Dude - B9 is my idol. I have a 2 ft version I am modding next after I finish my omnibot. Then on to the big one with the wheelchair drive (scratch built). There are several builders on here that are working with the larger stuff right now and should be able to help. Welcome!!!!

Thank you for the response bret.tallent. Mine too will be completely scratch built. I am making it with my brother. We have not gotten too far in the building, but we have spent years researching, collecting parts, and planning. We intend to make it fully articulated - arms, claws, etc. If you are looking for any ideas I have thought much of it through already.

www.b9robotbuildersclub.com/pub/builders/scrapbooks/sb_B90614_1.html

Will the sabertooth motor driver power the wheelchair motors? I think it should - and provide speed control

Oh and PS, welcome to EZ-Robot Danger!

Thank you DJ Sures

I have to confess that I was thinking of cheating (I like to think of it as a creative work around) on the wheelchair motors. Since they run on 24V and everything else runs on 12V, and because the wheelchair has speed control, a built in charger, and a regenerative braking system already in place. I might leave the entire wheelchair harness intact, and electrically separate from the rest of the robot. I have thought about mounting the joystick inside and moving it with small actuators, or servos. I tried bypassing the joystick electronically, but the system is very sensitive and trips into shutdown if it does not get the proper voltage from the joystick. This might all sound crazy, but as I said, I am new to this, and open to suggestions. It just seems sensible to me to utilize the motor controller that is already in the wheel chair.

I still have the other motors, arms, torso rotation, etc to contend with.

I too was planning on just using the joystick and controller that came with the wheelchair motors, and using HD servos to move it.

Hope you got some serious cash to blow lol

I wish!!

I do not have the budget that some who build these things have. That is why I am building my own body parts and trying to save money by using surplus wiper motors and $2.00 relays instead of large servos. I know that it will have its limitations, but I would like to make it as intelligent and functional as possible. This system seems to be far less expensive, and easier to use as anything that I have found. I am hoping that it will adapt to what I am trying to do. The motors and parts are big, but the relays will be doing the bulwark. What I need the help with is linking the hardware to the relays.

@Danger! - check these out. http://www.ebay.com/itm/320813643959?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 you can get them in much higher voltages and I believe you can plug them right into the EZ-B. This is what I am planning on using 9or something similar). You can find them all over ebay for pretty cheap.

Thank you bret.tallent

I have found many relay controllers that plug into the computer, but finding something that is compatible with this hardware was the issue. This is a big help. Now at least I know what direction to go in.

@Danger!,

Hi, I too have a wheel chair setup and I have to say unless you have your hand up someones you know what you are not going to get any info of the electronics for almost ALL electric wheel chairs.

I have a P&G controller system and as far as I have been able to get is a serial cable for programming and most important the manufacturer level software.

IT TOOK ALMOST A YEAR OF HUNTING AND RESEARCH TO GET THIS. The company really protects it proprietary goods.

That said, you can wait forever to find info or spend lots of money and alter the control system or do as your thinking and connect servo's directly to the joystick and start playing with your bot right away before , in my case die of old age.

Dave

Thanks Dave. I do have the spec sheet for the JC200 Joystick if that is any help to you. I am sure that someone with more skill than I have could create the proper voltage swings for each axis with a controller and substitute the joystick. As far as I am concerned though, I am not a professional. If I can get it together and working in some fashion, I will be satisfied. The wheelchair works fine right now. I do not need to recreate the electronics that I already have. I still have plenty of challenges ahead of me.

I love how you did your torso, it looks really good. Especially compared the expense of the others on the b-9 site. How are you planning on handling the bubble and the collar?

The torso has come a long way since those pictures. We have the arm sockets in and have been working on the Bondo. We had to put that on hold until the spring because we were doing the Bondo outside. The collar we will be doing with the usual club method. The acrylic was not too expensive. Another option that some of the early scratch-builders had, was to space out three Plexiglas rings (top, bottom, and a larger center) then wrap clear plastic tubing around them in the correct pattern. I do not think that would save any money though. As for the bubble, I will be making a fiberglass mold (still have some left). I am debating the idea of making a DIY rotational mold, and casting it in clear epoxy resin. If that does not work, I can drill many small holes in the mold and put it in a box to vac-u-form some lexan. This will take all of the guesswork out of getting it the right shape. We also found a pretty good looking cheap alternative to the neon.

