[FW] Tracked 4WD Lifter: Aegis

[R9000]

Thanks Jamie! Honestly... yes. I already mangled the nut on one actuator, and I had to buy another (though that was before I got the limit switches working). This one is *supposed* to withstand 1200N on it, and it has quite a large screw inside. I have plenty of spare gears, but honestly I think the nut will always go first. I have put a metal washer with a rubber ring on the top of the screw in an attempt to reduce damage, we'll see how that goes, but honestly I wish I could just have a metal nut. I'll look into that in future. For now, it moves a lot slower when attached to the bucket it'll be lifting, so hopefully that helps reduce wear from moving too fast.

[R9000]

Well, I know I haven't updated for a long time, but I really have been 'beavering' away in my spare time. Big thanks to Tim the Plumber for his help and the use of his shed, without him this would've taken a lot longer, and probably wouldn't have ended up working as well.

Aegis is basically done. All the functionality is there, and it's basically battle-ready. The only few non-essential things I have left to finish are:
-Corner armour to enclose the wheels at the front and back, and to hold the side armour on more securely. This will either be thin-ish titanium or more HDPE.
-More screws, making the armour panels even more secure.
-Tidying the wires up (which I dread a little).
-Paint/decals
Oh, and about the tracks - I really wanted to include them, but honestly it looks like it's going to make it overweight, and just make things more complicated and less reliable. Sticking to wheels for now, but I'll look into fitting tracks in future. Aegis 2 will definitely have them.

Below are a couple of videos and images showing you the robot and what it can do. I'll do a more comprehensive test video at some point with more destruction and stuff to ram into, I just didn't want to wreck the walls of my student accommodation. ^^' And yes, the self-righting 'claw' or horns or whatever look really silly. But it works and it gives the robot a bit more style, so I'm happy with it. I should also mention, the robot currently sits at a healthy 13.3kg. Hopefully the corner armour is light-ish, otherwise I might have to cut a few holes in the chassis, or see where else I can economise. Gearing up for the April event in Manchester, can't wait. Hope to have things neatened-up by then. Thanks for reading, guys.

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[Ellis]

Something falling over at the end of a robot test video is the mark of a proper robot test video. Looks great man, well done!

[Tim The Plumber]

Fame!! Those are my legs and hand on the first video!! and indeed the wife's scales.

Looks like you have been very busy Rory on not doing your revision for your finals. Good job with the self righting!!

[Andy]

Looks fantastic, good job how did you cut all the hdpe? Looks really neat and accurate

[R9000]

Hahah! Really? I thought I did a bit of a messy job to be honest. Thanks so much though. Just a jigsaw and a steady(ish) hand for the most part. Occasionally I use a tenon saw or a coping saw if I want something very straight or very curvy, but it does take ages compared to the jigsaw. Then I just finish off on the edges with a Stanley knife and a hand-plane.

[dotDominic]

This looks amazing - Great job dude! Even if you can't do the tracks this time, I think the self righting claws make it look really cool and distinctive.

[Al_]

That looks great, can't wait to see it in the arena! One thing I have been wondering was where to put the power LED on mine, but it never occurred to me to mount it under the HDPE and let it shine through. (I'm assuming that's what the red light is for?) Does that satisfy the power light rule? If so, I may have to borrow this idea

[R9000]

Technically it satisfies the rule right now, but it might not be visible once the bot is covered in orange paint. It's actually just the stupidly bright red LED on the arduino I've got in there, but since it's powered by the receiver it's only on when the robot is. The HDPE acts as a nice diffuser though, I'll probably just leave a square unpainted to let it shine through. I suppose I shouldn't have just told the one guy with the crusher robot where my weapon control system is though...

One general other question for you folks, what fuse do I use? I have a few 30A car fuses, but I honestly have no idea how much current my robot draws, having four drill motors and a brushless weapon. Any idea what I should go for? I think a fuse is required in the rules.

Edit: Just to recap, I have three TZ 85A ESCs running off a 60C, 3,300 mAh LiPo. I suppose this would put my max discharge just under 200A, but I can't imagine that much is ever actually being drawn, certainly not 85A from the weapon motor.

[R9000]

It's been over a year since I started this 'bot, but I think I'm at the point where I can finally call Aegis finished. All the stuff I posted in the last update (and more) has been done. It's been a hell of a learning experience, and plenty of things have been changed from the original design. In the very beginning, I started with what was basically a mini-Shockwave, before I even knew that robot existed. Following some design limitations, the whole thing quickly changed to a top-mounted lifter design, with a big old armoured scoop, all powered by a linear actuator. I ordered multiple parts that I didn't need, including but not limited to:
-A stupidly powerful outrunner which ended up being too big (but I'm totally gonna use for a spinner down the line).
-Fuses and a holder that were too small.
-Fuses and a holder that were WAY TOO BIG.
-Multiple pieces of water-cut hardox that were too heavy or not needed.
-Multiple linear actuators, some of which were the wrong size.
-Tracks that ended up being way smaller than they looked on Ebay.
-Wheels that ended up being way smaller than they looked on Ebay.
-The wrong colour paint.

It will be an ongoing project to maintain it, of course, but I'm glad it's finally done, ready for Manchester next week. I had huge 'dead' periods of not being able to work on it because of uni, which is why it took so long. Realistically it probably should've only taken a few months, but anyway, everything takes longer when you're making 95% of your machine in your bedroom in student accommodation. So long, in fact, that I managed to start and finish an antweight for the roboteer's society here before I'd finished this. Huge thanks to Tim Grindley (shed use, insight and bacon sandwiches), and everyone who's replied to this thread to give advice and ideas to help me build my first combat robot.

Anyway, here's the part you probably wanted to see, pics and videos of the finished machine. Most of the photos show the scoop with the blade-guard on. The shovel has been sharpened and shock-mounted to some degree now. Protip: Don't try to drill holes in neoprene, it doesn't work. Use a hole-punch instead. I also may have taken a little inspiration from Ellis and his new self-righter in Pulsar V2.

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Cheers for reading. Next project's going to be a heavyweight, which I've started the CAD for. Onwards and sideways!