Posts Tagged ‘flat_car’

Flat Car: Part 10 - All Done

Friday, August 5th, 2022

The prototype is assembled and functional!

So many improvements need to be made: it needs to be flatter, more responsive, more durable. But I’m very happy with how it turned out.

My original design brief: I have a desire to make a motorized “car” that can be as flat as possible. I want it to slide under a door, flip open, and drive away. I have a very cinematic vision in mind, I see a spy, or cat burglar, or techno supervillain using it. Not that I want it to be used for nefarious purposes, it’s just something stuck in my head, so I’m going to make it.

Flat Car: PART 9 - Fully Assembled

Thursday, August 4th, 2022

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The car is now functional and fully assembled!

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Flat Car: PART 8 - PCB

Thursday, August 4th, 2022

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One of the main advantages of using FR-1 as the main material for the car body is it could also be the primary circuit board for all of the electronics.

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Flat Car: Part 7 - Sliding

Thursday, August 4th, 2022

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I figured sliding under the door was going to be the easiest problem to solve, so I saved it for last. I tried using a bunch of different types of caster and roller balls. They worked great but ended up being too bulky and unnecessary.

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When the wheels are flattened, I have the car resting on 4 small screw heads. It slides just fine.

Flat Car: Part 6 - The Sloan

Sunday, July 17th, 2022

I redesigned the flip mechanism. Meet “the Sloan”.

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After discussing some possible designs with my friend Sloan, we came up with a release lever concept.
The hinges were replaced with spring load hinges.

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And each motor has a release lever that locks into a new wheel design. When the motors turn, the lever is released.

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More to come.

Flat Car: Part 5 - Flip Up

Thursday, July 14th, 2022

Moving right along. I built a flip up mechanism using an RC kit (Du-Bro Micro Pull-Pull System). The kit is fantastic, but I don’t love my design. I’ll redesign later, but it’s fine for now. I’ve tested the friction drive for the wheels, looks good. Even soldered up a protoboard to test the motors.

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This flip up design is too complicated and heavy and takes up valuable space in the middle of the car. I need something simpler.

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More to come.

Flat Car: Part 4 - “Big A”

Thursday, July 14th, 2022

Some progress. The latest Flat Car prototype, I’ve named “Big A”, has mounted motors, has wheels that flip up, hinges, and I even built a base to keep it off of the bench.

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Big A’s entire body is made out of FR-1, love this stuff.

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I still need to figure out the mechanics of the flipping movement.

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More to come.

Flat Car: Part 3 - Wheels, wheels, wheels

Wednesday, July 13th, 2022

The wheels are going to be an important part to the flat car. Wheel V1 is made of two flat pieces, each with a chamfer, glued together. The chamfers make a nice spot for an O-ring to sit.

I used FR-1, typically used for making circuit boards, as the material for the wheel prototypes. I’m really happy with how the material worked out, easy to mill and very rigid. And it can even be tapped!

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More to come.

Flat Car: Part 2 - Friction Drive

Wednesday, July 13th, 2022

I decided to go with N20 DC motors for the Flat Car. They are not as thin as I would like, but they are strong and readily available and I need to start somewhere.

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I put a friction wheel on the motor and wheel axel. The hinged flip up motion brings the spindle in to contact with the wheel axel and the wheel turns.

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I ended up using pinch rollers for the friction drive. These pinch rollers are usually used in tape recorders. More to come.

Flat Car: Part 1 - The Idea

Wednesday, July 13th, 2022

I have a desire to make a motorized “car” that can be as flat as possible. I want it to slide under a door, flip open, and drive away. I have a very cinematic vision in mind, I see a spy, or cat burglar, or techno supervillain using it. Not that I want it to be used for nefarious purposes, it’s just something stuck in my head, so I’m going to make it.

I expect the flip up and drive mechanics to be the most challenging, so I’m starting there. I made three quick cardboard prototypes of possible flattening configurations.

I think the first one is pretty elegant, but the third option will probably be the easiest to design. So that’s where I’m going.

Little more robust proto with laser cut acrylic and hardware I had lying around.

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More to come.