July 17, 2014

Various Updates to the Tiny Go-Kart

Over the past several months, the one-day kart has seen lots of use and received a number of slight upgrades.  Its light weight, relatively low power, and low top speed make it an excellent vehicle to demo for other students and people visiting MITERS.  At least a dozen strangers have driven the kart around the hallways of N52.   User reviews include "that kart made my day!"

First, the 80/20 bar we used for handlebars was replaced with a real go kart steering wheel.  This was obtained from the cruftlabs cleanout earlier this year.  The real go kart wheel makes it even sillier and even more fun to drift around empty hallways.



Also, I implemented the Kelly controller's reverse and regenerative braking features.  A home-made brake trigger on the opposite side as the throttle enables braking.  Reverse is engaged by flipping the toggle switch on the steering wheel.


Outdoor riding (very not recommended on this vehicle) ground down the scooter wheels in front, so they were replaced with newer, slightly larger diameter wheels:


The kart's only real failure point has been its fall effect sensor board.  In its previous position, occasionally riders would accidentally kick the board with their heel and rip the connectors off.  To fix this, the motor and sensor assembly was rotated by 90 degrees:


Upgraded kart:


Stay tuned for more vehicular silliness soon.