I love this walker Dave posted, there's something very Wile E. Coyote about it. The engineer in me can't help but make a few observations. The builder/rider is 250+ pounds, so it's not a simple task for a drill motor. If you look at the CG, he's standing almost directly above the wheels, which bear most of his weight, so the moving Theo-style legs only bear enough weight to get traction. No wonder he abandoned the chair, which shifted his weight way back. On the current design, there's a circular rump rest to make sure he doesn't lean back and overload the legs. I tend to think he's actually on the verge of tipping forward, so he better keep it below 30 MPH and not stop suddenly.
My cordless drill doesn't have too many miles on it, and it wouldn't make it out of the garage with its useless batterys, so it is cheaper to replace the whole drill. Now I have a motor with gear reduction to use in a robot project. It will probably be something that doesn't carry a human, I wouldn't want to fall on my face with a design like this, I guess the creature comforts are important to me these days.
I didn't see any steering ability, that would take a lot of energy for a three hundred pound rider, not to mention the stress on the wood legs.
I favor the geared version (like #1 and #5 shown) since they come with the right sprocket to drive a bicycle chain. I built two bikes using those types, which come in 24-,36-and 48-volt flavors.
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I didn't see any steering ability, that would take a lot of energy for a three hundred pound rider, not to mention the stress on the wood legs.
Nice big electric motors available at http://electricscooterparts.com/motors36volt.html
I favor the geared version (like #1 and #5 shown) since they come with the right sprocket to drive a bicycle chain. I built two bikes using those types, which come in 24-,36-and 48-volt flavors.