A Tether for Rob

I finally got around to putting a tether on Rob.  A temporary one at least for now.  Basically, I just hacked his brain and hooked up a relay board to his motors.  This way the lights and stuff will still work as they did originally, but I have more control over his motion.  I put the controller battery pack inside the button box.  I know, it's a very "hacky" job, but like I said it's just temporary.  At least now I don't have to kick him around the garden.

This is why we prototype.  To find the bugs.  Rob has a big one.  Ok, a few big ones, maybe.  He is very violent in his movements.  That causes hell with the solar supports.  As in, they fell apart.  I'll have to redesign that part I think.  He also has a problem with too much power.  If you can really call that a problem.  The car I used is supposed to have a 60ish pound kid in it.  I tested it before I started building with about 80 pounds so it can pull a lot.  At the moment though it's not getting any traction, so he's too light.  I may just have to add ballast to fix that.  At least now he can move.  The bugs keep it interesting