Building Alert: Construction Issues ...........................................................
We thought and thought about what to use to place over the kart’s works to
give our kart a top. In a stroke of genius (well, we couldn’t think of anything
else, to be honest, and we were grocery shopping at the time), we used a
plastic food storage container to create a bubble-like dome. It’s cheap, easy
to work with, and clear so you can see what makes the kart go, which is kind
of cool. Make sure you get a container made of flexible plastic. Flexible plas-
tic is easier to use because you have to make two cuts in this container: an
opening in the back that lets the IR signal from your transmitter reach the IR
detector in the back of the kart and an opening in the side so you can reach
the power switch.You can build the base of the kart out of^1 ⁄ 4 " thick plywood or^1 ⁄ 4 " rigid expanded
PVC (plastic). The PVC provides a better finished look than the plywood, but
either will work. You should be able to locate^1 ⁄ 4 " thick plywood at any lumber
or homebuilding store.A couple of robot supply houses, such as Budget Robotics and Solarbotics
(here the material is called Sintra), sell small sheets of rigid expanded PVC.
A Google search for “rigid expanded PVC”will also turn up plastic supply
companies that sell larger sheets. Find more at these Web sites: http://www.budget
robotics.comand http://www.solarbotics.com.If you don’t feel ambitious, you can leave off the bubble top and let the go-
kart be a convertible model. If you plan to reuse the components after trying
out the kart, that might be the way to go. However, if you plan to keep the
kart intact, we suggest that you use a top to keep out dirt and avoid the pos-
sibility of wires or components being knocked off (in case your kart gets into
a traffic accident in your living room).The motor lugs used in this project are made of thin metal and will break off
if you put too much stress on them. By using stranded wire, rather than solid
wire, you can minimize the stress on the lugs.Perusing the Parts List ................................................................................
We broke the parts list for this project into two very logical sections: one for
the transmitter, and one for the receiver and the kart body on which the
receiver is mounted.Chapter 11: Controlling a Go-Kart, Infrared Style 245