Security Cam Robot, This Droid Is Watching For You. Jazzy Power Chair Frame

I have picked up a few Jazzy power chairs and pulled the seats off of them. I will further remove stuff that I don't need. I have seen people hack the original motor controllers but I feel like I am better just selling the original on Ebay and buying one made for DIY building instead. My first power chair base project I used a Sabertooth 2x12 ,but I do have a couple other generic controllers I picked up that may work just fine. I will post some pictures, thoughts, goals and parts I have to work with so far. Any input is cool.

You have two threads with a similar subject (wheel chairs). Which one you will keep updating ?

I dont see the second one , Are you talking about the power chair thread? Because thats not for specifically my projects but general ideas for power chair robots. Thats a free for all discussion.

This is a Project showcase for the Outdoor Security robot build.

I missed the "Project showcase" tag.

General Goals

• a mobile platform that can patrol a set routine

• Motion tracking , robot turns towards movement and tracks that object/ person

• 3-4 cameras recording 24 / 7

• run without outside power for at least 12 hours, but the goal is excess of 24 hours.

-Even in the even the robotic size of the electronics fails or the battery runs dead, there is a backup that keeps the cameras on and recording.

-Recording both locally on the robot itself and also wireless video sent to a recorder that I will probably setup with another raspberry pi.

• Live access to the cameras over the internet

• 1 tb hard drive dedicated to every camera, covers recording in HD for at least a rolling month. Recordings in 10 min intervals.

-Dual battery setup, one battery for the drive wheels , motor controller and ezb Lithium battery 10,000 mah packs for each camera

-Safety Stop switch that cuts power to motor controller in the event of an emergency, but everything else still records.

-Create a water resistant area protected from spashing and weather for the electronics

-make some kind of seal where the panels come together

• Some kind of anti theft alarm, using geo location or other alarm to prevent theft

-GPS geofence alarm and active tracker

GPS tracking unit, with built in battery so it tracks even if the main battery is removed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232479396529

No IR Raspberry Pi 5mp camera with 130 degree lense

Im a fan of this battery indicator , looks like I can make it visible from the outside no problem.

emergency stop for the wheels, in case of emergency

Security screws to hold mounts and panels on, so they cannot easily be removed without a security star bit. This should reduce the chances of tampering or theft of electronics or batteries.

I have a couple ideas for tires that are suitable for outdoor use. The knobby tires are fairly common and are use for outdoor go carts and small atvs. Lug type is what you would see on a tractor and is very aggressive. I am very tempted to just go with the Lug pattern so even in the rain it does not slip around when moving.

knobby

Lugs

Jazzy base, basically what we start with before modifications, in this picture the seat mount pole is not there, but I might actually use it.

OK shopping list so far -

shopping list

4x micro sd card , 32gb

5x battery packs 10,000 or 15,000 mah ( $25-30 )

4x 130 degree lense , raspberry pi cam

1x ez cam (have them)

1x ez board ( have them)

4x raspberry Pi 3 B boards $35 (have them)

4x 2 ft long rpi cam cables

1x 12v voltage guage $16

4x motion sensors ( have them)

4x ultrasonic sensors ( have them)

4x WD eaststore/ ultra 1 tb hard drive $55 each ( have two)

1 x GPS geofencing and tracking device $30

Emergency cut off button $5

1x 10 amp H bridge ( have them)

1 x 50 watt 12v DC to 5v DC converter ( $12)

10 x Powerline short usb cables 1 ft ($10 per 4 cables)

1 x 7 port usb hub

Interesting. Are you planning on trying to control the raspberry Pi's and use the cam with ARC? Will you be using the cam for tracking or visual surveillance or both? I like the fish eye lense. This is something the EZ camera needs for a wider viewing angle.

The ez cam will be dedicated to machine vision. The raspberry pi are only there for recording purposes. The ez cam is only 640x480 at the most and not ideal for night time recording. I plan to put an outdoor charging station on the side of the home with a glyph or QR code so the robot can find it.

