That looks really good!
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That looks really good!
Thanks! I'll be interested to see what yours looks like when it's fully decorated!
Well I've been up to all sorts over the last few days. First sticking point was failsafing modes but that's sorted now, taking transmitter apart was a bit hairy! I undercoated Rag N Bone and have painted it, I have a feeling it may want another coat. I've made a removable link and finally found a method to attach it securely enough so that the hole thing doesn't come away in my hand when I pull the link out! I'm going to put that on the robot this week at some point. The thing I'm most excited about though is I've managed to get hold of a fully working electric wheelchair! I've been flying up and down the driveway on it till the batteries went flat. Haven't laughed like that in a long time. Anyway, I've started sketching heavyweight ideas, favourites at the minute are a bigger version of Rag N Bone with a movable spike, or something completely different like a big thwack bot. If it were to be a thwack bot it'll hit side to side as opposed to up and over like Saint and Stinger. I will photograph my doodles at some point no doubt. Anyway, here are some pictures.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psc9d5ef9b.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps0ff994b1.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps3a669efc.jpg
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http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps26aec39f.jpg
Wow, that looks very impressive! Can't wait to see it up close for real!
It's pretty naff lol, loads of stuff is exposed and I'm not really that into it, I want to add some more to near the wheels to cover it up a bit better. But the robot thing is going in the right direction and I'm sticking with this design just adding to it between now and Doncaster. I need to add my removable link and LED in still at some point. I've been getting distracted with ideas for a heavyweight but should really concentrate on Rag N Bone for a bit before I start cannibalizing the wheelchair. I didn't know whether to build a bigger version of Rag N Bone.
Well, if you're looking for extra armourment, I would recommend using Perspex. Since it's fairly strong and less than half the weight of even aluminium, it's good if you don't have much weight left to work with. Also, I might recommend adding some extra weight to the end of the arm to give it a bit more momentum when you're spinning.
As for the heavyweight, how fast does that wheelchair go? I reckon if you want a competitive bot, it needs to be capable of at least 12mph. Do you plan on adding some extra battery power?
Perspex is a big no-no in combat robots, far too prone to shattering.
If you're after clear material, polycarb (Lexan/Makrolon being brand names) is your best bet.
Fair enough. I'm glad you mentioned it, I was about to use it on my bot too!
Haha glad you mentioned that about the polycarb! Yeah well originally the spear/arm was going to be a home-made hammer/axe with interchangeable heads. Then after trying it out the spike got under everything great and you don't really see it in the vids but it's quite quick. So you sort of scoop under stuff and keep accelerating and smack it into a wall etc (well...at least my old tool box does!). So I placed all the components the opposite side of the axles to balance it out with x-box style steering on my transmitter. It's super controlled and maneuverable but I did really want a thwack bot lol.
The wheel chair is quite quick, jogging pace really, so at a guess I would say 8mph? I can't make anything really accurate (axles/gears/bearing blocks etc.) so my secret technique to robot building is to buy in the hard bits pre-built ie. gear-motors and speedo / receiver and make everything else out of found parts. In Rag N Bone I bought the motors, speedo and radio gear and built the rest from found parts. The plan is to build a heavy in the same vein. I know there is a lot of specific stuff recommended, but you be amazed at how thrown out industrial racking can be turned into box section and shelves into 3mm sheet steel. The plan is to cut out the frame of the chair where the motor assemblies bolt up, and work them into a new base plate. The wheel chair was only £30 so that's my motors, gearboxes, wheels etc sorted, now the scrounge is on for speedo and batteries. But other than that I find everything I need in bins lol.
I'm just trying to sort out a half decent shape / design and will set to with the heavy, big decision at the minute is which weapon, or just build something passive as a first go.
Why don't you just drill a horizontal hole in the end of the arm and use a pin or bolt to mount some heads through that? I used a similar technique for the chisel weapon on mine, only it mounts to the crossbar between the front stumps instead.
As for shapes etc for the HW, I personally prefer the method used by the Razer team; Design the weapon first, then build the chassis around that.
