Summer Research

 Background Information (Dune “Buggy”)

• 3 different ways of construction

·      Alteration of existing vehicle

·      Construction of new vehicle out of steel piping

·     Advantages: steel piping creates a roll cage, suspension can be custom

·      Mix of the 2

• Designed for navigating beaches and deserts
• Buggies used by military because of their ability to cross sandy areas
• Called Desert Patrol Vehicles (DPV) or Light Strike Vehicles

• Steering (of Apollo 15 lunar rover) front and rear steering motors to steer

Design Brief explaining the team design effort

To work together to design and create a dune buggy

Design Brief of project

To design and build a dune buggy that can travel across sand and retrieve a leaf of a dune grass plant

• Location Dune Buggy will be tested: Sandy Hook, NJ

• Possible subject for sample tests

Specs

• Must travel across dune
• Must cut a plant sample
• Must be able to successfully bring the plant sample back
• Must hold the plant and cut it and secure it for the return trip

Limitations

• Can not damage the dune environment
• Can not kill the plant

Procedures of final design test

1.     Meet with client and discuss the vehicle

2.     Take them to the testing site

3.     Setup the vehicle for plant retrieval

4.     Use the vehicle to retrieve the plant and bring it back for examination

5.     Explain how the vehicle minimally damages the dune environment

Procedures for individual design effort

For this project I will be working on a few specific areas of the dune buggy.  I will be working on the wiring, battery, and electric motors of the buggy.  For this part I will have to choose the type of motors and batteries that I think will best run the dune buggy. For the claw I will have to use a servo motor the take the plant sample.

Research related to user understanding and involvement

·       Focus groups

·      Environmentalists

·      Scientists

·      Hobby enthusiasts

·       User profiling

·      Environmentalists

·     Study environment

·     Care for environment

·      Scientists

·     Observe and record findings

·     Study different subjects

·        Hobby enthusiasts

·     R/C cars

·     Dune buggies

·     Radio operated systems

·     Electricians

My Part: Power systems

I will be working on the power systems of the vehicle that will travel across the dunes to retrieve a plant sample and contain it for further study.  We will be using the VEX robotics kit, which comes with the wireless receiver, remote control, electric motors, batteries, and wiring.  For extra wiring or batteries I will salvage parts off of other remote control cars, or any other object with an electric motor of similar size to the VEX robotic set’s motors. 

Specifications:

•         Must be wireless up to 200 feet

•         Must have a camera that sends live feed

•         Battery must power the motor, camera, and claw for 30 minutes

•         Must be easy to operate

Limitations:

• Minimize cost
• Minimize materials used
• Must be built during the school year
• Must be built by the students  

• A baby monitoring system that can be used as a camera on the dune buggy.  Having a camera on the dune buggy will allow us to not have to walk on the dune disrupting dune life.  It is called a Svat BABYVIEW20 Digital Wireless Baby Monitor with Night Light.  The night light can be used as a light source at night for the dune buggy.

• The robot kit that we will possibly be using to construct the dune buggy vehicle:

Robot Starter Bundles

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VEX Robot Starter Bundles are a great place to start when beginning with the VEX Robotics Design System. The Protobot Robot Kit, included in each Robot Starter Bundle choice, provides the perfect foundation for any robotics experience. Follow step-by-step instructions to build the VEX Protobot or VEX Tumbler, or use the 300+ included parts to design your own VEX Robotic creations.

Robot Starter Bundles come in three different configurations: Radio Control, Autonomous Control and Dual Control. With Radio Control, motors connect directly to the 75 MHz Signal Splitter and are controlled using the 75 MHz Transmitter. No programming is required. The Autonomous Control Bundle includes a microcontroller and the robot is operated only using pre-programmed commands. The Dual Control Starter Bundle includes both a microcontroller and a control system, allowing for a combination of programmed commands and user input to control the robot.

When purchasing the Autonomous Control or Dual Control Starter Bundle, you have the choice between the our basic PIC Microcontroller or the more advanced and powerful Cortex Microcontroller. Each bundle's control features are compared below. Choose the bundle that best fits your needs.

http://www.vexrobotics.com/products/vex-robot-starter-bundles

• Another possible base chassis of the dune buggy vehicle:

Nitro Stampede RTR Monster Truck - TRA4109

$290and up (2 stores)

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Specifications

The Nitro Stampede builds on the legendary ruggedness and performance that has made the Stampede name synonymous with monster truck fun. When youre ready to go faster and run longer, nitro power is the next step. Nitro Stampede combines TRX Pro.15 Nitro Power with tall, drive-over-anything ground clearance for hour after hour of intense wheelie-popping, rock-crushing action. Just fuel it, start it, and drive it! Traxxas makes it easy for Nitro Stampede to feed your hunger for brutal, rock-spitting, dirt-chewing horsepower. The Nitro Stampede now comes equipped with mirror-chrome All-Star 2.8 wheels wrapped with pre-glued Talon all-terrain tires. The smooth-running Revo-Spec Talon tread pattern provides incredible grip on hard-packed surfaces, tears through rocks and gravel, and kicks up giant roosts of dirt off-road. Performance-tuned foam inserts provide extra stability. The all-new body design sports an aggressive stance and tough new graphics that tell the world this truck is serious about its mission. New gray-molded parts tastefully compliment the look of the chassis. Pound-for-pound, Nitro Stampede is one of the meanest, toughest, and best-looking R/C monster trucks ever created. Nitro Stampede will easily earn its place as your first choice for exciting, wheelie-popping nitro action. Fuel it. Start it. Drive it! Traxxas pioneered the concept of ready-to-run nitro monster trucks and we have been perfecting them ever since . ...