Sweet looking rig there!

Whatever happened to the lawn mowing bot?

Hey I still have it , the season for mowing is coming to a halt because the temperature dropped into the 40s a week or two ago. Grass slowed down growing and some kinds turn brown and die. So it is in the garage. I have 5 jazzy bases to make robots from total, so 4 are left.

Great project ! Do you have a link where you bought the 12V gage ? Also the ultra sonic with cam ?

Greetz,

here is an ebay auction with that 12 volt meter

https://www.ebay.com/itm/222285320765?var=521121618991

not sure what your mean by ultrasonic with cam through.

Alright , so I ordered 4 cameras specifically for recording and then the batteries , sd cards and usb cables needed to power the raspberry pi boards ( the pi are only for recording)

I found this gps / alarm unit on ebay. In the sad event someone steals my robot I would hope to track it down QUICKLY. So I ordered one of these and I will see how well it works.

These are the cams I settled on, first they have a adjustable lens and it is wide angle 130 degrees ,but without the fish eye distortion. They all have two 1 watt led for illumination at night and adjustable light sensor so they are not on all day.

Kinda excited , I am suppose to get the big order I put in tomorrow ! Woop Woop !

I still need to find a way to weather proof the motors , wiring and electronics.

How about stuffing it in a Hefty Bag? LOL

It won't help with the motors, but you could pot the electronics in non-conductive silcone. Pretty permanent solution, so be sure of your design before you do it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potting_(electronics)

Alan

Hey thanks for the idea. I have been watching youtube for ideas and I found that Plastidip can be sprayed onto electronics for waterproofing , but if you even need to get it off the board, it is possible to pull it off. ( usually not in one piece but its possible)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIOU7iwLWrE

Spray Dip a motherboard in white ! I might actually do that since I love white so much.

Your GPS tracker maybe a challenge in future as a lot of the GSM networks that provide this service are shutting down. If you have an old android phone laying around maybe you can stick in a twillio sim and track that.

Yes a android phone hidden inside is certainly an option if this does not work out. I know att and Tmobile as well as straight y’all still support 4 channels of gsm but they no longer support EDGE internet speeds which utilized those frequencies all at once to make a 128 kB data connection.

I started to disassemble the chassis , I can see there are certainly differences from the other one and I think I may swap the front end so I can easily find a place for headlights. The screws on the fender are badly rusted and I put some for in the hole to break it up.

My little robot builder is helping, looks like my habit of using safety equipment is rubbing off on him lol.

So my first concern is to create compartments that are resistant to weather. So I need to fill in all these holes. I taped off all the holes and I will do a couple layers of fiberglass. Hopefully I can get them thin enough the battery still slides in but all the holes are covered without any gaps all the way around.

Looks like you have some expert guidance going on. This should significantly increase the fun value and creativity.

Oh yeah , the kids love it!

Ok so fair warning, Polyester fiberglass resin smells to high heaven! So always do projects in a well ventilated area preferably outside. That is where my problem is however. It is literally freezing outside and fiberglass resin cures with an exothermic reaction. I came up with an idea to use a couple 500 watt halogens a couple feet away from the Work area. This worked great! So on to pictures!

This water resistant area is coming along nicely. I plan on using foam rubber weather stripping all the way around which presses against the inside of the top. It cannot be completely sealed so the battery can breath but it will vent in a place that is protected.

So I have some ideas , one being to have a sensor stalk on top of the Robot. Firs I considered a paint can but I need RF to pass through easily. So I picked up a 1.5 gal aquarium for 17 bucks! Here’s picks of it in comparison to the main body.

I will need to fill this gap with something.... maybe fiberglass as s mount.

So unfortunately the shell I made was too thick and battery could not slide in. Sad-face. Its cool, I only blew a couple hours work. I will redo it and correct the mistake.

