Robert Cowan built a remote controlled robotic snow plow from a used wheelchair chassis. Its two 24V wheelchair motors run through a RoboClaw motor controller in RC mode, a wheelchair linear actuator raises and lowers the plow blade, a 16Ah lithium polymer pack powers everything, and a large e-stop button drops a solenoid to cut power to the controller.
Robert Cowan, a popular YouTube maker, built a robotic snow plow and documented the build in a two-part video series. The plow is based on a used power wheelchair chassis, which brought with it a pair of 24V wheelchair motors, solid-core tires, and a linear actuator. The two motors are controlled by a RoboClaw motor controller, and the plow is driven around with a radio control transmitter: the RoboClaw directly accepts the pulses sent by an RC receiver as one of its control modes, and the receiver is powered from the RoboClaw’s built-in BEC.
The plow blade is a hardware store snow shovel mounted on Actobotics channel with 3D printed brackets, and it is raised and lowered by the linear actuator that also came from the wheelchair. The whole robot is powered by a 16Ah lithium polymer battery, and Robert built in emergency stop functionality by wiring a large button to a heavy-duty solenoid that cuts power to the RoboClaw. Actobotics aluminum channel is used throughout the project to tie components together.
Robert’s first video is a useful primer on reusing wheelchair motors: most have a lever that disengages the gearbox for freewheeling and an electromagnetic brake on the back of the motor that must be released or removed before the motor will turn, and they are usually terminated with Anderson Powerpole connectors.
Key Features
- Used power wheelchair chassis with two 24V gearmotors and solid-core tires
- RoboClaw motor controller in RC mode, with the RC receiver powered from the RoboClaw BEC
- Wheelchair linear actuator raising and lowering a hardware store snow shovel
- 16Ah lithium polymer battery pack
- Emergency stop button driving a 175A solenoid that cuts power to the controller
- Actobotics aluminum channel and 3D printed brackets throughout
In the second video Robert tests the plow in more than a foot of snow, where traction rather than motor power turned out to be the limit, and he notes that tracks, wider tires, or more weight would be the next step. We thank Robert for showing off his project and for using a RoboClaw motor controller in his remote controlled snow plow.
Next Steps
Wheelchair motors are a popular base for heavy outdoor robots. RoboClaw RC Controlled Differential Drive Setup walks through wiring an RC receiver to a RoboClaw and configuring RC mode for skid steering, Motor Controller Selection explains how to size a controller for motors this large, and Using Linear Actuators with RoboClaw covers driving an actuator like the blade lift from a RoboClaw channel. Actobotics has since been discontinued in favor of ServoCity’s goBILDA system, which serves the same prototyping role.
