Building A Stair-Climbing Vehicle

Running head: BUILDING A STAIR-CLIMBING VEHICLE 1

Building a Stair-Climbing Vehicle

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BUILDING A STAIR-CLIMBING VEHICLE 2

Building a Stair-Climbing Vehicle

Designing a vehicle that would move over a flat runway is very easy. However, when

the expected way for the use of the car has stairs, there is more to do with materials and

fabrication techniques (Alaspure et al., 2016). Over a long time, many people have come up

with technology and materials for the design of stair-climbing trolleys and robots. Such

vehicles are used to carry heavy and delicate equipment through stairs in buildings that do not

have elevators. Besides, remote driven cars need the stairs-climbing technology to enable the

operator to drive them in different pathways and make their transition from one way to

another easier. For instance, lifting a car to the next floor defeats the purpose of being remote

driven.

A remote-controlled vehicle is typically hands-free. It is self-contained in mechanical

energy and is controlled by an individual who is outside the car. Therefore, in structure, the

car should be able to support itself and maintain its stability through the body and wheel

structure (Alaspure et al., 2016). When it is meant to climb through stair, then its wheel and

traction system has to be modified to perform its function, and its stability ensured when it

cruises through stairs of different gradients. The car should be modified to cover more than

three stairs at any given point, with a balance of its weight distributed equally along its frame.

Therefore, when designing a car that would move through stairs, the wheel system and

bodywork fabrication are of paramount importance (Alaspure et al., 2016).

First of all, when a car is expected to climb stairs, its ground clearance should be as

high as possible. This will enable it to move from one step to another without having to

knock against the vertical sides of the stairs. Also, the wheel system should be modified to

enable it to automatically climb when it reaches the stairs. A tri-star wheel design is an option

of the wheel system that can be used in such a car. In the system, each of the pairs of the

BUILDING A STAIR-CLIMBING VEHICLE 3

wheels of the car would be made of three wheels on each side, with each wheel mounted to

its shaft with its other pair on the other side (Alaspure et al., 2016). The three shafts are

mounted on the vertices of an equilateral triangle and then connected to the central driving

shaft from which they are driven. Depending on whether the car is a four-wheel or two-wheel

drive, torque would be transmitted from the prime mover, such as an engine or motor, to the

drive wheels. When the car is moving on a flat path, it sits on two wheels while the third

wheel idles on the top of the others. When the car hits an obstruction such as a staircase, the

tri-star wheels are interchanged as they roll and contact with the ground thus enabling the car

to climb through the stairs by repeatedly interchanging its wheels (Kumar et al., 2014). The

tri-star wheel design works for such a car because when it is moving through a staircase, the

front wheel is prevented from moving when it reaches the vertical side of the staircase step.

The wheels are driven through the central shaft by the use of gears and bearings. When the

car is coming down the staircase, the tri-star wheel system enables it to land on the steps and

the rest of the system vaults over (Kumar et al., 2014). However, the wheels should be

sizeable enough such that a single change of wheels enables the car to move through one step

of the staircase. Since a single step of a staircase is around a half a foot high, the wheels

should at least be a half a foot in diameter each.

Another step in building a car is selecting the material to use. The cost, use,

requirements, and application recommendation of different materials form the basis for the

choice of material (Kumar et al., 2014). For a car to be remote driven, it should contain its

prime mover, the source of energy, and it's control system all of which are contained in its

body. Therefore, the weight of the car is likely to exceed 4kg and its size more than half a

meter long. Because of that, it requires a strong torque transmission material and a strong

chassis to bear its weight. Its Tri-star wheel system should be made from mild steel, a cheap

malleable and ductile material that is easy to form into the desired shape (Benford, 2006).

BUILDING A STAIR-CLIMBING VEHICLE 4

Mild steel is a material that is widely used in machinery parts that are subjected to light stress

such as that of a remote-driven car. It is easy to weld and join with other parts such as bolts,

nuts, shafts and gears among other locking devises characteristic of the wheel assembly

(Kumar et al., 2014). A wise choice of bearings should be made because the car would be

operating under a significant load. The bearings should be capable of withstanding both the

radial and axial loads exerted by the car. Being a small car, wheels can be made from filled

rubber with threads on its surface to enhance traction. The essence of using rubber in the

wheels because of its high coefficient of friction when in contact with concrete, tiles and

metallic surfaces, characteristic of indoor floors and staircases (Benford, 2006).

Therefore, the choice of materials to be used in making a remote controlled car

depends on the physical specifications of the car. The size of the car determines the power

requirements of the car, thus the size of the battery to install and the motor to be used as the

prime mover (Benford, 2006). The size of the car also affects the weight of the car because a

bigger car would require a larger source of energy and a larger driving system. There are

some parts of the car in which the manufacturer would not have a wide variety of materials to

choose from. For instance, the motor is metallic, and the battery is lead with a plastic cover.

As for other parts such as the wheel assembly, chassis, and body, the manufacturer has a wide

choice depending on the weight stress of the car and the wheel assembly the car is expected

to have. Above all, the materials selected should be cost-effective and have required

mechanical properties such as malleability, ductility, and plasticity (Benford, 2006).

In conclusion, when a remote-controlled car is designed to climb through stairs, the

primary concern is its power and structure. With relation to power, the car should produce

mechanical energy enough to raise its weight through the steps of a staircase, considering the

kinetic and potential energy required. This attracts a generous supply of energy (electrical

power) and a strong motor depending on the size of the car. Moreover, the mechanical

BUILDING A STAIR-CLIMBING VEHICLE 5

specifications of the car will aid its ability to climb through the staircase. In that sense, its

wheel system, wheelbase and ride height of the car.

BUILDING A STAIR-CLIMBING VEHICLE 6

References

Alaspure, R., Barmase, C., Chambhare, S., Mandhre, M. and Joshi, Y. (2016). Fabrication of

Stair Climbing Wheel Mechanism: Alternate for lifting goods [online] Irjet.net. Available at:

https://www.irjet.net/archives/V3/i5/IRJET-V3I5117.pdf [Accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

Kumar, S., Kumar, U., Suresh, K. and Sunitha, s. (2014). Design and fabrication of stair

climber trolley. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at:

https://www.slideshare.net/SunilKr94/design-and-fabrication-of-stair-climber-trolley

[Accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

Benford, t. (2006). Garage and Workshop Gear Guide.

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