Remember the days of Soap Box Derbies? Dating back to the 1930s, these carts have always relied on gravity; however, thanks to the team at Currah, that may all change. The group of Makers have designed a Wi-Fi controlled vehicle for a future generation of derby racers using an Arduino Mega (ATmega1280) and Wi-Fi Shield.
According to the Makers, the project provided an opportunity to explore the interface between hardware and software, as well as compare the differences between programming personal computing systems and embedded microprocessors.
“These experiments were conducted in the context of a very flexible steering system and the virtually unlimited control range afforded by Wi-Fi and Internet Protocol,” the team explained.
While the original plan was to devise one of the two-wheeled bots that have become quite popular throughout the DIY community and Maker Faires, the team eventually decided that a soap box car was much better suited for their experiment.
“Note that the current design can be viewed as the drive of a two-wheeled robot coupled with a trailer by means of a 360 degree pivot. A slip ring capsule within the pivot enables the heavy battery and bulky control system to be separated from the drive and located on the trailer thereby distributing weight evenly between the four wheels.”
For those interested in developing a “Wood Lizzie” of their own, the team of Makers has shared a detailed breakdown of the necessary steps in the tutorial below.
