All Terrain Rescue Vehicle

It started when I was trying to find ways to solve problems that people may have.  I had a think and ended up with the idea of how sometimes vehicles cannot get medical supplies to people who live somewhere hard to get to, so I thought I could solve this by making an all-terrain vehicle that could travel across rocks and muddy surfaces.

 

I first built a prototype from about 15 pieces, featuring three frames connected by a single pin threading through them at the centre, so they had lots of movability.

Then, I attached a set of wheels to the edge of them so it could travel. I had to make sure to put them at either end of it, so it could get up to terrain that was higher than it. 

Now it was time to build the actual model. I started with the same concept: three frames connected by a single pin through the centre.

 

I made the centre frame smaller than the rest so the wheels could stick out further and wouldn’t touch the floor;  they were just a bit like support wheels. Then I connected four motors on the corners of the build and connected a wheel to each of them, then I connected a hub to the centre frame, which fitted perfectly, but I had to put some extra weight on either end of the build so it would not be flimsy in the middle.

 

After that, I opened my Mindstorms app and started programming a simple controller. The controller could move it back and forth, left and right. Finally, I gathered some of my bricks and laid them out in a rough terrain way. At first, it couldn’t even get up the lowest level because the vehicle wasn't strong enough, so I put the wheel speed up, and it managed to get over it fine. Then, when it passed that section, the whole thing broke! And the frames separated.

 

I fixed this by adding Lego Technic stoppers on the inside and outside of the frame on the rod, and now it could pretty much drive over any surface, but I think it could’ve been a bit stronger and more reliable. But I was proud of it overall.

 

I had to build a small controller to help steer the vehicle. i had to work out which wheel went which way and then link this to the hub.

id done this before so building the controller wasnt difficult once i knew which way each motor was going.