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Driving an off-road buggy by joystick.

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Tinodesis:
Hello,

First I would like to compliment the webmaster for hosting an outstanding web site.  I have been looking for help on my project and this site has the most information I have seen.

My project:

I want to drive my buggy using a joystick.  I want to control acceleration and two brake levers.

The buggy is all-wheel-drive with skid-steering.  You can see the two brake cylinders in the picture below.  I think I'll need 50 lbs of force to apply the brakes.

The accelerator is just a lever and a cable (like a lawn mower) and the motor runs at a constant speed.  The buggy's top speed is about 5 mph.

The battery is a 6 volt lawn and garden sealed battery used mainly for starting the motor.

Any thoughts on a safe way to accomplish this?  I want to ask good questions but I'm not sure what to ask.  I'm a newbie when it comes to most of this.





http://youtube.com/watch?v=JUV2VVCWiwU

Admin:
Thanks :D

When you say "drive my buggy using a joystick," you mean a joystick in the buggy, right? (I'm having thoughts of a remote control buggy . . . <drools>)

Anyway, what you want is called 'Drive by Wire', basically meaning the driver pushes buttons, and then motors handle all the hard work. Only recently is this being added to cars. Its a very basic technology so Im sure if you google around for awhile you can find many examples.

Ok so the first step is to figure out exactly how much force/torque your levers and stearing wheel require. Get one of those weight gauges that have a spring inside, and pull. It should give you a force readout.

Knowing this will help us decide what type of actuator you need, which will then determine the controller you need. You'd probably want a linear motor attached to a motor driver.

Tinodesis:
Hello,

Drive-by-wire is what I want, thank you.  I want to drive my buggy just like I drive my electric wheelchair, with a joystick.

I've googled every term I could think of, except "drive-by-wire."  Industrial joystick companies haven't been helpful, and other results give me pc joysticks for playing video games.  Modern wheelchair controllers are too complicated for me as well.

I will spend some time searching "drive-by-wire" and put a spring scale on my brakes to find out how much pressure I need.

I'm a c5-6 quadriplegic so I'll need help putting things together but that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks again.

Admin:

--- Quote ---Modern wheelchair controllers are too complicated for me as well.
--- End quote ---
I didn't think about using a wheelchair joystick, good idea! Ebay should have a lot of old cheap wheelchairs you can buy and scrap for a joytstick and motor drivers.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=wheel+chair+joystick&category0=

http://search.ebay.com/electric-wheel-chair_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQdfspZ1QQfromZR40QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ34QQsbrsrtZd

ed1380:
that thing is sweet

joysticks aren't confusing, there are some that are just switches with a common ground.

if you still want it to be mechanical you can try something like this

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