Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!news.Brown.EDU!noc.near.net!gateway-gw!newshost!wpns
From: wpns@newshost.pictel.com (Willie Smith)
Subject: Re: Drills
Message-ID: <1994Feb7.174502.1994@newshost.pictel.com>
Organization: PictureTel Corporation
References: <2ijh8s$pq8@handler.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 17:45:02 GMT
Lines: 26

cmcmanis@pepper.Eng.Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes:
>of torque you can get out of a cordless drill and it hit me, why not

Waldo, my simulated Lunar Teleoperated Vehicle(*), uses four cordless
drills, one for each motor, and they work fine!  I'm using Sears
drills on one side and Makita on the other (long story, let's just say
we're having a runoff...).

The major mods you have to make are to remove the handle (Makita) or
case (Sears), add small fans for cooling, and provide for clamps to
hold the motors in place (I used maple blocks shaped to clamp on the
motor case).  The ends of the shafts are 3/8-16(?) or so, thus you can
drill and tap sprockets (or, I suppose, gears) to fit them.  They draw
about 10 amps per volt stalled, so provide circuit breakers!  I use an
8-volt, 25-AH Gates Cyclon battery pack, which is good for over an
hour of 'normal' driving.

(*) Larger version of Tycho, if you were on Bix a few years back and
followed the space.teleop discussions.  Waldo is about 3 feet square,
uses lawn tractor wheels and tires, and moves about 3FPS.  He uses
Amateur radio for command/telemetry and ATV for getting the video back
to the operator.

-- 
Willie Smith	wpns@pictel.com		N1JBJ@amsat.org
Some people you don't have to satirize, you just quote em - Tom Paxton
