Team Pushover - Pushover (Feather)

Time to start the namesake feather, Pushover is to be a very basic and boring wedge with a front-hinged flipper. It wont be too exciting, and definitely not ground breaking, but we need to start somewhere, right? It will be as low a wedge as possible, if my measurements are correct I should be looking at approx. 31 degrees and 145mm tall, but these will be reduced as far as practicable once its together, Alu base and flipper 'paddle', with barrel-esque HDPE sides so It will always roll to one way up or the other.

Ideally I'd like it to be fairly fast and manoeuvrable, but not so much that I can't drive the thing, and the general aim is to get underneath, lift driving wheels up and slam around the arena, or just, you know... flip over...

Currently, she is no more than a pile of materials and a shopping list, but starting this diary is the first step in making sure I finish what I've (almost) started. On with the lists...

Body;
6mm Aluminium (cheapy stuff) for structural parts
15mm HDPE piping for armour
4mm Aluminium for bracketry (motors etc...)
3mm x 20mm 90 degree angle Aluminium (strengthening)

Shopping list;
Gimson 13.7:1 motors for drive
50mm throw LinAc (50mm lines up with the pneumatic ram when it eventually comes time to upgrade, so I can keep the geometry mostly the same)
Wheels (not a clue as yet)
ESC's (Have a plan, but very funds dependant)

Already have RC gear, batteries, and most of the general fixings and fittings. The only thing currently unplanned in any great detail is the front edge, and castor placement. The build will begin properly after the upcoming payday, and I fully intend to do this as neatly as possible. If I put up any pics and you guys thinks it's a bit bodged, please, please, please tell me. This is as much proof to me that I am capable, as it is a useable machine.

I will attach the sketches once I've re done them neat enough to share.

Planned deadline is the FW champs, I am determined to compete.

Any thoughts are more than welcome, thanks for taking the time to read my drivel.

With the 13.7:1 motors, the hubs that Gimson sell go straight on and then it'd be a case of adapting a wheel to go onto the hub as myself and Madusa have done. However, the hubs sometimes don't quite stay on the shaft so you can drill through the motor shaft and then fit a nut and bolt to hold it firmly in place. I never had this problem personally but it works so I'll take it.

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Planned deadline is the FW champs, I am determined to compete

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That is definitely ambitious given that the championships are likely late August with the signups probably opening up fairly soonish (June I'd reckon).

That's good to know about the hubs, better than finding out in the arena ha.

You think that's too soon? I should have the motors round the middle of this month, once I have those I can build the base to suit the sizing etc, LinAc and ESC the month after... Is there a cut off point for signups?

I don't think it is too soon, always have something to aim for ;) I think I had The Honey Badger 2.0 built and finished just prior to the 2017 championships but had to pull out due to other commitments I couldn't get away from. I started constructing that pretty much a week after The Honey Badger 1.0 was destroyed/flattened at Grantham, can't quite recall when that was (I'll check the live events posts).

Cutoff... there is one but I can't think how long the window is. The 2017 thread should say when it is.

UPDATE: http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/thre...omnia-61/page4

So the 2017 signups started in mid June and they were open until the end of the month - they fill up quite quickly so you've got to keep an eye out for it.

OK, so, if I can have a rolling chassis done for June 1st I should be good... well not good per se... But if it follows a similar time scale, there should be motors, battery, RX, and fusebox, and the wiring that's possible at that point all done and mounted on a base, with (ideally) side armour, top frame and flipper built and ready to install, by the time applications are open. Then I have a good number of holidays that I need to get used throughout June, maybe even 3 weeks worth...

I already know what's going to be the most difficult part of the build, well the 2 most difficult parts, the rear/top section/frame and the flipper linkages.

As soon as they open I'll probably make a snap decision whether I can have it ready or not, then decide when I won't be sleeping after that. :rofl:

Thanks for the info, looking forward to this.

Update time! Aaaaaand it's not all that great... We have started in earnest and have all the parts for the body and chassis cut, drilled and test fitted together but the Champs in August won't be happening this time around :(.

I can get it put together in the time I have left (I think), but financially, it's a little bit too much to bite off quite yet, and spreading the cost sensibly would have the parts all bought for September instead.

In short, disappointed, but not perturbed, I simply cannot justify the expense in bigger hits right now. I'll be 100% go for next year though, and by then I will have had plenty practice and might have half a chance of being competitive.

I will be building more insect class robots though, I only have 2 so far and I'm already hooked.

A shame but probably a wise decision, looking forwards to seeing this in the arena at some point ;)

Don't worry about it too much mate. I started my build in May of last year hoping for the champs as well, but life happens. If it's any solace to you though, the live events are a great place to test your bot, so you could try to aim for some of the autumn events instead!

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Pushover is to be a very basic and boring wedge with a front-hinged flipper.

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With some crafty driving. You'd be surprised how effective a design like that can be.

Also, you may not make it for August - but right now. I feel Combat Robotics has never had so many events going on throughout the year. there are plenty of events for AW/BW/FW currently. So i think you'll find an outlet not too long after you complete it, whether Insomnia or not.

Redirect left, that's the plan, I've have a bit of a thing for control bots, and have wanted to build a front hinger since watching Cassius compete as a small boy (plus the constant performance of Firestorm)... and it's that need for drive and control that makes me want to use quality components and not "cheap out".

But yeah, I need to do some adult stuff, I still need to replace my car, and my bike has lunched it's starter motor today... one of those days...

So I won't try and rush it anymore and instead cut my teeth at a few live events, also gives me a chance to put it through it's paces, give it a shake down, and learn to drive it properly.