Yeah it would be easy enough to drill the spike to put heads on it.
And yeah you have to mobilise a weapon rather than add a weapon to an already built platform.
Sorry didn't see the post about the wheelchair! I just watched ebay for a few weeks and read through the local paper and stuff. I kept seeing them coming up for £150 or so and then noticed one that had most of the accessories missing. It's quite sad as the old dear had died and it had been found by the son who'd put it on ebay. You can buy wheelchair running gear on its own pretty cheap, but I wanted the partial framework to hold the drive together and give me a way of bolting it into a robot.
You could use the wheelchair ESC like they did on Gemini, have a look in the real robots mags
with servo's pulling the joystick?
I have some naff sketches of heavy! The basic gist is a grabbery thing. It will be less ramshackle than the sketches, I have been watching Youtube stuff a lot and there's a lot of flippers! I'd like to make bulkheads and put them together with an electric actuator powering the top plate. It's working title is "Croc" and the front edge will ride the ground lower and sort of grab hold of people and then I suppose put them in the pit or something less exciting. It isn't really to crush, in a sense, just grab. I'll paint it up with scales and eyes and all of that carry on. The movable top plate of the gob will have enough movement up to roll me back on my wheels if I get flipped. I'm hoping it will be something a bit different although the underpinnings will be pretty humble. Think wheelchair, SLA's, cheap speedos, a cheap lecky actuator and so on.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psd7525be7.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psb9158dd7.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psd99061fa.jpg
I think you might be onto something with the whole 'grab and pit' technique. It works like a charm for TaN! One idea I might throw in is maybe a small, slow-moving toothed drum on the bottom lip to help drag opponents into the jaws.
An electric actuator is actually a really good idea, because unlike a pneumatic one, you get the same amount of thrust in both directions.
Having looked at this I have a feeling this will be expensive and too hard to make. My normal technique of bolting rubbish together to see what I end up with is probably going to be better. It's served me well so far.
I'm not mega sure where to find a picture of the Gemini setup (don't have the mags), but I'm guessing it was a box holding the joystick with servos on each side? Then use coat hanger wire etc to connect them up?
i think the was a link to all the pages somewhere on the forum but if i cant find it i can always scan it in and post it
lol i already scanned it a while back
http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9582ec29.jpg
Thanks! Will also have a Google see what else I can find. I could make that pretty easy.
Been trawling the web and there are hoardes of people making rc robots from wheel chairs and using a Sabertooth 2x25! I'm getting a bit excited after reading how to dismantle the brake at the end of the motor, going to set-to and pull the wheel chair apart in the next few days lol.
Thought I should put up a couple of pictures of my wheelchair motors. After an hours scrap with the wheelchair they're finally off. Unknown to me was the fact the six bolts that clamped the motor assemblies to the frame also held the gearboxes together. I whipped the six bolts out only to spend the next hour trying to work out how it all went back together. Needless to say they're all back together and ready to have the electromagnetic brakes taken off the end and the inner tubes straightened up in the tyres. That will be another riveting evening in front of the telly. Even though it's boring stuff I good about the fact that everything is getting checked and cleaned up as I go so there's no nasty surprises further down the line.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps83ebf4ae.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psaed26700.jpg
Don't trying using a sabretooth to drive a heavy. The pushing involved for a featherweight has gotten the better of that.
It's an ok pairing for a Dalek as it doesn't have to turn as quickly or have anything pushing against it.
I'm guessing it's heat build up from the motors under strain / stalling that gets a bit much?
I thought I would stick up another couple of photo's. I've taken the electric brakes out of the end of the wheelchair motors for something to do, and the second photo is the finished drive ready to build into something. Having a mare trying to find ways to mount the whole thing with the stupid frame attachment they come with. Last photo is the pandemonium getting Rag N Bone ready for Doncaster on Sunday.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps15eb6821.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psc2c298ac.jpg
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I've attended my first event!! Thank you to everyone at Doncaster yesterday who chatted to me and listened to my ramblings and helped me keep the thing running! I had the time of my life, utterly fantastic day! Apologies for bolting at the end, my brother and his friend had to get back for work and we'd read the email as the show is on 12-3:15, not one show is 12, the other is 3:15. So they ended up in a flap as I'd promised them we'd be back yada yada haha.
