Under Floor Inspection Robot

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Introduction: Under Floor Inspection Robot

By
About: Retired but working.

I wanted a method of inspecting the crawl space under a house. Very narrow and dark! So I started with a toy treaded tank with remote control and video camera! It has a nice treaded design to crawl over uneven surfaces. But I found it had only 1/2 inch ground clearance and it soon hung up on a stone.

What to do? *3D print bigger wheels!*

Step 1: Some Good Wheel Designs to Start With...

but I had to modify the wheel design for the axle with a screw attachment, to offset the body of the wheel from the vehicle, I needed a treaded design, and it had to be strong!

Step 2: What to Do for the Tread?

Treads of an exact size are hard to find. Brainstorm - use two sided velcro tape, looped around both wheels, and "taped" to itself. Then add small chunks of the tape as gear teeth on the inside, and tread pads on the outside!

And put gear teeth into the wheel design.

Step 3: Finished Wheels - Treaded - With 1.25 Inch Ground Clearance!

And a super cool spoke design!

Step 4: A Short Flash Video Showing the Finished Result!

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    6 Discussions

    0
    rich.altmaier
    rich.altmaier

    Answer 6 days ago

    Hi Michael, mixed. By remote video I could not easily tell if the soil was level or slanted, so I tipped the vehicle over a few times. I started to add "flags" to the front, visible in the camera view, to show vehicle tilting. But have not gotten back to it!

    0
    banman11
    banman11

    5 years ago on Introduction

    Brilliant! I wish I'd have thought of that Velcro idea when the drive belt on an old Reel to Reel machine I was transfering to PC went . Would have save me a whole lota headache.

    Great idea.

    0
    rich.altmaier
    rich.altmaier

    5 years ago on Introduction

    Tank treads made of two-side velcro tape have advantages in: very strong, not stretchable, no tension pulley required, easily create any length, and replaceable in a few minutes!

    Disadvantage: doesn't look as cool as regular segmented treads.

    0
    DIY-Guy
    DIY-Guy

    5 years ago on Introduction

    This looks beautiful!
    Are there more Instructables on the way to help us create the whole thing?

    0
    ringai
    ringai

    5 years ago on Introduction

    Ha! That's an excellent solution for a lot of problems! I wish I'd thought of it.