Well, as the name states, the Linear Actuator Converter Tank 2.0 can transform into an alternate mode. In order to do that, the body of the tank lifts off the treads, the turret turns ninety degrees, the front of the tank turns and folds in, and appendages lower. The LAC Tank 2.0 converts into a dinosaur! (Well, it is supposed to be a dinosaur robot thing.) The body of the tank is mounted on a hinge. As the body tilts up, a head folds out of the front and arms fold down automatically. After the transformation is complete, the LAC Tank 2.0 is a tracked, robotic dinosaur with a moving head. I will break the LAC Tank 2.0 into its components in the following sections: The Tracks, Body, and Arms; The Head; The Turret; and the Program. I will also include some pictures of my other projects in the Conclusion.
The LAC Tank 2.0 is driven by two tracks. These tracks use one XL motor each for power. The XL motors turn a small gear train which turns the sprockets. The Body of the tank is mounted on a hinge. The body can be tilted using two linear actuators. Each of these actuators is connected to an NXT motor. I used two NXT motors for extra power. The Base of the tank contains two NXT motors, one IR receiver, two XL motors, and two battery boxes. The body contains three medium motors, the NXT, one NXT motor, one IR receiver, and one touch sensor. The LAC Tank 2.0’s arms are powered by gravity. As the body lifts, the arms fall into place.
Picture 1 The Gears and tracks
Picture 2 The motor and sprocket
Picture 3 The Body
Picture 4 The NXT motor and actuator
Picture 5 The arms
The LAC Tank 2.0’s head – Ok, I really need a better name for this when it is a dinosaur. I will call him Albert. Albert’s head is attached to an axle that allows the head to rotate forwards and backwards. When the tank converts, the head rotates down. As the head rotates, the armor on the front of the tank falls back and folds into Albert’s chest. The head is powered by two Medium motors for stability. The motors both use worm gears to control the head.
Picture 1 Albert's Head
Picture 2 The head folding down
Picture 3 The head in and the armor up
Picture 4 The armor fallen down
Picture 5 The Motors
The Turret is a fairly compact and simple. It contains one NXT Motor and one Medium motor. The NXT motor turns a gear which spins the turret on a turntable. The turret is capable of full 360 degree rotation. The medium motor turns a flexible axle with two universal joints. This powers the worm gearbox which lifts the gun. When the LAC Tank turns into Albert the Dinosaur, the gun functions as a tail. (Sort of)
Picture 1 The Turret
Picture 2 The Turret without the plates
Picture 3 The turntable and gear
Picture 4 The Medium motor
Picture 5 The Gearbox
The LAC Tank 2.0 uses a touch sensor to determine when to switch modes. The touch sensor is hidden in Albert’s right shoulder. The IR receivers are located on the side and front of the LAC Tank 2.0, and each is hidden by plates. The head, gun, and tracks are remote controlled. The LAC Tank 2.0’s program resets the touch sensor and then initiates and infinite loop. In the loop, the program waits for the touch sensor to be bumped. It then turns the turret allowing the head to fold out. The body then lifts up, and the turret turns back to its original position. When the touch sensor is pushed again, it reverses the process and repeats the program.
Although I have not been building NXT creations lately, I have been building other things. If any of you have seen my latest videos, you will have seen that I have made quite a few creations. For example, I built the LAC Tank 2.0 to go along with a series of creations that I recently made. These creations are robots that can turn into alternate forms such as planes, a car, a bulldozer, or even a dragon. I made five of these robots, Sabotage the green car, Updraft the white plane, Thunderbolt the blue jet, Gunwale the yellow bulldozer, and finally Firebrand the red dragon. Although the LAC Tank 2.0’s transformation is not complicated at all, especially compared the robots’ transformations, I am fairly pleaded with it. It is very hard to make a motorized, shape-shifting robot.
After nearly four months since posting my last project, I finally finished this project. I actually took the MAC Rover 2 apart only a month ago. During the whole summer I was working on an interactive stop motion video, so that is why I did not build any other NXT projects. I built the convertible robots to give myself a break from the exhausting animating. It was nice to build and program a robot again, and I am pleased with the result. The Dino form is not as good as I was hoping it would be, but I think that the Tank form is my best tank yet. Thank you all for reading this. (If you did) I hopefully will be back again soon. I probably won’t be able to build another robot for a little while, since I have yet another animation project (don’t worry, it is short) to finish. I will see you all later. MSEP, out!
The pictures are from my summer animation project.