Converting a Go-Kart into a Deathtrap

Nice project!

Did you know that instead of buying new motor controllers, you can re-use the hoverboard motor controller? Awesome people have made open source firmware you can flash to it: https://github.com/EFeru/hoverboard-firmware-hack-FOC. With this firmware you can make the motors go way faster, up to 40km/h with a 12S battery.

We are also building a kart with hoverboard motors, with a custom welded steel frame. Vibrations are a real issue with the standard solid rubber wheels, hopefully I can find the same air tires you used!

Our website is in Dutch, but you can watch the videos: https://projects.raphson.nl/projects/kart/

It’s a great project overall but MDF is a very poor choice for the base. It will get destroyed as soon as it gets wet. At minimum they should have used exterior grade plywood, and painted it

Fun for the dad, but odds are good the original version would have been even more fun for the kid, and longer lasting. If you've never seen what a young kid can do with a suitably sized Kettcar (kettlecar) or Berg pedal go kart, you have missed out on some amazing vehicle dynamics. The designers got the weight distribution and steering dynamics exactly right. The things are a blast.

Maybe this will help someone to not over-engineer a kart: in Vietnam you can rent karts bolted onto hoverboards. They have pedals for forward/backward that just tilt the hoverboard in the right direction. Very low-cost solution. Steering is normal with the front wheels.

Here's a project I've been working on lately. Hope you like it!

What a great project. Congratulations. I grew up getting to drive mini-bikes, lawn mowers, tractors, the old truck, etc. Now that I’m older and live in bug cities, I know so many younger people who say they just don’t like or feel comfortable driving. They never got to drive smaller wheeled things as they grew up. When my never-been-behind-the-wheel, and nervous, NYC niece and nephew hit 14-15, I took them to a large open space in our Mini Cooper and told them to pound it. Floor it, crank the wheel, etc - to give them the feeling of having fun driving while getting a good feel of it. And seeing their smiles was awesome.

I admire people who achieve to complete some real, physical project. I feel overloaded by mess just when trying to cook a meal.

Parent of the year winner!

Wish my Dad made one of these for me but we used a pushchair pulled by an excitable dog. Less power but just as dangerous

Impressive. Really cool what you did there

I'd add a mechanical brake and teach my kid how to use it. And maybe a failsafe switch that shuts the thing down when no one sits on it?

> Motor: It has to be powered by an electric motor, because we no longer live in 1940.

Well, that's a bummer.

Nice project, but am I the only one who thinks it's a bit cynical to first advertise it as a "death trap" and then show kids riding it? Which means you either admit that the title is complete and utter clickbait, or you demonstrate an alarming lack of concern for the well-being of children.

I'm impressed and envious!

This is so cool! For an upgrade, they make wheels with motors in them, so a 4 wheel drive version would be quite possible.