As you can see the battery is not able to slide in. I did not account for the taper of the battery rack is 1/4 tighter at the base than the top. Sooooo yeah, I hate failing and doing things twice ,but the more I work on Robotics the more I am learning mistakes and stepping stones to succcess , not failures.

I am looking at colors for the outside. I planned on doing plastidip because it can be peeled off and changed any time. Also spraying it on the frame means there is a level of water resistance and rust protection on the steel frame.

I love the idea of black , but at the same time I would like to put decals that indicate the robots name and purpose , maybe even my address in the event it is stolen. In that case the gunmetal gray is a bit more appealing. What do you guys think?

I like the grey. The other direction you could go is like a safety orange, so it isn't just a stealthy observer, but actually a deterrent.

Alan

OK I am going with Grey and any words / decals will be in black. I want something along the lines of Security droid or something like that on it.

I have 6 cans of the grey on the way , woop woop

I need a cool "codename" for this security robot. Like " Big brother" , "Night Owl" , "Prowler" , "Jackel" , "Pitbull" or somthing cool like that. I think a name makes the persona of the robot project. Obviously the purpose of this project is to make a night day security cam rover type robot that records video, makes a physical presence, follows intruders or even talks to a intruder telling them to leave just like a car alarm. haha VIPER back away !

I am Batman! Or not....

Alan

As far as "flashy" I dont want it to be so loud that everyone driving by stops to look at it, as they may get too much attention, generally I want to make sure it can be seen and also somewhat intimidating in looks when confronted. Ya know and maybe the robot can pee on them is they don't leave lol. So I am looking at a 12v or 24 volt small pump to make that happen.

for a name, how bout something from terminator, like an "HK-1" ?

RoboCop

T-RADD (Tactical Recon And Deterrent Droid)

Ok so I started by attaching the sensor stalk to the top of the battery cover, I used Liquid nails clear first after scuffing the plastics on both parts. I used Liquid nails because it is very thick and I needed to center and balance the tube into the correct position. The thick viscosity holds the part in place after I center it. I needed to completely cover the hole where the seat mount was and also level it. So I eye balled it till I liked where it was. I will also put some screws in it later when it is reinforced with fiberglass cloth. It needs to be able to withstand being kicked or falling over on its side without significant damage.

So I have been pondering theft PREVENTION measures. I have a spare car alarm I could use and maybe with some sensors could use it to sound car alarm if the robot is tampered with. So I have a couple ideas but I want to open a discussion about this as it is something that any autonomous robot indoor or outdoor faces.

viper / Directed 2 way alarm system ( reports back to a remote when a sensor is set off.

Tilt Sensors, physically arranged in 4 directions and mounted to the frame. Forward, backward and side to side.

Plunger sensors or magnetic

4, two on the from lid and two on the rear.

Magnetic sensor, one inside the lid of the sensor stalk.

Ok so 9 sensors there.

Lastly Maybe I could have something that senses the wheels are turning but not energized , or maybe the brake release could have a magnet sensor.

Basically I want something that is very undesirable to drag through my yard to steal.

Ok 4 raspberry pi 3 have been prepped and setup or continuous recording at 800x640 and 15 frames per second . The files are saved 600 seconds at a time in MPEG 4 .avi . Recording to 64 Gb on a Sandisk 64 Gb high endurance card ( specifically for continuous video recording)

And the drilling begins

I added the two IR leds to the camera which come on in low light and have an adjustable pot on each board. I will likely use clear epoxy to seal the sensors and plastidip to make the board water resistant. The plastidip peels off if needed.

How did you determine how high in the cylinder they should be?

I am considering trimming down the cylinder a couple inches. I took in mind spacing sensors apart at least 2 inches apart.

Ultrasonic , pi cams, EZB cam. Pyro motion sensor

Ok , still have the ultrasonic sensors .motion sensors , and EZb cam to find a place for.

Pictures or it didn’t happen!

