Congrats for getting stuck in and having a go! Dead impressive!
Dangerous Dave
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Congrats for getting stuck in and having a go! Dead impressive!
Dangerous Dave
Cheers! I've got plenty of photos to post up, and a few videos - HardWired definitely deteriorates very quickly paint-job wise...
Got a big list of issues, right from the big ones (lack of traction) right down to tiny little things (slight pull to the right) which I intend to sort out fully for the next competition I do with HardWired II. It'll be long job, but it'll be worth it in the end!
Mario's done a heck of a job on my machine too, the body shell and welds stood up to literally anything and everything that could be thrown at it! In fact, I never broke down from mechanical immobilisation, even with a cracked magnet in a motor...
Hardwired is a beast of a machine, get the lack of traction/weight sorted and it will be one to watch, it's a shame that hit from 720 caused so much damage as up until then it was practically unscathed. Best of luck with it though and i hope to see you at some events at some point, i want that 1 on 1!
Cheers Sam! Its really fast, but with some adjustments and more grip, I can see it becoming very Satanix-ey. Might seriously consider renaming it Angelix if Dave lets me hahaha!
720 seemed to cause a lot of damage too, bent the chassis (hardox) BUT it's all cosmetic, had it running this evening briefly and it's as though nothing happened at all. Again, fantastic design work on Mario's part there!
I'm going to try and get to as many events as I can too, hope to see you at some! I'm sure the one on one will happen soon enough too, just let me get that hardox top plate welded on and we'll see how much you want to fight it then ;)
I'll still want to fight it just let me sort out the drive first,(be a bit pointless you just pushing me around) and get the axe how i want it and then we'll see how tough that shell really is :evil:
Hahaha, bring it on!!!
I think really my shell is just indestructible and probably always will be now for the HardWired series (I quite like the label of being that robot that's got the insanely thick hardox) but the worry is the shocks, since there are things I can't shock mount fully... I could potentially go with some kind of suspension or rubber dampers for things but it starts getting a bit too technical and overly complicated when I could avoid it...
Hatchets axe, with more brute force behind it could really be nasty too... Definitely looking forward to those changes and improvements!
The axe should be nasty when it's done, i'm planning on getting Mario to make me up one maybe 2 more with different heads so i can pink and choose for different opponents, so the current axe, one with pointy head and possibly one with a heavy hammer.
I don't think you want something really heavy, otherwise it'll be slow and you'll jump a lot when you fire, a bludgeoning weapon is always great, and interchangeable with a pointy spike like little hitter could be very interesting. If you did something like that, you'd easily be able to have at my wheels!
We'll see about the hammer, i'm still undecided although i've decided i don't like the idea of being at a spinner event with only one axe, it makes me not want to use it on spinners in case it get's damaged, at least if i have a spare i can get stuck in.
Yeah, that's probably for the best. Don't want to get one wrecked and not have a replacement!
Just been watching footage from the shows, HardWired actually stood up to more than I thought, but I definitely need more weight and traction for next time. It's quite clear that the announcer wasn't a fan of my robot though, mentioning weak armour and that it'll easily get mangled (?) and staying out of the way of the fight when I'd lodged myself under Binky and DB10, a little bit disappointed by that in hindsight, but it's no big deal.
The HardWired II I'll be entering next year will be a lot more powerful on the drive so that should be better. If I can add more weight, shock absorbing and a bit more control, I think I'll be able to do a lot more. Tempted to go for magnets too, but there's plenty of downsides to their use in my machine.
Other than that, I'm doing a brand new robot, HardWired III which I'll attempt to build on my own there-abouts to try and home my skills so I'll be able to fix up robots instead of asking for help from others. As brilliant and helpful as everyone was, I can't be doing that every five minutes, it's not fair! This new one will be essentially a 2WD Rango. I'll use the already established design of HardWired II and work from there on it, it'll have some dimension changes to suit a spinner, but the design works well so I don't want to stray from it too much. I want to keep HWII as my indestructible, reliable brick with HWIII being more of an experimental, more damaging machine. Initially the idea was to fit HWII with a disc but after a few chats, it'd involve quite a lot of messing about and it'd mean heavy changes to the chassis to fit the disc in, so why not start again from scratch and keep both running!
