Lunar Rover (prototype)

[Functional Artist]

Before drillin' the holes for mountin' & wirin', I double checked/made sure that the speed controller would not intrude into the "battery box" area
…& also, did a bit of scrollin' on the back of the SC

Added some rubber grommets
…then, simply "poked" the plugs/wires thru
…hooked 'er on the top
…& finally, added a screw to secure it to the kart

It's a good-n-solid mounting
…& the "plate" that it's mounted to, will also act as a "heat sink" to help dissipate any excess heat

 

[Functional Artist]

I got the Rover out
...finally, put 'er together
...& took 'er for a test ride

It's just a front wheel drive kart, for now

* I must say, driving an articulating kart is gonna take some "gettin' used to"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFvmfaUmYDU

 

[BigWes]

Cool

 

[SquidBonez]

That's some very impressive metal work! I'm sure even at 2000W that kart is gonna have a lot of low end torque being electric and all. Very interesting to see a 4WD kart. Keep us posted.

 

[Karts of Kaos]

looks good! but what about a seat belt. It has a roll cage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvt1-RjWws0

 

[Brianator]

It looks great!

 

[landuse]

Awesome!!!! Well done

 

[BigWes]

After watching the video I have to wonder if the FA carries a pocket full of fuses with him where ever he goes or if there is like a spares kit on board his karts!

The last time I bought some fuses like that they got expensive real fast!

 

[Functional Artist]

That's some very impressive metal work! I'm sure even at 2000W that kart is gonna have a lot of low end torque being electric and all. Very interesting to see a 4WD kart. Keep us posted.

Thanks!
...more to come

---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:54 PM ----------

looks good! but what about a seat belt. It has a roll cage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvt1-RjWws0

Thanks!

Nope, no seat belts
...it's specifically designed for easy entry/exit
...& for the driver to be "thrown clear" in the event of a roll over/crash

 

[Functional Artist]

After watching the video I have to wonder if the FA carries a pocket full of fuses with him where ever he goes or if there is like a spares kit on board his karts!

The last time I bought some fuses like that they got expensive real fast!

Um, doesn't everybody carry "spare fuses"?

There's "tricks" to almost everything

It's Top Secret
...so, don't tell no one

When ever I go to an automotive "junk yard", I leave with a pocket full of fuses
(with permission, of course)

Most cars have ~10 misc amperage fuses in their fuse box
...some even have "new" fuses/kits in the glove box

I can almost "taste the rainbow"

 

[Functional Artist]

Gettin' back to the Rover

We need (2) switches
...(1) for the On/Off switch
...& (1) for the reverse switch

I'm thinkin', Ima gonna mount 'em right on the steering wheel

 

[Functional Artist]

I put the On/Off switch on the right side (quickly accessible kinda like a "kill switch")
...& the reverse switch on the left side

Also, to help differentiate the (2) switches, I mounted the On/Off switch oriented "up & down"
...& the reverse switch oriented "side to side"

I used some "flag style" spade terminals
...to help keep the wires up nice-n-close to the steering wheel

 

[Functional Artist]

Next let's get the "power meter" connected & mounted

I came across a (4) wire "strip" from an old electric blanket
...it has (4) separate (~16g.) wires that are kinda "glued" together

The first thing I did was to "color code" 'em (the wires & the meter too)

Black = P- (goes to the small "signal" terminal, on the "load" side of the shunt)
Silver = B-2 (goes to the small "signal" terminal, on the battery side of the shunt)
Gold = B- (goes to the big "main" terminal, on the battery side of the shunt)
White = B+ (goes to the positive (+) terminal of the battery, itself)

Then, I mounted the "power meter" (PZEM-051) to a plastic dash plate along with
...& right next to the "proximity meter" (Tom Tom GPS)

These will tell us whats goin' on "in" the kart
...& also what's goin' on "around" the kart too

 

[Functional Artist]

Major Cluster Phuck

Um...Houston...I think, we have a problem

I made up a harness to connect/power the rear motor
...but, when I hooked 'er up, some things didn't seem to be workin' right

So, I gave 'er a look over
...& everything seemed to be connected properly

Then, I took 'er for a quick "test" ride
...& things got even weirder

Like when, I "flipped" the On/Off switch to "on", it seemed like I could only hear (1) SC "click" on
...& then, when I tried to accelerate, the rear wheels would "break loose" & spin violently
So, I brought 'er home & did some investigating.
...that's when I noticed, that the front SC stopped workin'

Thought it thru, several times
...& everything still seemed correct

So, I drew up a wiring diagram
...& that's when I noticed the "fatal flaw"(can ya find it?)