4 hole sets for the cameras and IR leds

8 hole sets for ultrasonic range finders

4 hole sets for Pyro Motion Detectors

1 EZ CAM hole

I’m testing out the grey plastidip now that all the holes for cameras and the sensors are made. Once you paint something all the little mistakes and rough edges really show, but this is all a trial run anyways

The dip is still wet , I misted 5 coats about 2 to 3 min close together under a 1000 watt lamp. I expect to have some texture but I’m checking out the color right now.

Plastidip is way darker after it cured.

So I descided to see what one RGB led in the top of the tower could produce.... I think I will keep it

It's starting to look like a Dalek! eek

Dalek, Yup that does sound menacing !

I installed the voltage meter on the front fairing and coated some sensors with plastidip to make them moisture resistant.

I think you should name the droid Ned Kelly.

But he’s a bad guy

I started filling holes in the top of the aquarium I hacked up to make the round part of the Robot. I taped the front off and filled epoxy from the back.

I also started coating the gram and motor parts with the plastidip too. Not only does it color match the frame , but the idea is that plastidip will help protect metal parts from rust.

Quote:

But he’s a bad guy Frown

It depends on your perspective. He was a folk hero as well.

I sprayed a couple coats of the grey plastidip on the frame both top and bottom , 2 to 3 more to com ,but the look will be the same just thicker.

here is a mock up of the main peices in place without any screws.

So next I need to make this compartment usable. I cut out the right and left side of the motor controller mount out and removed the zip ties for the wiring. This has created a slightly deeper and wider space to work with. I believe I will hot glue in some fleece fabric and soak it in resin. If needed I will reinforce from the back side only to keep this area open. I am not worried about weight as this is designed to haul around a 300 pound payload.

Utilizing some red fleece as stretch clothe I got glued in a ideal shape to make the most of the compartment. Ideally I could have made it about a inch deeper but there would be a 3 inch wide high spot in the center which is the main support I cannot cut out. I did trim it about 3 inches on each side to give me more room to work with. You can compare to what I have as far as space in the Nom Nom robo mower and it is a big difference.

Ok fast forward a hour or so for hardening, I have a pretty uniform compartment that is mostly shielded from water spray. It does nothing for the lack of a seal around the topper though so I will need to do a little something about that.

I received the knobby 10 inch 4.10-4 tires from amazon. Amazing deal at 11 bucks each shipped. I went back to buy another couple and the price jumped to 36 whoa!

Of course I still will run a tube inside the tire.

Tiny update , I picked up a 5 gallon bucket a leak proof spin on lid with O ring. So this should keep water out as long as I am careful to silicone around sensors.

As far as width it is going from 8.5 inches in diameter to 12 I believe.

The raspberry pi 3 board and EZb v4 have been arranged into a tower. At this time I will run the Robot by WiFi as it seems most devices work fine outside in my yard no problem. 4 rpi3 stacked and the EZBv4 is at the top of the electronics totem pole

I also took also took the time to mount the two knobby tires I picked up on amazon for 11 dollars. I will post pics of those once inflated and back on the chassis.

Mounted with a 10 inch tube inside st 22 psi of air at 32 degrees F.

Mounted , muahaha

Ok stacking the electronics didn’t work because it requires more vertical space. I don’t like how that would look so I separated the boards and cut a wood circle to mount the electronics to inside the water resistant compartment.

How could I manage to miss this epic threat?

@jstarne1

Are you running a Raspberry PI cluster on your bot ?

No ethernet hub ? or a Wireless router on your bot ?

I’m running them separate , they connect through WiFi back to my network. I considered a router, but the way I am running them it is redundant. Each raspberry pi 3 records local to a 64 GB SD card and also stream through WiFi back to the network as well about 10 FPS. I was going to run one Pi and four cameras, but most the usb cams are night IR night enabled cameras and that would require I run them at 640x 480.

If I want to backup / save the files from a day I just connect from the pc and download them wirelessly and delete the old ones.

@maus666 I dunno man! My stuff is usually cool, I try to make things others would want to see as well!

