Before the wire-up got started, we dropped his second droid into the car and used his droid lift to get some measurements and an idea on how certain parts of the lift should be cut.
With the measurements out of the way, it was time to tear up the sides and floorboards on the car.
Wire was run from the front of the car to the back for power. There is already a socket at the back of the car, but it's only rated for 10 amps. We want to support up to 30 amps.
Next, Mike soldered up the connectors. We're using an extra large monophonic plug for the back of the car.
The socket is now locked down at the back of the car. I will clearly label this plug as a power source. Plugging headphones or a speaker in there would not be good.
I plan to wire up the winch side of the connector shortly.
5 comments:
I am quickly learning how tough it is to transport a heavy, aluminum droid around! I think a used minivan or the sort is in my future!
Also, those small casters you showed a while ago (3 casters on a 3-prong metal piece)....just aren't capable of handling a heavy droid. The small wheels catch on every crack and being plastic wheels, under heavy load, then gouge into the metal caster frame and seize. A good old fashioned wooden dolly, such as used for moving office furntiure, works best.
As for getting off and on the vehicle...I'm still using brute force and elbow grease :-)
If money were not an object, a van with an eletric wheelchair lift would be ideal
Paul,
I wasn't the one that mentioned the small casters, I think it was Chris James and Gerard Fajardo, here:
http://www.artoo-detoo.net/mini-dolly-to-the-rescue
Hopefully the droid lift I'm building will suffice, I should know soon.
-Victor
This looks interesting... Just needs a longer ramp or a lift.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=66303
I did consider this approach too.
The Element requires that a trailer hitch be installed, and I really didn't want something that massive hanging off the back of the car (plus the car would no longer fit in my garage). Thanks for the suggestion though!
-Victor
I always wondered if those things hanging off the backend of the mommy urban assault vehicles are legal. I though you had to have a bumper on the backend of your car. Lotus had to put "bumpers" on the Elise to import the car here and putting one of those things on a car negates the fix.
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