It kicks out 2.1 KW – which is to say, around three horsepower, or more than my French teacher’s car had

Highly unlikely Liz. I suspect your French teacher had a 2CV. Even the early models were around 9 horsepower. The 2 refers to the taxable horsepower and you really don’t want to go there unless you want an incredibly convoluted explanation.

Could it tow both a Ben and a Gordon around Pi Towers? :-)
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/6409

PETS – Pi Employee Transportation System

So my neighbour parks his car where he dina orta; if I get one of those I could move it to somewhere he couldn’t find it
Of course he may have left the hand-brake on, so I’ll have to add a robot arm to lift the back end.
And if he’s awake, the music might give it away.

Undoubtedly it’s brilliant and I am sure really good fun !
But the maths don’t quite work out…6 x 10 Amp outputs = 60Amps
2 batteries, assume in series = 24 volts
24 x 60 = 1440 Watts (1.4KW) so very roughly 2 HP

Or can the PiBORG actually handle even more power ? ;-)

Cheers, Ivan

YEY love this tank. Was hoping to take it out sometime with the guys but weather was ….English (wet)

Thanks for the internet points.

OK, the mechanical engineer in me is in love. Another great class project to add to the growing list. Thanks for the inspiration, PiBorg folks! This is the kind of resistance being futile to which I would have no problem acquiescing! :lol:

His reference to RobotWars is exactly what I was thinking – they used to record some of the shows on Treasure Island (what a great place for the former Navy housing there, now inhabited by young public school teachers and first responders who can’t afford SF’s sky-high-and-rising rents). The hitch ball would also solve the problem of maneuvering my 24 x 8 x 8 foot workshop and aircraft transport box trailer in and around the hangar, as well as towing the aircraft around using a much smaller carbon footprint than my beater 1991 Chevy pickup truck used for utility purposes, which will now include transporting something like the Doodleborg (I could easily fix half a dozen of them in the bed). Too bad it was raining and that I had to park six blocks away a couple of weeks ago Liz, or I would have shown it to you and Eben – you would have had a good hoot … someday, someday …

Seeing that pic gave me an idea…

Raspberry Pi attached to helmet, with PiBorg XLoBorg and wireless connection to provide direction control.
.
.
.
You have your own wireless segway!
Suggest a tethered kill switch is added though or some walls will get destroyed.

I suspect the kids would win that tug o’war since even the best tyres provide limited traction, especially as the kids would presumably be pulling it slightly upwards.

Still, an excellent project. I’d start by hitching it to a full-sized vacuum cleaner for the house, then see if I could progress to a bucket and camera for self-guided poo picker for the horse lakefield.

Hmmm… anyone seen those electric motor kits that are used to nudge caravans around on site?

Just one point – the corner wheels on something like this may dig into carpet a bit indoors, when turning in place. It could lift your carpet up pretty quickly!

Very cool! But, the numbers just don’t stack up.2.1 kW (2.9 h.p.) mechanical power from a bank of starter motors is going to require a very high input power as these motors are short-term rated and hence essentially run overloaded during starting duty and exhibit extremely low efficiency. Probably no more than 50% efficient. Losses in the controller probably amount to more than 10% at full load, so overall efficiency (ignoring further mechanical losses in the gearboxes, etc) is approximately 45%, hence electrical power input requirement is a staggering 4.67 kW!! That will require around 400 A at 12 volts or 200 A at 24 V! I suspect that the quoted power has been obtained by simply summing the quoted powers for the individual motors.

Nevertheless, this is a great project!

For comparison, my own ‘bot runs a pair of 2.2 kW 3 phase induction motors – that is continuous MECHANICAL shaft power! Peak rating for 30 seconds is twice that. We get about 3.5 kW at the tracks after the gearboxes and other losses. Supply voltage is around 300 volts d.c. into the drives. It doesn’t yet have a Pi for a brain, but I reckon it would be possible, given sufficient time.

I’ve commented on the forum and I think with this BOT adding a scissor lift and other accessories like camera, stickers (QR-CODE), some laser pointer and a barcode reader.

It can make a home version of the famous ROBOT KIVA used by AMAZON for managing your warehouse.

It seems silly but I use it for a home can be very useful and practical.

Imagine having a room in the house dedicated to store everything you need, clothes, shoes, books, records,
hard goods, etc.. all put in shelves.

If you need something, you ask the computer database and this tells the robot position in the shelf is the article and the robot brings the shelf for you to take hold.

Then go through the barcode reader to the database you know what you take with you to be updated.

To add items is easier Just call the robot and this brings a shelf and you’re being discharged article with scanner and placing it in the tray that tells you.
Forget ordering, software database will know where everything is.

All of this is real and is now using enterprise level.
But I think it would be feasible to do for homes.
This may be the beginning of the “BOT-ler” in the home. :))

You forgot to add a Babbage Bear to ride it… to add that air of class and quality, you know!

add nerf gun, a little servo to rotate it, a cam module and vr glasses. fun guaranteed

:mrgreen: