Want to help me design a rugged robot?

[datguy.dev]

Greetings everyone!
Recently I have dedicated myself to making an outdoor surveillance robot.

Goals:
-Most importantly, it has to be affordable (x < $300-ish). Can't make what i can't afford.
-It must traverse environments such as backyard and trails. Handle a few inches of water and soggy grass areas.
-Can do both radio controlled and autonomous. (Where the pi comes in)
-FPV.
-Battery life

My current plans: (http://i.imgur.com/gQq0FpU.jpg)
A tank, because tanks rarely get stuck and speed isn't exactly a requirement. Starting at the point of motion, the wheels and treads. I'm thinking sprockets and (double/duplex) rolling chains. This chain leave me an outer chain where I can insert small bolts and nits for extra traction. You can view the image above for an example but the gear sizes aren't correct. This tread setup is about about $70 alone. I'm crafty, so I'm going to build it from scratch besides majority of the electronics.

These parts should cover the FPV of things:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... ennas.html
http://www.amazon.com/3-5-Inch-TFT-Moni ... 22+monitor
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Axis-PT-Pan-T ... 5674778b71 (Anyone know what size servos this item uses?)

Can anyone give me some advise on the type of motors and a gearbox I should use with this design? Any tips on the sprockets size and where they would be ideal?

Can someone assist me in figuring out the means of control for this robot? I do not want to use a standard controller. Instead, I want to hookup the pi to the guts of a 'transmitter.' Transistors or what have you, then I can develop the remote functions and have it capable of autonomous features all in one package. Or at least that is the plan. So I take it I'l need another receiver and transmitter for that.

I have questions for days, but I'll leave it at that for now.
Thanks so much for your time.

[scotty101]

Have you built a simple robot before?

It may be better for you to start with something small and simple before spending a fortune trying to build something that you might not have the skills to build.

[BMS Doug]

Have you built a simple robot before?

It may be better for you to start with something small and simple before spending a fortune trying to build something that you might not have the skills to build.

Scotty has a good point here, I would suggest starting with a standard magician chassis robot and getting all of your communication and control systems working on that, then scale up to your desired chassis.

[datguy.dev]

Makes sense, a person who would know everything about something, would request assistance. Your responses apply to every question ever asked and I will ignore distractions in the future

A heavy radio controlled robot will be a new venture for me. But I've been doing various Arduino and Rasp pi things for about 8 years. More rpi as of late, as my major is going to be computer science.

[danjperron]

You've only been doing RPI things for just over 3 years (at most)

Well before the PI something else exist!

I did that one 8 years ago with 1 PC104 on slackware with a logitech camera, 2 drills motors and on wifi!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/488 ... _pc104.wmv

It was my squirrel chaser!