Crustybot 1.2

Looks like are very nice build! With the water tight box it looks like you were almost going for an all weather robot? How is the range of the Ubiquiti Bullet 2 Access Point?

I have about 2.25 acres here. I can sit on my back porch towards the front of the property and drive it all the way to the back of the field with a good connection throughout the yard. Had to tweak tightvnc to get the video refresh rate as fast as I could. It works pretty good... Figured I would go with the water proof box just in-case I was going to try to mow the yard with it. I want to get the GPS guidance working so I can mark way-points so it will mow the field by itself. Now that I've got it built, I haven't decided if I want to blow grass and dirt all over it. LOL

This is sweet... I love these kind of robust and durable, "functional bots"... A lot of guys on here like the "toy" entertainment robots, but these (yours) are the kind I like to build... True, I did build an R2 project and it's still on the go, but my next one will be using a Zagros robot base and EZb4 controller when it shows up... Next after that is to find a bot chassis capable of outside use.... lawn mowing, GPS, et al

Sounds like it gets really good range! Instead of mowing maybe your bot could haul a yard cart. Or help carry things from the car to the house. Keep kids off your lawn. Play hide and go seek in the back yard. With a leaf blower it could clean leafs off your drive way. With a chassis like that there are so many cool things you could do.

Just be careful when building one, cause setting up the motor controller sometimes plays havoc on the walls of the house. It's pretty powerful... LOL No holes, just a few scrapes on the wall and a small dent on the dishwasher in the kitchen...

Lovin' the crustybot

Awesome sauce! I look forward to see more pics and maybe a video demonstration. I'm in Chattanooga TN , where are you?

Thanks for the compliments! I live outside of Stephenville, TX.... I'll work on making some video so you guys can see it in action...

@thecrustychicken, I have almost the same exact Jazzy wheel chair. Did you have to remove the brake on the top of the motor, or is it possible to simply "clip" the wires going to the brake.

Thanks,

@MovieMaker - I removed the brakes from mine. It's really easy. I think that the brakes are engaged when there is no power to the them. That makes sense anyway...

Here is a video about how to remove the brakes I found on Youtube.... (in case you need it)

Anyone know what the current draw is if you apply power to the brakes to use them as designed? Would be a nice fail safe to have the robot come to a screeching halt if the motors lose power, but I am not willing to halve my battery life just for a fail safe.

Alan

Just have a servo drop an anchor

Not sure about the current draw, it's pretty significant I bet cause it's just a electromagnet that pulls a plate in. Pretty beefy looking. With the wheels engaged you can't hardly move the thing unless you push it really hard. That's enough brakes for me. I didn't want any unnecessary power consumption as I'm running quite a bit of stuff already. (and will probably add a few more things...) Like maybe an anchor and an anchor launching servo... LOL

@thecrustychicken ...cool project and useful as far as an anchor idea...how about activating a solenoid to open a hatch which drops a "shoe brake" onto both wheels! simple , low current draw, and might work well enough

Thanks!

@crustybot, could you show us how you connected your electrical box to the frame. Is it simply tied with several zip ties?

@Mel, if you look at the photos you can see it's bolted on.

Where? I will look again. But, I don't see it.

I will let you know.

.......

OK, I see on the inside of the box where the bolts are. But, it is unclear where they are connected. It looks like onto the plastic housing. I guess that is where. My eyes are not that good.

Thanks Rich! As always, you save the day!

I used the chair bracket. If you remove the pole from the bottom of the chair, you can mount the box on it then just pull the handle to remove the box. Makes it real easy to access the other parts of the bot.

Your robot is awesome i was wondering if you can tell me what the part number on the ez bot 3.0 cannot find it on web site or they just changed the way it looks.please thanks.

@unibis3049 the EZbv4 is the only version available or sold now. The v3 has not been available for about a year.

As Justin said.... the EZB3 is discontinued.... the replacement is the EZB4

Version 3 is not available anymore. Justin is correct.

I need to update my bot on here. I've installed an Ardupilot

I think I'm up to CrustyBot v1.5 now...

Ardupilot link

and now have the GPS guidance system working. It allows me to mark waypoints with a remote control then the bot will maneuver to those points by itself. I can also design a map of points with the computer on a google map and send them to the robot via my wireless telemetry link. Going to now work on getting the EZ-bot to use the voice recognition to select a waypoint for the robot on the Ardupilot. I want to be able to "Tell" the robot where to maneuver to in my yard.

Too many projects, too little time..

I'll post an update soon....

Justin McClure

a.k.a. TheCrustyChicken

Awesome, looking forward to your update....

Hello Justin, I got to say your crustybot is my favorite, I'm currently building one myself, I'm slowly ordering the parts as I need them, hopefully my robot turns out as good as yours. I was wondering if you can send me a pic of how you wired yours the pic you posted has the name tags in the way, and can't not see where wires are ruining to and from, I can't wait to run my GPS, that's going to be so cool. I currently have a remote control lawnmower I built, it runs great but this one will be better to play with around the house, my lawn does not grow fast enough now. Thanks. And keep up the awesome building.