Latest Mule

 Today's song is: Anyone ... Justin

For my latest mule I went to the 2011 Lego supercar, the 8070. It is the largest car I have and was somewhat motorized. Of course I could not leave it alone and I applied my latest electronics which features a color display ala Tesla.  This was the original with a working V8, hood, doors, and truck that open and shut. No wheels driven and no motorized steering, and of course no remote control.

My version has bluetooth control via my phone and features 2 L motors and a servo motor all running off a 9.6 volt NIMH rechargable battery. I am waiting on new motors from China which are about 25% more powerful so this mule should move. I was able to keep the motorized doors and front hood but had to give up the motorized trunk to make room for the baeery and electronics.

Some pics:

The 2 L motors will attach out back, but that will change :-)

Working V8 and gears to drive doors and lids.

My electronics, microcontroller on left, motor dirver on right.

Green battery underneath.

Profile is clean with minal wiring showing.

The dimensions are 58.2 x 37.8 x 8.7 centimeters

I am quite please with how the electronics are integrated into the design. I could shrink them by another 50% but I like my display and push buttons for testing all the functions.

We are also enjoying the winter weather and are sledding in the backyard and building a snowman. Jaidan loves the snow and Thavorn finds it 'beautiful'.

TTYL

Franken Mule

 Today's song is: Need for Speed

Jaidan has always wanted to drive my Lego vehicles but they are too fast for indoors and don't hold up well to crashing into things. We are also locked down for months to come so we both need forms of intertainment. I thought, 'What better than racing on an indoor track?'

For that to happen, I had to come up with 2 vehicles, similar is style, size, and speed. I came across this vehicle for Jaidan on Amazon.ca. It is an off road buggy, powered by Lego's latest motor control system which is finally bluetooth. This gave me the opportunity to learn about the new system as well as get one vehicle out of the way.

Definitely not cheap at $179 CDN but what the heck, we have to survove the monotony of the lockdown and designing courses and racing will be fun. This will be Jaidan's vehicle.

As for me, time to design my indoor Franken mule. I had already canibalized the Lego corvette and I had a Lego XL motor that I wanted to explore. These motors are slow but very torquey so the vehicle has to be able to handle the torque on startup and also has to be geared up to increase the speed of the vehicle.

I am verry pleased with the design and Jaidan drove it all over for half an hour this morning. It is controlled by a hand held bluetooth controller that came with my Icarus car form China that I am not currently using because I replace it with a Buwizz.

So far, it is pretty strong and about the same speed as the Lego buggy that will arrive on Monday. Unlike Canada Post, Amazon delivers on time :-)

TTYL

Canada Post

 Todays song is: Little Deuce Coupe ... Beach Boys

I have been waiting on Canada Post's Xpress Delivery (within 4 business days) since Dec 29, 2020. It is now January 8th and Canada Post says they are busy. Do you think they will refund me back my $12. I doubt it as there is no accountability.

My test mule was waiting on a smaller BlueTooth module but I got bored and decided to clean up my current test mule and so I did. It turned out pretty well as my electronic components are locked down with Lego and crash protected with a bit of a roll bar. 

I am pretty sure this car will hit 30 km and hour and if I lose a wheel at that speed then it will probably flip and I don't want to write off the $35 component.  Now, I just have to wait for some nice weather for a speed run.

Jaidan's online class (grade 1) went well this week and that kept me pretty busy monitoring him. He came up to speed during the week and worked hard.  The bad news is the provincial government has gifted us with 2 more weeks of online learning!

Some pics:

Motor driver board protected by Lego

Lights surround the Cirtcuit Playground bluetooth module.

Beneath it is the crickit addon that is really not necessary, but

has lots of sensors I will make use of.

Nice clean ass end

Direct gear drive axle. I will probably reverse one motor for symmetry

Wires are routed under Lego. I really should shorten them all, 

but I am waiting for parts from China. (cheap)

Worm gear driven steering, my design

Underbelly is fairly strong and tidy, first speed run will test it.

The two drive motors. I will reverse one. Why not, something to do.

Under view of steering mechanism.

Two electronics boards sitting on top of NIMH 9.6 volt rechargable.

Roll bar is now installed

TTYL

Latest Mule

 Today's song is: Get Your Motor Running .. Get Out on the highway .. Looking for Adventure!

