I came across this kit while putting the lab back together. I’m not sure when I bought it, but I’m sure I bought it and the accompanying ladder chain kit as part of a robotics project that I never completed (or even began ?).
I love these Tamiya models. They were unattainable when I was young, being hard to find and expensive, but I’ve built a few as an adult and I’m always blown-away by the quality of the design and the parts themselves.
I finished the gearbox in about an hour. I tried to take my time and savor the process. Next I’ll do the tracks and see how well they’ll work with the motors, then I need to fabricate some sort of chassis and controller for the whole thing. I’m not sure what the power requirements for the motors are, but I’m sure I can find some documentation somewhere, or just trial-and-error it.
Control-wise I’m planning to use some kind of microcontroller but I’m not sure which. Most likely something running MicroPython, maybe an ESP32 if I can find a not-too-complex way to drive the motors with it.