Team Smoothie! Build Diary

Hello! One and all!

First and foremost thanks for taking a look at this. I've fancied a go at Robot Combat for the last 15 years and have been following it virtually forever. So I've finally decided to have a go just for a laugh (and also at the insistence of my lad) to see if we can get one running.

I've been having a read round the forum and asking the usual nagging noob questions for about a month. I've started to get a good idea as to what goes into putting a basic featherweight together and where we can get all of the basics. We decided that we would like to build a fast and agile featherweight that was mostly a rammer. After sketching a few ideas out this did seem a bit boring, but since I don't really have any fabrication skills its the best I can do for now. Hopefully after attending some events and more thought etc I can build something else in future with an active weapon.

Our basic idea is a shoe box shape that's invert-able. I'm going to make some sort of picture account tonight so I can slap my piccies up here. We ordered some GR01's last night and I'm just trying to find somewhere to buy HDPE. Wheels are getting ordered next week. Our basic spec will be:

- Gimson GR01's (12v) with integral mountings, screws and all that carry on
- Robochallenge 100mm blue wheels with threaded inserts
- Sabertooth / Electronize / Victor / 2x RC Boat ESC's off ebay
- 20mm HDPE / Polycarb bulkheaded chassis (invertible)
- 12v nihm pack and a charger/discharger from somewhere
- bolted and bracketed construction
- Ball transfer units front and back
- Wiring, deans connections, removable link, power LED both sides
- Failsafe if radio or ESC does not contain one
- Giant Cod / Spektrum 2.4Ghz radio

I have a feeling there may be bits that I've missed. I'll leave this for now just to give you an idea, and will get the CAD department to post up their detailed drawings (scanned in sketches lol).

Take it easy and thanks for looking

Dave and Ollie

Good luck guys! You seem to have all the right ideas. A robot with good drive can win battles, there is no shame in going the rammer-route for a first robot!

May I ask how many motors you intend to use? With 4 motors on the Gimson scale you will need a more powerful battery than a single NiMH pack (they can only discharge around 30 amps). By need I mean you may want, or you'll feel a loss in power. A pack like that is perfectly good for a 2-drive-motor machine.

For ESCs I'd recommend the Botbitz ESCheap85s, they're very good for the money. You will need two, though, one for each side.

For plastics in the UK, I believe most of us use http://www.directplastics.co.uk - lots of choice and a reliable service.

Hope this helps! I await piccies. :lol:

Edit: Just read you intend to use ball transfer units, suggesting 2 motors. Never mind! You could use the ESCheap25s by Botbitz to save some dosh, they should handle a single Gimson comfortably.

Hannibalito 4 drives comfortably on a Scorpion XL. So the ESCheap25's will do as well.

Hiya

2 GR01's with 2 wheel drive tank type steering. Keeps things simple for now lol :D

Dangerous Dave

Pictures fresh from the CAD department lol

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ot1/robot1.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ot1/robot2.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ot1/robot3.jpg

Cardboard Aided Design.

Maybe an idea. But why so boxy?

From someone who has both a 10mm Polycarb and an HDPE/Nylon/RG1000 FW, i'd recommend HDPE/Nylon/RG1000 for the bulkheads. Polycarb is very expensive in comparison and RG1000 or Nylon and they are probably better for the bulkheads. Unless you want it to be see through that is :proud:

@#Maddox - It's mostly boxy because that was the easiest to sketch. And the logic carried over to it being easy to build. I'm not that great with fabrication lol, but there are better shapes. I wanted the shape to be as small as poss.

@#Anttazz - I think HDPE is the future lol.

Motors have arrived!!! Thank you to Gimsons Robotics for awesomeness!!!

HDPE is also the cheapest of the plastics commonly used. How can you lose!

Haha that's cool :) I'm gonna order plastic over the next few weeks. Next on my list are wheels, and then many sheets of plastic! lol.

Do you think I should have a go at a weapon? My design has come together really quick, and its turning out to be an awful lot easier to build than I thought it would be.

If you can get a weapon in it, do it :)

If i were you, collect the electronics for your rambot and screw all the motors etc. on a piece of wood and have a go at driving it round your kitchen then think about designing with a weapon once youve got to grips with how it all works.
A simple weapon is a thwackabot like saint or barnsley bot (look in build Dairys)

Thwackbot tip: don't use a metre long 2kg axe :lol: I did this in barnsley bot, a hell of alot of fun but very hard to control (but that was partially to do with rubbish esc's).

Ok that's brill! I'll get everything together and have a drive. I fancy building a hammer but then would need a way to roll it back over if it got flipped. I'm gradually ordering everything I need and it sounds like a good idea building it on a plank of wood and taking it from there.

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0283970

As mad as it sounds, bend the metal edges of this & it should roll over. It'll need an underside support to stop it deforming.

I need to really rethink the shape of this, it doesn't have a hope in hell of damaging anything. I've been watching robot fights on youtube for an hour and a half and its getting a bit obsessive. The shape I sketched will get thrown about all over the place lol.

Ok so we've had a major rethink and are going for a plate chassis and a shell that bolts on over the top. I've been getting on with getting things mounted to the base plate and getting it cut and filed to shape. Below you can see the string of pictures that show the motors and gearboxes, how they will sit, the shape of the base plate etc.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps00afc93f.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps398a81e4.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...pscecea078.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps45052beb.jpg

I need to say a HUGE thankyou to Gimsons who helped a lot. They even threw in some free bits when there was a delay with making the stuff which they didn't have to do. I'm really grateful to them for making this really painless.

Looks like this is going to be a neat little machine! My only worry is the baseplate material you're showing in those pics. As the person who built a robot entirely out of (much thicker) chopping board I really must advise against the stuff. Search for NST vs Tormenta vs Inertia XL on YouTube, and you'll understand why.

