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Thread: TLT classic crawler - Camera rig concept!

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Old 12-05-2013, 04:55 PM   #1
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Default TLT classic crawler - Camera rig concept!

It's been a while since I have been on here. Even longer since I have posted anything (5 years...). Been away from the hobby for a while.

I stumbled on something pretty neat though. I'm sure you all have bid on things on eBay with the intention of just bumping up the auction, but not winning the item. I have been having some good/bad luck recently by winning some of these auctions on really low ball bids. This thread comes from such an occasion. I got a TLT-1 with some pretty nice mods. Here is the picture of when I got it:



As you can see they completely redid the links and added some shiny hardware. The axles feel weighted and all the diff's are locked. When I got it, I had some bones to pick. The shock setup sucked. It would bind on the upper links and the upper mounts. It looked like a hack job. The shocks are from some 1/10 race truck. I decided to throw on something even more odd. For years now I have held onto some fully aluminum Duratrax 1/8 buggy shocks. I swapped the eye brackets for that of Axial ones, which swapped perfectly. They are a little bit more stiff, but I think that will work perfectly for what I have in mind...





This is with the Duratrax/Axial shocks mocked up. The old screws and bolts were far to big to fit. They were way too long as well, so I will grab some that will work better. It has about the same ride height. Flex won't be as much, but that's not what I am going for on this one. You gotta admit, the shocks look very clean on this rig. I also threw in a used EPIC 45 or 55 turn motor (not sure what it is, but it works well). I am still waiting on all of the Chinese electronics to come. I got a high-torque high-speed metal gear servo ($6.99 w/ free shipping), 2.4GHz Tx/Rx ($24.99 w/ free shipping), Speed control with brake ($16.99 w/ free shipping), a 5000 Mah NiHm stick battery ($12.99 w/ free shipping, and the cells are made in Japan!), and four scaler tires with foams mounted on 1.9" rims ($14.99 w/ free shipping). Gotta love sweatshops... So the whole project totals about $160 when all is said and done.

SO...

Here was my idea for this guy. I have never seen a DEDICATED camera rig before. No body, just an aluminum shell with mounting positions for a camera like a GoPro or Lookxie on the front and back. Not only would it have a neat purpose in making all the fun little crawling videos from a scale perspective, but I also plan on making a business out of this. There are a lot of mobile homes and homes with crawl spaces rather than basements near where I live. With a WiFi streaming HD camera and some good strong lights, I plan on starting a virtual HD crawlspace inspection gig. You could check things like HVAC, HVAC insulation, floor insulation, water lines, sewer lines, vegitation growth, insect and varmint infestation, substructure, and any suspected water damage or mildew growth... without having to crawl under your home and get covered in dirt and spiders! This could all be done in the comfort of the resident's living room, watching an HD stream on a tablet or whatnot. Pictures could be taken and stored or emailed to the client.

Tell me what you think!

Last edited by tom tom; 12-05-2013 at 04:58 PM.
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Old 12-05-2013, 05:07 PM   #2
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Default Re: TLT classic crawler - Camera rig concept!

I also forgot to mention this: it appears to have a full BB conversion. Every place I have seen on it so far has ball bearings, so I would assume they have all been swapped. Whoever had this before did a great job (minus the shocks).
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Old 12-06-2013, 11:58 PM   #3
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Default Re: TLT classic crawler - Camera rig concept!

So I have decided to keep up with the old school theme. The center of gravity of an original TLT chassis and tranny is nauseating. I threw on the new shocks and I was still having the slightest amount of binding with the upper links. I thought I would kill two birds with one stone by going springless. This really changes the center of gravity. I like how it changes the articulation of the 4-link suspension. I still get the shock body catching on the aluminum brace. The caster is reversed so I am going to add plastic washers as spacers on both ends of the lower links on all ends. This should give me proper caster (which really only matters on the front), a slightly longer wheelbase, and the proper clearance for the shocks. That should iron out the kinks and free up the articulation just a wee bit more so it's just right. As you might observe, the center clearance has been substantially reduced, but remember, it's a camera rig, not a cliff crusher. Here are the pics:







After I fix the caster problem, my next item to address is the steering. There is a lot to talk (complain) about!

If you have any questions, or more importantly, IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, give a shout out!
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Old 12-07-2013, 12:53 PM   #4
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If this is a camera rig. Would it not be helpful to have some suspension travel so it wouldn't shake as much. To stabilize it.
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Old 12-07-2013, 01:48 PM   #5
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Default Re: TLT classic crawler - Camera rig concept!