Yeah man...its a pleasure! Keep it up!

Sensor disk gets the same plastidip gunmetal grey rubber coating. It is not as smooth , probably because of the humidity, the plastidip has seen sub freezing temps so maybe that plays a part. I soaked the inside of the compartment and also the wood bottom as well to protect the wood from moisture or transferring moisture from outside to inside.

Quick fiiment test on the main body

The rp3 cameras , weatherproof ultrasonic sensors, pyro / motion sensors , ez robot camera and IR illuminators have been mounted!

Take a look!

Each sensor is glued all the way around to keep water out.

Here is the electronics just sitting inside, but nothing is mounted yet as I need to first make a large hole all the cables will pass through.

Wow look impressive great watching transformation occur.

Pi was interesting approach for cameras but I think maybe look at the tech they use for drone racing next time. 5.8ghz VTX multi channel cameras and a receiver base station may have been another choice. Low cost, multichannel, High resolution, low powered and video is stored at base station.

Challenge you have with PI is if someone steals your bot they get the camera data and you have to keep unloading the memory cards. The problem with the VTX though is they are very easy to Jam.

Hey guy, thanks for the compliments. The Robot will have some anti theft measures. A alarm intended for a car will be installed as well as a Gps tracking unit with built in cellular modem that reports location on command or if the Robot leaves a geofence. As of right now they are set to record to the address card but eventually I will set it to stream only to a base that saves the data. I don’t have a base setup yet due to the budget , but it will be coming soon! Then all the data will be streamed to another location as well as stored locally and deleted locally every 4 days.

Test fit number 2 , now I need to drill some holes for wires to pass through.

After watching the "Metalhead" episode of Black Mirror, I'll never look at security bots the same way again.

I saw that and thought I wanted a robo dog! Lol

I already tested out the spray on version of plastidip but if there are hard to reach areas it mak not Work. So I am trying the liquid version I can brush on. It works well and still removable by peeling off.

I am trying out some quick disconnect what are water resistant for the batteries.

Watchdog is going to be featured in magpi magazine ! woop woop! The official magazine of raspberrypi.org . Of course ez robot gets props for the navigation, voice, machine vision and motors control. The pi are all for video recording and broadcast management.

And second awesome is they want to put Nom-Nom the lawn mower project in 5 months for a warmer weather project!

A day of running power wires. I didn’t have any barrier strips so I improvised and used ring terminals around a screw for pos and negative posts.

Well I made a mistake and killed a Sabertooth , I gave 12v to a line connected to the 5 volt of the sabertooth, sooo yeah... I robbed the sabertooth from the lawn bot as I won’t need it for a couple months.

I drilled out and added speed clips to the mounting points with new hot dipped screws that hopefully will not rust outside , I also swapped the other M4 10mm screws that hold many body parts together.

I robbed are parts jazzy for hub caps , Ha! My Robot has Rims!

The rear wheels where grey rubber stained sort of brownish . I used a tooth brush and gave them three good coats of rubber plastidip in black, we will see how that turns out tommorow as it has a 6 hour dry time.

Preview of rear wheels

My baby started taking its first steps today. I was using 9600 baud and 12 volts to the sabertooth. I kept having wierd things happen when I sent commands , but if I slowed down the speed slider to the bottom quarter then forward and turning started working fine. Another wierd development was that I could adjust the speed slider so that it moved forward straight , but then when reversing it would turn as the motors where not moving the same speeds. Thinking that maybe I was having a low torque issue I rewired the batteries in series to 24 volts and tried agian. It was better, but still happening. Will I have to make a custom Movement Panel to correct this?

Any ideas for correction are great.

There might be interference on the uart to the sabertooth. You shouldn't need a custom Movement Panel - because the sabertooth Movement Panel is popular for being reliable. Try a different baud rate and make sure the uart cable isn't running along side any power that could interfere

If the reverse isn't moving the same speed, that is most likely power/motor/gearing related. The sabertooth receives the command and does its thing. Long as it is receiving the command correctly, it'll output the same voltage on both channels via pwm.

