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6-Track Vehicle — Parallax Forums

6-Track Vehicle

ercoerco Posts: 20,257
edited 2014-09-30 07:30 in Robotics
For Amanda, Duane, and tank track lovers everywhere: I just got one of these in a bot lot off Ebay. Mine came assembled and is pretty cool with multiple articulated treads. It is reconfigurable and has more tracks than you can shake a stick it, whatever that means. It's an overpriced OWI kit with some nice hacking potential. http://www.ebay.com/itm/OWI-536-All-Terrain-3-in-1-RC-Robot-Kit-ATR-/281410644247 Find one on sale if you dare. There's a slightly creepy guy talking about it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GurHd7qPves or just stick with the preferred video below.

Comments

  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2014-09-27 11:26
    It's not bad. I looked at it back in 2011 in a short review for MAKE.

    http://makezine.com/review/3-in-1-all-terrain-robot/

    I still haven't hacked it. Some day...

    Even the eBay listing price is a bit too high. We all know OWI has always charged a premium for their kits.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,257
    edited 2014-09-27 12:09
    As always, you're years ahead of me, Gordon! :)
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2014-09-27 12:47
    New Sparkfun offerings.

    https://www.sparkfun.com/news/1608
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,257
    edited 2014-09-27 13:04
    Of those Sparkfun slip rings, I had to ask whether the video signal is going through the sliprings or if it's a wireless camera transmitting on its own.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2014-09-27 13:24
    erco wrote: »
    Of those Sparkfun slip rings, I had to ask whether the video signal is going through the sliprings or if it's a wireless camera transmitting on its own.

    Looks like a USB connection on top. No wireless.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,257
    edited 2014-09-27 14:21
    It's hard to believe that they can get a noise-free video signal through a slip ring. If so, that opens up all kinds of amazing possibilities.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,257
    edited 2014-09-27 15:33
    Publison wrote: »
    Looks like a USB connection on top. No wireless.

    That's what HE said...

    Reply from NPoole on the product page... ("shockingly robust USB protocol") !

    Yup! I’m simply passing the USB connection through the slip ring. Noise isn’t a problem (at least not in the sense that it would leave video artifacts) because of USB’s (shockingly robust) comm protocol. If data packets fail CRC check, the host won’t ACK and they get re-sent by the sender.

    In short, if you measured the practical transfer speed across the moving slip ring, it would be lower than in an uninterrupted USB cable (due to packets getting lost/corrupted and re-sent) but there’s still more than enough capability left to pass webcam video!
  • Mark_TMark_T Posts: 1,981
    edited 2014-09-30 07:30
    erco wrote: »
    It's hard to believe that they can get a noise-free video signal through a slip ring. If so, that opens up all kinds of amazing possibilities.

    They can now, but after the gold plating wears through or enough dirt gets in it will
    probably start failing.

    Something like this patented device might have better long-term performance:
    http://www.google.com/patents/US20110085036
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