Both will enter into the 2015 champs if I can find another driver. Should be very interesting indeed!
Would just like to thank everyone involved again for such a fantastic event, and to Mario for helping create such a tough little machine!
Don't feel disheartened by what the commentator said - he's only there for the audience and does a good job on commentating… he has no knowledge of robots though. You did really well.
Cheers Dave! :)
Yeah, I'm not taking it to heart, most people just see a robot with no weapons and that's fair enough. Shame he didn't pick up on my totally legit street racer drifting skills though haha! Thanks though, I hope I didn't do too bad for a first attempt!
720 was awesome this year too, you left a right mark in the side of HardWired, biggest damage I saw the entire competition! The side is quite noticeably bent in too, which for 6.5mm Hardox is pretty scary! Shame about the main competition, very unlucky with that drive problem...
Attachment 4478
It was a huge hit, i didn't really see what happened i was too busy trying to fend off little hitter, i just saw you go flying. Tough little machine though and brilliant driving for a first timer, can't wait to see what improvements you make for the next one.
I wasn't paying full attention, I was keeping an eye on No Toy, Hatchet and Little Hitter because my motors and LiPo could have been punctured if I wasn't careful... New top plate for next year, definitely. That, and a hard case for my LiPo. Wouldn't have been as worried if I had those, just didn't want to cause a fire!
Thanks too! Hopefully should be all round better next year, brushless drive, gyro, pistol Tx etc, should be a lot stronger! Problem this year was the speed of the wheels and grip, but if I can sort those out it should have plenty of power to push everything round...
Looking forward to seeing Hatchet's upgrades too, will be absolutely lethal when they're done!
I would say it's grip you need not more power!! :)
Well, that's part of the plan! More grip, lower ratio (maybe) bigger wheels and brushless and it'll be gold!
Problem is that for the most part the ratio and motors produce mostly speed, and not too much torque in practise. Maybe that's just the low amount of grip but I'm not really sure. Either way, a lower ratio with Brushless can't harm, means I'll get a bit more out of it and it'll be a bit more controllable!
I think your lack of grip may have been a combination of not enough weight and as with hatchet the screws holding the tread on being proud above the rubber, I don't think the tread was overly grippy to start with but it seems to wear down quite quickly. Can't wait to see your attempt at brushless drive tbough, mr mangle proved it's a viable system but the drive isn't the focus of the robot, with hardwired however you can really go all out with it
Yeah, that might be it... I lost my tread very quickly so it's probably a lot of that. Might try some banebots wheels or equivalent, see how they last up. Thanks too, the brushless drive might prove valuable, nay critical to HardWired II's design, if I make the changes I'm thinking of. Basically, it'll be like Satanix on fast-forward haha. Will likely adjust the controls for better low-end, and stupid fast top-end control. Maybe a turbo toggleable button if I can.
Also, belated thanks to Dave Moulds for giving me such a stylish exit from my final fight of the weekend, 16 seconds in to the Gladiator... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9kSl1bOToE
I love how you can see my train of thought - LH3 chases me and I'm like NOPE and drive off (axes will mess up HardWired II bad, the LiPo has a tiny little air gap between it and the top plate, filled by foam but don't want to risk it) and then No Toy turns towards me so I take a quick reverse... straight into 720.
Was told by a few people I had a good chance of taking the Gladiator because of my thick armour and hilariously over-the-top battery size, and I was the first gone. I'll be back for that trophy though!
Also, videos of HardWired II's fights from the weekend, bar most of the whiteboards (anyone have those? They were some of the most fun fights I had haha)
In order, competition fights:
VS Ironside and Binky (Win, I guess?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acahEwpPll8
Not much to say here, I ran into Ironside, it broke and Binky didn't work. Both of which were stupidly lucky for me, but I'm happy to have won my first fight!
VS NST and Carcinus (Lose/3rd)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYfAF1Uxd1Y
I didn't put the link in properly. Simple as that - NST clipped the top off, and the rest is pretty explanatory. Being the skilled driver he is, I do recall Sam actually saying to me that the bar wasn't spun up to full speed because it would have sent NST out, in which case there was literally nothing I could do bar take the hits and hope to win on aggression anyway, assuming NST hadn't already won on damage. And Carcinus could easily have had me too, but I was hoping to at least outlast it but you win some, you lose some! I like to think that this loss was mainly karma at work... Would love a rematch some day though, I think with better drive I'd have NST on the ropes! All damage was completely cosmetic though, just a few dents in the armour but nothing major. Put a new link in immediately after, and it still run fine on the bench, quick charge and she was ready to go once more!