Slow speed movement is very much going to cause challenges due to the motors having different efficiency ratings. Slow speed is going to expose any of the differences across the two motors.

Ok what baud rate do you suggest?

I don't suggest any specific rates - i suggest trying different ones

Also, If the reverse isn't moving the same speed, that is most likely power/motor/gearing related. The sabertooth receives the command and does its thing. Long as it is receiving the command correctly, it'll output the same voltage on both channels via pwm.

Slow speed movement is very much going to cause challenges due to the motors having different efficiency ratings. Slow speed is going to expose any of the differences across the two motors.

Ah ok , I will play with it tommorow. I don’t think it is the motors because if I give them straight 24 volts everything is gravy, they have matched speeds.

Edit : I see what you mean about the slower the Robot moves the more differences pop out.

I could put a meter to the sabertooth while in reverse and see if the pwm voltage is reading the same on both sides too , thanks for the feedback.

Ok tiny update after the rear tires had all night to cure , they look pretty good. Not as good as a spray application, but good enough. Once there is wear they will blend right in. I did several thick coats with a toothbrush. Pictures later when they are assembled.

Hey very cool Bot,following your progress! I did something similar but less tech than yours just using the modified rad Robot last summer. The main problem I had outside at night was the un- even terrain ,if the bot saw tall grass or was going down hill the Ultrasonic sensors would think it was looking at a wall,back up and turn instead of going straight ahead,so the sensors need to actually be mounted much higher up out doors but indoors it had no problems on even surfaces.

Refurbished rear wheels , coated in thick rubber

Hub caps painted to match because reasons

@ roborad , yeah uneven terrain will be a challenge , I think it has enough ground clearance, power and grip to move freely though. Thanks!

This is kind of exciting! Tonight is the first full night Watchdog will have to himself. Here are some camera views. He will not be navigating only idle and recording.Dont worry - Fire extinguishers are nearby!

90 percent full battery voltage

Nothing Is screwed down in case I need to quickly unplug anything

Forward view 800x600

Left view 800x600

Right view 800 x 600

Pardon the mess this is also the play room.

For today I am using the batteries from Nom Nom the mower. They are 2 x U1-3 lawn and garden lead acid batteries . 425 cca

The future batteries will be power sonic 12350 12v 35 AH SLA AGM non spillable.

He celebrated by climbing on top and demanding a ride around the room , NOPE mom would kill me.

And you said no? What happens in the robot lab, stays in the robot lab!

Looking real Good ! and strong ! No possible chance for a ride ?

After 7 hours I checked the batteries voltage. Watchdog only lost .2 volts in 7 hours of recording !

Haha , I’ll let him ride when I am outside and done have much to run into , and a helmet on him!

12 hour test update:

Watchdog met it's first goal! 12 hours unmanned / no humans , I am checking Watchdog from remote desktop and it is still going strong, I started the first test at 11:30 pm last night. I cannot see the battery meter from here, but I will be able to check the battery around 5-6 pm. Hopefully Watchdog can make it to 11:30 tonight.

Almost 24 hours from the time Watchdog was powered on , I still have over 24 volts!

.6 volt loss since yesterday night!

I am very happy with the efficiency of the equipment. All cameras have been recording and the sabertooth and the 5 volt dc to dc converter are being used.

Doing some research I found charts that indicate the voltages of batteries to consider Dead so that they will not be damaged and still have hundreds of cycles

24.2 has 50 percent capacity left and 23.02 has 10 percent left and certainly considered dead so this should be the cutoff voltage for the health of the battery. I will let the bot run overnight tonight as well and see where we are at. It would certainly be great to break a 48 hour runtime before hitting cutoff voltage.

So is this robot physically moving or navigating the house at night or sitting in one position? If it’s not moving what is the saber tooth being used for?

