Servo - November 2015

The Mantis is available in a four-wheel and six- wheel format. I was provided with one of the six- wheel varieties to work with and — once again — I have to say I am fairly impressed with this model. Unlike the Nomad — which is a semi-rigid chassis in that only one side pivots — the Mantis line is built using independent suspension. Each wheel and its corresponding geared motor is attached to the frame with four beams and one of their spring shocks. Being part of the Actobotics line of products, it is an impressive example of the flexibility and durability built into these parts. The frame is constructed using two 18 inch channels attached with the open ends facing each other to create essentially a rectangular tube. This makes it very rigid. From there, each wheel is attached by four of their five inch beams. The wheels each have a 12V motor with a planetary gear box. Attachment is made using Actobotics hub adapters. These geared motors are rapidly becoming my go-to for large projects, and I’ve used them on several to-date. They’ve proven very powerful and reliable. Aluminum spring shocks provide lift to the suspension. Each wheel assembly has one of these shocks attached. All of the moving parts were attached using aero-nuts. ServoCity ( www.servocity.com) must have read my Nomad review in the March 15 issue, because this time all of the static parts were attached using lock washers.

Wires for the motor were cut and

56 SERVO 11.2015

By Jeff Cicolani

ServoCity continues to expand their robot line-up with some impressive new platforms. Their smaller robot platforms — Peewee, Sprout, and Bogie — are nice starting points for making indoor robots. Meanwhile, the Scout, Warden, and Nomad chassis are great outdoor and off-road platforms. Their latest offering — the Mantis — is another step up from their rigid and semi-rigid models. I was recently offered the opportunity to review one of these new chassis.