Cheddar
Plover
Tamiya
junked tank
Clutch
|
This project begin when I saw
Joe's amazing leg mechanics at mechanicalspider.com.
After talking shop and developing a friendship with Joe, he was kind
enough to help me visualize this project - an 8 legged, full function
R/C steam powered Robot. It was a toss up between a twin engine design, or one powerful engine with clutch drive. I went with the single engine design, and searched high and low for the core parts. The engine is a Cheddar Plover. Double acting duel cylinders, propane/butane mix gas tank and ceramic burner. This engine / boiler is capable of much more power and pressure than other engines that I've work with before. Next up was the need for a clutch drive system that could be adapted to this spider. I was lucky enough to track down a junked 1/16 Tamiya tank with clutch drive. These tanks are hard to come by, as they are no longer being produced with a single motor & clutch system. After ripping out the clutch, I went on brainstorming and designing the spider with Joe. My part was making sure that the engine, boiler, clutch, R/C all work well together as a unit. Joe went on designing a crank driven legs system that will work well with this setup. |