i'm going to try making an E-Manual this summer, i am going to try putting Trevor Blackwell's Scooter Design into the E-Manual package. the only problem is Trevor has a switch to vary the wheel speed (if one wheel goes faster it will turn towards the slower wheel, like a tank), and the E-Manual has tilt sensors, so you turn like a normal skateboard. how would i do this with gyros? i can't see any downsides of using a solid state gyro and pandulum to turn, as opposed to IR sensors (which can vary depending on ambient light, how clean the lens is, how reflective the surface is, etc.) or Ultrasonic Transducers (they use sonar to measure distace, but could miss the echo, or possibly get sound interference from the surrounding environment) Trevor uses this for his gyro, since i am making my own (the schematics and board layout are at the bottom of the page, since they are i figure it's OK with them if i make one for personal use, if not, well, i got them saved on my HDD ) it won't be too hard to make another, the hard part is setting up. how would i control the wheels with this setup? i was originally thinking a high max resistance pot (so a few degrees turn would make a big difference in ohms) connected to the deck, and a comparator to figure out the angle. since that would be difficult to get right, i thought about just using another gyro board, and wiring that board in parallel with the forward speed one, but mounted at a 90o angle, so when i turn the board sends power to the wheels, since they are already getting power, one will get more, thus turning. would that work? if you know how to best implement a turning system, please don't hesitate to tell me, be as deatailed as you want to be. trust me, it won't bother me if you want to help me out every step of the way
I don't think another gyro is the best way to go with this because as you turn, that will impart a sideways force on the gyro making it "sense" a smaller angle. The amount the angle changes would depend on the speed. Actually thinking about it that might be useful - you probably want to have a smaller speed differential between the wheels at higher speed, just like you turn the wheel of a car less at high speed. Hmm. I'm not sure whether it'd be good or not, because you also tilt the deck less at high speed intuitively. It just might behave differently to how you want it to. I think you'd be better off measuring the angle between the deck and the axle using a pot like your other idea. I think what I'd do is use the gyro for sensing back and forth tilt, and some pressure sensors or something similar between the deck and axle to detect the sideways tilt.
actually, you're right, Trevor Blackwell coded his scooter so it will turn less at high speeds, so you remain on the scooter. although on a skateboard you steer by leaning, so if you tune it right (a few pots on the lines to the wheels) you can get it to turn fast enough to keep you on the board, which, if i'm not mistaken, is the same coefficient at any speed, since your weight does not change. it'll also make it a bitch to steal from me, sin i have it set for me and no one else
