I'm considering using all my tank drivetrain and paintball gun stuff on a
new tank, but starting over on the chassis to make a tank with the turret on
top. The side turrets sure are cool, but I'd like to implement some autonomous
aiming features. This is way easier if the turret can traverse 360 degrees.
The Soviet T-54, specifically the OT-54 flame-thrower variant, is the
closest historic tank I could find to a tank I was *designing*. I designed a
tank specifically to excel at the rc tank paintball game. It was so low and
the turret so shallowly sloped that the only hittable part was the 5"
high tracks. The OT-54 is similarly shaped, just not as low.
All the drivetrain parts, including tracks, could come from my partially
completed Mark 8 tank. I'd still be using the 48V hawkers, Lem-130 motor,
Whyachi ESC, go-kart diff and brakes, and conveyor belt tracks. The core of
the frame can even be reused, so I don't have to do all that drilling and
tapping on the angle iron again. For the domed turret, a wok should work
nicely. The tank I had designed had a turret as flat as a plow disc, but the
historic OT-54 has more of a wok-shaped turret.
My track stuff came yesterday, so I'll get started soon on assembling the
tracks. They are made from 6" wide nylon conveyor belting, .13" thick. I have
1.5" X .5" UHMW rectangular bar stock to make bolted on cleats. There will be
UHMW bars on the outside and inside of the track, the sprockets mesh with the
inside ones. The bolts holding it all together are 12-point bolts, so I can
have the heads sticking out of each UHMW cleat for more grip.
Gene
