Make Your Arduino Go Fast A Modern Go kart

Electric Arduino Go-kart (from Instructables)

As the Hackaday post "Electric Go-Cart Has Arduino Brains" says, most modern vehicles have lots of their functions controlled by computers (or microcontrollers / MCUs). The 2014 go-kart thats the subject of this post is truly a modern vehicle in that respect.

And...the go-kart will make your Arduino go pretty fast. In MPH, not GHz.

I first saw this go-kart mentioned on Google News in the Unocero article "Un Go-Cart eléctrico que usa Arduino," so if your native language is Spanish, you may want to read that version of this tech story. Google News is nice that way, because sometimes I see a non-English article that lets me know about a story Id not have read if it wasnt in English. Google Translate certainly is not perfect or even almost perfect, but it usually gives a usable version of the article, and you can do more Googling based on the Skynet-translated version of a non-native language article.

Steering wheel showing LCD screen (from Instructables)

It appears the source of the story about this Kartduino is the "Electric Arduino Go-kart" Instructable done by a 15-year old from California. The Instructables write-up presents some of the technology used to build the go-kart, but it cautions the reader that its not a complete guide to building the vehicle. Heres a taste of the write-up:

"The drive setup uses a Hobbywing Xerun 150A brushless electronic speed controller to control a Savox BSM5065 450Kv motor. Batteries are 3x zippy lithium polymer - 5 cells, 5000mah. The motor has two large fans I pulled out of an old computer for cooling, mounted right over the motor. The chain drive is a 1:10 overall ratio, using a 15 tooth on the motor chained to a 30 tooth on the jackshaft, and a 9 tooth from the jackshaft to a 45 tooth on the wheel. The tires are 10" diameter so at 20 volts the top speed is around 30 mph. The ESC is controlled via PWM from the arduino. A throttle potentiometer on the steering wheel controls this. Constant current is around 40-50A, and the batteries last around 30 minutes with an average speed of 10-15mph. It requires a small push to get started (really, the motor just has to be rotating) and accelerates extremely fast...This uses a sensorless brushless motor. They are not capable of starting under load. It may need a quick push before it can start. Dont try to start them under load. I already had one motor burn out because it stalled and the current burnt the coils insulation. Sensored motors overcome this problem."

Im sure if the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group ever wanted to build a similar kartduino, Ed and others in the group would have plenty of ideas and knowledge on how to improve the design, with sensored motors or an alternate solution to the sensorless brushless motors that burned out on the design shown in the Instructables.

Go-karts wooden electronics control box (from Instructables)

With regards to the MCU in this zippy little go-kart, the Hackaday post covers the different parts of the vehicle integrated with the Arduino.

"In addition to the throttle control, the Arduino is also responsible for other operational aspects of the vehicle. There are a bunch of LED lights that serve as headlights, tail lights, turn signals, brake lights and even one for a backup light. You may be wondering why an Arduino should be used to control something as simple as brake or headlights. [InverseCube] has programmed in some logic in the code that keeps the break lights on if the ESC brake function is enabled, if the throttle is below neutral or if the ESC enable switch is off. The headlights have 3 brightnesses, all controlled via PWM signal provided by the microcontroller. There is also an LCD display mounted to the center of the steering wheel. This too is controlled by the Arduino and displays the throttle value, status of the lights and the voltage of the battery."

An interesting alternative kartduino I ran across whilst doing research for this post is the

LOLrioKart (by MIT student)

LOLrioKart (see picture at left). This slightly-strange vehicle was created from a shopping cart by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student. Might be handy for going on a quick trip to Wildberries or the Co-op for groceries.

Speaking of modern vehicles and the increasingly important roles played by MCUs in vehicles, maybe Ford, another vehicle manufacturer, a microcontroller manufacturer or an electronics distributor will in the future want to sponsor a Humboldt Microcontrollers Group project to design and build a modified version of Steve Salzmans vehicle, with upgrades that allow it to parallel park itself as well as generate and track all sorts of vehicle operation data. That will be a fun project!

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Makeblock YAAR!!

No, Makeblock is not a pirate microcontroller -- its yet another Arduino robot.

Makeblock Gold starter kit

The August 13 Tech In Asia article "This Chinese startup lets kids easily make and program their own robots" is sort of an update of one of the Arduino robot companies thats been around for a while. Theyre a Shenzhen company that did a very successful Kickstarter, ending up with over six times their original $30,000 funding goal. According to the Tech In Asia article:

"...Makeblock, a startup from Shenzhen, offers a cheaper, more practical approach. The company sells robotics kits for as little as US$120 and enterprise kits for up to US$500. Makeblock makes 200 different mechanical parts and growing, which can be programmed using either Arduino or Scratch – the latter is an MIT-developed drag-and-drop programming environment for kids to learn the fundamentals of coding. CEO Jasen Wang says kids can easily make their own toy robots, while more serious hobbyists and even professionals can create robots to be used for more practical applications. Once a robot is built, it can be controlled via mobile app..."

A Wired article from 2012 titled "Robotics Hacker Erects Open Source ‘Lego for Adults’" gives some of the backstory about Makeblock:

"Jasen Wang once bought a home robotics kit. He had studied aircraft design in college and spent years at an electrics engineering outfit, but he still found the instructions completely incomprehensible. And the pieces were flimsy. And after he broke two of them, he gave up entirely. The good news is that he resolved to create his own robotics kit that was actually worthy of the name. The result is Makeblock, a set of flexible components — including slots, wheels, timing belts, and motors — for building robotics...You can even integrate these components with Lego blocks, as well as open source Arduino circuit boards and various other motors and standard industrial parts. And all of Makeblock’s schematics are open source, meaning anyone can build compatible parts or try to improve upon the designs...the company has built a custom-designed servo because Wangs says the ones already on the market weren’t adequate for robotics. And he’s not entirely happy with the existing integration system, so the company is building a new electronic platform that uses modular, color-coded connectors to make it easier to attach circuit boards and sensors...The key to Makeblock’s combination of sturdiness and flexibility are the threaded slots made from aluminum. Wang hit upon the idea at his day job. Although he knew he wanted to build a better robotics kit, he had no idea how. One day, he was asked to learn more more about the production side of the business, so he was sent to the factory to be trained in assembly work. It was here that he came across an aluminum part with a threaded slot, enabling engineers to add screws or connectors anywhere on each piece."

A more recent 2013 article from Make magazine gives Makeblock kudos for the high quality

High quality aluminum parts

parts.

"Compared to t-slot aluminum beams, Makeblock is much more sophisticated. It has threaded grooves running along the length of the beams, bolt holes running parallel to the grooves, as well as threaded holes on the ends of the beams. You can really get a sense of these features in the photo to the right. While the beams are great, Makeblock has created an impressive array of additional parts. The wheels and treads are extremely robust. There’s a nice variety of connector plates."

The electronics kit for Arduino and Scratch is $99 and looks like a pretty good package (its just the electronics).

Electronics kit for Scratch and Arduino

It looks like Makeblock would be an excellent starting point for a person who wants to just build a robust robot and doesnt feel the need to cut and shape every part by hand. I dont think you have to worry about your Makeblock robot falling apart because you didnt cut components to just the right dimensions or werent an expert with a CNC router or a laser cutter.

Maybe Ill ask for a Makeblock kit for Christmas!

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