scruffy

just reading the tech check and im wandering if the lifter on my robot has to be restrained and if i can used 2 pieces of wood for the cradle

aslong as the wheels are off the surface its ok naturally a dedicated system for this is better but if the lump of wood works then it's fine

i never restrained my lifters as they were all electric so the whole system went through one link, however the wording on the tech check sheet may have changed since then

i suppose i could open the lifter up and jam a bit of wood in

We didn't have to restrain our 4-bar in Tormenta and at MMM, at least, we didn't have to restrain Tormenta 2's weapon.

The cradle for both of ours has simply been a piece of wood that raises the wheels off the ground. Passed 3 tech checks.

k well i i spent a few mins screwing a few bits of wood together to make a cradle for each bot and i can always pull the bolt out the lifter so the actuator could move but the lifter wouldn't

at the mo im just hoping i can fight them and give them a proper test

now i know scruffy is still not driving properly so i will be dismantling it tomorrow for some major internal re arrangement as the wheels and weight are probably in the wrong places also new wheels or some bike tread on the old wheels will help with grip

night fury just needs minor mods and a better driver lol

dam bought a hitachi drill with no charger from a car boot for £5 to run talon's weapon charged the battery at home and found out its really good and i don't want to dismantle it lol

also has anyone used drill where you can replace the brushes in robot before and are they relativity easy to modify

haven't updated in a while so thought i should do an update

scruffy: so far i have moved the wheels back to hopefully improve the steering, I still need to re-enforce the lifter as i think it bent a little

night fury: i now have a lipo battery for it just waiting for the charger before I start upgrading the wiring

and my latest robot, i so far have most of the bits and will star the build soon

the weapon will be interchangeable between a lifter and axe powered by a 14.4v 2 speed drill through a 6.3 to 1 chain reduction (36nm at 400rpm and 20nm at 1300rpm)

the drive will be 2 12v cordless drills and i am aiming to use

I will used the same speed controllers i used in my other

I am looking at going for a 3ch pistol grip tx

and the armour will probably be 3mm thick mild steel and if there is any weight left I will aim to add some polycarbonate to the outside

Really looking forward to this man!

That lifter motor, like ours, will be power hungry, and a battery that can feed it should result in a pretty punchy weapon. Doubt a single NiMH pack will be able to deliver the beans.

I'm aiming to put 2 of those packs in but if it still seams a bit weedy I will test the lipo pack a got for the 4wd robot in it

i also need to make something that will allow me to change the gear easily so i can use the faster speed for the axe

also the motor has a break which might be a problem but i'm hoping it will be able to fold other bots in the air :)

That bpack looks like it's just a standard 7.2v NiMH? If it is, you must mean you'll use another pack in series to give 14.4v. Just remember that does not up the discharge ability, only paralleling packs does.

Yeah, the LiPo might be worth trying, once complete, just to see if the performance boost justifies buying one specifically for this machine.

Keep it up!

lol its not a great pic but its 2 7.2v in series to make 14.4v and I should be able to get 4 of the 7.2v packs in the weight limit

bit of an update
haven't done a great deal on any of the robots but i think i have worked out the shape of the new 1 via some CAD

Can i ask what transmitter you are using? ive got a spectrum dx6i was wondering if the orange rx receiver you have previously mentioned in the thread was compatable?

With a DX6i, it should be fine. Those orange RX's are 'DSM2' technology. The only spectrum radios that are not DSM2 (in robot use anyway) are the DX6 and DX3r.

im using a dx5 with an orange rx in scruffy at the mo but i needed to add failsafes you can get an orange rx which will failsafe on all channels but its about £20

Still a lot cheaper than the spektrum ones :)

this it the 1 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-Model-Airc ... 27cd7ef5d8

You can also get the same Rx at Hobby King. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... lsafe.html You will have to check if it is still cheaper with postage.

out of interest does anyone know how thick the steel is on old calor gas bottles and weather is better grade steel than general mild, because i was wandering if it would make good armour or i could use a chunk to make a scoop for a robot

I don't know the thickness, but if you search calor gas wood burner or similar into Google images you get lots of results showing sliced up bottles. You may be able to gauge whether it is worth cutting one up from any pictures showing the steel side-on.

from what i've see it looks around the 2-3mm area but i'm not sure

my dad has 1 that's sat in the garden for years which i'm temped to chop will need to fill it with water first to make sure there's nothing left in it

