jcczx9 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Hi Just wondering if someone could help. We bought my son a mini pro for his birthday and seeing how good the go kart attachment for it looks but not liking the price of $900 here in Australia, I decided to try to make one. I haven't quite finished it yet and haven't made an accelerator or brake yet but wanted to test the steering so I sat on it and steered with one hand and used the other to pivot the hinged mounting plate up and down to go forward or backwards. I know this is done electronically by plugging into the the mini pro on the factory version. But I thought I could get a similar result by making a platform and mounting the kart via a pivot point to a platform and tilting the platform by using pushbike brake cable activated by pushing a foot pedal and forcing the platform up or down for forward or braking/reverse. My problem is when I sit on the kart and tilt the back of the platform the kart moves forward slowly vibrating and jerking. I was careful to make sure the pivot point of the kart is right in the centre of the mini pro and the platform fits evenly over the sensor foot pads. I'm not sure why this is happening, it's definitely not a weight thing as I weigh 80kg and can stand on it and ride with no problems and the addition of the kart only serves to reduce the load as some of it is transferred to the front wheels and off the mini pro altogether. I have pulled the sensor pads off the mini and have seen the small round microswitches underneath but am unsure what their purpose is as the mini seems to go forward and backward even if nothing is touching them. Im not sure if I Should be using rubber cushioning to take weight off the sensors or redistribute the weight more directly on to them. Also I have seen the firmware update for kart owners but haven't installed it in case it has more to do with how the mini connects to the kart's electrics. Any advice would be great. Thanks 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Keith Posted January 20, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted January 20, 2019 7 hours ago, jcczx9 said: I decided to try to make one. I cannot help with your Mini Pro problem (although this post will at least bump the topic so others see it) but I just had to say I love that tennis ball seat suspension - a brilliantly simple idea - repurposing at its best 🤓👍. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo33 Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, jcczx9 said: Any advice would be great. Hello, a very great Wood Kart Kit Have a look here https://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/6990-reversing-minipro-steering-sensor/ https://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/8507-joy-stick-control/ Fake Gokart kit are selling now around 300$ https://www.globalsources.com/gsol/GeneralManager?point_search=on&page=search%2FProductSearchResults&product_search=on&supplier_search=off&article_search=off&apclick=&qType=PRODUCT&type=new&query=ninebot+charger&language=en&point_id=3000000149681&catalog_id=2000000003844&from=&loc=t&AGG=N&view=grid&KWSearchType=ProdSearch&action=GetPoint&action=DoFreeTextSearch Edited January 20, 2019 by jojo33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SegwayMiniPro Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 The suspension system is amazing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelwood Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 That suspension system really is ingenious, I love it! The pressure sensors under the footpads switch the Mini between two modes. When stepped on it’s the regular riding mode, but when there is no weight on top it is in an assisted mode. It will then use a lot less power, and will require a greater tilt to move. The purpose is to be more easily controlled when walked beside and pushed. It only expects having to move itself. I’d toy around with an idea of an ignition button/key that shortcuts the sensors. Or a gear lever to switch between N and D... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcczx9 Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 9 hours ago, mrelwood said: That suspension system really is ingenious, I love it! The pressure sensors under the footpads switch the Mini between two modes. When stepped on it’s the regular riding mode, but when there is no weight on top it is in an assisted mode. It will then use a lot less power, and will require a greater tilt to move. The purpose is to be more easily controlled when walked beside and pushed. It only expects having to move itself. I’d toy around with an idea of an ignition button/key that shortcuts the sensors. Or a gear lever to switch between N and D... Thanks for your reply. I'm a bit scared to do anything to the actual mini pro being brand new and not mine to potentially damage. I'm interested in playing around with the mounting of the kart to the mini. So if the sensors decide if someone is on it or not, should i be trying to put more weight on them? I had been thinking I needed to relieve pressure from them by making some sort of padding over that part of the foot pad so that the sensors aren't depressed. Also reading an add for mini pro where they explain that it is changing pressure from heel to toe that dictates movement makes me think that instead of having a solid piece of wood on the foot pads maybe I should mount it on a spongy rubber base so that lifting of lowering the mounting plate would result in a more rolling change in pressure more closely simulating a foot? Any thoughts? Thanks again for your input Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelwood Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 4 hours ago, jcczx9 said: So if the sensors decide if someone is on it or not, should i be trying to put more weight on them? Yes. That is how you get in the drive mode, only then will the motors give proper power and speed. Quote Also reading an add for mini pro where they explain that it is changing pressure from heel to toe that dictates movement I think they mean that leaning forwards or backwards is what makes the MiniPro accelerate. As long as there is enough pressure at the sensor to switch to riding mode, any excess amount of pressure is irrelevant. The pressure sensor does not control acceleration, only the physical tilt position of the MiniPro does. Leaning forward -> must accelerate to keep the rider upright. Same for reverse. Ad writers trying to explain technical things in a non-technical way often ends up being misleading, confusing, or plain wrong. One thing to note is that the MiniPro controls the amount of acceleration and speed by ”tilt-back”, meaning that when strained it will over-accelerate in order to prevent the rider from leaning further forward. If the rider stays tilted forward despite the MiniPro trying to tilt back, it will first accelerate very fast, then punish the rider by decreasing the top speed until the rider stops leaning forward. All this means that in your application there has to be a good amount of tilt room for the MiniPro. For example, a fixed, solid shaft for acceleration might not be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SegwayMiniPro Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 11 minutes ago, mrelwood said: Yes. That is how you get in the drive mode, only then will the motors give proper power and speed. I think they mean that leaning forwards or backwards is what makes the MiniPro accelerate. As long as there is enough pressure at the sensor to switch to riding mode, any excess amount of pressure is irrelevant. The pressure sensor does not control acceleration, only the physical tilt position of the MiniPro does. Leaning forward -> must accelerate to keep the rider upright. Same for reverse. Ad writers trying to explain technical things in a non-technical way often ends up being misleading, confusing, or plain wrong. One thing to note is that the MiniPro controls the amount of acceleration and speed by ”tilt-back”, meaning that when strained it will over-accelerate in order to prevent the rider from leaning further forward. If the rider stays tilted forward despite the MiniPro trying to tilt back, it will first accelerate very fast, then punish the rider by decreasing the top speed until the rider stops leaning forward. All this means that in your application there has to be a good amount of tilt room for the MiniPro. For example, a fixed, solid shaft for acceleration might not be a good idea. Umm it can probably also tumble dry your laundry given the right circumstances. 🤗 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetricUSA Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Need to make a video of you riding is.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Manuel Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 Hi Did you make it work for acelerating? Is it possible to use Gokart mode for Segway ? Regards JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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