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Thread: Cease & Desist - New featherweight

  1. #11
    I realised it would be a good design, size and shape for two small halves. The aluminium chequer plate is mostly cosmetic, as I'll have loads of weight left even as a cluster, but also provide a bit more protection, albeit not much. Mainly, though the shell I bought (while working a treat for construction) has quite a few marks on it, and sandpaper isn't cutting it. The only accessible way to smoother it out is with rasp, but that still make marks and shaves away at the HDPE. Aluminium chequer plate is light, cheap, easy to work with and (in my eyes) beautiful.

  2. #12
    Just watched a tutorial on grub screws saying if I put them in too far, it can break the gearbox. Rushed over to the motors straight away to check for anything and the bottom plate was bending. I jut hope it hasn't damaged the gears, I bent the plastic back in place and loosened the screws. I already have a motor with the first stage of gears slightly broken (still useable), so I know the signs but luckily none came up. They still moved freely with no screws and jammed with them in, it seems normal. I have no working batteries to test the motors with so I have no idea of making sure. I mean, the drill batteries take hours to charge, so that might be tomorrow's job. I also can't shake off the thoughts of making a heavyweight. My idea is a very shallow wedge with a small wall around its perimeter and the tip being a small lifting wedge. The idea is to drive under other robots, lift the wedge, trapping them on the top of the wedge and drive them into the pit. Either that or remake Roadblock. Let's focus on this for now, one thing at a time, eh?

  3. #13
    The way I put grubscrews in, there's still a few degrees of play in the wheels as the tip of the screw moves between the two 'ridges' on the gearbox clutch plate. Basically the screw isn't really pressing against the plate, but it is captive inside the geometry of it. I don't know if this is the optimal way, but it's not given me any trouble so far.

  4. #14
    You can't break gears themselves by screwing the grub screws too far into the gearbox. The grub screws are pressing down on the outer ring gear and if they are in too far, the ring can be pushed out the back of the gearbox, breaking the motor mounting plate along the way. What Rory is doing is the optimal way to set the grub screws up. If your grub screws have a point on the end, filing it flat will tighten things up a bit.

  5. #15
    As the cluster idea will take a while longer (making it a summer project), to pass the time, why not bolt a cutting disc to one of the spare drill motors without the gearbox?. I understand I won't give optimal torque, but it seems easy enough and would b great to slice into HDPE. the question remains, vertical or horizontal? vertical can concentrate a cut into a smaller area (putting less strain on the disc and cutting deeper potentially) or going horizontal (larger area but less effective cuts)

  6. #16
    The average 550 sized drill motor has very little torque and only a 1/8" shaft - its totally useless as a featherweight weapon motor by itself. You would be better served by a scooter motor and a belt or drive reduction. The disk will need a hub to mount on, hacking up a cheap angle grinder is probably the easiest way to do it.

  7. #17
    Hi Theo
    Off the shelf cutting discs dont react well to impact, they tend to break and
    then wobble and shred up, they need a gradual introduction to the item been
    cut-see dead metal approach.
    A long while ago pre robot wars I experimented using flexible discs, which
    when spun up to grinder speeds would cut through Hdpe but would not break
    under inpact.
    Re previous post -if you want a angle grinder I have a faulty mains 9 inch hitachi
    which you could convert to 12 or 24 volt drive yours or anybodys £5.

  8. #18
    Do you know if it's an AC or DC motor? faulty mains implies an AC motor I think. Regardless, I'd love some pictures of it through a PM. Thanks. I've decided to go vertical. It might fit better, cause deeper gouges, but not cause irreparable damage.

  9. #19
    The idea is that you replace the AC motor with a new one, probably a large brushless in-runner.

  10. #20
    Wow, over a month has passed. Okay, so first an update. Cease&Desist is currently on hold. My priority for the summer while I have the time is to begin work on a new heavyweight (thread pending). That won't be a solo project. Cease and Desist will be back by the end of the year, that's when I can work on the other half. I can promise it will be back. However, I do have plans of using what I have now as a minibot to go with the heavy, so it won't gather dust and go to waste. I want to thank everyone for their help and with that, I bring the diary to a wrap, for now....

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