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Thread: Project Squirrel

  1. #191
    If you are getting HPDE to cut by DirectPlastics, or to supply cut pieces make sure you take into account that they can be 3-5mm tolerances (normally under). I managed to get a replacement piece the first time, but after consulting their cutting operator they've said they cant guarantee anything exact.

  2. #192
    @Ocracoke Because, genuinely, things didn't really sit right with me...
    ratatoskr_robot.jpg
    Had to pull this from my facebook, but you can already see the problems. If not, I'll go through them all, haha. And if the pic's too small, here's the facebook post.

    First off, the front panels. The side's only held on one bolt, which is a complete health hazard. Not only that, I was having to pull and push the panels into place, otherwise they would've been jockeying for the same space, and had I cut the particular piece out, theeeen things wouldn't fit anymore. And if I did make the front panels again, I'd have to use a heat gun to attempt to bend the piece properly, that way I won't end up having arguments with said panels.

    Secondly, the front top panels. Same kind of problem with the front panels, having to pull and push it all around. Not only that, but a big blunder on my part forgot to put in some holes for a safety bar to slide through for the axe mechanism, and when I had designed the top piece to be swiveled around to access all the electrics and motors and such, I kiiinda forgot about the bar. Not purposefully, don't get me wrong, it was just a simple oversight.

    Last but not least, the battery placement. I was never really a fan of the placement of my batteries with them being exposed, especially over all the mechanism stuff for the axe, and exposed LiPo's for me are a biiiig no no, but I had no other place for them to be able to go without shoehorning everything in. I would need to make a proper battery box out of some of the sheet steel I have.

    @adamclark I know, don't worry. If anything, I'd give them measurements that'll allow them to have such tolerances haha. Oh and on an unrelated note, loved the HW 259.

  3. #193
    Ocracoke's Avatar
    Team Kaizen

    I can see why you might want to do this - undoubtedly will take a while though.

    I made a bit of a boo-boo with Kaizen when I placed the drive motors too far forwards on the base plate and thus, the speed controller didn't fit. I ended up putting that in the space where the axe mechanism is and will put a layer of HDPE (and also protected by the polycarbonate shell as well) over it for protection. The axe mechanism would then need to be adjusted to be at 45 degrees when implemented so that everything fits and doesn't hit itself.

    The alternative would have been to get new side and inner panels panels, probably a new base plate as well and move the motors back, redrill all the mounting holes and recut the inner panel grooves again.
    Team Kaizen - Build Diary for all the robots

    AW: Amai, Ikari, Lafiel, Osu, Ramu
    BW: Shu!, The Honey Badger
    FW: Azriel
    MW: Jibril, Kaizen

  4. #194
    So I've been figuring out how to go about this without spending a whole bunch of money, and I've got a couple of ideas.

    1a; The battery placement. Which does mean I have to cut a large part of the left rib out, cover the hole that holds the base to the rib, but I can attempt to put more securing bolts into the back of the robot. So although it'll look... unwieldy at first, it's probably the best way to go.

    1b; I can use some of the metal I was planning to use for a skidplate to make a battery box. My only problem is that I don't exactly have any welding equipment to get it all secured. And I'll have to prototype it all out. Once it's made, welded and able to be bolted down to the baseplate, I can probably "shockmount" it (by adding a couple of washers and a small piece of drilled HDPE block) underneath it and bolt it down, and cover the box itself in electrical tape, kinda mummify it and make sure that if it does come into contact with metal for whatever reason, it won't blow itself up. Just as a safety precaution more or less.

    2a,b,c; Redesigning the front, top and side panels, which'll be split up into a,b and c respectively.

    2a; The front panels in my thoughts have been the major problematic area for me, especially when I tried to rush it to get Ratatoskr to Manchester this year and ultimately failing to do so. So I thought "I'm going to redesign those three parts and I'm going to start off with the front." So, in order to do that, here's the major thought I'm putting into it... Wings... or rather, "Ears." They will be mounted first, and modified as needs be.

    2b; The top panels I was alright with until I tried to start modifying them to get the front pieces in, now they just look a mess, so they're going to be redesigned so that when bolted on, they'll actually hold the front plate in, instead of just having one bolt holding which in my eyes is a big no-no.