There is no way to build one of these things on real short money, but I am trying to save as much as I can by doing all of the labor myself. Besides, without knocking those who choose to build with club parts, both my brother and I feel that when it is done, we do not want to step back and look at a collection of other peoples parts.

Is there some way to exchange email addresses on this site in case you want to discuss more B9 specific subjects? I do not want to hijack the "EZ-Robot" Board with "Lost In Space Robot" discussion. I know that most here are building other sorts of projects.

bret.tallent@gmail.com

I am just weighing my options here. Would this controller plug right into EZ-B? The more I think about it, it would make things a lot easier in the long run.

Sabertooth

Signal will plug in and the ground to your power supply must also be grounded to servo ground pin. To be honest.there are cheaper motor controllers out there. Here is a 68amp http://www.ebay.com/itm/Double-BTS7970B-68A-high-power-motor-driver-module-servo-driver-module-/150750031974?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231966f066

Or lower amp one, I have one of these for Omnibot. $ 28 10a -45a peak per channel http://www.ebay.com/itm/15A-DC-motor-Stepper-Motor-Driver-Controller-Strong-braking-exact-speed-control-/160738732872?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256cc66b48

@ Danger I use a wheechair base for my Robot controlled by two servos which simply move the joystick Initially I took unit apart and attempted to make a direct connection but decided to keep it simple

Reason 1 The originall controll unit is probably one of the most advanced motor control units,why discard it ? 2 So simple to programme when connected to Ezb

very happy with results Pat

Thanks Jstarne. I guess that it pays to shop around. I wanted to keep the regenerative braking function of the wheelchair, but now I see that some motor controllers have that feature too. The more that I think about hooking servos to the joystick, the more complicated it seems. Two servos (one for forward and back, one for left and right) is not really compatable with most H-bridge applications from what I can see.

Hey Pat, do you have any pics of how you set that up? I want to do the same thing with my bot.

Pat, I did not see your post until after I posted my last message. Any advice that you can give me on setting that up would be appreciated.

Those controllers support breaking , they connect directly to ezb and supports 24volts that most wheelchair motors use , some use 12v . Don't bother with the joystick thing , just the cost of wire and and two heavy duty servos you might as well get one of these 45 amp or 68amp controllers and have a simple direct interface.

Photo of servos that drive the wheelchair joystick

it may be difficult to see how it works but it involves no modifications except extend the shaft of the joystick itself

Both servos are placed 90 deg apart on the same level ,both are mounted on a small cabinet hinge as they move with the joystick movement.

Take a look if you need further info please let me know

Pat

Oh I FORGOT Best part of All Have great fun with Wheelchair base

Simply connect a two channell radio reciever to the two servos , add a 2 channel radio transmitter and you have one powerfull radio controlled Bot.

Zoooooom !!! Zooooom!!!

Pat

:P

Check this out!
RobotB9 Parts

Hey Danger,

Im working on a project like yours , I got 2 scooter motors working with a sabertooth 2x225 and another motor working with a syren10 all by using a wireless xbox controller.

Pm me if ya need some help

Thanks GotRobbed. I need to get my board and start playing with it, and figure out exactly which controller I am going to use, then go from there. I will keep your offer in mind if I get stuck (probably when I get stuck would be more accurate).

And Bret, there's your chanceeek. Go for it! Even if it is not all there, those are all of the hard parts to get. I am allready comiited to srcatch building mine now.

Hi danger I made a post a few messages back for a 68 amp h bridge with regenerative brake that can connect to ezb , take in mind in that post I had two different ebay links. I've bought a couple 30a power supplies that work very well from them. Cheap but it will take a couple weeks to get them.

I saw that Jstarne, thanks. Help me out though please. It says "double" in the name, but it looks like it only controls one motor. There are two battery "wires" and only two "out" wires. Will I need two? I don't mind buying two. It would still be half the price of what I was looking at. I just want to know.

link

Hey yeah the 68 amp controller you would need two. But its half the cost of a sabertooth. Just make sure you install a excellent heatsink and fan. There are lots of p4 CPU heatsinks with fans out there that will easily keep these cool. That's how I'm cooling mine.

Thanks Jstarne. That sounds like the way to go. I'll order them this weekend.