Plywood Arlo

JasonDorie

I bought one of the Parallax wheel & motor kits when they went on sale, figuring it'd be fun to try doing something like a big Scribbler.

I built a platform for it yesterday from the Arlo design, but stretched it a little. The deck is plywood, and the tail-dragger is a ping-pong ball. No brains yet, but this is a first test just driving it around with a remote.

erco

Nice! I'm way more impressed than Thurber appears to be.

He's nonplussed. I'm plussed.

Whit

JasonDorie - Nice work! One of the nicest features of the Parallax Wheel and Motor kit is their quietness and very smooth operation. Is the battery on the top running the motors too or is there a SLA hiding under the platform? It is just out of sight.

Like the platform shape too! Ken's first models were plywood too erco!

mindrobots

Well done!!

Poor Thurber! He's so used to living in a house full of gizmo's that a new robot causes no excitement once he gives it the obligatory "dog sniff" at the beginning.

(Please tell us you WEREN'T the camera operator....if you were, the Unicorn slippers ROCK!!! Really!! )

JasonDorie

The unicorn slippers were my girlfriend's - mine are much more conventional, though I will occasionally throw hers on - they're HUGE! (She also has a pair of space shuttle slippers)

@Whit - The battery is indeed visible - the dark purple rectangle on top. It's a 2200mah LiPo, more than enough to drive the Arlo around for a bit. And I was impressed at how quiet the motors are, especially at low speed. I'm looking forward to trying some of your long-exposure tricks when I get some time, but I have some compass work to finish on the Elev8 first.

erco

Agreed, these motors are impressively small & quiet, but power hogs! Check the current draw, it's very high compared to spur gears, even at low speeds. These are worm gearboxes packed with thick grease to reduce wear from sliding contact.