Robo Challenge - Goblin

Well with the UK Championships speeding towards us I am already preparing for next year with my new robot. Looking forward to running Predator however its due to be retired after Fleet to be used for demos. The new robot is a hydraulic crusher and has been in the making for a while now. Im looking forward to seeing the new Cobalt running as the specs are pretty much identical.

The new machine is sponsored by Moog who have been awesome in designing and making a 1 off micro valve for me. We have created the manifold and it has been pressure tested and works perfectly. I get speed controlled hydraulics which is very handy. The ram is almost finished too. A 50mm bore custom made ram should do the trick nicely and im hoping to get that pressure tested soon after the the UK Champs.

Fingers crossed the new machine will be ready by the end of the year for competition at the 2014 UK Champs.

make sure it looks amazing not a box with a spiky claw!

That's one thing you can be sure of! There are a few things I want to fit into the machine such as active ride height and a live rear axle which will help keep all 4 wheels on the ground regardless of the floor condition or if the chassis is bent. The body will be a carbon (for aesthetics) and Kevlar (for impacts) which will be sculpted from clay to make the moulds. This way I can fit the body perfectly around the components. Needless to say the hydraulic valve will be buried deep inside the machine as there are no spares for it. The design would probably resemble F1 meeting something organic.

I'm not even going to comment on how extream and cool that sounds...

Isn't a carbon and Kevlar body going to make it really susceptible to spinners? I know Kevlar is supposed to be stab proof but against NST or Inertia... surely it wont survive that for long.

How long is the claw?

Carbon is very poor for impacts but Kevlar is very good. Plus the time is in making the moulds. Once they are made its probably a days work to mould and cut out new body panels. It would be easy to make spares. The big advantage is in the weight which il need

Sounds awesome! Is this the design you were talking about ages ago? but it was gunna be a vertical spinner?

Similar but I don't want to build a spinner, I have been contemplating selling Predator but will probably keep it for demos. The tricky part is designing the selfrighter into the machine, and one that's interesting!

Yeah, there was that small fin design, which was very interesting :)