Electric Scooter pushed by monkey

This instructable is about an electric scooter I built and later added a sock monkey at the back which appears to be pushing.  I built this scooter loosely based on a 1950's era Cushman scooter at roughly 2/3rds scale.  The scooter is powered by 3 12v 10amp lead acid batteries wired in a series to get 36 volts.
 

Step 1: Materials & Tools Required

The scooter required the following:

1 inch angle iron (approximately 18 feet)
a scap piece of 1/8th steel plate
36v DC motor (purchased from a surplus store)
36v DC controller (purchased from a surplus store)
two band brakes
two low speed wheels & tires (2-wheel "dolly" tires)
two handbrake levers and cables (from an old bicycle)
one throttle (compatible with the DC controller)
large chain gear for the rear wheel
drive chain
headlight & tail light components (auto store & hardware store)
scrap plywood for the body panels
two bearings I had laying around (for the front forks)
misc. nuts, bolts, switches, and wire

The sock monkey required the following:

2x2 lumber for the internal framework
various hardware store hinges for the moving parts
a couple of lawn mower wheels
scrap steel
a sock monkey infant costume (from a department store)
one small plastic bowl (stolen from my wife's kitchen cabinet)

Tools required:

metal cutting saw
electric welder
grinder
drill & various bits
wood cutting saw (for body panels)
soldering gun, solder, various electrical connectors
wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, cutters, and bandaids....lot's of bandaids!

Comments

[dobbo]

It looks like an old Cushman scooter?

[knife141]

I based it (from memory) on an old Cushman Highlander, only it is about 1/5 - 1/3 the size.

[Xray_Man]

There is very little detail about the motor and electronic drive in this Instructable. Could you provide more detail about their specifications (including manufacturer and model numbers)? Also, needed are details of how the motor and drive were mounted, what type of speed control did you use, and also need a schematic wiring diagram. I would like to build a scooter, but it would be very difficult withour more detail.

[knife141]

Sorry I took so long to respond. I purchased the motor and controller from a surplus store, and the only info I had was that both were rated for 36 volts. Fortunately, the wires on the controller were all labeled -- that helped a lot. I used a throttle mounted speed control (the kind made for commercial electric scooters). Unfortunately I have no schematic -- I just sort of planned it as I went along.

[WiredWebbo101]

Fantastic work, I wonder if I could get that roadworthied out here at the tip of Africa! Would probably cost me a bottle or two of scotch to get it "through" roadworthy as it has working brakes and lights :-)

Good job and thanks for the smiles.

[knife141]

Thanks for the kind words! I've had a lot of fun with this contraption.

[Roto36]

Would like to see more close up pics of the motor mount, sprocket, and rear wheel drive train.
Looks like a fun build!

[thefutureisnow]

 Very cool! I'm gonna build it!

[anyoldmouse]

That is the most awesome thing I've seen in the past 4 minutes.Great job.

[Greasetattoo]

Way to funny!
GReat Job!
LMAO

[DuctTapeRules!]

 lol, PETA's gonna kick your arse when they see that from far away :)

[XOIIO]

LOL true!

[Samuri Squid]

 i love it!

[knektek]

LOL! if someone seen you riding this they would think you are wierd (only because of the monkey.

[AmyLuthien]

BWAHAHAHA!!  That's completely awesome!!  But I've got to know, was beer involved at some point in time?  :D

Thanks posting this! 

[macrumpton]

That is a very cool project. It makes me think of making a version where the motor/battery  is in the monkey part so you could attach it to the back of different vehicles for an electric boost. Put several monkeys in series for more power!

[tippmannphreak]

I gotta stop doing drugs...

[oppie]

Did you use a permanent magnet motor or a series wound? Nice thing about using series wound motors is that they provide enormous torque at startup and can then run up to high speeds. Old school electric trains (the real ones and some of the toy ones) use series wound traction motors for this purpose. For higher speed, the field winding can be weakened with a shunting resistor. Modern railways now use brushless motors.
Have fun riding it. Cool idea.

[knife141]

It was a PM motor.

[MW0GKX]

I like it!

I'm disabled and have an electric "buggy"  to get about on when I'm not in the car.

I think I may make the monkey part and attach it to the buggy for a laugh!

[555mst555]

how fast does it go?....and can i make it without the DC controller?

[knife141]

I geared it low to get enough torque to drive it up a ramp from a standstill.  The top speed is about 12mph, but feels like 40mph because you're sitting so low to the ground.

You probably could make using a heavy duty contactor instead of a controller, but controlling the motor's speed would be difficult -- would either be full on, or full off.  Probably not a good idea.  If you try this, don't use a regular switch, use a high amp contactor.  A regular switch would fry.

[n1qaw]

I had a real old scooter that had basically 4 speeds forward.  It was all contactor controlled series batteries.  each one would be switched in.  The last was like a split of the last cell.  There was a huge wire wound resistor that would cut the top speed some (I guess it would have worked on all the batteries, but they were slow enough as it was, but in high speed, well you wanted to take a bit off the top when cornering)  It was old and simple to work on,  a squeeze throttle and a few relays (more like starter solenoids :)  )    I suspect the last owner had made it out of one of the old 3 wheeled carts.  It was a hoot to zip around in and like you said, 15 or 20 that close to the ground felt like raw speed! lol 

[aggies]

i love the monkey XD

[Ministryofhate]

please for the love of god put a video up...audio synced with this 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nh49a8q2E4

or this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8vINCq_IAI

Christmas has come early my friends.

[trailleadr]

OMGosh, that's the funniest thing I've seen today.
*2 thumbs up*

[Seleziona]

this is sweet!!!

[puppylinux]

(removed by author or community request)

[Koosie]

That's Legend!

I love it, an awesome idea (electric scooter) with a brilliant add on (peddaling ape)!

PS: I like the hat :-)

[boston09]

can you add pictures of the making of the monkey please.

[boston09]

lol thats awesome

[scoochmaroo]

Now tell us how to make the hat!

[knife141]

Yes, I forgot the recipe for the hat:

1 top hat from a haloween costume
1 rolled up pice of cardboard to make the hat stand up
1 string of battery operated lights

Stick the cardboard inside the hat so it stands up and doesn't fall over, and attach the lights with thread & needle.  Then, turn the lights on and listen to your dog bark!

[Hawkeye Lyles]

Haha, thats awesome !