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Sat, 15 Apr 2006
new SRV-1 tracked base in the works
We have a new version of the SRV-1 robot in the works ...
It's quite a bit smaller than the original version, and there are several significant changes in the drive, including some very nice metal gear motors, treaded tracks (tank style), and a compact Li-ion battery pack. It will also have a real camera mount, though it's not shown in these photos.
Here's a side-by-side shot of the new version with the original SRV-1 robot -
We're finalizing the design now - there are just a few changes we still have to make to the front axles, and then we'll head into a production run. We still have some of the original 3-wheel bases in stock, and will probably offer those for sale without controllers to whomever might be interested, as we will focus our future development efforts around the new tracked base.
We've been running some tests, and here's a Quicktime clip of the new robot climbing a 40-degree slope with approximately 50% motor power. The surface is fairly slippery - it's sanded plywood, so it will be interesting to see how much steeper the robot can climb with a textured surface. In any case, the performance is pretty impressive. Click on the image to launch a viewer ...
We expect to have production quantities of the new version of the SRV-1 in about 3 weeks. Though it's quite a bit more expensive to build this new base, we don't plan to make any immediate price changes, in hopes that we can bring our production costs down with volume.
Posted Sat, 15 Apr 2006 14:14 | HTML Link | see additional stories ...