Building a remote control Sofa/chair

[ussfletcher]

To begin I would appreciate any help in regards to parts that I should use, as well as tips.
My project: Turn a couch or chair into a ridable vehicle
The basics are I would like it to be able to move about 500lbs (in the case of the sofa) at roughly 10-25mph
Currently I'm considering using car batteries, a transmitter, a receiver and H-bridges.. are there any other electronics I would need? Also Any help that could be provided for motors that would be powerful enough would be greatly appreciated.

[airman00]

hmmmm

im thinking 4x4 drive using wheelchair motors

[ussfletcher]

Thats sort of something I was considering. Would two wheelchair motors be enough to power that you think? I've used deWalt drill motors on a 120lb robot which was able to move around a 180lb man sitting on it, so would there be any smaller motors that would be able to do the job (cost is sort of an issue looking for it to be <$500)

[airman00]

yea two wheelchair motors would probably be fine also

get high power 24V ones

[ALZ]

You would have to use some very big tires to be able to go 25 mph !

hmmmm

im thinking 4x4 drive using wheelchair motors

[cooldog]

i saw a guy on discovery channel that did this only not remote control. also there is a world recored for this under worlds fastest furniture. so look around and see what others have done

[airman00]

You would have to use some very big tires to be able to go 25 mph !

yep you are right , I forgot about the 25mph part

If you want 25mph why not just stick on a gas engine ?

[ussfletcher]

I was trying to stay away from gas engines due to noise and exhaust issues, as well as cost but maybe I'll look into it a bit more.

[AndrewM]

Don't forget about the heat of a gas engine on a wood and cloth frame.  Need to add plenty of heat insulation or you might get the record for the world's fastest fireball...

[airman00]

there has to be some DC motor out there

keep looking

[Admin]

This will help you calculate what motor will be sufficient for your robot:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_faq.shtml#select_motor