'Little Tank' Robot Arduino/Picaxe/Tamiya platform

Neat little laser cut tank design, a companion to this instructable. Made in response to the poorly made offerings on the market, and a general need for a ready to go, easily adaptable tracked platform.  Uses a Tamiya 70097 motor/gearbox combo and a Tamiya 70100 track and wheel mechanical kit.

Easily adaptable to a wide range of battery, sensing and microcontoler combinations. Use A standard or micro servo (adapter plate included in cut file), standard servo recommended. Parallax Ping mounted on the ranging mast; SRF05, 05 or multiple IR ranging solutions will fit as is.

Deck height is adjustable to accommodate just about battery arrangement, including lipo (with a regulator).

Cut files provided in CDR and DXP format, and laser cut Kits are available if you'd prefer not to cut your own.

Cut files are sized for 4mm acrylic material - if you use a different material thickness, be sure to resize the file for a good fit. Easily adaptable for CNC , just create an offset and machine away.

Step 1 Cut your parts!

Settings for a Epilog helix - Bottom up engraving, 300DPI; raster = 57 speed, 100 power; vector = 8 or 9 speed, 100 power, 5000 freq.

Laser Cut Parts kit available

Comments

[radio loco]

no code?

[kmjsocket]

I bought most of the parts with the exception of the gearbox and range finder… I did have a problem with the tank’s tracks… exactly like the ones pictured.. . The rubber shriveled up and broke! I don’t know if it was from the batch of rubber they used for my tracks or unlucky AC in the summer and heat in the winter in my project room… Has anyone else had a problem with the rubber tracks? And does anyone know of a replacement “metal” or swivel plastic tracks that would fit this kit??

[ignoblegnome]

I left one of my robots in the garage over the summer, and I had the same thing happen. Your tracks were probably exposed to too much heat at some point.

If they were new out of the box, you should complain to the place you bought them.

[kmjsocket]

I may have to just r-order them, I am looking into micro servos right now and I got a XRF wireless UART serial data module XBee shape arduino from the UK. I am also looking into alt wheels/tracks etc etc.. the chassis is pretty sweet I have to add..

[ignoblegnome]

Cool. Post back if you get this chassis working with a different set of tracks, or with micro servos as the drive instead of the Tamiya gearbox.

[ignoblegnome]

Hey there. I have posted a nice review of this product on my blog.
http://ignoblegnome.blogs pot.com/2012/02/introduction-last-september.html

[jbarrett9]

About how much does it cost and would you sell one

[ignoblegnome]

I found the only really good place for a battery pack was the lower deck, underneath the servo. This only works with a mini servo, as the standard servo gets in the way. I used a 3xAA battery holder, and it fits just fine.

I may use the new-ish 1.6V NiZn rechargeable batteries with this robot. They start fully charged at 1.8V, so they should last a while.

[ignoblegnome]

I ran into some trouble on this step. You have to assemble the parts in the right order, or you'll wind up taking it apart and re-doing it.

I suggest the following order:
1) Attach the left side to the bottom deck.
2) Put the left motor shaft through the left side.
3) Slide the right side over the right motor shaft and attach to the bottom deck.
4) Attach the servo to the top deck.
5) Put the top deck in place, and attach the motor first, then the deck screws.