 #9
Caution is always good advice. We are actually using a 16 channel version and it is not being built for speed so heat is not a big issue but a fan would not go a miss.
Check out the octopod builds and you will see what others are using. You can get a lot of servos running ok on these.If the nagging gets really bad......Get a bigger shed:naughty:
-
30-09-2012 #10
Fiction is far more plausible when wrapped around a thread of truth
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thread Information
Users Browsing this Thread
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Similar Threads
-
Has anyone made any metal tank treads for 1/16th models?
By Fivetide in forum Metalwork DiscussionReplies: 19Last Post: 16-09-2012, 06:31 PM -
BUILD LOG: My first attempt.... 8 x 4
By trounce in forum DIY Router Build LogsReplies: 0Last Post: 18-10-2011, 11:31 AM -
FOR SALE: Mega PCB etching tank & etchant developer etc...
By Jonathan in forum Items For SaleReplies: 1Last Post: 08-05-2011, 02:39 PM -
BUILD LOG: My First Attempt Of A CNC
By AdCNC in forum DIY Router Build LogsReplies: 61Last Post: 21-10-2010, 03:55 PM -
help please with first attempt
By phill05 in forum Machine DiscussionReplies: 13Last Post: 01-06-2010, 05:42 PM
Bookmarks