Super Car

Hello All,

I am going to make a series of blog posts about a LEGO NXT car that I am building. This is the first of several. As the car progresses I will blog about its progresses.

The car has several requirements:

rear wheel drive

front and rear double wishbone suspensions

front wheel steering

2 gear transmission

“cool” looking

FAST

At Brickworld, I purchased two Ferrari F1 racer sets. These sets has a lot of really great car parts. The extra wide tires and suspension links are ideal for making a super car. In fact, a motorized F1 set would work really well. It is very will built, and has room for motors and maybe a well placed NXT. But I want to do more than just motorize an already built set. I want to build something from the ground up that can achieve higher performance.

For power I plan on using 4 Extra Large Power Function motors (XL PF). The XL PF motor has lots of torque. It is also easy to integrate into a design because of the placement of the Technic holes. To control the motors, I will use a HiTechnic, www.hitechnic.com, infrared link. The infrared link allows the NXT to control the Power Function infrared receiver, which intern will controls the motors.

4 PF XL motors will produce a lot of torque, and this toque needs to be managed properly. For this, I will need to install a transmission. This will allow the car to shift when the motors reach their maximum RPM, and maintain acceleration. I designed a transmission for this purpose. You can download the Lego Digital Designer file from my website: http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~KINZIEJH/lego/. Click the link “High Torque 2 Gear Transmission” to download the file.

More To follow soon!

-Jay Kinzie