Kevin's first test run

I finally managed to get kevin outside at the weekend for a proper test run. This is the first time the base electrical systems including the motor controllers have been tested and they performed flawlessly.

I ran the system from an RC controller feeding directly into the motor controllers; it was running from two 12v batteries to supply the 24v the motors are rated for.

On the initial power on Kevin took off at full speed, a very unexpected event but after a quick calibration of the RC controller it was behaving as intended. Firstly Kevin moves a lot faster than I was expecting it to, it travels at a fast walking pace something I was very pleased with.

The skid steering didn't perform well when I was testing it at 12v but after switching up to 24v these problems went away and the sheer force dragged it around. As you can see in the video below it doesn't have any problem moving over different types of terrain and even with me sitting on top it quite happily dragged me up a hill.

Hopefully in the next few weeks after the traction control system has been built I will take it out again and try it over some more varied ground.