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Thread: Build Diary - Plastic Fantastic - FW

  1. #11
    Al_'s Avatar
    Member

    Update time – First up the front wedge, shown in the last post, was fitted and bolted on. I was a bit worried that if I had any alignment problems, it wouldn’t meet up with all 6 chassis / side pieces, but thankfully it was fine. With the being the last main piece of the body (except the top), it meant I could now do the wiring, which is mainly what has happened since the last update. The first wiring job was to flash the TZ85As for brushed operation and then make and solder on some splitters, since each one will drive 2 motors.

    IMG_20171231_135201795.jpg

    The ESCs will tuck down between the front wedge and front motors, supported with some foam. It’s a bit tight, but they do squeeze in. They connect to the 125A main fuse via ring terminals, along with 2 feeds for power lights. The bolts holding them on will be cut down flush to the nuts and covered in 2 layers of adhesive lined heat shrink to stop them coming undone, the same as I used on Pressure Point. The cables are on the long side, but fit into the space ok.

    IMG_20180116_104310994.jpgIMG_20180116_134047194.jpg

    Next job was to figure out a way to hold the link, which goes in at the back. In the end I decided on a 10mm plate of HDPE with a chamfered hole cut in it for a connector. It is offset to the side slightly to allow the link cable to be tucked away safely inside the robot but still be easy to remove at the end of the fight.

    IMG_20180124_125537757.jpg

    To hold the connector in place I have melted some plastic and moulded it on and around both halves of the connector. This holds it securely in place but as a secondary safety measure I have then bolted the 2 plastic mouldings through the HDPE plate. This has also had the side effect of acting as a guide for the mating half of the connector that forms the link to make it a bit easier to plug in. For some reason I don’t have a picture of this yet, so I’ll grab one for the next update.

    After a quick test to make sure everything was functioning, the final wiring job was the power LEDs. One feed runs 2 LEDs at the back, one either side of the link. The second feed runs the 2 side LEDs, one in the left, one in the right. The LEDs are fixed into holes from the inside of the robot with a step at the bottom so the LED can’t go all the way through and stays recessed about 13mm from the outside of the robot for protection.

    IMG_20180208_103552166.jpg

    That’s it for now, next will be neatening the wiring and making the side/rear tippers and the top.

  2. #12
    looks really nice

  3. #13
    That is some beautiful CNC work there. The only negative of this build will be seeing all of the dents on it after several fights...

  4. #14
    Al_'s Avatar
    Member

    Quote Originally Posted by Shooty View Post
    That is some beautiful CNC work there. The only negative of this build will be seeing all of the dents on it after several fights...
    Thanks, but I wouldn't worry about that, it's already got a number of dents in it before it has even had a fight!

  5. #15
    Al_'s Avatar
    Member

    Mini update time, which gets the Robot pretty much completed.

    Following on from the last update, a quick neatening of the wiring was in order. Most if it is clipped in position where possible and the ESC’s, Rx and Battery are all cushioned with sponge.

    IMG_20180213_105912562.jpg

    The last large part to be made was the top, it’s almost a mirror of the bottom, just slightly shortened to allow for the wedge. The top and bottom are both tapered at the back to give the robot a chance to drive off another robot’s wedge before the wheels come off the ground. The cut outs in them for the wheels are also filleted on the inside to allow for larger diameter and wider wheels to be fitted when an increase in ground clearance is required.

    IMG_20180217_134127753.jpgIMG_20180224_130253210.jpg

    Next up, there is the only non-plastic structural part. (Boo!) I have put a 5mm thick mild steel strip along the bottom of the front wedge to hopefully stop it getting bent under itself on impacts. The metal strip is recessed into the wedge to help absorb any big hits.

    IMG_20180324_130914780_HDR.jpgIMG_20180324_130924844.jpg

    Last are the tippers which stop the bot being able to balance on its side or rear. I’m not too sure on these yet, I think the side ones may end up getting caught on other things and cause a problem, so I’m contemplating adding a couple of triangles in front of the leading side tippers to push things past them rather than into them. I’ll give them a try and see how they go.

    Other than that, I have had a quick drive to check everything works and that the fail-safes are working. Also, I’ve put it on the scales to check the weight. Almost bang on 12kg which is not too far from what I was predicting.

    IMG_20180324_154118385.jpg

    All that leaves me now is the cradle, the bigger wheels and the visuals. I might even get chance to make a few spares!

