Is there a cheap remote control car we can hack for the prop?

Comments

• Zoot Posts: 2,227

  2009-12-19 15:59 edited 2009-12-19 15:59

  I often hack morphibians -- they're about $21-$25 with four-wheel drive, some LEDs built in to the headlights, etc. If you unscrew the halves they are mostly filled with foam blocks (because they are meant to run in water and on ground), which leaves space for electronics. The nice thing is they're still well sealed to keep dust out, very very durable (you can run 'em straight into walls, drop them off tables, etc).
  
  Not sure about a bread board, though, but you could probably foamtape one on top with a little bracket.
  
  I usually discard the internal electronics altogether (RC receiver and motor driver) which is in it's own self-contained plastic box. This is nice because you can keep the RC controller and receiver/driver for other, more mundane RC projects.
  
  They also come in several "flavors" -- gator, shark, etc., which can be nice. They can be had at many major toystores, and online of course.
  
  www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=morphibian&x=0&y=0&sprefix=morph
  
  Here's a pic of one splayed open get ready for new electronics. The piece on the upper left is the top half, the piece on the lower left is the bottom half, showing dual motors with 4-wheel gearboxes, some holes where I mounted to IR emitters and a detector, etc. The piece on the upper right is the battery-panel cover, which on the gator, also has two white LED headlights. Some of the models have the headlights on the upper body shell, which makes wiring a little easier.
  
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  Post Edited (Zoot) : 12/19/2009 4:08:19 PM GMT

  

  

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• noobmuncher Posts: 124

  2009-12-21 05:33 edited 2009-12-21 05:33

  I like the idea of buying one of these purely to make a very basic, cheap, IR sensor based autonomous bot, just for fun lol.
• erco Posts: 20,261

  2009-12-21 17:16 edited 2009-12-21 17:16

  Zoot's Morphibian does look interesting. In my own experience, I'm still·impressed with the original Tyco Rebound 4x4 R/C vehicle, which is more recently called the Jet Turbo 4x4, such as http://cgi.ebay.com/TYCO-6-0V-JET-TURBO-4x4-REMOTE-CONTROL-TRUCK_W0QQitemZ140367916481QQ .·Although they are no longer manufactured, you can often find them on Ebay or at a thrift store. They are small, cheap, durable, torquey and double-sided; they can flip over and keep going. They are 4-wheel drive skid-steer vehicles that·have relatively large diameter tires that act as crash bumpers, and they are pretty darn unstoppable, indestructible·and quite·fun as-is. A great chassis to start with. Just make sure you get the ones that use the 6-volt rechargeable battery packs. There was a more recent cheaper unit·that used·disposable alkaline batteries·which did·not perform nearly as well.
  
  I used one of these and won Robot magazine's 4bottle contest, as seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/ercost60#p/u/32/ImriJO7DNac
  
  Other vids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onil2K2vMpA
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQGN8mXv1oA
  
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