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Comment by Greg O on Thursday

The CEN GST can also be gotten used for fairly cheap (under 200) and is built like a tank. It's a nitro truck but has brushless conversions. Has a ton of internal space if you add a roll cage or bar to it. This is what I'm going to base my rover on when I start my build. After seeing the great process, its making me want to get this going.

Comment by Bot Thoughts on Thursday

FYI, RedCat Racing, ExceedRC, and a couple of other brands carry some of the same models. Do a bit of research on durability. I have seen folks post that they like RedCat; it's not clear to me if the models are identical or if there are differences in plastic or what. Just read up on the RC sites.

Comment by John Moore on Thursday

@Kabir,

Another platform to consider is the RedCat Racing (www.redcatracing.com).  My buddy is running a cheep rock crawler which he paid $150 for which perfoms really well.

Another one I considered was the 1/8 scale MaxStone crawler by exceed found at www.nitrorcx.com

John

Comment by Bot Thoughts on May 15, 2013 at 6:06pm

@Kabir - to get a "hobby grade" RC vehicle, you will need to spend at least $100. But you can get something good for under $200.

I have an ExceedRC Sunfire 4x4 buggy I got as a used roller for $60. For on road, probably ok. Off-road, suspension is absolutely terrible. Mixed bag; you'll probably buy it and want something better at some point.

Far better value can be had at the $150 and up price point. I and many others love ECX RTR kits. They are known to be very durable, low cost, easily upgradeable. ultimaterc.com has a whole sub-forum devoted to them where you can learn everything.

My rover, Data Bus, is based on an ECX Circuit. I've crashed and rolled and flipped, and just beat the snot out of it for the last three years. It's been running a brushless setup for the last two. I've only broken/bent a few items in extreme collisions and all the parts are dirt cheap. They now come with a 2.4GHz radio. The suspension is good, can be upgraded, gearing, motor, esc, all upgradeable. But in stock form it's quite usable.

I don't have personal experience with Duratrax but worth looking at. That brand has been around awhile and has some following. They have at least one entry level stadium truck you could go with that isn't too costly.

Helion is Hobbytown USA's house brand, but carefully check into these for durability, check ultimaterc.com reviews, etc. I don't have personal experience with them.

I also picked up an Ofna Hyper10TT 4wd truggy roller for $150 + $130 for a nice big Tekin motor, and a small sum of $40 for a HobbyKing ESC. This is a fine RC truck, high quality suspension, excellent shocks, aluminum chassis, etc.

For awhile I had an Ofna JL10E which I put together for something like $200? I just stuck a Traxxas Titan12T and XL5 ESC on it. Ran fine on the street but very little clearance. Also a quality machine.

Spend some time on rctech.net, ultimaterc.com, or rcgroups.com, look for used deals if you want, or just learn about different new options.

Hope this helps.

Comment by Pooja Velaskar on May 15, 2013 at 12:36pm

Is anyone from the Phoenix,Arizona area working on the rover?

Admin Comment by Thomas J Coyle III on May 15, 2013 at 9:02am

@Kabir,

I have found that you get what you pay for in the quality of rovers. I use Traxxas truck chassis. I built my first Traxxas E-Maxx chassis from new parts off of eBay for about $400 USD. My AVC Traxxas Slash rover started at a "roller chassis" for $88 USD, but you have to add a motor, ESC, servo, receiver, wheels, and a battery to get it up and running.

The cheaper chassis will usually not last as long and will break fast nickel and diming you with part replacements.

Check out this thread: http://www.diydrones.com/group/ardurover-user-group/forum/topics/wh...

Regards,

TCIII

Comment by Kabir on May 15, 2013 at 8:55am

Guys, what would be a good ArduRover platform sub $100 if I don't want build one myself?

Admin Comment by Thomas J Coyle III on May 15, 2013 at 8:45am

@Pooja,

I am presently using the stock PID settings. Each rover will be different so it is hard to generalize.

Regards,

TCIII

Comment by Pooja Velaskar on May 15, 2013 at 8:41am

Thanks for your earlier responses.What are the best PID settings for the rover?

And is anybody from the Phoenix,Arizona working on the rover?

Admin Comment by Thomas J Coyle III on May 13, 2013 at 2:15pm

@MVeloso,

Yes, that is correct. However, CRUISE_SPEED is in meters/sec. Also, CRUISE_THROTTLE, in percent, sets the base throttle percentage, which is an estimate, to reach the mission cruise speed (CRUISE_SPEED). If you want fast vehicle performance it is best to keep SPEED_TURN_DIST around 2 meters and SPEED_TURN_GAIN around 50% or greater. My rover can go through the curves at 5 m/s so I have the SPEED_TURN_GAIN set at 75 - 100% with a CRUISE_SPEED of 5 m/sec.

Regards,

TCIII

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