    2c; Same as the top panels, but this time, I'm going to shape them so that they will actually fit into the gap behind the front panel and between that, the top and the back panels, so those will be done last.

    3; The weapon shape. I'm still wishing to go for the repeater axe, and I will get it done, mark my words- actually no, don't do that, because that's actually brought bad luck to me in the past. Anyway, as much as I love the weapon shape, I made it into more of a repeater "mace" by wrapping the chain that I was going to use to keep the axe connected to the bot around the head of the axe itself. Although it's not a bad idea, I'm wanting to use some of that chain for safety. I'm going to keep the chain around the head of the axe, but I'm still going to put the spike there as well, so that the chain can provide a little weight behind the entire thing.

    4; Speaking of the axe, I may need to redo the longest part of the linkages because along the lines at some point, in a bit of a panic, I realised there wasn't any wiggle room, so to speak, so I tried doing it by hand, and instead of it going along a straight line, it went up and to the right. So that piece needs to be redone.

    So my shopping list is surprisingly small, considering it all, just 2 more large pieces of HDPE (yes, I know, large and small, a bit contradictory), a lot of patience and a lot of sun cream, so I don't burn myself.

  5. #195
    So me and my friend decided to head down to the shed that my robot now resides in, and surprise surprise, the dowel nuts may have the showings of rust. But that's to be expected when it's left in the shed for... well, a couple months whilst deciding what to do, especially when your friend was grounded (despite being older than me). Not only that, they're fairly cheap from Screwfix so not a huge problem. All the rest of it was still in good nick, so we're okay on that front.

    ANYWAY, we removed the front panels and the top panels, and we discovered that the sidepanels aren't too bad. So if anything, we can trim them down a little and go from there.

    Same goes with the left column, we can actually trim down a lot there, seeming as we're doing a slight rejigging with the position of the batteries. All we'd need to do is put the screw on the underside a little further forward so we still have it secured to the baseplate without worry.

  6. #196
    Alright, long time no update, but now that I've had a sit down and think about it, I have an idea of getting the front panels on more securely. By making some brackets along the angled areas of the front of the robot. That way, if need be, I can cut the front panels to sections rather than one big piece. Although it may end up being a little weaker around the front, there're a few ways of making it stronger afterwards, such as cross sections.

    You know, now that I typed it up, I honestly should draw something out to make it a little more clearer about what I'm going to do with Ratatoskr...

  7. #197
    Well, unfortunately, back to plan B, which means redoing the entire body. The electronics are alright, but thanks to my general incompetence, the body acts like it's a 30 piece jigsaw with 2/3 pieces missing. BUT I'm going to use this experience to move forward, and take my time. Not only that, I also have plans and ideas for a new body already. Just need to get it down onto paper.
    Not only that, need to give a shout out to my grandfather, who's agreed to help me with this all, especially the cutting of the next body of Ratatoskr. Fingers crossed I can salvage some of the plastic from this iteration, and fingers crossed I actually keep it f*cking simpler.

    Sidenote: the weapon will still be the same, that isn't going to change haha.

  8. #198
    So, quick little update, I've been advised to template everything out of cheap, equal thickness yoga mats, and build that to a 1 to 1 scale now, before hitting up the plastic again. Hopefully by doing this, I'll be able to get everything aligned, placed neatly and tidily, make notes as to what needs changing here and there, and so on and so forth. Thankfully I've got plenty of yoga mats to work with, considering this is the only thing I'd be doing with them, not yoga, haha.

  9. #199
    I have an honest question;

    Would it be easier to 3D model it all out first on say Fusion 360, flatpack that and get it all cut out by a third party, or should I continue with the yoga mat approach?

  10. #200
    Ocracoke's Avatar
    Team Kaizen

    That depends on how able you are to use Fusion or a similar CAD program and wherever you are comfortable doing that. If you feel confident in using a CAD program to design your robot, cool but prototyping from material can also work, it does help inform you what the robot will look like in real life and what the potential pitfalls of that design might be, CAD might not immediately tell you this. I tend to sit down with a pen and paper, build the machine from there and if I need complex/accurate parts, then I CAD those (it is what I am doing for my middleweight).
    Team Kaizen - Build Diary for all the robots

    AW: Amai, Ikari, Lafiel, Osu, Ramu
    BW: Shu!, The Honey Badger
    FW: Azriel
    MW: Jibril, Kaizen

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