Featherweight Database

actually i think ill dig out my old 3300mA gp cells. Ill risk it, although they havnt been charged for about a year atleast :sad:

The machine is almost ready for Fairford. Tried out the weapon briefly today, will try to get the whole thing together tommorow and do some RC testing:

http://www.micro-maul.co.uk/vertigo2/IMG_3086.jpghttp://www.micro-maul.co.uk/vertigo2/IMG_3086.jpg
http://www.micro-maul.co.uk/vertigo2/IMG_3092.jpghttp://www.micro-maul.co.uk/vertigo2/IMG_3092.jpg
http://www.micro-maul.co.uk/vertigo2/IMG_3093.jpghttp://www.micro-maul.co.uk/vertigo2/IMG_3093.jpg

Im liking how this ones going together - its not all finished yet though so I wont be duelling with spinners till next weekend I dont think, but should be fun to play with.

Weight may be an issue - its right on the edge at the moment (as far as I know) and there are things I can do for Farnborough but Fairfords gonna be a cross fingers occasion (and knowing my luck Ill probably be stuck with the whiteboards).

Aww man, that looks awesome! Would love to see it in action - any videos of it being tested etc. at all? :)

Thank you for the kind words :proud:

Not yet - will try to video the test tommorow but (probably) wont get it online till after the weekend Im afraid.

did you do all the metalwork on that yourself ewan, or did you have it cut elsewhere?
should be interesting to see it run, nice to see someone trying something a little different.

Nah, its all my own stuff. No matter how much I wouldve liked a solid hardox waterjetted CNC welded superbot I couldnt have afforded it.

ah im sure you could get a hardox watercut cnc welded superbot done by sponsorship you have a sponsor for everything else :)

or pay for it?

watercutting hardox can be cheaper than a new xbox game or 2.

or ask someone with the facilities to machine it by hand *cough hint cough* lol

how did you cut it ewan, hacksaw/jigsaw?

(Message edited by jamesb on July 13, 2006)

looking real nice ewan!

Thats what we need more of in feathers-some originality!

well, not completely original
see adrian sandercocks new robot, you can read about it in countdown to my new... in the heavyweigh section.
same concept by the look of it.

still good though

Bandsawed and jigsawed and (some) of the edges given a little finishing with a belt sander.

Its not entirely original - My main inspiration probably being Mantis - (the one that entered RW a long while ago built by the team that sold their second edition of the machine to Adrian as you say).

battlebots machine complete control springs to mind to, not because of the look, they are very different, but the way the work.

as i say, cant wait to see it run

Nice to see a great hand built machine well done ewan. The hard work and time gives you a much better feeling when you do it yourself than just haveing it machined.

Wow ewan - thats *seriously* impressive !

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

Have to agree there James, its almost an extension of your own being (as someone I cant remember mustve said a long while ago).

Cheers Ed :proud:

Testing has almost finished - Ill try to get the vid (and pics) up this evening!

Lack of rear armour and imminent overweightness (I havent a clue what it is atm...) will mean itll be whiteboards only this weekend, but Farnborough should be the finished article.

Here we go:

http://www.micro-maul.co.uk/videos/vertigo2_test.wmvhttp://www.micro-maul.co.uk/videos/vertigo2_test.wmv

Sorry about all the stopping and starting - the bot didnt do that (at least when it wasnt getting wedged atop plant pots!) but the camera isnt really a video camera and as such can only take ~15 secs at a time.

Now to get packed for tomorrow...

Yay, video :)

Looks even better when its in action.

Is there a great deal of force on the claw or just enough to grip another bot?

looks like not much. guessing arount 10-15kg max.
only ewan knows at the moment though

Overloaded a 5kg kitchen scale with the tip hehe, dont know beyond that though - something should break before it gets to ~15kg. Its a blunt tip claw only designed for grabbing and taking advantage of little crevaces in the other bot. Both the lifting thingie and claw aid in selfrighting though as both can seemingly lift the weight of the thing (though at the moment the claw is ~2cm short of making it go right over - gaffer will sort that).

Anyways, better be off.

Looks great on the vid ewan!

Ive just finished my new featherweight, pic on profile.
Name: Whirlpool
Weight: 12-13kg depending on which batteries are used.
Weapon:none (may soon have a flipper)
Drive: 2 9.6v cordless drills.
Armour: Ali

Vertigo looks nice Ewan. Have you tested the balance point with a full 15kg load in it?

In Aus, we have Sproing, which uses a lifter/clamper weapon. The builder, Andrew Aidulis created a sliding pivot system on the robot so as it began the lifting action, it actually pulled the lifter and opponent back over the drive axle to get more weight down the rear to prevent a nose dive.

A quick video of Sproing in action: http://knightrous.botclips.net/videos/bots/VL%20vs%20Sproing.wmvhttp://knightrous.botclips.net/video...%20Sproing.wmv

I love these style of bots because it invokes more driving skill instead of the popular methods of spinning a big lump of steel really fast or driving a armoured tank into the opponent...

