"Wild Thumper" 6WD all terrain robot chassis
It's Here! Now with Video of it in Action on dirt using 34:1 gearboxes and new videos going down and up stairs and over snow with 75:1 gearboxes.
Now available in silver!
Designed originally here on LMR specifically for robots, this 6WD chassis has wicked spiked 120mm dia. wheels and an anodized aluminium chassis made from 2mm thick plate. The chassis has 4mm dia. holes punched every 10mm to allow easy mounting of PCBs, servos etc. All nuts, bolts and screws are stainless steel. Brass fittings and suspension springs are nickel plated.
Two chassis segments between the wheels have been designed to hold 7.2V sub C battery packs (not included) as used in many RC cars. A total of 4x 7.2V battery packs can be fitted if necessary. These batteries are ideal for driving the 6V motors as well as inexpensive linear regulators to supply 5V.
These photos show how even with one wheel resting on a large LMR mug (115mm high) all wheels are still touching the ground. It may not be a rock crawler but that's awesome for an off the shelf robot chassis.
Ground clearance with the suspension lightly loaded is 60mm which is almost half of the total 130mm height when the topdeck is mounted on 25mm spacers.
As you can see in this photo, with the top deck fitted you have a smooth deck to mount equipment on even when the chassis is flexed. Mounted on brass hex spacers, the top deck gives you room underneath to hide cables and PCBs to give your robot a cleaner more proffesional finish.
The suspension for the front and rear is a single torsion spring. As the motor housings are connected to each other and not the chassis the front and rear can roll freely with the spring supporting weight and absorbing shock.
The steel cable is used to limit spring travel. The motor housings have 3 holes for each allowing spring tension and travel adjusment depending on the weight of the robot. Rubber grommets are fitted in the spring mounts to eliminate play while allowing the motor housing to roll.
The center suspension is similar but has 2 springs. Each spring connects from the motor housing to the chassis keeping the robot upright.
The 6 powerful geared motors have steel gears and are fitted with powerful magnets to provide high torque. Top speed is about 6.6km/hr. These motors have a maximum stall current of 5.5A each so with 3 motors per side wired in parallel a dual "H" bridge rated for at least 17A per channel is required.
Rated voltage: 6V DC (min. 2V Max. 7.5V)
Stall current maximum 5.5A
No load current per motor is 350mA
Motor RPM is 10000 +/- 5%
Gearbox ratio is 34:1
Output shaft speed is 295rpm +/- 5%
Stall torque is 4Kg/cm
A 75:1 gearbox is now available!
This gives a top speed of about 3Km/hr and a massive stall torque of 8.8Kg/cm per wheel!!!
The chassis comes pre-assembled and weights 2.6Kg. Shipping cost to America or Europe will be approximately $48 USD.
Now available in 2 colour schemes:
Black with metallic red rims
Silver with chrome rims
Here is a preview of the 4WD version:
@ Fri, 2012-04-13 21:15
My FPV Thumper
Hi,
Here's a couple of real short videos of, and then from, my FPV Thumper:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noA4zkPTLU8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06lgzyAI164
Cheers,
Colin
@ Sat, 2012-04-14 03:37
I love the compass HUD. Got
I love the compass HUD. Got dizzy watching the second video :D
P.S. Your mother asked me to tell you she wants you to put the picture back up on the wall.
@ Sun, 2012-03-25 04:50
Laptop and a kinect over these chassis
Hello
I want to mount a 10" laptop and a kinect to this chassis. So is it possible to get a wider/longer metal covering for this chasis or simply wider/longer chassis?
Is this chassis VEX friendly, another words: is the distance between the holes in this chassis is the same as in the VEX?
What are the best batteries for this chassis?
Thanks in advance.
@ Mon, 2012-03-26 09:42
The chassis is modular so if
The chassis is modular so if you buy 2 of them you can re-combine the parts to make it bigger.
I do not know what spacing VEX uses. I have never seen their stuff before. The holes on the chassis are 10mm apart. Assuming that VEX is still the old, imperial measurement system then 2inches is aproximately 50mm so you should be able to match every 5th hole. If VEX is not imperial then you should have much better alignment of holes.
@ Fri, 2012-04-13 20:46
You would also need an
You would also need an additional centre section (or use something else).
Colin
@ Mon, 2012-03-26 13:54
The chassis in not cheep
The chassis in not cheep and I don't have a lot of money. So, unless there is a huge discount on the second chassis I can't afford it. That is why I want to know is it possible to buy only a metal cover and, if possible, I want it to be much larger then the original one (that come in the set).
@ Mon, 2012-03-26 16:02
Talk to CTC at Rocket Brand
Talk to CTC at Rocket Brand Studios. He could use his milling machine to make you a custom aluminium cover or his laser cutter for a clear acrylic cover.
@ Fri, 2012-03-09 19:51
Bad wheel adapter
Hi,
I just got around to putting the wheels on my Thumper today, and it turns out one of the wheel adapters is poorly drilled/tapped.
The bolt just falls into the hole.
It's the one on the left. Actually the one on the right looks a little iffy too.
@ Sat, 2012-03-10 05:24
All you can do is ask the
All you can do is ask the supplier to send you a replacement. If the thread is only bad at the start then perhaps you can use a longer screw to get you going while you wait for the replacement.
@ Mon, 2012-03-19 17:27
Got them the following
Got them the following Monday. 4-pack turned out to be 6-pack. Good guys to deal with.
Colin