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Major Test #3
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Major Test #3, Part 1:
06.23.2006
Objective:
Get the robot out of the car.
Duration:
Twenty-five seconds
Result:
We did indeed get the robot out of the car. However, it didn't go quite as smoothly as it has in the past.
Bottom Line:
A few dabs of touch-up paint and one embarrassing video clip.
Media:
1 movie (1.3 MB)
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There isn't too much to say about this one. After the recent upgrades to the robot I was ready to run some more tests. I told my friend Geoff to grab his video camera and we headed down to some land that had been cleared for a housing development and set about unloading the car. Unfortunately a rug got sucked into the track while I was backing out and it pulled the robot into the door. It sure is a good thing I don't really like that car.
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Major Test #3, Part 2:
06.23.2006
Objective:
Take the robot out to some easy off-road terrain and see if she holds together.
Duration:
Seven minutes
Result:
Everything went pretty well right up until the end.
Bottom Line:
No real damage, but it did take over an hour to get the track back on.
Media:
1 movie (20.4 MB)
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This was a good test and I'm really very happy with the results. The robot did great through a variety of off-road conditions. She had no trouble at all with coarse gravel, packed dirt, curbs, and even some light scrub-brush. What she did balk at, though, was loose dirt. I tried to take her up that big mound of really loose earth and it just kind of liquefied under the tracks. When that happened, a whole lot of rocks and soil flowed into the track and dislodged it. We had to pry the right track off, roll her back to the car, and take her home for repairs. There wasn't any real damage, but it took over an hour to get the track back on.
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Major Test #3, Part 3:
06.23.2006
Objective:
Make sure there wasn't any lasting damage to the track
Duration:
Two minutes
Result:
She threw a track, but only under a really fast spin.
Bottom Line:
Be careful of hard back-spins.
Media:
1 movie (5.4 MB)
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I was a little worried I'd strained the track too much on the dirt-mound, so I just wanted to put it through its paces once it was all back in place. I took the robot over to my neighbor's driveway (mine is gravel) and pulled some really hard turns. It did pretty good, but I eventually did manage to throw the left track. This time it wasn't nearly as bad as before, though -- I didn't even have to remove the track to fix it. I had her up and running again in about ten minutes.
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Major Test #3, Part 4:
06.23.2006
Objective:
Finally do some tests under load
Duration:
Four minutes
Result:
Everything went fine. She can't really spin in place while carrying 200 pounds, but I can live with that.
Bottom Line:
Good times were had by all.
Media:
1 movie (12.4 MB)
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After all this time the robot has only been driven with passengers (which she was designed to do) two or three times. In fact, the last time anyone went for a ride was when I smoked the second speed controller. This time, however, I've got much better controllers and quite a few little changes to the design in place, so I figured it was time to give it another try. I weigh over 200 pounds, but as you can see in the video that doesn't really pose a problem. The motors do bog down easier and she can't really turn in place with all that extra weight, but she's still got plenty of power to get by.
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Major Test #3, Part 5:
06.23.2006
Objective:
Just for fun
Duration:
Eight minutes
Result:
This concludes the first successful test of the robot. Party time!
Bottom Line:
Good times were had by all.
Media:
1 movie (22.8 MB)
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With everything working so well it was time to let Geoff have a little fun. This is a video of someone who doesn't know how to drive the robot taken by someone who doesn't know how to use the camera. Geoff weighs a whole lot less than me, so this test doesn't really prove anything new, but it was fun. And besides, what's the point of having a 400-pound robot if you can't take it out and have some fun from time to time. This video also contains the new motto of this little project: "Man, safety never looks cool."
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09.24.2006
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