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New Member With Wheel Building Question

Hey folks!

Used to try to build bots when I was a kid. I had a few successes, but mostly kludged up messes. Anyway, my wife bought me a few books because I am now disabled and can't work anymore. Hips and back are degenerating.

I am building a mix of a bot from a few different books, and some of the parts I want to make myself. I want to build the chassis from "How to build a raspberry PI robot" by Donat, but I don't want to use powerwheel wheels. I just think they look really cheap and junky. lol Yes I am picky.

I am thinking of building the wheels out of plywood and hardboard. THe ply for the hub, and the hardboard for the "tire". Hardboard bends really easily with a heat gun so getting the curve will be no problem. I've also came across an idea on how to make a silicone tread for the tire.

I can make this look good and very functional. I can also make any diameter wheel I want as long as the circumference is under 8 feet, so size is definitely not a problem.

Would anyone be interested in pics and video? If so, just let me know.

I was a combat engineer and I have done commercial electric and HVAC for the last 12 years, so I have some pretty good mechanical skills. It won't be a mess anyway. lol

Have a good one!


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#1  
Hi @Justanerd! This sounds like a very cool project. LIke you, I'm more knowledgable on the mechanical and building side of robotics. Even though I mostly end up buying off the shelf stuff and finding a way to put them together I love scratch built things. That's where the real talent and skill lays. I'm always looking for interesting and different methods of building things. So, Heck ya! Please post your vids and pics!

Sorry about your disability. That sucks but I've always found that when one door closes another one opens. Who know's where this path will take you. ;)
#2  
Another material that's makes very good wheels is 10mm thick pvc sheets.It can easily be cut and is very strong.I have used this material to make robot chassis. You can use pvc glue to secure frame or wheel parts together.
#3  
PVC is good too. After I get my technique down with cheap materials, I will try switching to that. Thanks for the interest guys!
#4  
Just letting you guys know I am working on a couple of tutorials. One with basic power tools and one with some more advanced power tools. Only problem is, I don't know how to post them. I am doing them in word, which I know pretty well, but I know nothing about HTML. Can't do video yet either. My phone is lousy at it, and I haven't ran across my vid cam in storage. I took a ton of pics though!
#5  
Great! Looking forward to them.

This site helps you make a tutorial. Follow this link and click "Create Tutorial". It will step you through it:

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#6  
Sounds like it will be a neat build! Not many have connected the ezb to the raspberry pi - are you using Windows or Linux for the ezb library? The UWP Windows library is pretty sweet - that's how we did the ezb v5 POC.
#7  
To be honest, at this point I'm not even sure about using a Pi. Unless I find better examples of software to use, it's probably not going to happen. I do know I am going to use the module supplied by this site, but beyond that it's all up in the air.

I do know that at some point I am going to have to have some higher level of self-control, but right now I am just trying to get a well-built sturdy chassis completed.

I do have a tendency to fly by the seat of my pants on personal projects. I think it comes from having my old work so rigidly structured.
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