Then, while disconnecting the "bad" SC
...I noticed that I had the On/Off switch "power lock" wires, "cris-crossed" too (WTF?)

* On a single SC/motor system the (2) "power lock" wires usually just "close" a circuit
...but, on a "dual" SC system IDK what would happen TBH

Then, to make things worse (can it get any worse?)
...I also, noticed that I criss-crossed the throttle wires too

The black neg (-) wires were connected properly
...but, I had the 5V power (+) from the front SC connected to the signal wire going to the rear SC

** That help to explain why the rear wheels were "breakin' loose"
...I would say, that when the pedal was pressed, a direct 5V was being sent to (1) of the SC's

*** I probably should have kept this to myself
...& not even post this or admit to these many F-up's
...but, these things really happen

So, the moral of this story is that "ya gotta, stay on your toes"
...even if ya "think" ya know what your doin'

 

[Brianator]

You didn't get this far (overall) without making mistakes and learning from them! At least you're big enough to admit it and I don't think any less of ya for it! You're doing a great job keep er up!

It's not overly detailed albiet a good "road map", but according to your diagram I wouldn't be surprised to find out the rear wheels were peeling out in reverse as the wires are switched around as compared to the front motor AND the rear reverse switch isn't connected as of yet. Everything else appears to be on the up and up though!

 

[Functional Artist]

You didn't get this far (overall) without making mistakes and learning from them! At least you're big enough to admit it and I don't think any less of ya for it! You're doing a great job keep er up!

It's not overly detailed albiet a good "road map", but according to your diagram I wouldn't be surprised to find out the rear wheels were peeling out in reverse as the wires are switched around as compared to the front motor AND the rear reverse switch isn't connected as of yet. Everything else appears to be on the up and up though!

Thanks!

It seems like I learn something new everyday
...most times it's "what NOT to do"

Yup, the reverse circuit is the culprit, in the diagram

Actually everything should be/work fine (that's why everything looked proper, at first)

It's only "if" or when the reverse switch was engaged, that the problems would "appear"

Because the reverse switch is only "switching" the front motor, into reverse
...but, not the rear motor

So, when the throttle was applied, the front motor would wanna go backwards
...& the rear motor would still want to go forward

* Remember the throttle "signals" of the (2) SC's are connected together
...but, if only (1) SC gets "switched" into reverse, the other motor doesn't know "let's go backwards now"
...& just goes...forward

** I didn't bother to wire/connect the reverse function on the rear SC
...because, I didn't figure we needed dual "power" or (4WD) while goin' backwards

 

[Brianator]

You'll sure wish you had reverse 4wd if you get stuck in some lunar crud"! Why not go with selectable 2/4wd for reverse? Im sure a (6 pin) DPDT switch and a standard 5 pin, 12 volt relay could make it happen. I just need to know if the reverse circuit is NO or NC (I'd assume NO) and a little time to draw it out after work. I can map it out in my head but until I see it on paper.... well, you know! Lol

 

[Functional Artist]

You'll sure wish you had reverse 4wd if you get stuck in some lunar crud"! Why not go with selectable 2/4wd for reverse? Im sure a (6 pin) DPDT switch and a standard 5 pin, 12 volt relay could make it happen. I just need to know if the reverse circuit is NO or NC (I'd assume NO) and a little time to draw it out after work. I can map it out in my head but until I see it on paper.... well, you know! Lol

On these SC's the On/Off function & the reverse function are both (NO) normally open circuits

When the switch is "flipped" it closes the circuit
...& activates the function

The "proper" way (which I should have done in the beginning) would have been to connect both reverse connections, to the "reverse" switch
(just like both of the On/Off connections are wired to the "On/Off" switch)

* This configuration will provide Full Time 4WD
...& a more powerful reverse action too

Double Bonus

 

[Brianator]

No reverse donuts for you! Lol. I realized I overcomplicated it anyhow, with a NC momentary contact pushbutton you could probably achieve the same goal by interrupting the signal to the SC for the rear motor.

 

[Functional Artist]

I took some voltage readings
...from both SC's (#1 non functional & #2 functional)
...just for documentation purposes

The first line of data is when the SC's are "switched" off
...& the second line is with the SC's "switched" on

It looks like the only inconsistency is "on" the red "power in" wire in the throttle circuit
...on SC#1 (damaged) it only shows 1.8V
...but, on SC #2 (not damaged) it shows 4.6V