Dont knock it, papercuts really hurt!Quote:
Deadliest weapon in the world right there
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Dont knock it, papercuts really hurt!Quote:
Deadliest weapon in the world right there
Hahahahaaa!Quote:
Dont knock it, papercuts really hurt!
I had tested it with a hand before I filmed the video ;) The only issue is that with a hand motion, I couldn't get a good idea of what the motor would do in place. It was a very quick 'n' dirty concept test.
Actually... I may have a way to preform a reciprocating action... I wonder if I can get it done before Maidstone? Watch this space.
I love we're all just building n messing about in front of corrie lol :-) love the shape of you're robot it's like the perfect shape.
Hahaha, thanks :D The shape does look purposeful when zipping around the arena but it is slab sided at the moment, going to need some wheel guards so it can't land on its side.
What about something like a Whitworth Quick Return Mechanism ?
Hmm... that could work, thanks for the suggestion. :) I'll see about modelling a scale version first and go from there.
Here is a rough and ready proof of concept of the mechanism.
https://youtu.be/zYXeJgXcpDg
This fulfils the brief I want from a axe for The Honey Badger. I do have a concern about the amount of sweep the axe might have but I guess it will come down to how big the slot is and where the axe pivot point is in relation to the motor.
Excellent to see that something from 1850 still has a place in modern RobotWars :) :)
I'm still experimenting with bigger diameter drive wheel and longer arms for more thwacking and also the placement of the bar pivot. There are some other linkage mechanisms that work but are more complicated and then you run the risk of things breaking and being overly complex.
I agree, you don't want overtly complex mechanisms that can break/shake loose during a round. ;)
For this application, I think I need the pivot point immediately behind the drive wheel to try and get the axe as far forwards as possible. Any issues with freedom of movement can be rectified with a longer axehead if it comes to it, might end up more scythe looking in the process.
A variation on a fauchard would suit quite well instead of an axe.
TBH i think you should work on developing the first design as you could be able to design it to have a full 180 degree arc and possibly compress it.
I am not planning on building this until after Maidstone (I know I said I might do in a previous post but I've since decided to spin the research I've done for that off into something else) so plenty of time to work this one out in prototypes and so on.
I don't think the weaponry really needs to go the full 180 though, 120 degrees is more likely given the wedge shape of the robot. The quick return mechanism, I think, can offer that with a suitably big enough drivewheel. Wherever it can transmit enough torque to be effective is another matter though I accept that there will be some losses in the mechanism. I guess using the same motor as the drive motor (which is 13.7:1, ~1500rpm @ 18v) would be quick and have enough torque.
Hmm... perhaps. If it was mounted as in the video you linked, I guess it would be more effective with the rest position in the wedge lifting up with the rounded part of the blade lifting up to cut and hook underneath rather than striking down.Quote:
A variation on a fauchard would suit quite well instead of an axe.
The glaive does look neat though... reminds me of Ronin from the classic Battlebots Long Beach/Las Vagas events.
So I've added on some bars of metal by the wheels to try and keep the robot upright. I am a little unsure about the look of them now they are on there but they serve a purpose or two. They will need painting obviously.
Attachment 7374
The hotel is now booked for Maidstone and The Honey Badger is practically ready to rumble. Will also be bringing a fairly lardy antweight in the form of Osu made largely as a challenge to see if I could use the recycled bits from Shu! and bits from around the house.
Attachment 7375Attachment 7376,
Been working on the front wedge the last few days to try and make it more effective. Re-watching the fights that The Honey Badger 2.x has been in, I note that when the robot comes up against a competitor, it more often than not smacks the bottom lip of the wedge ride than ride up the wedge. So the wedge plate has come off and with a couple of slightly misaligned hinges, it now should be flush to the floor (or it will be when I've metalworked the plate some more).
The other thing I noticed was that the chisels seemed to be ineffective so I took a proper look at the chisels when mounted and guess what? They are too short. Now with the wedge plate now more effective (in theory), this should not matter as when the competitor rides up, the chisels should reach now.
This is really just adaptation on the fly, the 2.2 revisions will include a remade wedge plate, a bit more armour and that luxury, an active weapon(!). If I have any money left from building Kaizen, I may up the voltage of the motors to 16.5 (5s LiFe) or 19.8 (6s LiFe).
Just needs re-painting before Maidstone now.
Attachment 7393
So Maidstone was a bruising encounter having definitely gotten Shreked a few times! :P Could be worse, least The Honey Badger is still moving after 7 melee matches, though definitely battle scarred.
Videos!
