RC Truck and Construction  

Go Back   RC Truck and Construction > RC Truck's Ag and Industrial Equipment and Buildings > Construction Equipment

Construction Equipment If it digs, pushes, hauls dirt "off road" post it here.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #101  
Old 01-09-2012, 10:49 AM
rc_farmer's Avatar
rc_farmer rc_farmer is offline
Master Builder
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 828
rc_farmer is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

My hat's off to ya!
__________________
Giving up is not an option!!!

Rob
Reply With Quote
  #102  
Old 01-11-2012, 01:02 AM
mpe's Avatar
mpe mpe is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 188
mpe is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

What it will look like with the tires
Reply With Quote
  #103  
Old 01-11-2012, 01:04 AM
mpe's Avatar
mpe mpe is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 188
mpe is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Reply With Quote
  #104  
Old 01-11-2012, 01:05 AM
mpe's Avatar
mpe mpe is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 188
mpe is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Reply With Quote
  #105  
Old 01-11-2012, 01:06 AM
mpe's Avatar
mpe mpe is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 188
mpe is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Reply With Quote
  #106  
Old 01-11-2012, 01:08 AM
mpe's Avatar
mpe mpe is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 188
mpe is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Reply With Quote
  #107  
Old 01-11-2012, 01:09 AM
mpe's Avatar
mpe mpe is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 188
mpe is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Reply With Quote
  #108  
Old 01-12-2012, 05:54 PM
jtroyer06 jtroyer06 is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Dalton Ohio
Posts: 29
jtroyer06 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Truly amazing work! Hats off!
Reply With Quote
  #109  
Old 01-12-2012, 08:17 PM
footprint footprint is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 22
footprint is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Wow, you guys arnt so much raising the bar but redefining where it starts.
As for the controller as its a larger model have you thought about using a nano-itx board a PC servo controller & Arduino? this would give you 16-30 servos and 20 digital I/O for lights and sensors.
Best of luck for the rest of the build keep us updated, we love the pics!.
Reply With Quote
  #110  
Old 01-13-2012, 09:32 AM
JensR JensR is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Bath, UK
Posts: 176
JensR is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Hi footprint!

On my grader I currently use two modified Turnigy 9x transmitters to control 16 functions.
But I plan to switch to my own arduino-based transmitter with more functionality.

I am not sure why you suggest with the itx board?
You can make two arduinos talk with each other very easily and that's cheaper, smaller and uses much less energy.
What can the itx board combination do that outweighs those points?

Cheers
Jens
Reply With Quote
  #111  
Old 01-13-2012, 07:00 PM
footprint footprint is offline
Newbie
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 22
footprint is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Hi Jens,
Yes i do like your joystick mod its very cool and im thinking of doing something similar but using the UNO and sending it all over WiFi, i've been looking from some good cheap joysticks (2nd hand) but with little luck so far.
The ITX board would provide 2 things; USB so you can use one (or 2) of the 24ch servo controllers and an Arduino for just the digital outputs, lights, sensors - tie these into a user interface and you have unlimited mixing & control options, eg pump, lights and indicators.
And second easy WiFi, the Xbee mods are pretty good and coming down in price but 802n cards with pigtails will a give better range and antenna options.
So while you could use a Arduino Mega, (14pwm i/o) and an xbee, i would be more inclined to over complicate it for the additional features. At 30" in size i would guess there should be space to hide it all the PICO-ITX is 7x10cm, however as stated power consumption would be considerably higher.
Edit: you could also use 2 xbee mods and a servo controller that uses 232 via one xbee but im kind of looking at it like using the ITX as a PLC/SCADA which also means using a laptop as the controller.

Last edited by footprint; 01-13-2012 at 07:05 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #112  
Old 01-13-2012, 11:30 PM
JensR JensR is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Bath, UK
Posts: 176
JensR is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Hi Footprint!

Hm...
But we do not need xbee range. Beyond 10m, it gets really hard to grade, beyond 30m, it gets really hard to even steer. (1m is roughly one yard.)

Here's what I currently use and plan on building on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cm3TxekJO4
(The description has more info.)

This is also fully programmable, but uses very little power in a compact form factor.

So you would have the ITX on the grader and connect the USB servo-controllers to the ITX? And then you add an Arduino to control the lights?
Why not use the Arduino to do everything?
IMO, that's a lot of stuff to put into what will be a crowded machine.

And a Laptop as transmitter? On many driving courses, you might have to walk behind the machine. And how do you connect all the controls to the laptop? USB joysticks? But will that work? Look at the Caterpillar M-Series layout - you have to modify the sticks. How do you get those mods into the USB format without further complications? I guess there must be potentiometer-to-USB converters. But why not cut out the middleman and go Arduino directly on either end?
And even if you go with the previous H-series layout, you'd have loads of 2-axis joysticks arranged around a laptop, which you would be schlepping around the course.

