Design of Electric Crawler Platform

This article describes the process of developing and building a prototype of a remotely controlled universal crawler platform powered by electric motors. In the beginning, similar solutions were presented. Assumptions and goals to be achieved were also formulated. The chosen design of the platform was based on a frame made of aluminum profiles with BLDC motors powered by a 60 V battery. Rubber tracks were used as a running system and the drive was transferred to them using worm gears. The control was based on the WiFi network and the Blynk platform operated via a smartphone. After presenting the process of determining the parameters of vehicle control system components, the stages of creating a 3D model in SolidWorks were shown. The obtained models were used for strength analyses in the ANSYS program and the procedure for the drive shaft was presented. Based on the selected control system components, an electrical diagram was drawn in the EasyEDA. The process of designing a low-pass filter in LTspice software is also presented. Using the elements prepared based on the documentation, a prototype was built, which was then subjected to components heating tests. The obtained results allowed for the formulation of conclusions that led to a summary of the project.