Rover mechanical design
After running the rover in the rocks and seeing how the suspension works, I determined a few things.
- The suspension is doing its job for the most part. I need to put some stops in the suspension to keep it from overextending itself.
- I don’t know if the flex is from the length or the material. I am sure it’s from both.
- I may need to design a clutch to keep the gears from stripping. One motor is not as smooth as the others after the test drives.
I started version 3 of this design and will reprint the parts needed and use the real carbon fiber tubes to check for flex. The last version was to see if the basic design worked.
Mission control
I need to update my PHP to update the record instead of making a new record. I am conflicted because when I report on sensors, I will want all that data. For now, I will get it to update instead of making a new row.
Solar
I got 30 hours out of the last test, getting closer to the 48-hour mark. The diodes that I am using are dropping the voltage down way too much, so I ordered some fancy 1N5817 Schottky Diodes to see if that helps. If that doesn’t work, I will need to figure out how to put the thing to sleep at night.