If you don't intend to fight in spinner events then you may be okay but even a sharp landing from a flipper could crack your baseplate, or shatter it. Some chopping boards seem to work alright in robots (some Australian builders use them a lot) but in our experience they're to be avoided!

Most people get their plastic from www.directplastics.co.uk. HDPE and Nylon are common choices, the former for armour (and chassis in our case now) and the latter for chassis.

Oh gosh yeah, the chopping board is just to prototype the shape and stuff and then I'm gonna get hold of some HDPE after Christmas :D

if you have a jig saw you could go for a 4-5mm aluminium base nice and easy to cut

Sounds like a plan. I know of direct plastics for HDPE etc, do you know of anywhere that I can get of of plate ally etc?

i generally just use ebay or go down to the industrial estate near by cos we have a couple of fabrication places

Been thinking lots about shape of robot, and it would be easier to build if it was square. But then the motors didn't fit, it was hard to squash in. Then I saw other robots such as Little Hitter with a diagonal motor pattern and was inspired lol. So I thought I would bung up latest pictures from the CAD department of our new shape. Enjoy.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psfc8696ab.jpg


http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps7b9897d7.jpg


http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psb341e272.jpg

Sure i've seen something similar somewhere.... :lol:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151180061476904

oh my god no way!

I've been concerned at the abundance of ground clearance, prompting the need for some sort of dozer blade on the front. This then led to the thought of arms at the sides like a bulldozer that lead forward to a bulldozer blade on the front aka Breaker Box from the states. This would be mostly unpowered and just ride along the ground, but then I thought well if I powered it I could use different implements such a hammer, lifting spike etc. I'll scribble down what I mean and see if people will give me feedback on what they think.

I know what you mean. It would be great to see a lifter with a bit of a difference in the UK (the Americans are certainly inventive in that respect). I say you build it!

It won't be without challenge, I'm guessing many of them similar to the ones we have faced for T2, but the result will be worth it.

Your main issues I am guessing will be reliable weapon power (and enough power to do the work), and the protection of the side arms for full combat events. They're meat for verticals, unless seriously sturdy or protected.

To give you an idea of power, our machine has a 14.4v 50mm dia. motor at 18v with about a 100:1 reduction after it, and with the sort of length arms a Breakerbox style weapon would need I would think that would be pushing it. A greater chain reduction than ours wouldn't be impossible, though, as ours couldn't be any bigger than 4:1 (with 6mm size chain).

I'll let others chime in, as for a first machine it would be ambitious, but the end result will be well worth it!

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/.../Complete2.jpg

http://s1228.beta.photobucket.com/user/ ... /BitzaWood

I hadn't thought about verticles! Something else to think about. To start with I was going to let the dozer blade be unpowered, and if it seems ok add power later on. I'm with you on it being a challenge to get a big enough reduction it and about it being ambitious for a first build.

Having a major rethink, just see holes everywhere in the design and think I can come up with something better than this. The standards are too high and I need a better shape, lower to the ground, can pick up and push, turn back over, an active weapon etc. I've discovered linear actuators, just another esc and a wire to the battery! Wahoo. Lol.

Would rather go through 3 months of building cardboard and lego technic robots to realise its a completely useless shape and I should move on, than start building and realise then. Planning on ordering plastic after Christmas, going to order wheels this week.

Latest shape alteration below, adding floor riding plate and thick steel at the back end that you wouldn't really see in a sketch.


http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...1-06081832.jpg


And latest progress after wheels arrived this morning, thank you Robo Challenge. As an aside, the reason for not using Gimson wheels with Gimson motors is that they only went to a 78mm wheel and I was looking for 100mm.


http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...1-10160711.jpg

Got fed up with a box so started building a set of powered jaws this afternoon. Its looking convincing. Planning on a small box with a wheel poking out each side with a big set of jaws at the front. Saw a robot from the states Dissector??? Awesome...

I have started making a mock up of some Jaws of Life. This is just out of plastic for now, and am thinking about the drive train being in a pod each side of the jaws. Almost like mobilising a weapon rather than building a robot and making a weapon for it.

Interesting. Something along those lines is one of the design ideas we had for our third robot.

Look forward to seeing what you come up with (and what problems you come up against!).

Hydraulics is a bit beyond me at this point, planning on using a big electric actuator at the minute. I know it won't have the push behind it to cut but it will still clamp and grab, lift etc. I've gotten loads of pictures of jaws of life from the web and have dissected how the mechanism works and am in the process of making a chopping board sourced jaws of life lol. It's been hard finding the angles and rod lengths that give you the range of motion you need.

Quick update, we've decided to expand into the two machines. A small square pushy bot that's mostly pictured in this thread, and another with a set of jaws to clamp and grab. I'll post details of the second robot soon when I can get things together, as we're trying our best to get the smaller pushy one finished for the spring to see if we can get to some events.

Ok so another update. At the minute we have 3 robots on the go. There is the original Smoothie. Then there is a mechanical claw lay in the garage without a robot attached to it. And after becoming fascinated with the strength of a 2mm steel roasting dish we now have The Roasting Dish of Doom. It sounds mental and it is. I'm going to concentrate on finishing one over the Christmas holiday as I have 3 weeks off with the other half at work and the 3yr old at Nursery lol. The mechanical claw looks really good even though it's made of plastic at the minute. I've spent hours obsessing over building robots and it's becoming all consuming. This is what happens when you let a nutter loose with a pile of stock and some power tools in a double garage.

Dangerous Dave.

Roasting Tin!

Team Bitza Approves!

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instanc...x/31212313.jpg