# Land Speeder



## Functional Artist (Aug 8, 2016)

I built another zero turn type kart

It's motivated by (2) 48V 1,000W MY-1020 brushed motors
...& powered by a 45V 50AH Chevy Volt battery module.

It has individual thumb throttles 
...& independent brakes

It's a mid-drive kart
...so, basically it "turns on a dime"

It zips right along
...& is a lot of fun to drive 

Here is a 1st test ride video


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## floydr (Jun 21, 2021)

Looks fun, rear end lifting off ground could be prevented with caster wheels like in front of zero turn Mowers.
later floyd


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## Functional Artist (Aug 8, 2016)

Howdy Floyd,
Yup, I was thinkin' that too 
...but, I'm tryin to maintain that "floating look"

I'm going to try some "runners" first
...they may even give it a bit of a "spring action"


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

floydr said:


> Looks fun, rear end lifting off ground could be prevented with caster wheels like in front of zero turn Mowers.
> later floyd


Nah... go the other way: take the rear wheels off and make it balance (like a Segway) on the drive wheels - much more interesting!
At the very least, if a front wheel is added then get rid of one of the superfluous rear wheels.


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## floydr (Jun 21, 2021)

Functional Artist said:


> Yup, I was thinkin' that too
> ...but, I'm tryin to maintain that "floating look"
> 
> I'm going to try some "runners" first
> ...they may even give it a bit of a "spring action"


looks good especially if you are on grass maybe Teflon skid on the runners, you could see how removing the rear set of wheel like 


brian_ said:


> Nah... go the other way: take the rear wheels off and make it balance (like a Segway) on the drive wheels - much more interesting!


works
Later Floyd


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## Functional Artist (Aug 8, 2016)

brian_ said:


> Nah... go the other way: take the rear wheels off and make it balance (like a Segway) on the drive wheels - much more interesting!
> At the very least, if a front wheel is added then get rid of one of the superfluous rear wheels.


Hey Brian,
Yup, you nailed it. That was the original concept 
I seem to have everything balanced pretty well, on them mid-drive wheels. 
(The big battery is behind the fulcrum & the drivers torso is in front of it)

I test rode it ~1/2 hour, with just the mid-drive wheels (before adding the tail/rear wheels)
I found that it's very difficult to not accelerate too hard (lifting the front & scraping the rear, on the ground)
...or to not slow down too quickly (lifting the rear & scraping the front, on the ground)

After adding the "tail", I found that, it's much easier to control & a lot more enjoyable to ride 

I added the runners because sometimes you just have to slow down quickly
...& their like a back up plan to safety catch the "nose" from slamming into the ground, if/when necessary
...while also, maintaining that "floating look"  

It seems to me, with things like Segways, skate boards, surf boards or even motorcycles, the riders weight is more "aligned" vertically
...so, it's easier to balance
...but, when the rider is in a seated position with his/her legs extended horizontally, it's much harder to maintain your balance.


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## jbman (Oct 26, 2017)

That thing looks like an absolute hoot. Very cool. Have you considered a shield for your legs? I'd be concerned about something coming up through that expanded metal and skewering you.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

Functional Artist said:


> I test rode it ~1/2 hour, with just the mid-drive wheels (before adding the tail/rear wheels)
> I found that it's very difficult to not accelerate too hard (lifting the front & scraping the rear, on the ground)
> ...or to not slow down too quickly (lifting the rear & scraping the front, on the ground)


Right, because this is not something a person can reasonably do. The required control logic is not bad - it has been implemented in many balancing robots built by students - but it's not something that you do manually.



Functional Artist said:


> It seems to me, with things like Segways, skate boards, surf boards or even motorcycles, the riders weight is more "aligned" vertically
> ...so, it's easier to balance
> ...but, when the rider is in a seated position with his/her legs extended horizontally, it's much harder to maintain your balance.


Yes, the key is having the centre of mass far enough above the tire contact surface and the vehicle short enough in the travel direction that the balancing logic can move the contact point substantially (to enable acceleration or deceleration) without the resulting tilt being a problem.

I couldn't find it in a quick web search, but back in the 1970's Popular Science ran an article about a proposed (not actually built) enclosed vehicle with two side-by-side wheels. It had small "landing gear" wheels front and rear which would not normally touch, and had much larger wheels and much more ground clearance. Of course back then the balancing controls would have been much more difficult to build, and it would presumably have had an engine. I'm sure it was never built.


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