OK! I have worked hard on the board over the weekend and today. However it has decided not to cooperate with me. I have they gyro responding when I'm running the test sketch, I have the motor responding when i run the test sketch.... but when I put the two together i get nothing. I have no clue why it is not working. I think I'm going to use my 2nd arduino to see if that is the problem.

Meanwhile I'm waiting for 90 degree bent pins to attach the 5 DoF sensor to a proto-shield to make the system a bit more robust.

Well I have not had time to do any real work on the skateboard. I am taking calculus 2 and I realized that over the holiday I forgot some of the stuff I leaned in calc 1 so I have been playing catch up. However I have modded my current form of transportation. Here I a quick pic

Edit: This week end I'm going to try to get the scooter to self balance. I want to be able to ride this thing around campus already !

Self Balancing Scooter Motor Test

Nearly done! I have hooked up the lipos to the ESC and the ESC to the motors. Looks like everything is working out just like it should. All i need to do now is get it balancing and hook it up to the wii nunchuck.

Gyros work !!!!

I just tested the gyro and the acc. I'm glad to report that everything works as it should. My chain break should be here in the morning. I have class until 8pm however I hope to have the board balancing by the time I go to bed.

The pics

OK as I have promised last night here are some pictures.

I have put together most of the board. All the wood is cut, the wheels are bolted on, the motors are bolted on and the wiring for the gyro is done. However I have ran in to an unexpected problem.... I don't have a chain link tool to shorten my two-meter long chain. I have gone to the bike repair shop near my house and even though they didn't have the right tool they pointed me in the right direction and told me what to buy. I have placed an order for the part on Amazon with 2 day shipping (got to love Amazon prime) So I should have the tool by Wednesday. 

While I wait I will finish up wiring my motors, making the connectors for my batteries and getting a Tupperware box to fit all the electronics in to for the time being.

I will post pictures of what I have accomplished  in the morning when I wake up.

Small update. All my parts should be here on Friday. I think it will take me about a day to put everything together and buy a 2nd arduino since mine is over at my dorm.  Tomorrow will be intense! Watch this space :D

I just landed in Houston about an hour ago after a long 12 hour journey from Istanbul to Houston. I think the pizza below describes how I feel about the journey. 

As I entered my house all tired and loaded up with luggage's  I had a box waiting for me on the porch... IT WAS THE SCOOTER PARTS ! 

I'm going to buy some plywood and some long screws and start putting the scooter together with what i have right now. This thing is finally getting off the drawing board.  Now its time for me to sleep the long trip off...

 

 

Finally some eye candy!  I just finished the sketch of what the final project will look like. The official code name for this project is SK8ER and I have only 1 more day till i head back to US and the parts from Monster Scooter arrives. 

As soon as i get back ill get to work on putting the larger parts together while waiting for electronics. However that should only take me a day or two. The real challenge will be fine tuning the self balancing software. 

I am nearly done ordering all the parts for the project.

I wanted to use 2 300W motors however I was not able to find any in stock at any of the scooter supply stores. So i ordered up some 250W motors for the project along with the wheels and chains i need.

Here is all the parts I ordered up: 

250W 24V motor http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/24v250wmotor.html

the E100 wheels http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/rae1rewhasch.html

plus the other accessory's such as chains  giving me a grand total of 170 bucks just for the scooter parts

Then I ordered up 5 degrees of freedom sensor  ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G558AM/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details ) that set me back nearly 70 more bucks. 

However I'm proud to say that the only thing I have left to order is the Speed controller. 

I am currently in Turkey for  Christmas break  I will be returning on the 10th so I am having everything sent to my moms house back in Texas. She still has no idea that a bunch of stuff will be arriving on her door step this week. Its going to be interesting. 

Edit: I have just ordered the last part of the project the ESC. ( http://www.dimensionengineering.com/Sabertooth2X25.htm )

Aggie Space Program Changes

With a new year I have new projects in mind so  I am shelving the balloon project for the time being and concentrating on something new. I need something to take me around campus and I was fixing to buy a longboard like every one else then I realized why have something that goes on 4 wheels when I can have something that is cooler on 2 wheels that i can use on campus that will make people take a 2nd look.


So cue the dramatic music!

The mission if  you chose to accept it is to build a self balancing scooter to take you around campus for less then 500 bucks.
This message will self destruct in 10 seconds!

Yah I think I watched too much Mission: Impossible


I just wanted to add I got the inspiration for this project from John Dingley's projects and i will be expanding on what he has done.