Mermaid FW Build - 2 Years Later, New Design, New Me

[Doodle2411]

Right so last time I posted on here I was planning to build a featherweight with a group of friends from school and lets just say it didnt really go anywhere and I was really disapointed at that because it was all largely my fault (i'll leave the old thread down below if you wanna look at that) I was 15, didn't really plan ahead any future scenarios and all in all everything about it was just terrible and again all largely my fault.

However over those past 2 years I have been doing a lot of things around the roboteering community: I won an internet robot combat competition called: Banter wars (with my clamp design: Siren), I began a series on my channel titled Robot Wars Crack (i'll leave a link to the playlist if your interested) and a couple of weeks ago I released a secret project of mine (a 9 month project actually): Battlebots VS Robot Wars (if any of you are on reddit then wou will have probably seen it) all the while I have been constantly thinking up ideas for robots in my head, you name it I have thought of it: Axe, Lifter, Spinner, Rammer, Clamp, egg beater, actuator you name it I have had an idea in my head at one point.

I have been asking a bunch of my internet friends about the designs and design ideas, showing them each and every design I have done for a body, chasis etc. However one that everyone of my friends has agreed on is a great design is a drum robot I made a couple of weeks ago... Mermaid.

2 years ago I had a vision in my head about 3 robots: Trident (my durable/defensive Design) Mermaid (my deadly/offensive Design) and Siren (my versatile design) each one had a purpose and I thought it was a good idea in theory, however it never got to a physical idea.

Now however this design of mermaid (this is like the 18th version, yes I have counted ) I have thought about numerous possibilities and designed the robot around potential scenarios and previous live events.
Mermaid CAD.png
Here is what I have come up with: Mermaid as I said has a Drum (It can also have an Egg Beater Bar when facing spinners and will probably be the first weapon I make as a drum is gonna take a lot more time) that is driven by a Brushless motor both connected by a band. It has 4 wheels driven by 2 motors that are also connected by bands and will have armourment made from HDPE and aluminium for the wedge at the front. I have built this design to be durable and will require a good whaloping to kill it, if the drum has enough power in it, it could probably self right the robot, however if that isnt possible then the rear wheels go over the mounts for the weapon so can drive inverted even if the wepon is broken/damaged or not.

The chasis and armour is also meant to be reliable with curved and angled sides at the front of the robot meaning spinners will have a hard time trying to grab it, the sides are also angled, the rear (as seen on the left) has a wedged back with the ends of the center edges connecting to the bottoms of the side panels meaning that is another thing spinners will struggle to catch on too. there will also potentially be an extra piece of armour at the rear (as seen on the back of the right model) incase it has to fight an axe or crusher and they get behind, this also risks not being able to self right but im willing to risk it ^_^.

If anyone has any input on the design of the robot or can tell me any way I can improve it, then do feel free to tell me as it is still a rough concept an not something im gonna go with 100%.

Now again this design is good in theory however I dont have anythting practical to show for it, that being said however, thankfully I do have a shopping list from 2 years ago when you guys helped give me ideas for Trident (thanks for that again BTW i really did and still do appreciate it). The only problem is that its 2 years old and technology in robots advances so quickly so I'm unsure if the list i have from 2 years ago will still be good enough for combat now or if i need to re-do my shopping list.

Here's what was suggested to me from 2 years ago:
Controller - Spektrum DX6i
ESC - Turnigy TZ85A
Reciever - Orange R615X
Armour - 15-20mm HDPE
Barrel Nuts (for joining plastics togehter)
Batteries - Turnigy Nano-Tech
Battery Charger - Accucel 6
31A power Cable (to connect charger to the wall)
Motors - 12V Modded Cordless Drills
Wheels - Scooter Wheels
(thanks to Eventorizon and mrsam for helping me with this at the time)

I know I will need to add a brushless motor and belts/bands to my list but is anything from that list outdated and if it is then can you please tell me what I should update it with.
(this is the disadvantage that comes with not being on here for the best part of 2 years XD)

I can't focus on a budget or building the robot until mid june as I'm busy with college, exams coming up and trying to get a job to pay for all of this. I most likely will be working on this alone and asking my dad for help with the electronic parts (as he was an electrician) when it gets to that point.

So hopefully this time around I can finally get around to building something so I can finally compete after being hooked on it when I was a toddler, having that spark be lit up once again by going to a live event in 2011 and then that spark transforming into an inferno when robot wars returned to our screens, I really wanna make this dream a reality and be able to get onto the circuit this time, learn the ropes and make improvements in the hope that i have a decent combat robot.

hope to hear your responces soon
Doodle
Team SIREN (Super Intelligent Robots of Extreme Nastiness)

Also here are the links that I totally didnt almost forget about
(you dont need to look at them if you dont want to)

My old FW thread (its dead so i dont suggest posting there): http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/thre...need-help-plz?
My Virtual Robot Siren: http://banter-wars.wikia.com/wiki/Siren
My Robot Wars Crack Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...It-KNXWwdBtj_q
My Battlebots VS Robot Wars First Episode:

[Roboteernat]

That Robot Wars Crack playlist is really good! Enjoyed that

[typhoon_driver]

Nothing on your parts list is particularly out of date and should make a competitive machine.

[Doodle2411]

Cheers Gary, I was curious as to what I would have to add/remove but thankfully I dont need to worry about that now, again thanks for that. Now to get the size proportions a bit more accurate and make a few tweaks to the body and then onto the cardboard model.