DIY Motorized Pico Flex Table Dolly

• • 18 Comments

Great job from Vimeo member Oliver for this DIY motorized Pico Flex Table Dolly. It's a direct friction based drive wheel, which doesn't require much torque. The dolly rolls very easily with little effort from a motor. I was testing out something similar several weeks ago using a pulley wheel to a continuous rotating servo found (here). I used the same basic battery box, continuos rotating servo, and speed controllers as in the DIY motorized JuicedLink slider project. You can find a list of those parts (here). I can see that Oliver is using a servo tester, which is a much cheaper solution than the servo controller I was using. [Thanks Oliver]

If i'm correct, that servo tester is just the basic ones found over at eBay (click here).

servo-tester
find-price-button Servo Tester

18 thoughts on “DIY Motorized Pico Flex Table Dolly”

  1. I wanted to make sure that this was easy to build without the need of using a drill, cutters or metal saw and it came out pretty good.

  2.

    I stumbled upon this thread recently as I've been researching on how to build a motorized add-on for my Pico Dolly and I thought I would mention what I have done.

    This is my first attempt at making a cheap motorized add-on, from what I have read here and other sites, so here goes.

    The Metal frame, nuts and bolts cost about $7.00 from my local hardware store, here is the list.

    1 x T-Plate 4’’ x 7/8’’ $3.00
    2 x L-Shape Plate 2’’ x 2’’ $1.00 ea.
    2 x Bolts ¼ ’’ x ½ ‘’ $.015 ea.
    4 x Bolts ¼ ‘’ x 1’’ $.020 ea.
    6 x Washers ¼ ‘’ $.010 ea.
    1 x Large Tie-Wrap $0.10

    1 x 72003 Tamiya High Power Gearbox $21.00
    1 x 70111 Tamiya Sport Tire Set $10.00
    1 x Battery Holder with leads for 2 AA $3.00

    Total cost is about $40.00 + taxes

    Here are two photos of the add-on.
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/93999653@N08/

  5.

    I just finished a wireless setup for the Pico Dolly, very similar to Oliver's setup. One main difference (other than the wireless aspect, of course), is that, instead of an aluminum plate, I used a black wall plate - perfect size (3x5 in.), and looks great! I'd be glad to take a video of it in action and post it somewhere if anyone's interested.

    Here's everything I used to make it, all for about $50 (before tax and shipping, including the remote control unit):

    FlySky FS-GT2 2.4G 2 Channel Gun Transmitter w/ 3 Channel Receiver
    (https://www.hobbypartz.com/fs-gt2-24ghz-radio-black.html, $19.70)

    Continuous Rotation Servo
    (https://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1248/pictures, $12.95)

    Aluminum Servo Bracket (to attach the servo to the wall plate)
    (https://www.trossenrobotics.com/store/p/3334-Aluminum-Servo-Bracket-Two-Pack.aspx, $5.95)

    Hitec AAA Dry Cell Battery Box (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010U9J4M/, $4.43)

    Velcro Tape (to attach the wireless receiver to the servo and the battery pack to the wall plate)
    (https://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202261915/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053, $3.39)

    7/64" Drill Bit (to make holes in the wall plate for the servo bracket) (https://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100390772/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053, $3.09)

    Gang Black Midway Blank Wall Plate
    (https://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202059863/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053, $.89)

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  10.

    I'm going to do the same thing with a lego nxt kit I have that's not being used. Should be able to make it so it senses the end of the bench and stops, plus hoping to incorporate a follow focus controlled by the nxt remotely into the design. Wish me luck.

  11. Emm

     Post author

    @Josh - Yes, someone already did that with the Konova. It will only pull it on a horizontal slide, not vertical or upwards on any grade. There are more powerful servo setups that the company sells. I have not tried that yet. httpss://cheesycam.com/diy-motorized-konova-slider/

  12. Josh

    Emm, could this servo be used to motorize the konova slider? I am a total novice to making anything motorized, but the article you posted linked to a $30 servo, when this is like $0.99

    Thanks 🙂

  13. Oliver

    @Kevin: in this setup the wheels of dolly can have any angle without repositioning the servo. You just turn axis and servo together - the distance remains fix as they both move around the centre of the axis.

  15. Emm

     Post author

    @Kevin - I mounted my set up on top of the axle, and the servo moves with the position of the axle. Placing it on the ground turns it into another friction point and would make changing direction more difficult. You can see mine spinning in circles once I located it to the top of the axle.

  16. kevin

    Also, might be cheaper if you just go to a thrift store and pick up a RC car for 5$ total to strip down, and it will be wireless control!

  17. kevin

    Wouldn't it make more sense to have one wheel pushing on the ground rather than wheel on wheel?
    That way you can have your dolly wheels at any angle with out playing around with the servo placement.

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