Melee I
https://youtu.be/8w_gPKHY5C0
Melee II
https://youtu.be/7Khl1jF9K1k
Melee III
https://youtu.be/5ITHDlTRHP4
Melee IV
https://youtu.be/HQamH9ERps4
Melee V
https://youtu.be/SyNFG-YzcNo
continued
Melee VI
https://youtu.be/Gm8BejvdgVo
Melee VII
https://youtu.be/8f-Yp7JmH-k
So following that, the next thing to do with The Honey Badger is to decide on wherever I rebuild it pretty much "as is" to 2.2 or venture into something different. I picked up a spare FW chassis from plod and I'll see if anyone in the family wants to build a FW for Manchester with it but I've not quite decided on where to go with the Badger in the meantime... hmm.
So as evidenced, The Honey Badger is looking a bit battleworn. I've been giving this some thought as what to do and I've decided that I am going to start building version 3 and eventually decommission version 2.1.1 since it seems to have a very unhealthy habit of capsizing in the arena when running at full pelt.
Version 2.1.1 will probably be at Extreme Robots in Manchester ( which I think is in April of 2018 ) and I'll probably début version 3.0 at Robots Live! in Grantham (or at the FW championships, whichever comes first) unless I can get the idea I have for it built in time. There isn't going to be any significant upgrades to the electronics though, I am relatively happy with the setup I have at present.
When is the Manchester event?
I think it is the 21st and 22nd of April - http://www.extremerobots.co.uk/live
I’ve got to commend you for going back in with Shrekt again and again, tough little robot you’ve got there!
Get Shrekt didn’t come away unscathed either, definitely some things that need changing. I was super pleased with how it performed though, can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
I know you had the weapon motor bent, much else go wrong? Get Shrekt was deadly though, I had a chance to look over The Honey Badger properly tonight and you must have gotten really close to one of my drive wheels, there is a gouge right by one of them I hadn't noticed before.
Having checked the damage over, I think I've got scope to repair it. I need to save the money up for my heavyweight so I'll work on making good the panels of the 2.1.1 Badger first and then add in, le gasp, a active weapon! It may not be what I originally intended but hey, it'll be back. :D
Luckily it was just the weapon motor mount that bent, the motor itself is fine.The main issue is that the weapon shaft was spinning in the bulkheads and has worn out the bores, that would explain the loss of belt tension. A new set of bulkheads, new motor mount and a few little tweaks to help with the gyro and internal shock mounting and it’ll be good to go again.
Awesome, can't wait to see it again. ;)
Been focusing on Shu! over the last couple of weeks but found a bit of time this morning with the Dremel to clean up the side panels, which now look vaguely respectful again. Shrekt managed to put a kink in one of the side panels so I ended up chopping the panel a little to make it line up with the angle of the front panel.
Will be ordering new front and rear HDPE panels next week along with the panels for Kaizen. The base panel, though a bit bent, is nothing that can't be corrected.
So after a whole load of thinking whilst building Shu!, I've decided on a electrically powered lifting arm for The Honey Badger, similar to that fitted to Shu!.
I have leftover HDPE from making the side panels that will form the basis of the arm and I'll mount the motor about 2/3s of the way up the wedge shape so the arm can, in theory, rotate past 180 degrees so can finally self right if it lands on its back panel or completely upside down. I tried adding side bars in Maidstone 2017 but they didn't last so I'll try again and actually bolt the things properly this time as well. :P
Dissasembled the wheel hubs this evening and both have a bolt bent in them so they won't come out... With a bent grub screw as well, I am going to get a new set and remind myself to use all 4 holes next time.
Attachment 7520
So since the last post, I've found the time to work on the Badger since finishing the build of Shu! and after some serious thought, this is likely to be the last few times this version of The Honey Badger goes out into the arena. Ideally, I'd like it to make it to the FW championships this year but then retire it in favour of 3.0. I might keep it around as a loanerbot, if I can find space alongside The Honey Badger 1.0.
Anyway, maudlin moment over, the robot has a new chassis crossmember and much larger screws holding the thing together. The electrics are another thing. In melee V at Maidstone 2017, it suffered its first electrical failure where after being flipped on its back and without the link cover, the plug was damaged so when it landed back on its wheels, it died. The removable link has been remade and is now in but one of the electrical connectors to the speed controllers has jammed and the wire has fallen out. I am sure I have a replacement somewhere mind ;)
Managed to sort out the electrics a few nights ago and now it is running around as fast as ever. Trailed a new pistol grip controller and mixer as well... seems fine but the controller was very twitchy, managed to inadvertently drive the robot straight onto my big toe at full power. :/ I'll keep the controller and mixer for Kaizen...
With regards to the weapon, I keep on flipping between a lifting arm and a axe. In the end, I am going to take a leaf from Shu! and have a lifting arm mounted in the middle of the wedge, so that it can do a 180 arc to become either a rear hinged lifting arm or a front hinged flipping arm which I think will sort out the self righting woes anyway. The middle mounted position will also lend itself to a rotary weapon of some sort as well.
