| # ( Design Issues )
|
| Because of the immense
difficulties we experienced, we have an entire section dedicated to "Things
We Tried". Dealing with the motors and with wheel implementations were
without a doubt the most costly in terms of time, effort, and sanity. |
| # ( Timeline
) |
 |
First
attempt, "Is that supposed to float?"
We found that styrofoam spheres made
excellent wheels, but the motor shaft would eat away at the styrofoam after each
rotation. Wires for the breadboard H-bridges also frequently came loose. We
continued looking for a better wheel implementation, and felt it was best to use
soldered H-bridges. |
 |
Revision 2, "The
Tantrum"
Named
after the previous owner of the wheels. The wheels fit well, but they were
incompatible with our implementation for turning. "The Tantrum" was
great at trembling in fear, but was capable of little else. |
 |
Revision 3, "The
Cow"
We
agreed that the styrofoam spheres worked best, but we needed something to
prevent the motor shaft from eroding the styrofoam. We cut the sphere in half,
taped a fork to the motor shaft, and taped the sphere back together. The rubber
Lance Armstrong bracelet helped keep the two halves together, prevented the
incision from becoming an issue for rotation, and increased traction. |
 |
Final Design
After testing the new fork/bracelet
wheel configuration, we did the same for the other wheel. The right wheel uses
a Lebron James bracelet instead. | |
| |
