Interior electronic systems of GIZMO the Gepard R/C tank - There is no wasted space inside the hull of GIZMO. This view shows most of the electronic systems that control and animate the tank; a 4 amp-hour 8.4V Ni-Cad battery fills most of the space underneath the electronics.
The D-sub 9 connector for the turret umbilical wiring is in the center of the picture; the heatsink in the foreground is for the 10 amp 3 volt power supply that powers the xenon cannon strobes.
Because of efficient power system design, GIZMO can run for 5 hours on one charge.
Flakpanzer Gepard Control and Animation System--Master Schematic - The multiple systems in GIZMO finally became so complex that a master schematic was needed to keep everything straight.
The stock Tamiya tank used three different types (and voltages) of batteries--4 NiCads for the radio, 2 alkaline C cells for the strobe, and a 6V lead-acid battery for the drive. I designed my system with one large Ni-Cad battery pack, and used voltage regulators for all of the systems.
This approach lets GIZMO run for 5 hours straight on one charge of the battery pack.
Flight simulator game, internal view - This concept used twin endless-loop 8MM film projectors to provide two alternative tracks of visual material for a flight simulator game.
Similar in concept to the early video game consoles (Dragon's Lair) that used twin Laserdiscs to provide a branching flow of visual action based on the player's inputs, this did the same thing with much cheaper film-based equipment.
The projector drives were locked together with a driveshaft and U-joint setup.
Experimental programmable vehicles 1 and 2 - This was a project to design a simple-to-program electronic vehicle for younger users. These vehicles were an available toy that was heavily modified in support of the project with new electronics and gearboxes.
Rear view showing control touchpads of 1 and 2 - The goal was to design a vehicle that was more intuitive and easier to program than the products on the market at the time.
Solar Tracker system control panel - This is my home-made control panel for the charger and battery system that is fed by the power output from the Solar Tracker array.
The PV input, battery charge/discharge circuit, and the load circuit are all monitored by ammeters and protected by fuses.
The housing over the top row of meters has a small fluorescent tube inside for lighting, but I'm replacing it with white LEDs in the near future for lower power draw.
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