i've been thinking about how to make it easier to explore the 30-42" diameter storm drain tunnels. crawling for long distances is obviously tiring and uncomfortable. i've used my skateboard in 36" tunnels and it's a lot of fun for the downhill part, but not so much for the uphill.
has anyone had any experience using some sort of motor? i saw on one of the threads someone suggested using an RC car (holding the car's wheels against the pipe), but i think that would not have enough power. something like a motorized scooter or skateboard would have enough power, but the motor is fairly heavy (not to mention the battery pack). is there something in between?
another configuration which might work for slightly larger pipes could be to take a full electric scooter but with a shortened steering bar, and attach a 3rd wheel off to the side. this way the electrical parts would be well away from the inch or so of water that's probably running down the middle of the pipe.
these are all just ideas, i'd like to know if people have experience with this and how it panned out