Pokemon Egg Hatcher- Esk8 w/ handlebars | 4.12 VESC | 149kv SK3 | 9 x 43" Kicktail Moose Deck

I had a little help with this build…

Started with this cheapie ebay deck:

Lego Star Wars sticker bombing in progress

We sprayed some clear over the stickers, no grip necessary when you’re running handlebars :wink: He made sure they’re beefy enough for dad to use.

Cleaning off the slag, nasty flux core

Sprayed the bars with some satin black and while they dry, time to prototype the next drive system…

Maybe we’ll run pneumatics on this one

Or not…

Back to business, little guy’s on donor chassis tear down

While big guy marks out the electronics mounting rail system

Paint’s dry, time to assemble

Running 4s 10ah Multistars- amp draw really is no issue on this build, I’ve got the VESC on 40 amp limits

Big guy whips up a quick handle bar button mount for the brake feature

While little guy works on the Pokemon Go device interface mounting system- without this, the build is useless :grin:

Drive components installed

Battery and electronics covered

And a quick photo walk-around

And the shakedown road test

With chase vehicle

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Thank you for sharing! Brightened my evening :slight_smile:

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What an awesome dad! Hehe. Nice build!

Your gonna have to change your title to 2nd youngest esk8 builder. LoL

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From one Welder to another. Good job! And flux core can be messy but it makes for a strong weld.

Thanks guys!

Top speed is right around 10mph on 4s- 18/42 gearing. Next challenge to tackle is wiring up the brake switch.

The hall throttle works perfectly using the 3.3v, gnd and ADC_EXT (pins 2,3 and 4 respectively in the diagram above). Where I’m running into trouble is with setting up the push button to use the hall throttle as a brake; as I understand it the pushbutton should connect pin 2 (3.3v VCC) to pin 6 (RX) and when it is held/activated the hall throttle should then be a proportional brake.

I’ve tried all variations in the ADC application for VESC settings, as well as using pin 5 (TX) and even pin 7 (ADC_EXT2), but no joy. There is not a ton of info on this out there, the best explanation is in a post made by vedder himself re: using a similar set-up for cruise control: http://vedder.se/2015/08/vesc-writing-custom-applications/

If anyone has this working (or if you know of a post/info location explaining it), please let me know how you wired it and what selection you used in the VESC ADC application.

Made my day . This is inspiring

great photos… really love that this is a family sport/hobby!

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Alright, successfully installed the brake button. In case this helps anyone in the future, here’s what I did:

Ground to TX pin = cruise control Ground to RX pin = brake or reverse, depending on which control mode box is ticked

This is a very elegant braking solution as it allows you to use the throttle to modulate braking force, but I’m not sure this is the best solution for my 5 year old pilot (if you have the throttle pinned, and he always has the throttle pinned, and you hit the brake button you will have full braking force). You have to be off the throttle, then hit the button, then slowly apply brake using the throttle- may be a little too steep of a learning curve on this method. I’ve yet to let him try it, I’ll need to limit the speed a little bit more before the first go.

In case the brake button proves to be too much, I’ve ordered two of these universal thumb throttles- one to use as the throttle and the other to use as the brake. I’ll post back with results of this experiment once they arrive from China.

You could always rig some sort of foot break… some sort of friction break for the rear wheels

He’s got the flintstone foot brake down :grin:, we’ve been running a version of this board for a couple weeks without brakes. But, yeah, a friction pad style brake would save some wear and tear on the old crocs :sunglasses: Good idea!

It would be great if you could have a throttle cut off if he hits the break… could save him from burning out the motor by accident

This is awesome. nothing like a parent showing children how to imagine, calculate, design and create…as a kid my dad would never buy anything he can make.

Now…any chance of making and selling a handle like that? I really want one for the wife, just need a “stick” with deck mounting holes

I doubt it would be cost effective for me to build you one of these, it ends up being fairly large and heavy and would likely cost as much to ship as to make it.

Really nice build log! @Qwiksand Could you describe how well that handlebar is helping in turns and staying in balance when turning?

Actually by looking at all of these pictures I started to wonder how it might work out if the front wheels had a lot shorter wheelbase than the rear ones… in theory, it should offer the possbility to make sharper (less radius) turns… and would act more as a one wheeler I assume :slight_smile:

The only reason I ask is because I have no tools or knowledge to weld such a thing. Would you be able to make one with the top mounting plate plus say a 3- 5 inch pole with two holes where I can add in a scooter handle on my end. That would be lighter ans smaller to ship. is $50 do-able for such a job?

I’m looking to getting a stick like the one I had years ago on this https://spongefile.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/kickboard.jpg

It’s kind of like training wheels for a skateboard- it turns by leaning like a normal board, but it gives you something to hold onto. It’s really weird to ride the first time since you expect the handle bar to do the steering, but you quickly get used to using your body to lean turn. Much safer and easier to control for young riders.

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