Motorized Sofa Mobilizes Couch Potatoes
Bitluni’s hackerspace had an old IKEA couch going unused, so he and his friends set out to motorize the sofa to create a rideable couch.
People know IKEA for two things: Swedish meatballs and cheap furniture. You can count on that furniture falling apart the first time you move, but it sure is affordable. Bitluni’s local hackerspace had an old IKEA couch going unused, so he and his friends set out to motorize the sofa to create a rideable couch.
The motors for this project came from an old Hoverboard, which is a fantastic source of parts for makers. Hoverboards were very popular for a while there and now thrift stores and garage sales are packed with the things. Used Hoverboards — especially those that aren’t working anymore — are very cheap and contain some pretty nifty hardware. That hardware includes a pair of wheels with powerful hub motors, motors drivers, and a beefy battery pack. In this case the battery pack was kaput, but the motors and driver board were working.
Bitluni’s idea was to attach the Hoverboard motors to the IKEA couch along with a pair of casters so that it wouldn’t need to balance itself. The construction was straightforward because the sofa’s wood frame provided plenty of space to mount the motors and casters. To compensate for the weight, the team added an axle-like tube between the two motors. That helped to reduce the bowing, though it didn’t eliminate that problem entirely.
The biggest challenge was interfacing with the Hoverboard’s controller so that they could take manual control of the motors. A bunch of different manufacturers produced Hoverboard models and they’re all a bit different. And, of course, those manufacturers never published data on their hardware design or communications protocols. Fortunately, the team was able to find custom firmware created by Lucy Fauth that works with this particular Hoverboard controller. That lets the user control the motors with a Wii Nunchuk remote.
Because the Hoverboard’s original battery was dead, the group ended up using a battery pack from an electric bicycle. That provided plenty of current and capacity — more than the original battery pack.
With all of those pieces in place, they had a motorized sofa that they could ride in comfort. It was surprisingly agile, which proves how powerful those Hoverboard motors really are.