Maybe do a thing similar to Hammer & Tong, and make it an axe and a lifter at the same time. Or a hammer and lifter. Just a suggestion. :P
I did consider that and may add something like that in but the weapon on Hammer & Tong seems to fold over really easy in combat, which would rather reduce the effectiveness. If the motor I have ordered is fast enough, I may very well make a axe arm alongside the lifting arm and the rotary weapon, just need to see it in action.
The motor has arrived but I don't think I'll have an axe attachment for this, it doesn't spin fast enough (something in the order of 62rpm at 12v). Tried to get started on the soldering of the wires to the motor but then my trusty soldering iron died. :( Maplin here I come.
Also ordered some 3S1P LiFePO4 batteries for the Badger. Not totally decided if I want them fitted to the weapon or the drive yet.
Got a new soldering iron so the fun can continue. Wired the motor to a spare TZ85A I have and hooked it up to one of The Honey Badger 1.0 batteries I have laying around to see how well it works. Definitely feels like it has plenty of torque to self right The Honey Badger 2.2. Of course, it may be better when the lithium batteries arrive.
The speed controller needs reprogramming as it doesn't appear to be reading the neutral point correctly and a LED needs to be soldered in for the weapon wiring loom but the wiring is ready to go into the robot. I also worked out how to mount the motor in the robot using a spare piece of HDPE I have, originally starting off life as the base plate for the prototype version of Shu! I also need to find M4 and M5 bolts. I've got most of them but a few are eluding me at the moment. The lifting arm has been cut and ready to go onto the hub for the motor.
Work has also been done to rework the "anti-capsize" bars that was torn off in Maidstone 2017. New, wider plates have been added to the side panels (above the drive wheels as I am still convinced that the robot isn't getting good traction on the floor) and bolt holes drilled. I'll see if the flange bolts I have have enough grip with a washer and nut to hold them in place.
All being well, The Honey Badger 2.2 should be ready by the end of January.
So with Osu and Shu! taking longer than expected, this one has been on the backburner but now with them out of the way, the Badger can finally continue to be rebuilt.
I've drilled the holes for the anti-capsize plates (much more than bars now) and attached them to the side panels. They still need nuts but they are in place and look... fairly gaudy without any paint :P They weigh a fair bit and are quite stiff so hopefully will not be ripped off again.
Attachment 7715
I had a question about my wheels recently and how they are fitted. They are literally drilled through the flat side of the wheel and mated to the flat face of the hub as below:
Attachment 7716
And here is the independent motor mounts for the Badger. The motors are set to the lowest rung on the Heavy Duty L bracket and they just about sit on the bottom part of the L bar.
Attachment 7717
The next thing to do mount the lifting arm motor on the new front lid that came last week and then see how well it does at the old self righting business.
Managed to get the new front lid fitted and now just waiting for the weather to clear up a touch so I can cut out the slot for the arm with a jigsaw. I've test ran The Honey Badger to make sure I wasn't being dim with any wiring issues - turns out the vibrations from the car had knocked a motor lead off but nothing substantial.
In the meantime, after purchasing some parts from HobbyKing for Kaizen... this came in the box:
Attachment 7784
I mean... it is as if they are calling me on this one! Expect a update on that tomorrow. ;)
Well the arm is slowly coming together. Got the motor mounts ready and a arm set to go on it so the next thing to do is secure the motor mounts to the lid and then cut out a slot for the arm. I'll likely use a threaded bar across the bottom of the mount so it is braced rather than the lid take the strain.
Attachment 7816
Is it ok to ask what motor/gearbox combo that is above, and where you got it?
Course ;) It is a Gimson 98:1 motor (https://gimsonrobotics.co.uk/categor...h-98-1-gearbox). I could have gotten the 152:1 variant but since this arm is primarily for self righting above anything else, this will suffice.
Cheers!
Found a bit of time to get the lifting arm working today. Putting the wiring together took a bit of time but most of it was already there from a previous experiment so it was merely a case of plumbing in a removable link. I know it needs a LED definitely, I'll recycle one from the drive system into the weapon.
Attachment 7820
And here is a oh-so-grainy video of it... "working". I think the speed controller needs looking at again.
https://youtu.be/sYZFbSODq64
UPDATE: I've reflashed the speed controller and it now works but only on the first 4 channels of the controller - the 5 or 6th channel (the aux channels) it doesn't respond to. That isn't an issue in of itself but... meeeehhhh, I really wanted it on channel 5. Will continue working on it. Least it is zeroing in the right place now.
Squee!!!!!!
Attachment 7843
I've not had the arm moving in the bodywork yet but for a slot that was cut with a Dremel and a set square, it is much more straight and neat than I first feared. Next thing to do is secure the motor and brackets to the body properly and then see the range of moment on the arm. Just rotating it by hand suggests it might be enough for self righting.
Dremel is burning hot now.