magnethead

It's the end of the semester, we got a new house in Mansfield, and I have partial funding to get this thing done. It may look small, but those wheels are a foot (30.5 cm) tall. The chassis as it sits now is already 9" tall. Overall, will probably be in the 22" tall x 36" long x 19" wide spectrum. On a related note, I'm also having to build a transporter crate to put in my truck bed if i take it places (school(s), robotic displays/competitions/ect)

I still need to write the technical analysis for it, I know. Till then, I'm sure lot of it looks like jibberish.

http://www.magnethead794.com/AIRT2/

I bought PRO-E yesterday so i've spend a good number of hours doing updated CAD renderings (last 2 of page 8, and all of page 9 thus far)

It's going to be 6 wheel drive/6 wheel steer, weight about 550 pounds or so, and hopefully have a carrying capacity in the 40 pound range (my goal is 50 pound max payload, 100 pounds total).

The axles use a 2x6 lumber upper truss, but a welded steel lower truss and steel hubs. If I had the money and equipment, my first choice was to use a solid chunk of aluminum and call it good, but I don't have the money for it, and would have to use the machine shop at school to mill out the openings.

Once I get the suspension links made, I'll get them bolted on, then cut/weld/assemble the axle trusses and get those attached to the suspension links. Add shocks, and should be able to get a pretty good idea of what it will look like. I already have the wheels cut, and will re-use the wheel hubs from AIRT1.

3x http://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop...id=722&catid=7 (steering)
1x http://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop...id=848&catid=5 (drive motor control
18x http://www.igus.com/igubal/sizepresent.asp?p=KARI (1/4" rod ends)
6x http://www.igus.com/igubal/igall2.asp?p=M250 (MFI-0405-12 upper steering bushings)
6x http://www.igus.com/igubal/igall2.asp?p=M250 (MFI-0405-06 lower steering bushings)
6x generic electrical diodes (2 per steer motor)
3x magnetic SPDT reed switches (1 per steer motor to locate centered steering)
6x 1/4 x 3/8 x 1/4 set collars (2 per steer motor)
3x http://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop...asp?itemid=828 (centering activator, crab-steer activator, forget the third one)
3x 8 position barrier strips (radioshack generic)
a whole assortment of 1/4" thick flat stock (1/2" wide, 1.5" wide, and 2" wide)

Camera system (optional, $188)
Head, marker, and tail lamps (radioshack generic)
Second 6 channel radio and receiver (optional, but opens horizon if done)

I already have the radio system and steering battery/chargers, using the ones from AIRT1. Already bought the calcium dry cell 6 amp/hour drive battery and charger.

asidman

Awesome man, I love this sort of stuff.
I was at a friends house where she was testing some stuff she is busy on with Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio. She is keeping everything separate until she finishes the entire project. Her and her father develop automated systems for various companies.
Their latest project is a small robot that will be put into drainage pipes and make its way up and down the various interlinked pipes with a type of sensor guided system. It has the blueprints loaded into memory. Transmitter/rechargers are placed at certain points that can be accessed by the robot and information is uploaded and then transmitted to the server with processes the information and alerts are sent via email to the relevant people depending on the type of problem.
They have been busy for over 6 months already as each sensor needs to be programmed individually if one is not publicly available. The contract is for 10 of these robots, 50 of the transmitter stations and the server to control everything which will be a R750 000 ($90 000) blade server setup. They've outsourced someone to develop the software to handle everything from the workstations and communicate with their software, which can transmit new instructions to the robots.
All in all the robots have about over 1000 moving parts and about 50 different sensors for 100's of different problem detections from cracked pipes to blockages to structural integrity and more. It can predict different volumes of water that may flow through the pipes and detect where bottlenecks will occur.
Guess what i'm trying to say is that is the way you could head if you wanted and studied it further.
So keep it up man!