Archives

Since this is my first post, I will upload some of my older projects reverse-chronologically to give this blog some context:

My most recent completed project is a proof of concept of an active suspension solid axle off-road vehicle. An accelerometer on the front axle reads the tilt angle of the axle and this is converted into an angle that is sent to a servo which drives a cam and link system. The controller adds shock preload to the left or right side of the vehicle to keep the central (cab) portion of the vehicle stable while overcoming harsh terrain. This vehicle worked quite well at dampening out low frequency perturbations but would not be appropriate for smaller, more frequent, disturbances. The nature of a solid axle system is also ideal for particularly rough terrain.

I was interested in legged transportation and built a 2DOF/leg hexapod from scratch. It proved to be quite rhobust mechanically, but could use more work refining the leg movements. It was an interesting process, but issues with servos meant that the platform was not suitable for further experimentation.

This is an early experiment with a solid axle off-road vehicle. I wanted to build something slow but capable offroad. A hobby motor was mounted onto a cordless drill gearbox which was connected to locked differentials from a remote controlled car. The vehicle suspension proved to work well off-road but was too soft for flat terrain.