Specifications

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5.2 Mechanical performance
The chassis used for the duration of this project served its purpose sufficiently. It was
possible to mount all the required equipment, however room for additional components
is exhausted. The major problem with the chassis design at this point is the lack of
room for a suitable battery. The battery used can sustain operation for only a short
period of time and so either more cells or a new design of battery is required. For this
to take place more room is required on the chassis. Also for extending any operation of
the robot, such as a retrieval arm, would require chassis space to mount and control.
The only successful way to continue work on this project, including extended operation
and achieving smoother running, is to re-design and construct the chassis. A more
successful approach to this than the prototype used would be to construct the chassis in
a series of layers. Each layer would contain a separate part of operation for the robot.
By designing in this manner there is always more room for additional components by
adding additional layers until all objectives have been met. After the robot is successful
to the point of putting into operation it could be finally re-designed into a more compact
unit suitable for practical use or manufacturing. This would encompass such factors as
aesthetics, practicality and weight reduction.
Figure 5.2 below shows the application of the layered board system. The bottom layer
here contains the drive wheels, motors and H Bridges. It may also be practical to mount
the microcontroller here if there is room. Layers are joined by ribbon cables or wires
and are bolted together for rigidity. It is important to consider the spacing of the layers
as if the robot becomes too tall, stability will suffer greatly.