I'm my experience they have a 3.5 / 4 mm gauge. Before you cut it unscrew the valve :)

good to know, have a design that can use the curvy shape of the bottles


also i have just done a quick test with the a lipo in my 4wd bot and it seems to make a hell of a difference i had it off the deck and compared how how fast the wheels moved and how the motors sounded and the wheels were definitely moving quicker and the bec didn't cut out when i changed direction quickly as the was plenty for all 4 motors

i also might have to upgrade my power splitter as it probably cant handle the new current when pushing so the might melt but at least they wont short so when the weather dries a bit i will take them to the basket bell court and see what i can brake when with the new upgrades

ok gave scruffy another test drive and still a pain with the steering so i tried my dx3e and it now seems to drive better in a straight lign and i can control its turning speed , so it seems to be driving better

ok scruffy seems to working well and now everything failsafes when i turn the transmitter off just have to tidy the wires up and re enforce the lifters scoop a bit so it will soon have a nose

and my 4wd bot is just awaiting for 100a fuses to arrive for the lipo pack and then i can give it a proper test to make sure the wires and power splitter is up to the job

ok bit of an update

finally got round to cutting some of the material for my new drill powered lifter bot, i have cut the 100mm diameter tube in half and put a slight angle on either side, so the back end is done i also cut the side panels but still have to make the front panel

i have also started to order bit for my latest 4wd bot which im aiming to put some character into it a bit like scruffy but with more detail and it will also have a weapon

ok bit of an update

I've tack welded the side plates to the back end of the bot still have to cut the front and top plate and trim the aluminium base plate down to size

im also now building the lifter mech into the top armour instead of having a supporting frame from the base plate


the structure so far is 100mm dia tube 4mm thick sliced in half at the back with about a 16deg angle on either side, the 2 side panels are made out of 3mm mild steel, the front pannel will also be the same and the base plate is 6mm aluminium which might be a bit thick ?

ok

I've welded the armour together and fitted the base plate next on the list is making the top plate which will be 3mm steel which i will mount the sprocket and bearing and drive motor, the motor puts out a max of 36nm at 400 rpm and the chain reduction will be will be 6.33 to 1 which will bring to to 63rpm (not accounting for any resistance)

the lifting arm will be about 250mm from pivot to tip, so if my calculation are correct (and please correct me if i'm wrong) should give me 90kg ish at the tip


Im also going to make the end of the weapon interchangeable between a lifter and an axe as the drill motor is a 2 speed so i have the option between 400 and 1300 rpm and the drill give out 20nm at 1300rpm

Looks very neat so far :)

I love the way you package your robots its clever. Do you have any sketches etc as to what the lifter will look like when you've finished it?

the only sketches i tend to do are a sort of floor plan to make sure i can get everything in the shape, i tent to go with a general idea and let it build up that's how scruffy got its look

my next 1 after this will be a growler ish style robot, ive already got some of the steel just trying to find some decent drive motors as the 1s i use to get arn't available anymore

i've been been estimating how much weight i have left on the bot and i might have enough to add some additional bolt on armour on the sides i think i can get away with either 5mm thick cheep aluminium or 10mm plastic like hdpe, my main problem is which might protect better against spinners

i was looking at direct plastics at

hdpe
acetal
polypropylene
rg 1000


any ideas on which would be better, at the end of the day their sacrificial and they would have 3mm steel behind them so if they would all work to about the same level then i would just go for the cheapest

HDPE for sure.

ok thanks its also 1 of the cheaper options

do spinners tend to chew and flex it rather than just bending and break it, im also wandering how cheap 5mm aluminium would fair

also is grade 500 hdpe any good, found some the right size on ebay

HDPE 500 is the softer cheaper version, very shatterproof and the most easy (still not easy in itself) to weld.

It's what the Hannibalito's are made off.
And I think Hannibalito 3, build in 2007 and not spared in the amount of fights, is proof of the quality of the stuff as armor. On the other hand, it's in certain spots up to 30mm thick.

Polypropylene is useable, but it's harder and a tad less shatterproof than HDPE.

Acetal is even harder, but a lot more brittle.

RG 1000 , no comments there.

rg 1000 is the poor mans nylon. Not useful for much for us. Jamie tried to use it a while back in drumroll. Didn't work out so well.

thanks for the info

sound like the hdpe is the best to go for on top of the steel shell

Quote:

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Originally Posted by typhoon_driver

rg 1000 is the poor mans nylon...Jamie tried to use it a while back in drumroll.

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Indeed. I chose it for exactly that reason...I was a poor man at the time :lol:

Nice stuff to cut/work with but not the best building material, especially for chassis bits etc.
Difficult to say how it compares to HDPE; I'm now just in the habit of using Nylon for chassis and HDPE for armour (if needed).

RG1000 sounds much cooler though....

What was that exotic metal you used on your Drum Jamie?