Re: More Mule then Rover?
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yet the snow bucket is still not installed
Well, who's fault is that?
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It seems I'm the reason for the slow down
Oh, right then.
What fun would it be without overthinking? :-)
Else you would just weld a 3/8" steel plate on front at a diagonal, that would plow just fine as long as you keep up when it's coming down. No fun in that. (Other than saving the work of doing the plowing manually.)
Re: More Mule then Rover?
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What fun would it be without overthinking? :-)
jwatte, I'm still scratching my head about what type drive to use to lift the bucket.
I have a ballscrew from a bridgeport mill, but with a pitch of .200" and a motor with 180rpm
it would take some time to lift the bucket(@20sec. with 4 to 1 gearing of the gearbox).
if I went to a chain drive, I could get it down to 5sec.
Re: More Mule then Rover?
Also, could you bolt lifting arms to the side, to give you a longer lever? Put the pivot point at the back of the bot, lift somewhere in the middle, and put the bucket in front, for additional speed gain (and, of course, torque loss, so that counteracts your 4:1 gearbox ...)
Really, just add a harder/better/faster/stronger motor and call it good, I guess? :-D
I think this is why professional gear uses hydraulics... Build high pressure in a storage tank, use it when needed to actuate with high forces quickly, as long as you're OK with some mush in the system and some lag in the control loop.
Also, how far do you really need to lift the bucket? You don't really need to lift it much more than the regular ground clearance of the 'bot, right?
Re: More Mule then Rover?
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how far do you really need to lift the bucket?
jwatte, with the way the bucket was made I have to lift it 18" just to dump it.
I'm thinking of lifting a total of 34".
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I think this is why professional gear uses hydraulics.
jwatte, this is where the overthinking come in...
hydraulics would be a easy to implement setup, I can get stuff at farm&fleet to do the job.
but, I need to start playing at 5 am so I can still get some work done that day, and with 30
neighbors that would be in range of the sounds the hydraulic pump, they may not let me play
in their space at that time. (that would suck!)
I have the same issue with electric winches.(too loud)
Re: More Mule then Rover?
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30 neighbors that would be in range of the sounds the hydraulic pump
My neighbors don't worry about their lawn crews using weed trimmers at 6am, soo ....
Buy a shotgun, ignore the neighbors? :-D
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Re: More Mule then Rover?
for the first try, I'm going with a #50 chain for the bucket lift and bucket dump drives systems.
Attachment 7341
I'm going to have the frame welded together this week.
baby steps.
Re: More Mule then Rover?
Ooh, those look like linear guides! That is, indeed, overkill ;-)
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Re: More Mule then Rover?
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Ooh, those look like linear guides! That is, indeed, overkill ;-)
jwatte, have to agree with you on that one, but it should be a very quiet lift.
the motors I planed to use for the lift&dump systems were motors I had
used a few years ago for an electric bike project(very fun project).
Attachment 7342
but, it seems I removed the electric brakes from them(crap!)
and for the lift& dump systems brakes are needed.
back to ebay.
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Re: More Mule then Rover?
when I started the mule project for convenience I had two battery groups,
12vdc and 24vdc with two different charging systems.
the 12vdc for PC , cameras and lighting, and 24vdc for the motor drives.
this year all batteries are going to be in one group, 24vdc.
(4) 12vdc 100ah batteries.
Attachment 7343
I'm also removing the PC(in the mule) and replacing with 2 Arduino Nano,
and replacing the wifi control communications with an Xbee.
while I should have some fixed 24vdc to 12vdc/5vdc regulators show up
this week, I'm still installing a 24vdc to 110vac inverter in case I need to
run an air compressor,110vac lighting or heater.
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Re: More Mule then Rover?
the only time I've had Arduino's lock up on me are when
I have serial port conflicts, so even with using 2 Arduinos(one is for safety checks)
I'm going to use I2c 16bit DAC(0-5vdc) for controlling all the drives, I2c 16bit ADC(0-5vdc)
for feedback.
Attachment 7344