VS Joule and Gianto (2nd place)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtYfvZ_FEWw
Wait a minute... against Grant and James? That's going to end well for me! Joule worked well it seems, and I was very scared of it, hence the patented Flag Robotics 'precision engineering top plate' (for sale, £1000 ONO). As it happened, it pulled an awesome trick and flipped itself out of the arena, unfortunately for Grant... that hammer didn't half hit though, it caught me on the self right and pulled out 3 of my 5 bolts for the back plate! After that spectacular exit, I was head to head against Gianto, and there's only one way that'll end - Gianto has much more push than me. It looks like I drove into the pit - I did, but what happened was one wheel was skidding slightly to the pit, so I tried to turn away by applying the throttle to the right side, which actually sent me straight forward and into the pit. 2nd place ain't bad though, 6 points total by now. Need a win by KO to qualify, which should be easy as long as I'm not up against any high-pressure flippers.
VS Beauty 8 and Gianto (Lose, 3rd place)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWBseSfdLEQ
I drove onto his flipper. Need I say any more? I lost out to the eventual runner up though, so I guess I'm not doing so bad there. 8 points total, 10 needed to qualify - not bad for a machine on its first run, with no grip in the wheels!
And finally, a damage report for the post-champs round up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zG4VHorGnM
Will post the whiteboards and whatnot tomorrow!
Overall, quite happy with how it performed, and I now know what improvements to make! Again, such a fantastic event and I had so much fun there, I really wish I was there again now!
Wow you left the arena in style ! I love how pathetic hatchet was in that fight just trying to fend people off with the axe, shame you got thrown out i reckon you had a good chance of winning
I might have done with some more weight and grip, my only tactic would have been running away which in theory could have worked, but that's just a bit cheap isn't it?
Either way, I could only have own with that method if Endeavour went out somehow, since I believe they have the same size battery as I do but with less high amp draw motors (drills vs Johnson 51mm/speed 900s)
To be honest with you, I think we'll both have some scary machines next year if upgrades work out, yours will be much scarier like... HardWired II will fight again!
The axe will be scary but hopefully I can get the drive sorted so I actually have a chance to use it, I'm hoping to have Hatchet running by Barnsley and Hatchet 2 by the end of the year so I have plenty of time before the champs to get rid of any problems.
Hopefully! I think you just need a little bit more in he way of clearance or just grippier tires. You'll get more grip at the heavy events anyway because they're wooden floors and the screws will get a bit more grip than on metal I'd guess... Not ideal but it's a start!
Looking forward to having that scrap if you're at Barnsley too! HardWired will probably have some small upgrades before then, it's my birthday before so I might have a bit of money with which to upgrade, but we'll see.
I'm hoping to have HardWired III built before the end of the year so I'm well ahead and I've got time to refine and iron out any creases. I hope to get to a full combat event before next years champs with both machines, but I don't know whether that's doable. Just depends on when they get built I suppose.
HardWired II will stay relatively untouched, just refined- the shape will get a bit of a change because the sides are drum-bait as 720s hit proved... Maybe some removable skirts or something. Other than that, just making a move towards more weight, more grip and more control, really. I'd like to have the sheer push of BonX, Satanix and Tiny Toon but in a smaller, tougher shell. Ideally I'd like stupid speeds right at the top end of the sticks but that's a programming thing I'll have to sort. Brushless might mean that I can have wider wheels or two side by side since the motors won't be as big. Tempted to get some of those 750w NTM ones for testing's sake and rehouse those into HardWired III when I get that done. HWII will end up with the beefiest motors I can get in there.
Going to get started on designing HWIII soon, just need to get some decent CAD software and a working computer, and I'm good to go.
Put these motors in it!! Just for the sake of uberdrive!!