Sabertooth is on idle but powered on. The Robot is not moving for this initial test , I wanted to get some base numbers as most the time the Robot will watch and wait , it doesn’t run around continuously.

Ok, Update on the runtime test, the robot was idle but all the equipment except the IR leds ( which consume 24 watts max) , motion and ultrasonic sensors. You can see the pictures of the starting voltage and the end voltage. Doing research I found 11.8 is considered dead for a 12 volt battery. or 23.6 when two batteries are together. I notived after 24 volts the rate of drop increased and was quicky down to 14 volts for the combined batteries. Still enough to power the robot , but bad for the overall life of the batteries! So in the future I am considering 24 volts " dead".

I wanted to test the battery longetivy, My goal is 24 hours without human intervention. Here is the starting voltage. ( I later found out that my batteries were not full when I started)

25.2 apparently is not 100 percent full, maybe these batteries were being broken in.

Excellent news ! After 24 hours runtime I still have battery life left.

24.6 volts from the 25.2 starting voltage. That is an average of .025 volts drop per hour.

Here is a reference chart I am comparing to for the battery capacity, take in mind I am running 24 volts.

after about 32 hours I was at 24 volts even but I wanted to see if I could make it to an even 48 hours. I pulled the plug on the battery for recharge at 42 hours.

I charged both batteries on two 3 amp chargers for 12 hours and now they read a higher combined voltage than before! So apparently when I started this test I was only at about 80-85 percent battery capacity.

sample screen shots of night cam, pardon the cluttered play room.

Watchdog forward cam on initial boot

Watchdog right cam

Watchdog left

I forgot the Ip to the rear cam so I didn't grab a screen on that one.

This is amazing work. I missed following your work this past year or so while you were on robot sabbatical.

Thanks Dave I appreciate that! I enjoy your company and spectator-ship.

Nice work! I have used the same wheel chair base for robots before. Great platform to work with.

You do amazing work.

-Sean

Thanks...

Ok tiny update , one raspberry pi keeps crashing after a few hours , only one is a problem so I bought a replacement that I will swap out. I also ordered 4 Pi zero W to see if I could use those instead to get the job done and gain some space as well as more battery life. I already received the permanent Power Sonic 12v 35ah batteries. I charged them overnight and just plugged them in. These are nearly twice as heavy as the old batteries! 10 pounds more each , 20 pounds more total.

Josh, be sure to use a new SD card in the pi that is crash. I had one on my network that was acting wonky then refused to boot, and it was the SD card, not the pi.

Hey tech guru , I used a different mico SD card and started from scratch with formatting, partitioning and writing the OS. It worked for about 4 hours and died agian. I used a new spare Sandusk ultra high endurance 64gb card. I have a fresh board I am swapping to in the AM and probably sending this Pi back as this board only has been a problem child.

Also I have 4 of the Pi W zero on the way and I will test them , if they do the job I will swap them to free up physical space and lower the overall current draw a couple amps. The pi zero is only 1ghz cpu, so it uses a bit less power.

Ok , another exciting night! All the IR leds have been soldered and run with the pi cams. Faulty pi was swapped for a new one and appears to have fixed that problem. The gps is now actively tracking the robot in my back yard area. Now to cross my fingers all goes well overnight , the insides stay dry and power needs are met.

OK So I found that after I soldered the IR leds in, that the raspberry pi now draw a great deal more power and I believe causes brown outs from the 24v to 5 v dc converter. So I ordered two more and I will split the load of the raspberry pis and ezb so that they stopped having a voltage drop. As far as the cams all are working well.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi-issues/MagPi67.pdf

OK I will ramp this back up soon, I had to replace the Sabertooth controller because I am an idiot and accidentally applied 24 volts from the power rail to the 5 volt input Vcc, and I let the smoke out. I have the replacement and now things have slowed down since the there are no more contests we are working on. The PI are being swapped for Pi Zero to save space inside the head. I will swap the full size ezb for IO Tiny.