My Fire Fighting Project
This project is based around Micro-Mo gearhead motors, a BX24 processor and 8" diameter plastic disks. I started this for two reasons. First, because I wanted to play with a Basic Stamp 2 or a BX24 processor. Second, because Brynn is trying to get everyone fired up about competing in a local Fire Fighting contest.
This is how far I've gotten. I haven't attached the motors and wheels on the bottom yet. They will be mounted with 1" extruded aluminum angle brackets.
The bottom platform and one ni-cad pack. I may use two of these ni-cads to give me 24V. The motors are rated at 18 volts. Or I may run the motors and electronics off the same 9 volt supply. I'll have to see how well the motors perform at the different voltages.
This is a Jameco JE24 protoboard. I got it at ABC Electronics for $17.99. I sawed it off to fit the 8" platforms. I also cut the corners off, again to make it fit the round profile. I also mounted a 1" aluminum angle to mount the switches and the RS-232 connector. One switch is battery power and the other is the download enable for the BX24. There is a pushbutton for the BX24 reset. The connecter is a female DB9 for the serial cable to the PC.
Bottom view of the protoboard. You can see the two battery holders I got from Radio Shack. One holds 2 "AA" cells and the other holds 4 "AA" cells which gives me 9 volts. They are attached with double back foam tape. The voltage regulator is also visible. The BX24 has its own regultor, this one is for the rest of the logic.
I currently have a BX24 processor and a Vector 2X compass wired up. Mainly just to test each one. I also have an HP HCMS-2914 self-scan LED display. But I probably won't use it. I will probably switch to an LCD display if I decide I need a display. The pot is wired to an A/D input for testing.
The Micro-Mo motor, pulley and wheel before I started. The wheels are sold as "high speed" airplane wheels at hobby stores for about $10 per pair.
On the left you can see the motor, pulley and wheel. On the right is a pulley bolted to a wheel. At the top is the new wheel attached to the motor.
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