I continue to work on developing a test mule for my Lego motor driven cars. In the beginning Thavorn built expensive Lego cars and I attempted to motorize them. Making them move with one motor and controlling them with expensive gadgets imported from Hungary worked but I have this need for speed and control that was not satisfied.

Lego cars are really designed to look nice and sit on a shelf. The structures, particulary the gear differentail and drive train are made of plastic and have problems with heat due to friction and structural regidity. I resorted to strong elastics to hold everything together.

I also have 5 cars and I wanted to explore developing the electronics myself rather than pay upwards of $200 to firms in Hungary to control them. I had developed my first mule, controlled by Adafruit circuit playground and crickit drive board. I used a 10 volt NIMH battery pack to drive the motors which are rated at 9 volts but can take up to 11 volts without a problem.

It looks like this:

It is based on a Lego Corvette set that sells for $69. The electronics cost me about $70 which is much better than $200. It is also fast, but too powerful for such a small vehicle. I drive it with 4 gears and start it off at half speed to overcome the inertia before accelerating. If I apply full power from a stop it tends to pull itself apart. There is also a need to tidy up the wires and shrink the electronics down.

I decided to build another test mule with direct drive on the rear weels and switch from a rack and pinion steering system to a worm drive. I am using the original electronic boards but new ones arrive soon that will cut the price and size in half while maintaing the functionality.  Both vehicles are controlled via bluetooth on my mobile phone. I wrote the python code that motivates the car.

My new test mule now looks like this. It is twice the size of the original and at least twice as fast!

It is also muck quieter as there is no differential and less gears whirring around, and did I mention it is fast. I can only drive it at 50% inside as it crosses the room in about a second. I look forward to testing it outside. As I adapt the test mule to its new electronics I will keep you informed.

Staying amused and busy in Covid lockdown, TTYL

Hermits

 Today's song is: Break my Heart  ... Dua

I think that hermits are the least affected by Covid. After all, they lead a singular life and avoid others. I have only known one hermit in my life. He was an Englishman and was into motorcycles and was often seen with his fellow motorcycle afficiando Fred. His name was Peter and he was the mechanic and Fred was the saleman. I remember one winter in particulat where Peter and Fred organized a series of ice racing on motorcycles on a frozen track on Dows Lake. It was amazing to see for a 16 year old.

Around that time I purchased a 650 cc Triumph Bonneville and I was quite disturbed that it would not do the 'Ton' which was an English term for 100 mph. I took the bike to go see Peter to get him to check it out. He took it for a quick ride down the country road on the outskirts of Bells Corners, called Moodie Drive. He roared off down the road and came back 5 minutes later stating that it pulled 110 MPH. He informed me that you had to bend over the tank to decrease wind resistance. I jumped on the bike and left determined to pull the 'Ton'. Sure enough, I pulled 105 MPH before shutting down to return to thank Peter for his wisdom. I looked in my rearview mirror and to my surpise the red cherries where flashing as a police car pulled over to stop me.

The officer got out and asked me to remove my helmet and  asked me a few questions. He asked, 'How fast were you going?' and I replied I don't know, I was watching the tach. He said, 'What gear were you in?'  and I said 5th. He smiled and said, 'Well son, I was going 90 MPH and you were pulling away from me so how about I put you down for going 65 in a 50 MPH zone? I said, 'That would be okay officer', and he wrote me up. I guess he remembered what it was like to be a 16 year old kid.

Fred and Peter eventually opened a motorcycle shop in Ottawa and I bought two Norton motorcycles from them over the next few years. The two eventually had a falling out and Peter disappeared into the woods of Quebec and lived life as a hermit and no one know what became of him. Fred's son took over his motorcycle shop and I sometimes see Fred inside hanging around. I did buy a Honda there, along with my younger sister, but that is another story.

I have a new Triumph motorcycle on order for March 1st and I am sure I will reflect on Peter aand Fred during my first ride.

Meanwhile, while back in the lockup, I play and design Lego vehicles, run on the teradmill and workout, while Jaidan plays on his Nintendo and watches Pokemon on TV. Thavorn still works out and has a permanent smile every time she looks in the mirror. Life goes on :-)

Some pics:

Lookin fit :-)

TTYL