I electrified my push scooter with a power drill
eddieabbondanz.ioMy first thought after reading this title: Oh cool, they've taken part in a drill and used the motor. I don't really know what that looks like inside a power drill. This will be an interesting post.
Immediately opened it and laughed out loud. Perfect execution, no notes.
Same thought here. Did not expect this level of jank but I loved every photo and word.
The contrast between the 3D scanning and bolting a power drill to the side was fun.
Not enough gaffer/duct tape! But the inability to bank to the right side is perfect. Just do a 270 to the left.
That disadvantage is balanced by the advantage of not having to open the kickstand at every frequent stop.> inability to bank to the right side is perfect.It's the Zoolander feature.
Its got the blue steel paint job
This is exactly what I wanted even though it was not at all what I expected.
You’d love how I’m starting my generator. Same drill. Hodgepodge of springs and string to manage the choke. ESP32 committing obscenities in the middle of all of it.
What is that one-way bearing TFA mentions. I understand its purpose, but where does one acquire such a bearing?
TFA has a link to the amazon page for the bearing used. It's a bearing plus freewheel clutch. Most commonly (and in this specific case) it means sprag clutch[1], but it may be e.g. a ratchet/pawl[2] (like most bikes have) or a roller freewheel[3].
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprag_clutch
2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratchet_(device)
3: Couldn't find a wikipedia page for this, so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU4OguQmyMM
Thank you
If I understand the question correctly then you're asking about a sprag clutch.
When used in-line on a shaft like this, a sprag clutch permits torque to be transmitted out of the drill motor but not into the drill motor.
Any operation as a support bearing for the spinny-bits is kind of a secondary function at very best (and may be ill-advised; a sprag clutch assembly may be shaped kind of like a roller bearing assembly, but that doesn't mean that it will live long in that kind of role). :)
Thank you.
Would it need a standard bearing on only one side of the sprag clutch, or should I double them up on both sides?
Had the same question. The article has an Amazon link to the bearings.
This absolutely deserves to be documented
That's all nice and well -- but Matthias Wandel built a wooden scaffolding on wheels 12 years ago that was drill powered. That's _really_ crazy...
Hey all, author here. I had no idea this hit hackernews until my website traffic spiked. Happy to answer any questions. The scooter is still holding strong.
How do you turn right?
do you have alerts set up for your personal site's traffic?
No, just goatcounter and it showed a spike from HN.
Wonder how this would work with an impact? Also, since it already uses one-way bearings, could another drill/impact be fitted to the other side so that there are two “gears” available?
Wonder how this would work with an impact?
Not very well. It will work as long as the power demand is below the point it starts hitting, and then just stall with the tires absorbing all the impact hits once it reaches that point.
Pssssh that seems boring.
The real deal would be putting another drill on the back wheel, so that you have All-Wheel-Drive!
Squel the tires every few meters? Like an AC Cobra.
I do wonder how long the electronics, motor and little (plastic) gears in the drill would last with this. Especially since I'd suspect that it's designed for intermittent use, where it has time to cool down between each screw / hole drilling that you'd do normally. If you drive 2 miles in one go, that'll be a lot of heat that doesn't have time go anywhere.
Somehow I'd suspect that it won't last all that long...
I suspect there's very little power needed once you're up to speed and cruising, but constant stop-and-go and long uphill runs will certainly cause it to overheat.
It's brushless so brush wear isn't a problem, but these motors are air-cooled and will actually be cooler at high speed, low-demand. Lugging it up a hill would be a worst case.
I used a lower price electric drill to polish some stainless steel, and after a single hour of continuous operation it was never the same again.
Drills are used sporadically. If a drill was used intermittently it would be on most of the time and occasionally off.
> If a drill was used intermittently it would be on most of the time and occasionally off.
But when the wipers in my car are set to intermittent, they are off most of time and ocassionally off.
I’m fairly sure ‘sporadic’ indicates random/unpredictable timing while ‘intermittent’ has a predictable pattern.
I get sporadic phone calls about intermittent issues with some system or other that I take care of out there in the world.
(I wish there were a pattern to any of it, since it's often very difficult to fix things that are usually working fine.)
Feels good to see some one is enjoying and having fun with the tech
We are in the days of building the things we dreamed about as kids. Looks great for right turns!
OK, but here's a Lada in Russia powered by fifty cordless power drills.
Where have I seen something like this before. Right HAWK Hildesheim organized (locally) famous "Akkuschrauberrennen" https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=akkuschra...
Reminds me of the red green show sans duct tape
I remember watching this show as a teen while thinking I had to be the only person watching it.
When all else fails, play dead
It's only temporary, unless it works.
Love it. This is almost exactly how I electrified my crank-driven standing desk
What is that 3D printed wheel made of that it can support over half of your weight while bumping along a road?
ASA, per the post
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylonitrile_styrene_acrylate
Yes, but you could have made it out of PETG just the same. I have some PETG parts here that we have tried to break but couldn't, that stuff is ridiculously strong for its weight if you use the right infill and you take the layer direction into account when designing the part.
A good friend of mine told me he would frequently come across a guy who had modified his bicycle with an electric drill.
He would see him leaning over and pulling the trigger get an electric assist on the uphill section of the commute.
Direct drive, yes, also direct drill.
Watch out for the gear change, may end up in hammer action.
and as a bonus, now you know how it feels to ride a BMW boxer motorbike in a turn ;-)
You know you could have used a 90 degree chuck buddy. Or better yet, an angle grinder to make it a friction drive from above.
It's got 2 miles of range, adding those complications would likely eat up a lot of the range.
angle grinders run really fast, and even those with speed control just lower total power, not increase torque.
it would have made more sense to just mount the motor and the planetary, but I think the planetary is important here.
Turning right seems hard.
Is that why all politicians are suddenly turning to the left?
If that's what you're seeing then my guess is that, like this scooter, they'll be turning left three times so they end up going right.
I'm not sure where you are if you're seeing politicians turning left though.
video or it didnt happen!
Missed the opportunity to add vacuums and blowers and go upside down plus lateral and rotational movement, with fancy dark themed site and buzz words all over :)
add another wheel on the other side of the drill for a kind of sidecar-like stability? (tricycle style?)