My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone

   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone
  • Thread Starter
#621  
Willy - I looked at a bunch of pricey options and I had a bunch of free hardwood I could use to make wheels. They are all installed and I took Snowzer out for a ride and they appeared to work just fine. What additional support are you suggesting that steel sides would provide? FWIW, each wheel normally supports about 500 lb.
 
   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone #622  
Too bad you can't get air bags for your suspension.
 
   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone #623  
Would it be possible to do something simpler like a leaf spring centered upside down with the ends pushing down on the pivoting arm? Like the old school front suspension on a Ford Model A.
 
   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone
  • Thread Starter
#624  
I wouldn't think there's be enough room for leaf springs under there. Thanks for the feedback!
 
   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone
  • Thread Starter
#625  
I've been playing around with designing an electro-hydraulic pressure control system for the brake steering. Instead of using a master cylinder for each rotor, I thought a small hydraulic pump could be used to increase the net pressure at the calipers. I set up a small test system (yes, that is a HF 12v drill motor) a while back and was able to see 3600 psi on my 4000# pressure gauge (see first photo). When I checked into the availability of another pump kit, I found they were no longer available. I bought another small pump and will be testing it out soon once I plumb it up (2nd image). The third image shows what a dual pump setup may look like. I envision using a roller chain setup connected to each steering arm to rotate a ball valve to control the pressure. Will it work?

20240309_115147[1].jpg20240328_081017[1].jpg20240321_114802[1].jpg
 
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   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone
  • Thread Starter
#626  
I ran the test hydraulic setup today and got over 3600 psi out of it. The poor little HF drill motor was not happy at all and was very noisy. I may buy a used 12v Dewalt drill and try it instead as I'll bet it has a bit more power and would last longer.

20240329_130402[1].jpg
 
   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone #627  
You might want to check to see how much pressure the brake calipers will take. I don't think that they are design for such high pressure.
 
   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone
  • Thread Starter
#628  
I don't think that they are design for such high pressure.
You may be right and plan B would be to use lower pressure of say 2000 psi and use the two service calipers for additional steering friction. The service brake would then move to a new rotor and caliper mounted to the input of the front diff. I looked at calipers used on Audis and VWs that incorporate a manual parking brake lever which may be a useful feature. I think I covered this in an earlier post.
 
   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone #629  
How are your wooden wheels working out?
 
   / My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone
  • Thread Starter
#630  
Due to a lack of snow here, I have only tried them out a little bit so it's too early to tell.
 
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