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Thread: [FW] Tracked 4WD Lifter: Aegis

  1. #151
    Alright! Sorry this is so late, possibly to the point of no longer being relevant, but it's time for a quick write-up of Extreme Robots Manchester! I'd have done this before now, but I've had a dissertation and several exams weighing me down. If you don't want to read the spiel, here is the playlist of the fight videos, and also a highlight reel/montage I made showing Aegis' best moments:

    Montage:

    Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EyMBNzp6X4eqf5
    If you'd like, you can also like the (admittedly unfinished) Facebook page I made for my robots. New machines are coming soon. Bonus points if you can figure out the name. https://www.facebook.com/TeamChiTec/

    The Event:
    I attended the event on both the 22nd and 23rd of April (Saturday and Sunday). Tim The Plumber was kind enough to drive us both to and from Manchester on both days, and we were able to attend both AM and PM shows. Big thanks to Tim for helping out enormously with maintenance of Aegis and filming my fights too! Being that this was my first event, I don't have much else to compare it to, but I believe most of the HW live events include one or two FW melees or rumbles, of eight or so robots, per show. This was the case at Extreme Robots, the roboteers simply wrote their robot down on the allocated time slot on a whiteboard, and this meant two FW fights per show.

    I was expecting to face spinners up until a couple of days before the show, where John informed us that the new arena's ceiling didn't fit properly. Thankfully this didn't affect me being a lifter, but it was unfortunate for those that had built and brought spinners, such as Team ARC's Catch Me If You Can, and Andy's Pendulum. It was also a bit of a shame we didn't get to see the heavyweight spinners such as the new Expulsion and Donald Thump, which were unfortunately reduced to pushers for this contest. Speaking of the arena, that thing was LOUD. It was clear the new arena floor was just plate steel, because whenever an axe-bot like Thor, or ESPECIALLY Gabriel hit it, all the panels vibrated and produced a resounding clash. Those who attended will recount that ear defenders increased in popularity as the event wore on. I believe the noise issue has been mitigated to some extent now, though I'm not sure exactly how (even bracing the floor panels with some wood underneath would help somewhat).

    While I'm moaning about the arena, I might as well say: there was nowhere near enough room for eight-plus featherweight roboteers to see their robots. Take this with a pinch of salt, but I thought I should mention it rather than not. In the space where we stood, there were at least three camera tripods up against the polycarb, and sometimes other people who weren't controlling robots. I'm on the short end of the scale as guys go, so this meant I was basically either trying to stand on my tiptoes to see over or around other roboteers, or crouching down so others could see over me. There were also times where I had to literally run to the other end of the arena to be able to see my machine. Again, no offence intended to John Findlay and the crew, I know they had their work cut out for them, and the arena is designed for heavyweights. However just a slightly raised platform for the roboteers, without massive camera tripods on it, would've gone a long way. Just something that meant we could all get up to the polycarb with our feet at arena-level would have been nice.

    Day 1:
    We arrived with Aegis ready and raring to go. The first fight however, immediately highlighted a flaw with the design: the tyres. Before the fight had even started, the 3mm neoprene started peeling off the wheels. This only got worse and worse throughout the fight, until I got stuck in the corner, probably due to lack of traction. I was able to get free, but performance was severely hampered at that point anyway. This was also the first and only fight that I got flipped in, by Explosion. They unfortunately weren't in any of the other FW fights that weekend, presumably because they were too busy maintaining and running Eruption. The self-righter never got a test however, as Aegis bounced right back onto its wheels.


    I had packed spare neoprene sheet in anticipation of this problem with the wheels, however David Weston (roboteer behind Satanix 1.66 and driver in the Crackers and Smash team) came to me with a much better solution: bike tyres. It was thanks to him and his donation of a tyre that the issue was pretty much solved then and there. The larger tyres did mean, however, that the side armour had to be removed for the remaining fights that day, as otherwise the wheels would rub against the body of the robot. The second fight of the day saw one of the rear tyres detach again, though this didn't hinder the robot's mobility too much. All tyres after this were secured with more screws, which seemed to fix the problem permanently.

    In the third fight of the day, I was unfortunately a victim of my own poor driving. While attempting to pit a robot very early on (I believe it was Push n' Shove) I shot straight into the pit. The extra traction of the new tyres meant the robot accelerated much more quickly, and this threw me off somewhat, but looking back it was still a poor manoeuvre whichever way you spin it. In the fourth fight I was nudged into the pit by Mecha Sombra, though I was already slipping in as I'd tried to slam them into the wall previously. Still, it was a good bit of fun regardless.