I put a lot of thought into that. Most crawlers have such stiff shocks or low response rates due to thick shock oil and good leverage (great for crawling) that it doesn't do much for bump shock. I plan on getting most of my bump shock absorbed in the tires. I am going to weight the rims and cut the foams so they give a good amount. I plan on dampening any harsh vibration by mounting the base of the camera on drum pad muting material. It's blue gel like stuff that people use to help isolate vibration when they mount such cameras to quadcopters. For how slow this thing is going to go, I hope the camera view will stay pretty calm. The car looks like it will be less wobbly and bouncy than any of the other crawlers I have seen. With GoPro software, they can digitally remove almost all vibration or camera deviation during editing. It's pretty incredible how they can take a shaky shot from a quadcopter in windy conditions and smooth it out so it looks like it was professionally taken from a gyro mounted camera on a full size helicopter.

I have my fingers crossed that I win a Looxcie 3 camera on eBay for pretty cheap. These cameras have similar software and have one advantage over GoPro's: They can stream a live feed via WiFi right out of the box. They can stream at XVGA quality at about 15fps while they can record 720p HD at 30fps. If I really want to go overboard I can make a two axis bracket and mount the camera on a movable platform that I can control with an old AM 4-channel radio I have from an old foamie glider I had several years ago, with the aid of some micro servos. One step further and you can stick on a gyro and have that govern the camera servos so the camera stays pointing at one spot. That's if I want to get really crazy. The camera already has a 120 degree view so it's already enough for my purpose of crawlspace inspections. With a live feed we can all sit in a clients living room sipping hot coco watching a tablet or laptop while we do a complete inspection of under their home.
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Old 12-07-2013, 04:01 PM   #6
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Default Re: TLT classic crawler - Camera rig concept!

I changed my mind, Black-Hawk. You are right. I think it could benefit from some form of additional suspension cushion. I think I am going to throw on a quarter inch piece of soft urethane tubing on the shock shafts. That should give a little bit upon encountering a bump, which could make quite a difference. It will also give a good cushion during the event of hitting a dip where extension and rapid contraction could occur.

So I got the spacers mounted on the lower links, which corrects the reversed caster. Even better, there is no binding with the shocks at all! Yay!

Articulation is complete and bind free now, and it is pretty good for what it is. My estimate is about 70 degrees.





Compression and rebound is a little funky right now due to the big bore shocks with heavy weight oil. However, I think with weighted tires, and a full set of electronics and then some, it might be just perfect.

TLT camera rig part 1 - roller - YouTube
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Old 12-10-2013, 05:18 PM   #7
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Default Re: TLT classic crawler - Camera rig concept!

Yay! Got my first couple of packages in the mail. Today it was the rims and tires, as well as the Rx/Tx. They actually got here a couple days early! Alls I need to do is glue the tires onto the rims (and plug the air hole, the foams are actually super soft so I won't need to cut them). I wish I had kept looking on eBay because the person who sells the tires/rims has some cooler rim choices. Oh well. If anyone is interested in where to find the rims (1.9" rims with 12mm hexes and decent quality tires with a popular tread pattern) I can show you who sells them. They were $15.99 for a set of 4 and shipping was free.



As you can see, there is a bit of a need to put spacers on the shock shafts to give a little bit more clearance. With all the electronics, it should squat down a little bit more than this, and I would worry about clearance, even for just doing crawlspace inspections. We will see what happens in the workshop over the next few days!
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Old 12-19-2013, 04:43 PM   #8
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Default More in the mailbox!

A few things have trickled in through the mail. Got the FlySky radio set and some Chinese knockoff ESC. I still need to solder the leads onto the motor, or find some clips that I can crimp on that fit. I also got the camera! It's a Looxcie 3, and it can link via WiFi to a mobile device or tablet. Haven't figured out a way to get around the limitation of not being able to link it with a computer, but that doesn't matter too much. As you can still see, I have yet to add the spacers on the shocks so center ground clearance dismal. I finally figured out a way to mount a standard 7.2V pack in one of possibly three ways, and I should be getting around to that project as soon as the battery gets here. Those positions are on top (top heavy), on the side (really off balance), and on the rear servo plate/upper links (very technical). We will see. I would gladly appreciate some opinions on the matter. Another matter is mounting the steering servo, but that can come another day. Here are some more pics, not that anyone really cares.




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