Haha, they'd be epic! I'd love to if anyone's got a spare pair they'd like to donate? (Uber optimism there)
I think from the stats the brushless would actually have more power, but it's the delay with startup and turning that might be a pain, though I'm toying with the idea of a bigger reduction, bigger motors and magnets for downforce. I know Dave was using big motors and a huge amount of downforce on 540, and I believe he said that the motors were very hot afterwards, however that was with 6WD, I'd have 2 so there's a bit less in the way of friction when it's turning I'd guess but I don't know for a fact.
BonX and Satanix use the same basic drive setup, albeit with more voltage.
It seems the soft compound just doesn't have any grip and wears out very fast.
So, the first thing to test, is another tyre.
Sure would, I'm saving up for a pair of the 940 variations for Flow at some point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flag Captured
Understatement of the century, 540 was always going up in smoke!Quote:
Originally Posted by Flag Captured
It's not power you're lacking, it's grip. Why don't you stick with the same drivetrain and sort the grip out? Erm...I dunno what I mean...develop the drivetrain rather than bin it and start again...
What Matt was saying at the champs is that he felt Hardwired didn't have the pushing power of some of the other robots, Gianto and Satanix for instance, this was down to the fact that he had very little grip, the ratio at which his motors were run and probably the power of the motors themselves. For a normal robot that drivetrain would be perfectly adequate but for a robot like Hardwired that uses it's push and ram as a weapon more power is necessary.
I took some time looking at different mountain bike tyres in Halfords. Quite happy with the one I selected. Grippy and the blocks are fairly tightly packed and can move around a little to adjust to floor surfaces
PS: Cant remember the make
I'll have a look in Halfords next time I'm there with regards tires, probably going to try and make something from the bike tread I have already, but it's not too different from the stuff I already have that has shredded on the wheels. If worst comes to absolute worst, there's always Banebots - they're expensive but the amount of people that use them has got to speak volumes for their effectiveness. I'm sure I could adapt those into my existing setup!
I won't bin the drivetrain either, I'll still have it but there are potential huge benefits to brushless if I can work it right. They have more power, are smaller and are lighter than the equivalent brushed motors, only downside being that there's the delay and torque curves... I could try and use some sensored motors, but I don't think there's anything like the NTMs with a Trackstar ESC for sensorless technology, and if there is it's beyond my price range. If the brushless drive works nicely too, I'm definitely using it in HardWired III. If not, there's always brushed alternatives. The basic idea of HardWired III will be similar to Rango - rambot with a disc- so high powered drive will be pretty much a must.
In other news, after a bit of a chat with a friend, I'm going to try and prep HardWired I for a championship too, since that's surprisingly still somewhat intact. Would just want a new chassis made (out of those leftover bits of HDPE I have) along with some new batteries/ESCs and we'll be sorted. It's already got it's lifter actuators in there, but I'm tempted to convert it to an LP flipper if I can make a dirt cheap setup using fire extinguishers and servos/valves... Again, I'm going to try and add armour to make it completely OTT as I think is becoming pretty standard for the HardWired machines (the old version of HardWired II ended up with like 60mm HDPE or something crazy) but the only difference is that it'll have 4 wheels... it's actually being adapted for a friend of mine who's getting into combat robotics and wants to go to a few events, so I'm going to try and make it a reliable brick that's pretty easy to drive. It's just a drill box at the very heart of it, really, which is ideal. I'm not going to be doing all of this on my own, but I'll be doing a sizeable chunk of it most likely, inbetween upgrades to HWII and building HWIII. Shouldn't be too difficult though, I already have most of the dimensions ready made, just needs everything cutting out from the existing templates and bolting together, should take a week or two if I can get a good run at it.
So, plenty to do this coming year!
EDIT: I've just realised it's like update central round here at the minute haha, this'll be the last of the proposed updates posts for a while, had no idea I'd done this many of them...
When it's mentioned that Matt wants more power like Satanix, does Matt not have the same drive train (Speed 900) made by the same person (Mario) on a similar ratio (6:1 ish?) as Satanix? Meaning if he could sort the grip and voltage out he'd be on par with Satanix? Also meaning he wouldn't have to fork out for a brand new drive train? Just seems daft spending money when there is already a drive train there I'd kill for.
