School project - Tankchair!

Hello, my name is Michael. I go to computer and electronics school. I have a school project i’m going to build with a friend in my class. My school pays for the project, but we have a budget at around 550 dollars.

We are going to build a tankchair, similar to this.

Personally, i have a lot of electronics experience. My grandfather has a workshop and he has teached me a lot. I have built an RC tank and a quadcopter before. My friend knows a lot about cars and how they work and he can also weld.

Now for the questions. I was thinking of using Turnigy Aerodrive 6374 on 12S. I had to find a 12S ESC. I will be using two motors, one per track. I will be gearing the motors a lot, i am going for torque not speed. After a lot of research, i found this ESC: http://www.wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/85118/

But when i looked through the forum, i found out that using a VESC was the best option, one of the reasons are that normal ESC’s have a chance of smoking. I have read that normal ESC’s are not made for a vehicle you can stand on.

I found this ESC: diy-electric-skateboard-kits-parts/vesc-the-best-electric-skateboard-esc/

I am thinking of ordering that instead, it supports 12S and 240 Amps burst.

The problem is that i want tank steering. I will control the tank with one stick from my radio. When i move the stick forward i want both motors to move forward, when i move stick to the left i want one motor to spin forward and one backwards. And i don’t want any brakes. I want the motors to move from forward to backwards throttle without any braking. I know the ESC is programmable, but i just want to be sure.

Maybe someone has a suggestion for a better ESC. It can’t be too expensive though, i have almost blown the budget!

Any help? Thanks.

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im not sure how you will realise it with this budget, but good luck :wink: if you want to go 12s with high output, you´ll need two 12s escs, also i would pay attention on getting sensored escs, because you´ll need to move the motors from a standstill.

What you linked is a VESC from DIY and it´s only 50A continuos. With 2 of these you´ll be able to generate about 4,4 kW with 2 motors.

That budget is for the electronics only. Our school supplies us with everything else we need so i think it’s possible.

What ESC do you recommend then? The motors pull 70 amps on max. Yes i know i need one ESC per motor.

The problem is just finding an ESC that i can use, i researched a lot to find those ESC’s.

Widely used are these: diy-electric-skateboard-kits-parts/torqueboards-12s-120a-car-esc-opto-hv/, Also tested and used in some applications like Mountainboards are the “Robbe Roxxy Blcontrol 9100-12 Opto”

Have you considered brushed motors? You would get a slower speed and constant torque. Plus they are eaiser to controls. Brushed motors run hotter but cost a lot less than brushless.

I would use brushed motors also if I were you

My friend found some brushed scooter motors, but i’m not sure if i can connect them to the receiver. I want to control the tank with my radio.

My friend found this 2 weeks ago but i’m not sure how i can control it with receiver: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1000-W-48-V-motor-ZY1020-w-base-speed-control-keylock-Foot-Throttle-/152265629228

What do you think?

It says it comes with a speed controller. So you could use that and since you dont care about weight you could maybe use lead acid for price.

Yeah, but the problem is, how can i control it with my receiver? I must also be able to reverse motor direction. It also comes with pedals.

btw wy do u wane control it whif a reciver i can use those foot pats to control it ???

Because then i can’t reverse direction of the motors, and it’s easier to control with one stick instead of two pedals.

just make a swicht that reverses the motor polarity and that dual pats as a control is just a litel bit of learing

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You could also get a old powered wheel chair off cregslist and gut it.

And then i have to press two switches to make both motors go backwards?

no u just get 1 on and off swich if that is on it wil go back words and if its off it wil go forwords if u pres the pad

But i want to able to turn it like a tank, spin it. That means one motor must go forward and one back. That means i need one switch per motor.

yes but i made this that is wat i woud do btw these are on and off switches the toot phatel stil needs to be conected to the mottor and whif a bit of hot glue :smiley: i can make them one

btw if u dont want 2 switches here is a fix i made a litel cool handel to fix that problem