Hacked Hoverboards Become Potent RC Tank

Hoverboards were the darling, or perhaps the scourge, of the last few years, Banned by vigilant airlines, they’re a great way to break an ankle or set your house on fire. However, they’re also a treasure trove of valuable parts for hacking, as [Aaron] ably demonstrates with his RC tank build.

[Aaron’s] build utilizes not only the hoverboard’s torquey hub motors but also the original control hardware, too. This is a cinch to repurpose, thanks to the custom firmware for the original controller developed by [Lucy Fauth], whose work we have featured before.

The hacked parts are crammed into a chassis built with aluminum extrusion, and the final result is a nimble and robust tank with one motor per wheel. This enables some exciting driving dynamics. Additionally, with all the torque available, [Aaron] is even able to ride the tank like an electric skateboard.

It’s a fun build that shows off the raw power available from the hoverboard hardware. We fully expect to see these parts remain popular in the hacking scene in the coming years. Video after the break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDL2_DEqnKEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDL2_DEqnKE

 

https://github.com/NiklasFauth/hoverboard-firmware-hack/blob/master/README.md

11 thoughts on “Hacked Hoverboards Become Potent RC Tank

  1. I have had one of these almost exact platforms in mind for years! I just never got around to doing it and now he beats me to it :( Great work !
    @Mayermakes said it pushed his 100kg body around quite fast, remember that the 2 wheel hoverboards are rated at 100kg max and this has TWO of them. It also doesn’t need to balance. I imagine a 250kg payload would be fine on this thing. My original idea was to use it as a mobile transport platform for goods at work. Using a Lidar scanner, RasPi and SLAM it would follow me around carrying all the heavy equipment I didn’t want to carry. The Star Wars “a bot for everything” future is coming!

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