bitPimps.lixlink.com

Hi, pimps.. im a new guy here, as you can probably tell by my post count heh.. well, yesterday in our local garden centre, my mum was browsing through all the ornaments, etc.. when she picked up a solar lamp in a clearence isle.. she put it back and walked on, then I had a brainwave. what if I could use the internal features of these lamps for R/C? well, thats my new project.. I got 2 of them to play with >=D hehe...

When we got back, I took a peek inside them and they seemed perfect! I began to strip the insides out, and layed them in a row on my desk to see how they could be used..
I completed the 'prototype' for experimental purposes using the pieces, but with no success at first.. I had snapped a steering wire in the car itself, and also the wires to the solar panel.. i had to finish it heh, i re assembled it all after repair, and i must admit it works rather well, althouh it could use a little weight loss and maybe a new shell to hold all the components on..

The setup for the lamp was a solar panel which charged up a 600mA 'AA'
cell, leading to a switch for the whole thing, then a circuit board which held an LED..

I cut off the LED and replaced it with two wires which now lead to the cell tabs within the car.
The car i used was a 'Mean speed machine' by Megamotors.. a few of you may have heard of these, but for those of you who havent, i highly recommend these theyre quite powerful, and are real simple to mod


At present, it looks like a real ugly bodge job, but it has no clear impact on performance.

i have taken pics and have hosted them on photobucketTM
heres the links...
Pre assembly & Description:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t266 ... age004.jpg
Finished product:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t266 ... age002.jpg

Heh.. not bad for a 15 year old..

Views/Opinions or any advice? let me know, any tips/thoughts will be appreciated, positive OR negative.. thanx

Del Sol

Welcome to the boards man. I always imagined a solar powered car to run exclusively off the panel, but yours is charging a batt first? What happens if yourun the panel direct to the tabs?
What's the voltage on that panel?

I always imagined using the panels off a solar calculator, but they may not have enough volts to be fun.

Good job man
Like cricket?

Maxx

hey, thanx good to be here..
well, I havemt had chance to try it from panel alone yet, and to be honest, i feel sceptical as i think the charge from the panel will just burn out the motor.. i have no clue on what the output of it is, but i am keen to try it.. as soon as i go to the d.i.y store again.. im getting a couple of motors and an output tester.. hope it works though ill let ya know..

oh and, yeah.. i do like cricket hehe.. i joined a team last year =]

thanx for the reply..

later, m8 =]P

Wes.

Well, after another repair job on it all <my nephew decided it looked nice down the toilet > i tried maxx's suggestion of runing it straight from panel, and it worked... for a while.. after around a 5/6 minute run, it just cut out.. i went to pick it up and man, it was HOT! the motor had burned out and when i steered it <held in my hand> i could hear a charging noise a bit like when the flash function charges up on a camera.. i pulled out.. flicked the new on/off switch i installed and left it for a while. when i returned, i checked it out and took the panel off.. i noticed <surprisingly> that the motor well had actually begun to deform and the motor was stuck fast in there. so i decided against running straight from panel for a while hehe.. oh well.. you dont get an answer if you dont try, eh? hehe.. i put in a brand new stronger motor and got rid of the huge batt and replaced with 2 NiCd standard cells running in series.. seems to be fine for now.. and cos i took the bigger batt out, its fairly lighter and so i get quicker response from it..



still trying to get a new shell to fit thoguh..
heh, ill try some hot-wheels from the store on wednesday
any suggestions on what kinda body to use? kinda limited here in UK lol..

oh, no pics atm, <sorreee> my sister borrowed my camera heh.. ill post some when ever i have chance =]

in the mean-time, if anyone wants me to try anything here or has any ideas/tips, i would gladly welcome them

cheers pimps =]P

- Wes.

Try using this resource:

http://tinyrc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11307

http://tinyrc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11408

http://tinyrc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11453

hmm..

Very handy, Nasphere.

I have no idea however, the output of the panel itself is, but i do know that it is restricted on the circuit board to the batt..

Thanks for that Nasphere

- Wes.

I'm having trouble with the contact from the gear to the axel gear now.. the area closest to the gears that holds the axel has worn away and doesn't hold the axel securely.. It keeps slipping and stays static until i psh it back in again..

Any solutions? Should I place a small dab of epoxy to hold it?

Thanx

- Wes.

Wesley wrote:I'm having trouble with the contact from the gear to the axel gear now.. the area closest to the gears that holds the axel has worn away and doesn't hold the axel securely.. It keeps slipping and stays static until i psh it back in again..

Any solutions? Should I place a small dab of epoxy to hold it?

Thanx

- Wes.

make a search for axle slop. I'm sure that has been covered, by CrazyDave I think. The epoxy makes it permanant, so you may want to do that as the final step of your build. You also have to make sure it rotates freely. I'm not sure if he widened the axle hole and slipped some aluminum tubing onto the axle and glued the tube into place. Do the search, it's definately worth it

Maxx

Nice, one!!

Thanx, Maxxa!! I owe ya one

Hmm.. Can't seem to find it....

ive had a look too but cant find it
Soz wes

Oh and by the way i can get free solar lamps!!
any one intersted pm me

egerton07 wrote:ive had a look too but cant find it
Soz wes

It's ok, i'll keep searching..

egerton07 also wrote: Oh and by the way i can get free solar lamps!!
any one intersted pm me

hehe..