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Xl Rover Prototyping Community Feedback

ANT is doing a great job getting the first proto of the XLR6 ready to send to me to start working on so for the sake of planning I would like to listen to the communities ideas for a rover kit and rover base. The EZ Robot kit is a great place to start so we aren't trying to replace Roli. This is for the next level kit , more ridiculous add ons can be made later. I will share some of what we have in mind so far. As always all our projects are being developed for use with ez robot Ezb v4 but you can still use a v3 in them.

Rover kit , that's a top and bottom to make the whole Xl rover
+ misc parts like wheels

Rover base only, that's the bottom half of the Rover frame with wheels and a flat tray on top all molded from 80A shore urethane plastic


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#1  
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The Zero Degree Rover


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want to go fast? Driving a skid steer base is difficult but you can switch modes. Lock the rear in place and turn only the front servos. ZOOOM...! This versatility is not found in any other rover base kit. 6Wd and individual motors for each wheel give power in a small package without noisy plastic gears. Gear reduction comes with its own problems. The motor pods are for a 40mm Nema 17 stepper. Alternate mounts can be swapped for 58mm Nema 23 steppers or even continuous standard servos. This is the staple of modular versatility!
#34  
Ok here's the 6 nema duplicates...
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Mini Zero Rover
#35  
Here's the nema 23 blanks next to the regular size Zero Rover
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#36  
Interesting! I am following this project.

:):):):)
J
#37  
WOW Josh! when you do a model , you go all out ! Awesome! Is the rubber your using an RTV type?:)
#38  
Hi yes it is a RTV silicon rubber , 15 shore rating which means it is somewhat flexible.

Thanks for watching guys. The goal is for this platform to be well thought out and versatile. Building those options if thst we wish every other chassis had. I have tried over a dozen wheel types and that's one of the next things to be designed. Once there is a wheel design then the motor mounts will be designed to adjust ride height and have solid stiff suspension or off road with 100mm oil filled shocks. Two shocks for each wheel is possible for a heavy robot yet able to tackle terrain as well as the wild thumper. A advantage over thumper is the surface area will be 2.5 times greater on top for those who want to make their own top of the chassis.
#39  
Here are some napkin sketches for suspension and possible layout for the top of the rover. As I have previously mentioned the Zero Rover will be availavailable with various interchangeable add ons. Also I will sell it with a naked top for the diy people who just want a excellent start for a robot base.
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The first is solid suspension with no shocks. This is for indoor use and mild outdoor ventures. This does not picture the Zero radius turn spindles.



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This is the naked base with fully adjustable suspension. Using oil filled 100mm aluminum shock and springs , the right height and stiffness may be adjusted. Second is the adjustable "hard frame stop" . This adjusts the highest point the wheels can travel. In situations where heavy weight exceeds the shocks capacity the suspension rests on these stops. The shocks can be adjusted to intentionally rest the suspension on the frame but when uneven gaps in flooring are crossed the wheels reach down to maintain traction.
#40  
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Here is the contemporary "smooth" rover top front view with comparison of hard and soft suspensions
#41  
I love the concept of a military or stealth theme because of the rugged feel. Agian just napkin sketches for the tops. A center sphere is common in both designs and a feature I am sold on that I simply only see in professional robots and military / industrial equipment. In both cases a ultrasonic rangefinder and camera is in the sphere. I want it fairly large so addition sensors , stereoscopic cameras or other sensors can be utilized in the same enclosed pan / tilt assembly.
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#42  
Ok so I really needed to get suspension components that are standardized enough to be purchased anywhere in the world but also available at a low cost. Some aspects of chassis I won't make public but others are important right?:) i will measure these units and then model them as a 3d stl. The rest of the suspension length and shape depends on these numbers. Here are pics of the shocks. They are in fact oil filled and use a coil over progressive spring. At this point there are various angle choices and options to have either one or two shocks per wheel.

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#43  
@Josh
I really like those mini shocks and they are oil filled also, they look like a good quality and sturdy shock. Very nice indeed :-}
#44  
@josh - Are those offroad R/C shocks? What brand is that? HPI usually has purple anodized aluminum parts.
South Africa
#45  
Where did you do all the 3d designs on
#46  
Hey, the shocks are unbranded and direct from china. They do resemble hpi so maybe they are the same , i found pictures where they literally look identical. I wanted to use a format that gave the end user easy upgrade options from a local hobby shop or online provider. They are compatible with alternate springs and heavier weight oils as well. The plan will allow for swapping of shorter 80mm shocks as well. That was one of the limiting disadvantages I saw in completely proprietary spring suspension like in dagu wild thumpers
#47  
@Josh
More than likely they are the same shock as the hpi ones.
Lately I have been ordering parts and pieces off of Ebay from China, I cannot beat the prices, none of the stores around here even come close on the price and most of the time the shipping is very cheap or nothing at all, now I don't understand that at all.
#48  
Muhammad , i started using 123d design which is more basic but user friendly and produces stl objects easily. It's a good idea to download and start learning blender and Netfabb as well. You can start a object in one program then migrate it to another for creating complex curves objects you can only do with mesh. Take in mind I'm still new and I recently downloaded 3ds max but I'm still very new to it.
#49  
I think I know which shocks you are using. I believe I found online. I really like the idea of this platform and have been watching the thread.

I'm probably not as much of a community member as I feel like I am because I mostly just lurk but how far along are you on suspension development and are you open to suggestions on it? I wouldn't call myself a suspension expert but I have raced both onroad and offroad R/C and have some experience working with this kind of small scale suspension.
#50  
Sure if you have suggestions I have open ears.
#51  
Ok. Here goes....and only because the thread title says "community feedback"

From looking at your sketches:

1. You probably don't want to do the suspension underneath the main body like that if is supposed to be an "off road" version. The suspension arms being underneath like that will reduce ground clearance and will have the potential to get hung up on rocks, sticks, and the like. The bottom should be as flat and smooth as possible to get over those kinds of obstacles without getting hung up on them.

2. You show the shocks being mounted in a straight up and down configuration. Most R/C every vehicle I have used has the lower part of the shock outside of the upper part of the shock. Having the shock straight up and down creates side loads on the shock as the suspension arm moves up and down through it's arc.With the shock at and angle it works much more efficiently. Also, with the shocks at an angle, you have the added benefit of the shocks being able to help stabilize the vehicle from side to side. A straight up and down shock configuration is not very stable in that regard. The picture below shows what I am talking about.



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Anyways....thats just my 2 cents.
#52  
Hello everyone , summertime is great for distracting you from the cool things that usually happen indoors. Thankyou for the feedback. I believe I will print a bracket that allows for 3 or 4 possible mounting points for the top of the shocks. I just rebuilt a new pc and now I must order replacement parts for the maker bots because they developed an epic clog all on the same day. Given the interest in ez robot projects I decided to go back to college so I have had a busy month running countless errands. Now that I have a 3d machine back agian I can get going on 3rd design and printing all the misc parts for zero rover. My last update of any significance was the 100mm shocks that came in for my suspension. After Some Thought I Like The Smaller NEMA motors as a standard then larger ones as a heavy duty option that I imagine will not be as popular.
#53  
Alright , slight update. The " standard" sized version of zero rover I am working on will use Nema 17 motors. I ordered 6 of them as well as 6 controllers to run them. Also I realize at time we don't need the nicest setup to start out so I'm going to model alternate motor mounts that use a standard servo instead. That way for the sake of budget someone could afford the base if the only other alternative was a Dagu Rover 5 ( not EZR Roli)