    Over the Saturday evening I worked on Aegis some more. I made the side armour fit again (though not the corners), neatened the wheels up a bit, and added a locking bar to the lifter. Apparently it moves fast enough to qualify for that safety measure, and admittedly I had increased the power a tad since the testing videos I posted. I also added a little bit of shock-mounting to the side armour, though I don't know how much it helped.

    Day 2:
    The first fight of the Sunday morning, I was pitted fairly quickly by an excellent shove from Team Chimera's featherweight, Nautilus. There wasn't much I could've done to make sure that didn't happen again, but Tim came up with the idea of extending the reach of Aegis' scoop a bit for the following fights. We took half a piece of 500x500mm 3mm thick HDPE I'd brought, and basically bolted it in place of the hardox scoop. After adding on some angry eyes and literally writing 'ANGERY' in two different places on it, Aegi-moth was born. For the last three fights, the scoop was a resounding success. The HDPE was just bent by hand, so it would press against the floor with the robot's weight on top of it, and also created a happy little bouncing motion when Aegis moved across the floor at some speed. It was able to lift, throw, and even grab other robots with its longer reach and flexibility, and successfully repelled multiple charges from other robots. Aegis happily survived the remaining fights, and quite a few VIP ticket-holders and other roboteers said they liked the design. I'm super chuffed with that, and personally I think it came out of the event looking cooler than it did when it went in.

    Overall it was fantastic getting to meet so many other roboteers and seeing their machines, absolutely everyone was really cool and down-to-earth to talk to. Shout-out to Team Eric who were on the table behind us, thanks for letting me use your red Sharpie! And again, huge huge thanks to David Weston for the bike tyre, and the kind words about my design. If not for him, no doubt my fights would've been a lot less successful. Can't wait for the next event I can attend! Hopefully that'll be the Robochallenge Champs at Insomnia (if/when it's announced). Thanks for reading! If you got this far, here are some before and after pics of Aegis. Cheerio!

    Before:
    IMG_20170414_203451.jpgIMG_20170414_203459.jpgIMG_20170414_203524.jpgIMG_20170414_203536.jpgIMG_20170414_203546.jpgIMG_20170414_203837.jpg
    After:
    IMG_20170423_204212.jpgIMG_20170423_204223.jpgIMG_20170423_204233.jpgIMG_20170423_204244.jpgIMG_20170423_204320.jpgIMG_20170423_204345.jpgIMG_20170423_204455.jpg
    Last edited by R9000; 3rd June 2017 at 01:38.

  2. #152
    Great read Was nice meeting you in person breifly, hope to see you at more events soon

  3. #153
    Personally, I think you're a bit of an inspiration. To go from nothing (well, an antweight, strictly speaking) to one of the best looking robots I've seen (not quite Razer, but better than Cerberus) is remarkable. I think Aegis is an excellent beginners story and can be a real contender for the champs this year! I especially liked it when you beached a few robots on their side or arena wall.

  4. #154
    Wow, cheers Theo. I really appreciate the kind words but I'm far from the best beginner's story here, and Aegis is far from the prettiest robot. Still, I'm super glad you think it looks cool, I can't wait to see what your clusterbot turns out like!

    And yes, standing Mecha Sombra up on its back was my favourite part of the competition I think. Either that or grabbing Nautilus under the scoop.

  5. #155
    Like how alot of the highlights is flipping ME over. I had a great time, pleasure meeting you and fighting Ageis. That white scoop you added made, worked really well. Might just do the same, as mine kept breaking.
    Last edited by cjsowry; 3rd June 2017 at 11:39.

  6. #156
    Hahah! Sorry Chris. You did self-right really well most of the time though. It was great to meet you too, can't wait to meet at another event!

  7. #157
    Sunday you threw me into the corner and like you said, I couldn't see where I had gone. Started wiggling the stick and by the time I had moved onto Major Damages loading bay to see myself, time was up.

  8. #158
    Ohh was that what happened? I didn't know you couldn't see over there too. Sorry about that, I think that arena still needs plenty of improvements.

  9. #159
    Possibly a rule that only roboteers driving can be in the booth instead of very man and his dog?

  10. #160
    Well I wouldn't really call it a 'booth', it was just the wall of the arena opposite the audience side. But yes, it would've been nice to have a more exclusive place when there were so many featherweight roboteers already, without camera tripods and stuff in the way.

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