clarkdef

No an alarm to tell you when the battery is draining too low, as you know if lipos get too flat they die. Something like this http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/RC_PRODUCT_SEARCH.asp?strSearch=lipo+alarm You do have to hang around the battery while it's charging, lipo batteries charge very fast, these little ones maybe 30min. The charger is a smart device it will not over charge, you can do many things with it. Most people are just over dramatic on the lipo subject. A great idea is too change in a pot.Rules - When the battery is new do a full chage 4.2v then drain to 3.8v with the battery charger, do this 5ish times, this will run it in - When charging, doing it in a pot/saucepan is a good idea - Never charge while un-attended - Keep cool in high drain situations - Never leave it in storage at full charge otherwise it will puff and become un-usable (most chargers can drain it to 'storage mode') - Never drain the battery below 3.4v otherwise it will puff and become un-usable (That's why common sense or a low voltage alarm is a good idea)

You just made my top 10 list, most inspiration people ever born list, you should win Nobel prize for this!

Lol let's not get too particular about it, I'm bending some plastic.

Yes, anywhere I can.

Only physical size and of course voltage. Battery can't over amp a motor, the motor draws what it needs, you can over volt a motor though, running it on less volts is always better for it, but they can handle a 100% volt increase.

Any detailed suspension I have made was large and weak, which is ok seeing how it was just a model, but I don't feel satisfied unless it's strong and I know it is... So I end up using Lego arms and hubs :/ so instead of focusing on mimicking real world suspension, I focus on application and execution in the world where my Lego car must drive, and this approach is satisfing. The breakthrough was learning that preloading the plastic by stretching it out and pegging it down was great! Suspension works so much better when chassis are preloaded. So do what makes you happy I guess.

Here's some pictures I should of spent a little more and bought some connectors too, so I could easily take the batteries out Here is how I charge this setup, it's not too convenient, so ya connectors would of been a good idea This was just a simple experiment to see how they go in PF, I will redo this but next time I will use one 7.4v battery and just gut out the battery box so it fits and I will make sure that I get some plugs, also a volt alarm so they don't drain down too low as that kills them, the biggest issue could be accidentally leaving the box on which is exactly what I did with the first trial. If you want speed I think the best idea is to do two of these boxes and put them in series with each other http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77490&hl=%2Bseries+%2Bbattery That way you can leave all the circuit protection in, it will still work out lighter than one AA battery box.

There's only one thermal sw on the PF battery box to bridge, it's HL5L, and then ya you could power a lot of motors. You would have test it because each motor has internal resistance, each motor added would divide the resistance on the circuit, so it all depends on what resistance the battery could handle as a load on itself, I don't know. You will have to try it, but also consider that the battery would have to be kept cool so use good judgement as the PF battery box doesn't have vents. So that should answer question 1 and 2. I will look at making a thread.

Sorry I confused you, 8 motors can be powered using the lipo mod I have done, IF the thermal is bridged, NOT going through an IR, NOT the Lego lipo . My lipo can also be charge to 8.4v not to sure about the Lego lipo My lipos are 750mah at 35c, so working out how many amps they can supply is easy, 750mah as you know is the capacity and the C is how fast they can be discharged. .750x35=26.25 so that means 26 amps can be drawn from the battery, so that works out to be around 8 5292's, the battery will go flat very fast lol and the Lego wires would need to be doubled, tripled up otherwise they will burn out. Not that anyone would do this it's merely an example man. Except when they need to go up hill

1. No the Lipo mod I have done is also 7.4v. The average Lipo could power 8 buggy motors at once it is the best battery in any situation, because it is also light weight, though to power 8 motors you would have bridge the thermal sw, becareful because shorts can lead to instant fires. 2. Hard to say, depends what batteries you are using, some AAs are high drain some are not. the batteries you are using may of caused the slow down if they are low discharge, but im gonna say it was the thermal switch slowing progress, bridging this will help your cause, but if you then go through an IR and remote then that also has current limits.

Very nice I like that the IR looks like a seat! What stiffness springs will you use? I think the yellow ones are far too hard for something this light.

So this battery box can't run one motor? That would be strange considering it was packaged with 5292... What kind of setup are you thinking of running? Are you going to use PFunctions? If so there are two roadblocks that prevent full use of even one of these motors. I thought about starting a thread on how to do the lipo mod, or what batteries to use, but I didn't because it can be dangerous there are a few things to go over. The lipo mod is also only useful if people already have the equipment to charge the batteries, if you were to buy the stuff it may cost you as much as the lego lipo, except of course you would have a more versatile setup for future applications. So PM me if you are interested in knowing.

I was going up and down the page playing spot the difference haha, man I can't tell the difference.

Isn't this what I described? How is the system, anything that is annoying about it?

Exactly. I have not done this but it works in theory, the M motor would have to be somewhat geared up I think because the switch's return to center spring has to quickly bounce back. Not intended for a small car, more like a truck that has motors on each wheel to help performance and not look like a geared down robot while keeping weight down. You could power four xl motors no worries and with the lipo mod eight no worries. One could go CRAZY WITH POWAA!

I'm an idiot! Thanks This thing is insane, sure will keep the creator fit running after it lol

You can build a relay Use two battery boxes, bridge the thermal switch on box A (Just solder a small wire from one end to the other on HL5L) Battery box B will remain untouched and will power two motors one for steering and one for a switch (a clutched M and a servo would be good) Now wire box A to the switch and from the switch wire to the one or two buggy motors. I have a lipo mod which brings the weight of the battery box down by 140g and you can power four buggy motors from it easily. Crazy setup I know But you avoid putting load through the IR so V1 is fine to use.

I tried to make something with legs once, it was an epic failure. Could we see this in action? Does weight seriously affect this thing? Looks epic my friend

Now that is my flavour! Shame you didn't make a video.

Yes but the weight makes the car handle blah and when it crashes, it's worse! But great if you make two cars to race ;)

Absolutely fantastic course, I wish I could be there to test it! Those pictures are very nice and so are the models on it

Wow the pictures you took make me envious of those items, even though I have 3 units but the pictures are just soooo good. To your 3rd question, I have tried that, but I don't think the AAs I was using could deliver the current needed for 3 motors (I had 3 weak motors instead of two strong motors). I don't have the courage to test with my lipo 3 motors, now that I know about the watt limitations of the unit I think that it will burn out.

Wow, nice to see something other than a vehicle. I was playing GTA and I looked at a crane and said imagine if you made this outta technic (Psn clarkdef)... Anyway it takes some true ambition to make something like this, but actually looking at it, I think maybe more doable than relised, so we may see more of this in the future.

Ok yes now I understand. They are not missing the cross section, it is there, the cross simply goes half way through and what's left looks like a pin hole, but it isn't.

White is just a suggestion, what evr colour you think will work, the eye needs somewhere to go and the body needs to be broken up so you can see what is what. Do you have a lot of parts? I never have enough to build models of this scale.