Nice to see some variety in bots every once in a while ;)

now lets wait and see in in combat :)

you know, that sproing really looks like it should somehow be cheating, it just doesnt seem fair, but it is....

love it! :)

hopefully ewans robot will enjoy similar results, unless it gets taken apart, which is always a danger with macines like this (ie, with cool looking weapons)

Well Im back from the first day.

In the first bout a bot pick-up suceeded only for me to drop it again but was then proceeded by Scorpion evo flying up the ramp and bending the claw out of shape (Im sure John will enjoy putting up the pictures in due course!). So I took the claw off for now - not worth hammering it back for a temporary fix I feel.

Ran the next battle just with the lifter and it worked well - it was a good tussle towards the end with Little Hitter and Vertigo. Ill run tommorow with just the lifter too. Ill get the machine completely finished for Farnborough next weekend - complete with claw.

Oh yes, it was 12.00kg exactly when complete - quite a shock really :)

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys

ok it may be a long while since i posted on here last but my bot is starting to come together not as nice looking as some of the previous bots but i got a profile pic although the cammera is not very good as i am still reletively new at building etc also my robot is entirely held together by screws no welds and as i can not afford fancy hardox etc itis mostly steel and wood.

well at least yours is getting there, im just waiting for some more parts then i can get started with my building.

Theres nothing wrong with having a steel and wooden robot Alex - weve all been there :)
A good steel/wooden robot can probably stand up to a helluva lot more than people expect it to

thanks it may be quite a bit if time before its in the arena though it isnt quite legal as yet (still runing on 4 AAs and i may have to upgrade the motors to 6vs. when are the next featherweight championships on?

look under the live events section. Most are in there!

Ploughbot hasnt been out fighting for quite some time now, and so getting it all ready for the UK Champs. Needs a little work done before its ready but stats should be similar to this

Drive-astroflight 940s @ 21-24v on 4blue wheels
Batts-NiHm either 3300mA or 3700mA
Weapon-quick and power lifter/self righter
Chassis-welded steel
Armour-aluminium base with mild steel, case hardened steel, stainless steel and hardox all welded in to solid singular peice shell.

hopefully it will work out as planned, and have a good chance of being in the final (aim is to win obviously lol)

Heres details of my bot which is still under construction:

Name: ulster scot
featherweight: exact weight not known
drive: 2 x 9.6v drill motors running on 12v
weapon: flipper, using a compressor at 10bar
armour: light steel base plate, and poly sides

thats all the details i have so far as the rest i dont have yet.PICS ON MY WEBSITE, ON THE CONSTRUCTION PAGE.

http://www.geocities.com/badgerboticsuk/http://www.geocities.com/badgerboticsuk/

im having another shot at building a featherweight so gunna build a featherweight turbulence with help from dave moulds and craig so should be made for the winter tour round 1

name: slightly gusty
weapon: flipper
drive: 2x 9.6v drill motors
power: 12v nimh
pneumatics: Low Preasure
armour: stainless steel, ally, steel and hardox
notes: featherweight version of turbulence


will a paintball bottle be ok for the pneumatic tank is the thread on a paintball tank suitable?

The thread is different from a fire extinguisher but it is usable. I use a 12oz paintball bottle with a on/off valve. Im sure there are people around that can tell you what thread it is, I have an adapter for it for filling the bottle.

The tread on a paintball bottle is something that comes very close to 1/2 bsp.

The extinguisher tread is larger, but has the same TPI, so it can fit, but it is very lose, and I wouldnt suggest using it.

Alex, I know of a VERY good featherweight built from MDF that uses drill motors, also Pillow Torque does not have a single weld - it is bolted and screwed together (albiet very, very securely):wink:

deBiel has had an upgrade. It now has 2x 10cel 3600 Sanyo NiMh instead of 6 cel 2.5Ah Hawker cyclons.
It also has RC Smart speedos. Lets hope theyll hold up :)
Weight has gone down from 12.3 to 11.1 Kg
It still needs some tweaking due to reception problems.

Ive also decided on an english name because some of you have a problem pronouncing deBiel: Nitwhack
Maybe ill update my picture archive later with the new additions:
http://www.bugs.nl/media/album/index.php?path=L3Byb2plY3RzL2Z6bjEvhttp://www.bugs.nl/media/album/index...plY3RzL2Z6bjEv

deBiel.. (mental defective??) sounds like a perfectly sound name to me Sefan!! :wink:

But there is no way Nitwhack is a proper english word!! Would you like a few sugestions??

SMALL TORQUE
Pillow Torques little sister, being finished for the UK Championships to honour the memory of Tanja. This was going to be her robot, but will now be driven by Kiara Lambert (Mikes daughter)

Chassis... 6082 T6 Ali.
Armour... Nylon 6/Ti/Hardox laminate
Drive... 2 X 300W Thin-gap motors / 26:1 gearboxes
Power... 3700mah Ni-Mh
Control... Vantec RDFR23
Radio... spektrum DX6 2.4Ghz

Sorry no pics. being unveiled at the championships.

Nitwit or Stupid = deBiel ..... says Goggle.