Team Saint Robot Builds

[craig_colliass]

The solenoid valve may be able to do that duty cycle on paper.
But 10 cycles per second, I just would be reticent to trust the reliability of them operating at only 30psi or less when I would need at least 4 of them in a fighting robot.
It may work, but bottom line my choice, and I'm going for the rotating cam design.

Good news on the clips, I have found the clips shown bellow work well no more leaks!

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Next job is working out how to make the valve actuating cam assembly.
The fun never stops.

[Max]

Looking good, I had trouble with ends of the braided hose fraying- did you find a way around this?

[craig_colliass]

Hi Max
I stop the fraying by melting the end directly after cutting with a lighted match, this melts the end fibres together enough to stop them form fraying.


Below is one of the motor mounts for Gabriel finished, all but a little bit of countersinking.
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As these are American units the tapped holes were 5/16" UNF threads (a little under 8mm) the gearboxes are secured via two bolts at the bottom and two at the top of the gear housing, this leaves the motor overhang on these units, with the thin bolts holding them together, I thought it wise to provide support in the form of a bracket bolted to the motor end plate.

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The other advantage to this mounting system is the motor units should be easily bolted into any future robot with out too much effort. as the whole assembly can be bolted on to any flat floor-pan with just 4 bolts.

[craig_colliass]

After being ill over the Christmas with a bad chest I was able to get back into the garage to do a little bit on the robot the new motor mounts are now about finished and the new end plate is fitted on one side. the other side should not take long and then it is just a case of bolting it all together again, with the smaller motors I am hoping the Wotty will prove more reliable.

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[craig_colliass]

It's always nice when a plan comes together.
did some tests with Gabriel with the BIG hammer and went well
Just a few things to do
one is to change the radio over to DX6
and sort out the link LED.
then ready for action.

[craig_colliass]

Doing Batteries "old style" yep some old fashioned Batteries for Saint. we found last year we couldn't charge the batteries quick enough so an extra set was needed.
These came from Dave Weston, two were in the wrong configuration so they needed stripping down and sorting out.
They still need taping up to ensure there reliability then Off to War!



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[daveimi]

That looks a bit involved!

[craig_colliass]

Bought a new charger for the new LiPo batteries, found the Banna plugs I fitted perhaps were not up to the job!


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Fitted a bigger plug it may be a little over the top for a charger, but if the readout on the power supply was correct the new charger was pulling over 70A !!!!

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[craig_colliass]

With Gabriel required to do fights one after another I decided to try a different manufacturer of LiPo battery.


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Naturally the connectors on the packs were different too so conversion tails had to be made up.
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The specification of the two battery types are as follows:-
4 off Nano Tech A-spec 2.2Ah 6s 65c 130 max charge at 10c 8.8Ah pack.
2 off Opti Power 5.0Ah 6s 30c 70max charge at 3c 10Ah pack.

The Nano Tech batteries were significantly cheaper (even with the discount from Opti power!) and the total amps capacity if you believe the figures is well over 1000A short burst.
Also the charge capacity is 10c this means you can push 500w into the battery when charging! I have charged these batteries with "Brutus" then I put 400 watts into one of them no problem!
The Opti Power batteries have a greater capacity so they should last longer and I can then do 2 fights, between charges if this is true then they will be worth it. but believe it or not on these figures I will have to turn Brutus down on the Opti Power batteries even though they are over twice the capacity! so charging will be a little slower.
I have to say at the moment the Nano Tech batteries have proven themselves to be quite good, I don't have any qualms about getting some more of the same.
I wait to see if Opti Power proves to be the better battery.
Burgess Hill is coming up lets see how the new batteries work out

[craig_colliass]

Two items I found that I am thinking of using on the feathers

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On the right is a "standard auto fuse" holder I am thinking of using this as the link/fuse for the next Featherweight robot as it won't have to be that powerful. this unit comes with it's own backing plate so you can attach the fuse holder to the robot quite easily. Also if you wish to have more than one link. you can clip several together.

the Item on the left is a quick assembly wire connector. Lift the orange tab insert the wire and drop down the tab any wires connected to the same block will be electrically connected to the first.
These units are not too expensive these days, they can handle wire up to 12AWG and are rated at 32A I believe they could take more than this for the short times they are used in a robot fight, as the rating is almost certainly for constant use.
Something for me to try out I will keep you informed.