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Thread: 4WD Front Hinge Flipper - Featherweight

  1. #1
    So I learned a whole load from speaking with roboteers and fighting spinners at the RoboChallenge champs last month. I feel now that V2 will have many of the same design problems as Venator, (Not enough ground clearance, no scrimech etc) so I'm going to put V2 on hold for a bit and start a more distinctive design with a proper weapon for next year.

    I wanted to build something a little bit different, so have decided on a four wheel drive front-hinged flipper (don't think there are any of those about in the FW weight class). The 4WD overvolted 12v Argos drills + BotBitz 85A ESCs worked really well in Venator so I'll be using them again. I was also super impressed with the speed and power of Aegis' lifting scoop, so in a similar way I plan to use a linear actuator and swap out the stock motor for something with a bit more speed + oomph.

    The whole robot will run on two of these:
    https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...pack-lihv.html Venator used 100mm wheels and was pretty hard to drive. The new build uses 80mm wheels and although I want something a bit more controllable I don't want it to be too slow. So these 15.2v packs are small enough to fit into the design whilst also hopefully being a decent middle ground in terms of speed.

    The side bulkheads and side armour are both 15mm thick HDPE, whilst there will be 8mm hdpe heated up and bent around the rear. The front wedge is 3.2 mm Hardox, and the flipper is a 3.2mm Hardox frame/mounts with HDPE to reduce weight - fingers crossed that should be sturdy enough.

    If I've done the sums right then the weight should be around 13kg. Might leave the hardox wedge until last to consider beefing it up a bit if I actually have the weight left over.

    I think that's most of the details I've planned out so far - the CAD is a bit basic but hopefully you can get the idea. Similar to V2 there will be a sticker design which covers the whole robot, co-ordinating with whatever theme/name I go for. I also plan to update this thread with progress/problems more regularly than my other ones. (ie more than once a year )

    New Robot 2.png New Robot 1.png New Robot 4.png New Robot 3.png

    Any feedback or potential problems would be really appreciated, thanks!
    Last edited by dotDominic; 21st September 2017 at 15:14.

  2. #2
    Ocracoke's Avatar
    Team Kaizen

    I might look at covering the top of the wheels with this design as it can't run inverted anyway as it stands (adds another structure point for the wheel guards as well) but other than that looks very good.
    Team Kaizen - Build Diary for all the robots

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

  3. #3
    Thanks for the feedback Personally I liked the appearance of the more exposed wheels as it looked a bit different on a flipper - but now that you mention it I could regret it if an axe goes through them! I've only got so much weight left over so one way might be to have removable top wheel covers for axes, or a removable layer of hardox for the front wedge if I fight a spinner.

  4. #4
    I like the look of that design. I've considered using a modded linear actuator with my front hinged bot concept. So I'll be interested to see how well it works powering the weapon compared to a rear hinged lifter.

  5. #5
    It's certainly a nice looking machine so far, and I like that the design looks different from your average flipper! A few observations:

    1. I'm interested to see exactly how quick your linac will be when amped up. It doesn't seem like it'll be able to truly flick things up high, but from what I remember Firestorm's flipper never did that either, mostly rolling robots for control, so I assume that's what you're going for here.

    2. I like that you're going for four motors when it comes to drive, it'll definitely give the machine a boost in pushing power. Mind sharing which method you're using to mount the motors to the sides with? I tried looking through the Venator build diary, but couldn't make out how you did it. Unrelated, but it would also be pretty cool if you could share how you mount the wheels to the motors (I'm still trying to figure out how exactly to do it with my feather).

    3. I can't exactly make out how the linac fits into the main body when retracted. If you're able, mind sharing a picture of a side on section view where the flipper is down?

    4. I absolutely love the design of the wheels. Michael above pointed out axes, and if you're concerned about the wheels, you could always use a little polycarb to cover them up. The stuff is pretty lightweight, and just makes everything look cooler (just ask John Reid).

    All that said, this machines looks simply awesome, and I can't wait to see some of it in the flesh!
    Last edited by Shooty; 21st September 2017 at 16:22.

  6. #6
    What you should also consider when going for exposed wheels at the top is the fact that once another robot is atop your robot, chances are it'll get upon your wheels as well. This may hinder your own mobility.

  7. #7
    looks cool and a cleaver idea. A idea instead of using a linear actuator could you use a simple gear system on the hinge point of the flipper, just gear it a down a tonne and use a brushless motor

  8. #8
    Thanks guys - I was aiming for something a bit more interesting so I'm glad you agree.

    Yeah, as you guys said the plan is for the flipper to roll/control robots over rather than toss them away. I have no experience with pneumatics so wanted to stay clear from that route. Firestorm's flipper was never mega fast in comparison to something like Mute or Envy and was still effective, so I think the actuator with the beefier motor should do the job.

    10/10 suggestion for the polycarb - that would work without sacrificing the look of the robot. Will definitely check that out.

    Also @Shooty - it's a pretty simple mounting method in which you mount the motor gearbox into the bulkhead. I'm not sure which ones you have but it might not work with the new style argos drill motors. If you check out Jamie's post in this thread you'll see what I mean: http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/thre...ll+motor+mount (It has lots of clear pictures - he explains it much better than I would be able to!) The wheels are then attached to the motors by melting in these threaded brass inserts - it's a pretty commonly used method. I'll send you a PM you about that. The linac moves out of the body of the robot when it extends. It's a bit of a tight squeeze but from tip to tip the robot is 46cm wide and 40cm long so it's already on the larger side.
    New Robot Side View.png

    That's a good suggestion - I'm using an actuator mainly because it seemed simpler to me and I think it looks cooler . Probably not the best reasoning but I'm quite confident this will work. I will try sorting out the actuator first so just in case it doesn't work I can redesign for a motor + gearing setup.
    Last edited by dotDominic; 21st September 2017 at 19:49. Reason: Attachment Fix

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by dotDominic View Post
    snip
    Attachment 7248 is not working for us.

  10. #10
    Cheers for the motor links, and that CAD is looking good!

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