Satanix runs genuine speed 900's on a 6:1 ratio with a 5s lipo i believe? ( Dave?), whereas Hardwired runs Johnson 850 motors ( basically the same as speed 900's but wound differently so they're faster but have less torque) on a 4:1 ratio with a 4s lipo and much smaller wheels. Basically in the current machine Matt can't fit bigger wheels or a lower reduction with the current motors.
HardWired II has Johnson 51mms, 4.5:1, 4s
Satanix has Speed 900s, 6:1 and 5s...
The Johnsons are basically raw Speed 900s, before Graupner adjusts them for the torque side of things if I recall correctly from what Mario said, theyre basically the same but faster with less torque. In theory, I'd guess it works out similar but in practice I can't seem to put the power down. I've got a few tests in mind though first, one of which being weight redistribution... I think that making the wheels bigger and slowing them down should improve my pushability and lead to fewer shredded wheels, but we'll see I guess. I will say that strapping Harry's bar (Massacre) to the top of HardWired did noticably improve grip, was tempted to run it in the gladiator, but it wasn't secure enough for the lid with 720 and Binky in there, would have just pulled my top plate off, and in an arena with Hatchet, Little Hitter and No Toy? That's a lipo puncture waiting to happen!
The Brushless setup is kind of an experiment too, the setup so far is great, but I just feel I can get a bit more out of the chassis with brushless. If worst comes to worst and it doesn't work, I have two motors for spinners so it's not really shelling out money for nothing if you get me? I'll still use everything whether it's for the drive or not, but it's worth a shot! That, and Speed 900 size motors are getting tougher to come across, using the brushless stuff means I'll have plenty of spares at much more affordable prices when the inevitable happens. Case in point, I broke one of my 3 motors at the champs - I don't have a spare now, and I'm not entirely sure where I'll just be able to pick up a new spare at a decent price, if that was an NTM 42-38, I'd just hop on Hobbyking, buy a new one for 20 quid and the job's a goodun!
Speed 900 sized motors are virtually impossible to get hold of unless you buy the Caldercraft 900's which just don't have the power of a true speed 900. I think brushless drive could be a viable thing for the future, Mr Mangle proved it can be done successfully and for a cheapish, powerful drive system with easily obtainable spares that can fit into tight spaces i don't see a comparison, i'm personally looking forward to seeing what Matt and Mario come up with.
Yeah I didn’t mean to come across negative, sorry if I did. I have Asperger’s and it shows at times with me getting the wrong end of the stick.
I just meant if you were worried about money you have a nice drivetrain and 850’s are available and some batteries and weight over the drive would push it in the floor.
I’ve spent hours pouring over the photo’s of the big pushers with their shell’s missing as I’m not a fan of spinners. The one thing I notice is all the battery weight etc. centred over the drive for grip.
Brushless drive sounds nice; you should have a look at that! Also sounds a lot cheaper than I’d realised.
http://i.imgur.com/Z4Vw1HB.jpg
This is how you weight distribution.
Cheers Sam! Mario's definitely done a great job with it, so if we can get brushless to work I think it just may bump up it's competitiveness, plus it'd be nice to get in on the brushless drive quite early on, show off what it can do haha
No worries at all Dave! No negativity taken from that at all :) I do get where you're coming from, but it's literally impossible to get any more weight over the drive in HardWired II anyway, I'll post a photo of it's innards sometime - the motors are touching the top plate and back panel and are back to back because of how small the machine is so I literally can't get any more weight over them. Having brushless, depending on the motor, could mean I'll be able to redistribute the weight a bit more by putting a block of steel or something between the motors. It'll probably be something a bit better than that, most likely a battery or something but you get the picture!
And Haz, that will remain my favourite ever modification to a robot. Shame 720 was in that gladiatorfight, wanted to see it in action haha!
Echo what Matt said i didn't think you came across as negative at all so no worries :), in a machine as small as Hardwired it's difficult to distribute the weight any more as everything's already on top of everything else and the 900 sized motors take up most of the robot. With brushless motors especially outrunners you can get the same performance figures you would get from a speed 900 in a much smaller package and if Matt downsized the battery capacity slightly (5000mah is way ott if you ask me) then he could potentially have room for bigger wheels and possibly even some magnets to give more speed and more weight over the wheels.