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In the late seventies, Pam Strametz trained
her Obedience Trial Champion sheltie named Trouble to drive this child's
ride on car. It's an electric PowerWheels type car that belonged to
Pam's nephew. Trouble learned to get on the car, put one leg on the
steering wheel and the other on the gas pedal, and off he would go.
He was featured driving the car in many ads for our local dog training
club (www.MonteryBayDog.org)
and could be found amazing the crowds as part the county fair
demonstration team.
One of the problems with Trouble's driving
was that he could not actually steer the car. He could make it go by
putting his foot on the gas pedal switch, but then he would drive off into
whatever direction he happened to be facing. As a practical matter, this
meant someone had to intercept him at the end of each run before he drove
off a cliff.
Pam now has a new sheltie named Razz
who has demonstrated a showmanship and sparkle similar Trouble. Razz
is very easy going and likes to show off to a crowd, so Pam is in the
process on introducing him to the car.
As part of getting the car running again
after many years of storage we have added a few improvements. The
car has been converted to operate remotely using standard hobby RC
electronics. By replacing the on / off switch with an electronic
speed controller, the car can now operate at variable speeds in both
forward and reverse directions.
Remote steering is now also possible with the addition of a heavy duty
servo attached the steering linkage. These improvements should allow a
very choreographed and intricate routine to be developed
for Razz to perform.
Think of it as a huge scale radio
controlled car...
Watch
Razz Drive his car
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