  6. #16
    looks like a beauty, your going to take to Manchester ?

  7. #17
    Ocracoke's Avatar
    Team Kaizen

    Looks niiiiccceee, can't wait to see it in action.
    Team Kaizen - Build Diary for all the robots

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

  8. #18
    Al_'s Avatar
    Member

    Quote Originally Posted by Maxamuslead View Post
    looks like a beauty, your going to take to Manchester ?
    Yep, I'll be there with both of them.

  9. #19
    Al_'s Avatar
    Member

    Quick update following a fantastic weekend at Manchester. Other than one very annoying and recurring problem, I’m pretty happy with how Plastic performed at the event.


    Melee 1 – I started with my colson wheels that give me about 5mm of ground clearance. These are fantastically grippy, but I got hung up a few times on the seams between the arena floor panels and had to sit there until someone hit me off them so I could get going again. Now a good portion of this was down to my poor driving and could defiantly be minimised but I decided I would swap wheels after the fight to be safe. When I wasn’t stuck on the seams I was able to get stuck in and mix it up a bit. Lots of speed and pushing power from the bot which I was pleased to see.....and then it just stopped. Power lights still on but no movement from it. Resetting the transmitted did nothing either.


    Back in the pits with Plastic on it’s cradle, I put the link in and it worked fine, wheels turning but under no actual load. Nothing felt too hot in there and although its a good 10 minutes from the robot stopping to getting it to back to the pits and taking the top off, I would have thought if something were overheating it would be obvious. Damage suffered to the top from Shrekt, but nothing else other than the usual bumps and scratches.

    IMG_20180421_145131208.jpg


    Melee 2 – Bigger wheels fitted which give 10-12mm ground clearance. They were homemade HDPE wheels with bike tires screwed on the outsides. Not as grippy as the colsons, but no more issues crossing or stopping on the arena seams. Also the grip did seem to improve as the newness was scrubbed off the tires. I don’t remember much about this fight, but the same problem happened again with the robot just stopping after a couple of minutes.


    Back to the pits again, same diagnosis again. At this point I was wondering about voltage sag from the Lipo not being at its best in some way, and maybe this was causing the ESCs to cut out due to low voltage. However having no way of reading the voltage during the fight I’m only guessing. The battery voltage still showed fine after the fight (under no load of course) and each fight was only taking about 1000mAh out of what should be a 4250mAh battery. The charger was happy to charge it each time too. Neither of these rule out voltage sag from a loaded battery though.


    I decided at this point I would switch to Pressure Point’s battery for the next fight, its smaller (but still ample) capacity and the same voltage at 5s. I took a nice hit from Binky in the fight, a gouge out of the side and some bending of the top panel above it. The top panel was sorted with the heat gun and some brute force but I think it’s a bit of a design flaw. The vertical spinners will always want to rip the edges of the top panel up and bend it out of shape like in this case. I think in a future re-design I'll extend the sides to where the top panel currently is and the top panel will sit recessed inside them instead of on top of them to minimise the chances of this happening more. The fact that the sides of the robot have taken all the hits while the front wedge is essentially unscathed speaks volumes about my driving!

    IMG_20180421_173052840_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg


    Melee 3 – AKA the 5 spinners of doom. Some serious damage flying around in this one, somehow I manage to miss the worst of it. However the same issue happened again which was getting frustrating.


    Since there was only one more fight left for the weekend, I decided I would remove the sponge that the ESCs have around them just in case they were getting too hot, though there were not much more than warm each time I had checked them.


    Melee 4 – Not a lot to say other than the same thing happening after the same amount of time, capping off a promising but ultimately frustrating start for the bot.


    Now I am considering the possibility I have knackered both my batteries. I didn’t storage charge either of them over the winter and they were left in my shed. Maybe it got too cold in there and the 2 things combined has somehow damaged the cells. I have ordered a new battery to test this out. I have also already swapped the Rx and checked all wiring as a precaution but this made no difference. If this doesn’t work, then unless both ESCs are somehow failing/stopping at the same point I don’t see what else it can be.


    Anyway, that’s enough rabble, sort this problem out, a couple of other minor tweaks and off to Portsmouth in a few weeks time.

  10. #20
    but didnt Pressure Points battery work fine in The feather fun time match ? ( has anyone got a video as that was really fun)

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