Remote Operated Quad Bike 4

[mm391]

Hello,

I am looking to modify/convert a Quad Bike and make it remotely operated and was wondering if anyone had any advice (from a Mechanical Engineering view) on where to start my research or any other advice they could think of with regards to getting the project off the ground. Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks

MM

 

[ornerynorsk]

By remotely operated do you mean not direct chain drive? Human powered? One could incorporate fluid drive quite nicely.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[GregLocock]

The advice I received is to not do it. The police/security/anti-terrorist people in your jurisdiction will take a dim view of it and will take it away from you, by fair means or foul.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[KENAT]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Grand_Challenge

Posting guidelines faq731-376

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[chicopee]

Recently, there was a race competition of radio controlled miniature cars in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center. The competitors are the ones that you should talk to.

 

[tbuelna]

A quad bike remotely controlled with human passengers providing the power? A quad bike remotely controlled with human passengers simply along for the ride? A quad bike remotely controlled with no passengers and its own source of propulsion power? Since the term "quad bike" seems to be a bit contradictory (a bicycle has two wheels, while a quadracycle has four wheels), is your remotely controlled quad bike self-stabilizing with each of the four wheels offset somewhat equally about the mass center? Or is your remotely controlled quad bike statically unstable, but dynamically stable, with all the wheels in-line like a conventional tandem bicycle?

 

[MikeHalloran]

See, the first objective is always to explain what you want to do, in such a way that other people can figure out just what the hell you are talking about.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[mm391]

The vehicle will be a 4 wheeled. An example picture has been attached. It will have a small 2 stroke IC engine. The plan is to have no passengers and to remotely control the vehicle just like you would control an RC car, be able to control the movement, direction and speed.

 

[DerbyLoco]

Is the term 'Quad Bike' not used in the USA to describe the vehicle shown in mm319's photo?

 

[3DDave]

Not typically by engineers. In much the same way they would not say a tri-bike for a three-wheeler. You are looking for Marketing, which is down the hall and on the left.

 

[DerbyLoco]

That's interesting as in the UK I have never heard them called anything but quad bikes, even on the BBC when someone has been seriously injured falling off one. In common usage here a tricycle would usually mean pedal power whilst a trike would mean it had an engine. What do you call a quad bike then?

 

[DerbyLoco]

If it was a car with 3 wheels its a 3 wheeler! Yes we did used to have them and they were horrible.

 

[KENAT]

DerbyLoco, I think the more common term in the US is ATV (All Terrain Vehicle).

OP, many US posters on this site seem to assume anyone posting on here will also be from the US (or at least using US English) and don't always keep in mind the potential for linguistic differences. To help with this it can be worth giving a bit more info up front to avoid misunderstandings like this.

I was hoping the link I gave above may give you some starting points for research, terms like uninhabited vehicles and driver-less vehicles may be worth looking at too.

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[mcgyvr]

The terms in the US for that exact toy are
"4 wheeler"
"Four wheeler"
"quad"
"redneck limo"

"ATV" is an all encompassing term that covers 4 wheelers,3 wheelers (illegal in the US for years) and other similar devices.

Using the work "Bike" implies 2 wheels only.
Bike = 2
Trike = 3
Quad = 4

 

[KENAT]

In the UK the term is generally 'Quad Bike'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_bike.

The OP's IP address is 'GB'.

So in that context, from a practical point of view using the term "bike" doesn't imply 2 wheels only.

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(probably not aimed specifically at you)
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[3DDave]

It's not like people in the UK can lay any particular claim to a command of the English lang..... crud. Never mind.

 

[SomptingGuy]

You sometimes see road-legal quad bikes in the UK: taxed, insured, MOT'd. The owner/driver usually looks like someone not to mess with.

- Steve

 

[Timelord]

mm391,

Now that everyone has their terminology straight, here is my answer to your original question. To get the project off the ground, make an task outline of all the necessary modifications and required equipment. Obviously you will need to remote control the steering, the throttle, the brakes and the shifter. Each will require a suitable servo and custom mount and linkage. This also suggests a 4 channel or more wireless controller. Choosing the servos and designing the linkages is probably the first big task after which you can do a power budget and choose a servo power source, either a generator or batteries. When you have all components nailed down, you will need to mount the receiver and any other equipment you are going to add and design any wire harnessing. Engineering is all about planning. Your original task/parts outline is critical in that it helps prevent Whoops! later. Keep it updated as you progress, it is valuable documentation if you want to mod more than one ATV.

Timelord

 

[asimpson]

It would be interisting to know what role driver weight distribution had on the performance of a quad bike. Never had the pleasure myself but I would imagine in a small quad bike it would would help in corning at speed.
Servo controlled mass to shift the centre of gravity of the vechicle could be considered.