[Robotgroup] Boogiebot is coming!! Run for your lives!! :)

[Vern Graner]

Ok, so boogiebot (also kinda known as Truckbot) is finally coming 
together. Thanks in no small part to help from Paul, I discovered why it 
was having such an awful time being controlled. Turns out those "extra" 
wires on the two drive motors were ELECTRIC BRAKES! (ARGH!)

The entire time I ran the thing, it was running against locked brakes! 
No wonder the motor controllers got so hot and it was so "jerky" and 
unstable in its movement.

Luckily, I didn't drive it much 'cept a few times up and down the 
hallway so I hope the brakes didn't get damaged. Anyway, I'll wire up 
the brake wires and apply the release voltage to them permanently soon, 
but in the meantime Paul put some jumper clips on there and we ran it up 
and down the hallway last night and it REALLY moves! I'm thinking about 
reducing the voltage to 12v instead of 24 to slow it down a bit.. it's 
really a bit scary as fast as it goes.

Anyway, here's some pics from the build so far (I didn't get any last 
night). I'll post more soon along with some video clips of this monster 
running about.. :)

http://www.notepad.org/boogiebot/

I will soon have a real honest-to-gosh mobile platform for robotic 
experiments!! :)

Vern

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