To be fair, the Laptop would probably be a very nice and even realistic display. And you could reprogram your radio in the field - but all at a cost

Building a controller/radio is a project by itself and there are so many different options. It's always good to hear from other people's approaches.

Cheers
Jens
Reply With Quote
  #113  
Old 02-08-2012, 01:16 AM
mpe's Avatar
mpe mpe is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 188
mpe is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Footprint and JensR -

Thanks for the information on the electronics. I have been tossing around a few different approaches on how I want to control this beast. Once I get her on a rolling chassis I will focus more on the electronics and controls. I may want to bounce some ideals off of you guys when I get to that point.
Reply With Quote
  #114  
Old 02-08-2012, 01:23 AM
mpe's Avatar
mpe mpe is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 188
mpe is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

I just finished with the final design of the tandems. I will need to spend some time on getting the drawings finished so I can get the machining process started.

Here is the CAD of the rear frame and tandem drive assembly

Last edited by mpe; 02-08-2012 at 01:33 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #115  
Old 02-08-2012, 04:02 AM
D8R D8R is offline
Apprentice
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Ronninge, south of Stockholm, Sweden
Posts: 425
D8R is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

wow, incredable!!!
Looks like made from factory blue prints!
Dan
Reply With Quote
  #116  
Old 02-08-2012, 07:54 AM
tc1cat's Avatar
tc1cat tc1cat is offline
Super Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Northern Indiana
Posts: 1,318
tc1cat is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

MPE- This vehicle is truly a work of art In 1 of your posts, you mention not thinking much about paint or powder coating yet. Well you might want to as you need to allow for either of them for clearances for the final build. Paint on a 1 to 1 is not that big of a deal but when you shrink down to our scale coatings are a thing to be reckoned with. Things go together very nicely until you have paint on them- voice of experience.
__________________
LYNN
Reply With Quote
  #117  
Old 02-08-2012, 03:19 PM
doodlebug's Avatar
doodlebug doodlebug is offline
Big Dawg On The Bone
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: South 40 Swamp, Utah
Posts: 2,398
doodlebug is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Hey MPE, look's great sofar! Question on the radio? have you concidered one of that can run multiple model's at the flick of a switch? 1 radio, 3 reciver's may be the ticket.
Just a thought. cheer's, Neil.
Reply With Quote
  #118  
Old 02-08-2012, 04:44 PM
JensR JensR is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Bath, UK
Posts: 176
JensR is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

MPE, I would be delighted to talk a bit electronics

In the meantime, I think you need to work on your CAD model...


...I fear it's not the right yellow!

Just kidding of course!

It's so awesome that Caterpillar are changing their blueprints to match yours!
Reply With Quote
  #119  
Old 02-08-2012, 05:14 PM
grumpygrady grumpygrady is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: florida
Posts: 263
grumpygrady is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

for joy sticks check your local coin operated games guy
should have some old games that don't work and have the joy sticks
if you can't find them stop at your local bar/pub and ask who owns there machines and talk to them


Quote:
Originally Posted by footprint View Post
Hi Jens,
Yes i do like your joystick mod its very cool and i'm thinking of doing something similar but using the UNO and sending it all over WiFi, i've been looking from some good cheap joysticks (2nd hand) but with little luck so far.
The ITX board would provide 2 things; USB so you can use one (or 2) of the 24ch servo controllers and an Arduino for just the digital outputs, lights, sensors - tie these into a user interface and you have unlimited mixing & control options, eg pump, lights and indicators.
And second easy WiFi, the Xbee mods are pretty good and coming down in price but 802n cards with pigtails will a give better range and antenna options.
So while you could use a Arduino Mega, (14pwm i/o) and an xbee, i would be more inclined to over complicate it for the additional features. At 30" in size i would guess there should be space to hide it all the PICO-ITX is 7x10cm, however as stated power consumption would be considerably higher.
Edit: you could also use 2 xbee mods and a servo controller that uses 232 via one xbee but i'm kind of looking at it like using the ITX as a PLC/SCADA which also means using a laptop as the controller.
Reply With Quote
  #120  
Old 02-10-2012, 03:28 PM
JensR JensR is offline
Green Horn
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Bath, UK
Posts: 176
JensR is on a distinguished road
Default Re: MPE – 24M Motor Grader Build

Quote:
Originally Posted by grumpygrady View Post
for joy sticks check your local coin operated games guy
should have some old games that don't work and have the joy sticks
if you can't find them stop at your local bar/pub and ask who owns there machines and talk to them
These are available on ebay: arcade joystick*

Some issues I can see:
Not cheap if you need several
rather heavy (but admittedly good quality and sturdiness)
only two axes per joystick, so copying Caterpillar's sweet M-series control is not easily possible

Cheers
Jens
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:23 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.6
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.