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Remote control snow plow — Parallax Forums

Remote control snow plow

Jim RicheyJim Richey Posts: 82
edited 2010-07-21 17:54 in Robotics
Hello everyone,

I thought you might like to see a photo of my R/C snowplow.
I've been using it for 2 seasons now with very little trouble. It was
originally used to crawl around on rough terrain just for fun. Then,I added
2 more deep cycle batteries[noparse][[/noparse]mostly for added weight to gain traction].Even with all that weight I sometimes drape an 80 lb. bag of salt across it to help push deep snow and ice.
By some miracle,it works perfectly and never breaks! It has a very long range due
to the use of a top quality radio system.Those of you who fly model airplanes would be right at home at the controls.It's been so far down the street that it's difficult to see what direction
and speed it's travelling,especially when I'm operating it from inside my home.
The machine is driven by 2 Invacare wheelchair motors[noparse][[/noparse]which I highly recommend for your projects].Current is supplied by a 100 amp pwm controller.Forcing the motors into a near stall condition requires lots of amps.Forward/reverse is operated by servo activated mechanical switches,taken from some heavy duty machines. Gaining reliability in
projects of this nature seems to be all about using the heaviest components practical.
Isn't it heartbreaking to see that glowing wire and smoke coming from your project?
Now,it's time to rebuild the R/C lawnmower! The poor machine suffered several
"accidents" last summer. That's another story.

Best regards to all of you,
Jim Richey

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Thanks, Parallax!
plow x6.JPG
1354 x 1027 - 594K

Comments

  • stamptrolstamptrol Posts: 1,731
    edited 2007-02-01 18:11
    Jim,
    Nice project! Is the chassis·from a snowblower or is it a built up?

    Cheers,

    Tom

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    Tom Sisk

    http://www.siskconsult.com
    ·
  • Jim RicheyJim Richey Posts: 82
    edited 2007-02-01 18:45
    Hey,Tom

    I built the chassis basically from 3/4 inch square steel tubing.The drive cogs and
    rubber tracks came from an old Craftsman snowblower.

    Regards,
    Jim

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    Thanks, Parallax!
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2007-02-01 18:49
    Jim,
    Nice practical project. I'd love to plow my driveway while sitting in the house too [noparse];)[/noparse]
    I bet you could get kids to pay YOU to plow your driveway with it.
    Just wondering what state you live in ?

    Now you need to make it autonomous.

    Bean.

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    Cheap used 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com

    Low power SD Data Logger www.sddatalogger.com
    SX-Video Display Modules www.sxvm.com
    Stuff I'm selling on ebay http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZhittconsultingQQhtZ-1

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  • Jim RicheyJim Richey Posts: 82
    edited 2007-02-01 19:14
    Hi Bean,

    You're right about the kids.The boys down the street [noparse][[/noparse]and their dad] show a lot of interest
    in the mysterious machine prowling around with no one in sight.I'd like to toy around with automating it somewhat.Maybe I should send for another homework board,huh?
    I live north of Detroit,not too far from Batman as I understand!

    Regards,
    Jim

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    Thanks, Parallax!
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,566
    edited 2007-02-01 22:43
    Jim Richey,

    Nice Project!.... Now put a wireless video camera on the front end of it and "drive" it from the living room.smilewinkgrin.gif

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    Beau Schwabe

    IC Layout Engineer
    Parallax, Inc.
  • Jim RicheyJim Richey Posts: 82
    edited 2007-02-01 23:20
    Hi Beau

    Thanks for the nice compliment.
    My wife came home with a wireless color camera from the supermarket a while back.
    I mounted it on my remote controlled lawnmower. My neighbor and I had loads of fun,sitting on the couch,and
    mowing the lawn from the living room TV.We wired up a cross hair to the steering that moved across the field of vision,pointing the way.It worked pretty good,but had it's limitations.The reception would blank out as the mower passed by parked cars and stuff.Kind of scary hearing the mower out there,not knowing just where it was! And I guess it would help to be able to see while going in reverse too! Maybe we'll duct tape the camera to the plow and have a little fun with it, hopefully nothing will get damaged too badly.

    Regards,
    Jim

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    Thanks, Parallax!
  • Dennis FerronDennis Ferron Posts: 480
    edited 2007-02-03 19:04
    That's awesome. It is quite an accomplishment to achieve reliability with a large robot like that.

    I've been working for over a year on the PWM controller for a robot that uses 4 powerwheels gearboxes. Every time I declare I've finally gotten the circuit totally blow-proof, a MOSFET goes up in smoke just to mock me. One thing I found out was that even with current measurement built in, if you short the output even a 1 mSec pulse can conduct enough to blow a 17 amp MOSFET, just because the filter caps in the controller are so big that they can discharge a huge amount of current through a short faster than you can detect it and respond. I also gave up on H-bridges because of shoot through problems, and now use DPDT relays for all my direction control, kind of like you do with the mechanical switches and servos for direction control. So far the relays have been the only thing that have proven reliable! They are much more forgiving of power spikes and short circuits than semiconductors are.

    I concur with your statement that it seems like the only way to make this kind of thing really reliable is to use the heaviest-duty components practical.
  • logan996logan996 Posts: 281
    edited 2010-03-16 22:16
    YOU DID THIS WITH A BS2 HOMEWORK BOARD!?!?!?!?!?

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    "When the government is afraid of the people there is liberty, when the people are afraid of the government, there is tryanny"

    · Thomas Jefferson
    ·
  • Jimbo30Jimbo30 Posts: 129
    edited 2010-03-22 00:53
    You should attach a hopper on the back for salt.
  • mikedivmikediv Posts: 825
    edited 2010-03-29 17:53
    Just very cool!
  • RavenkallenRavenkallen Posts: 1,057
    edited 2010-04-14 01:05
    That is really cool.
  • Spiral_72Spiral_72 Posts: 791
    edited 2010-04-14 23:19
    I'm jealous! Very nice man! Very nice.

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    "puff"...... Smile, there went another one.
  • Jimbo30Jimbo30 Posts: 129
    edited 2010-05-24 01:51
    I am actually going to give something like this a try using a Basic Stamp and Visual Basic wireless·interface.· I have already found some wheelchair motors on Craigslist that I will be checking out this week.· As for the snowblower tracks, there is a place north of me that has all kinds of snowblowers, mowers and other machines sitting outside.· I also·have a friend that buys and re-sells industrial equipment so I can get whatever else I need.· Should be a learning experience!!!
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2010-07-20 18:09
    This is great. I don't often look at forums other than the one for the Propeller chip, I'm glad Parallax brought it to my attention by making it the project of the week.
    This would be great to have here in Idaho.
    I'd love to see more details on you hardware set up. Can you change the angle of the blade?
    Thanks for posting this.
  • MadnessMadness Posts: 5
    edited 2010-07-21 17:54
    Duane Degn said...
    This is great. ....· This would be great to have here in Idaho.
    I'd love to see more details on you hardware set up. Can you change the angle of the blade?
    Amen, we've had a couple nasty winters up here in CDA.· What is the max snow load this machine will move?
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