Robot got thrown all over the place in each of the 4 rumbles but with a bit of tightening up etc each time managed to keep getting back in the arena. I learnt heaps and bounds about stuff, and want to say a massive thank you to everyone for sharing all their info with me. I've got two general areas to sort, one being the spike is rubbish and ineffective, and the other being the robot is too slow / too low voltage. My solution is 2fold!
1. Bin the spike and make a dozer blade type thing for the front
2. Get a decent 18V/24V pack and some nice motors
Gonna have a week to mull it over and then set to. Thought I'd bung a pick up of the robot after yesterday all dented and battered haha.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps4290dbdc.jpg
I took another picture this morning so thought I would put it up. After the spike being rubbish I've decided a blade would be better. I spent twenty minutes last night grinding and drilling a piece of metal into a rough shape and bolted it on to see what it looked like. It would need building up, shaping properly etc. but I was greatly enthused by this development. On my "if it looks about right it probably is" scale this looks like a decent addition. The robot is also halfway through a re-wire to 14.4V and has been moved round internally. This is so eternally dull however that I won't bore you with a picture. I am gonna change the name because Rag N Bone sounds stupid.
I am planning robot number 2, only because half of this is wrecked and I thought well if I need to re-make anything I might as well incorporate everything I've learned. My wheel chair motors have been abandoned in the dining room for a bit, and I am getting the itch to build an antweight, only put off up to now by the fact I can build feather 2 cheaper than starting an ant.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps428bdbbe.jpg
One of the priciest bits for an ant is the TX/RX set. You have a perfectly useable TX so you can just bind another RX to it and put it in the ant.
What material is that wedge made of ?
It's mostly just for trial, but that particular piece is 2mm mild.
That should be ok. The invertible wedge I used on Mecha Sombra was exactly the same, and it stood up very well. Although if you can go thicker, you probably should.
Haha the baseplate snapped this morning.
Ouch! Sorry to hear that. Chopping boards really aren't suitable for this sport. There are some soft variations (I believe they're made out of "LDPE", L for low density, vs the popular HDPE) which are probably fine, but many just shatter. A bit of HDPE, or nylon (may crack too with enough force), will make for a much nicer baseplate.
Lol it’s ok, it was battered and mangled anyway after Tiny Hurtz got hold of it :D. It only weighs 5kg wet through and no amount of up-armouring was gonna take it to 12kg+. I’ve acquired a pile of 2x2 offcut and 6mm ply so may have a bash at knocking something up out of that for a giggle.
As soon as I took the spike off it lost all of it's rigidity and then with a wedge on top it just gave up.
Ok well even though the base plate snapped I've decided to soldier on for a few more events with it. This meant making a fresh base plate, putting on the scoop I'd made and re-wiring to 14.4V I have a sketch for robot number 2 that you can see below. This one is a lot stronger, although it would be the spring before I got near building that. It's mostly a cash/time thing as ever. Anyway, below is robot as it sits now waiting for an even oop norf. Below that the new idea for robot 2. Slightly put off building a heavy somehow, will probably make the wheel chair free to a good home in the new year if I haven't done anything with it by then.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps84812a3d.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps2b488183.jpg
Thought I would put up a quick snap of the new bettleweight! (minus motors, wheels, battery and speedo) I also have an Antweight robot in the pipeline for after Christmas. Hoping to get all three to some events next year, and also get on with a heavyweight next spring. I'm just in the process of trying to find something good to turn into an antweight. Any thoughts / suggestions welcome!
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps82415a28.jpg
That looks quite big for a beetleweight and the spinners will cut through it like its tin foil but other than that's looks fun!
Yeah, you know once you've had an evening to think and think...maybe this wasn't the best of ideas lol.