Tiny Forklift Makes Unusable Space Usable

Houses with crawlspaces are fairly common in some geographic regions. The crawlspace can make it easier to access things like plumbing and electrical wiring, and can even be used as storage in homes that don’t (or can’t) have a basement. Along with improved building ventilation, these some of the perks compared to homes built on a solid slab of concrete. These crawlspaces aren’t exactly easy to get around in, though, but [Dave] has an easier way to get stuff in and out of these useful, but small, spaces.

Enter the crawl space forklift. Made with largely off-the-shelf components, the robot includes a few standard motors and linear actuators to move around and operate the front fork. That’s all pretty standard, but this build really shines with its use of FPV camera, monitor, and transmitter that allow the pilot to navigate the robot in the small space using remote control. For those safety-conscious among us, there is also a fire extinguisher ball on board which self-activates in case the robot catches on fire under his house.

This is a great, high-quality build that shows how common parts can make something revolutionary with the right idea. Identifying a problem and then building a solution, while not forgetting to spring for some safety equipment, can really make a difference even with something as simple as unoccupied space in a home. They can tackle tasks around the home, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=cFO38cKXmU4

25 thoughts on “Tiny Forklift Makes Unusable Space Usable

  1. Cliff Stoll has been using a similar homemade robotic/RC forklift to retrieve individual units from his inventory of 1000 Klein bottles under his house for years now. Search for “Cliff Stoll Klein bottle” for some true entertainment. Then watch ALL of his other videos. This man is a true “wacky scientist”.

    1. I ended up buying one of Cliff’s Klein bottles a while back for my sister, based on an article I read on here. Genuinely great experience too, he sent photos of it being packed up and posted, and on top of that my sister loved it. :)

    1. Many of my older relatives have used crawl spaces as root cellars ever since they lost access to real root cellars, and that tradition is at least hundreds of years old.

  2. I am a member of the hackers group referred to by Stolls book.
    Espionage is a wild exaggeration of what happened at the time.
    Just a bunch of bored German kids surfing the networks.

  3. I hope the ceiling joists are up to it.
    Load + forklift itself + counterweight…
    p.s. in Australia, crawlspace also describes the underfloor void – also useful for (some) storage

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