Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboteernat
Never really rated those tools, Me and my Dad try to remove a bearing with on of those and it didn't budge so we smashed the cast iron outer shell (as we had a spare one) and cut it off
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboteernat
Never really rated those tools, Me and my Dad try to remove a bearing with on of those and it didn't budge so we smashed the cast iron outer shell (as we had a spare one) and cut it off
i would agree with you, but for low budget and something that should come off easily, i think they will do, hence the opinion the last link should do the trick.
The 3 armed types are ok, we use them at work, but not the best.
Well, after a lot of swearing, a candle lighter, two screwdrivers; one that was already bent at the tip thanks to a paint can haha, a wrench, and my good old friend of mine, we managed to get the pulley off of the axle. Hooray! Now just need to epoxy on more HDPE to it, then go from there.
But it does mean we're back on the right track, somewhat.
Also, thanks Nat for the idea with the lighter, worked a treat on wearing the glue out, and the heat expansion too.:)
So I'm pretty sure it's the same for some people, but the snow has definitely made it a little more... difficult, to say the least. Fingers crossed the weather is wrong tomorrow and I'll be able to get back to work on Ratatoskr... and I may need to buy more HDPE, but I'll get to that problem when it comes around haha.
But the pulley is now secure in the HDPE piece, and now I need to do mounts and trimming, before testing once more and then armour templating.
glad the lighter trick worked for you. Hope the weather was good for you, im hoping tomorrow there is less rainy stuff so i can do some grinding and welding
Well, fingers crossed on Friday that me and my friend can get our fingers out our noses (and the weather stays stable) as after many templating issues, I managed to make a template that looks like it'd work, and we'd just have to cut it out of hdpe, make drill holes for it to sit in the original bolt holes for the original mount, make sure it's stable, and make sure it runs smooth enough, before having to work on templating the armour and adding a spike to the weapon, else it'd just be a light plastic club haha.
Got a bit on my plate so to speak, but hopefully, if I take it bite by bite, then we should be ready for Manchester... Good bloody christ, where'd this year go to already?
I know the feeling, I've been working on a few other robots and projects so much I need to find time to work on mine. :S Sure I can find a day or two.
So, progress so far...
Templated the right hand side of armour for Ratatoskr out of cardboard. Just need to cut it all into it's relative chunks, make it a little neater, then cut it all out of HDPE
Ordered another sheet of HDPE, same thickness and size as the last one. Just in case I don't have enough with what I have, haha.
Things to do;
Cut out weapon motor mount, place it in Ratatoskr and make sure it's stable.
Solder plug to motor, and place the pulley with HDPE piece onto said motor, along with making relief in longest piece.
Resolder lights for the third and final time. Got the new ones as said before, and they should work.
Cut out armour from the HDPE remaining over, use the templates to do both sides if applicable.
Create skidplate so it can run a lot smoother.
Add spike on axe and create locking mechanism so that I don't break rules, both made out of rolled steel.
And as an optional thing to do, paint it all with an reddish-orange colouration and give it an electric blue double stripe down the middle. Oh, and a couple of shirts as well, just for team ID sake haha.
Just need to take my time, make sure it's all done to a good enough standard, and hopefully, I can make it to Manchester in a month's time.
So, I took a look at the markings I made on the HDPE to make the armour, and in all honesty, I didn't like it. They looked so small, and I don't want to waste more money, so I bit the bullet and decided "Right, that needs a complete remeasuring before I start carving into it." So that's what I plan on doing. I'm going to make sure that each piece will fit where it needs to, and take my time.
Will I be able to make it to Manchester? Fingers crossed I do... If anything, I'd get the armour on, lights sorted, weapon on and just go in full hdpe, with the legal set ups too such as locking mechanisms and a raised table of sorts to keep it's wheels off the floor.
So after some re-templating, I've managed to get all of it onto both sheets of HDPE... now is a matter of time when the weather decides that it's had enough pouring rain down in Sheffield and let me have my way with cutting, drilling, and bolting it all together. And then add lights... and then make sure the plugs are accessible.
Is it just me or does the weather seem to want to hinder me from actually doing anything? Went to see if it'd be stable weather today, and turns out there may be thunderstorms... ah well, I guess there's always Thursday seeming as tomorrow'd be more of the same, haha.
So I managed to get the back panel and part of the top panel cut out and shaped... at the cost of my feet being in a lot of pain, so I'm taking today as a recovery day, and tomorrow a shopping day as I need more M6 bolts and dowel nuts too. And as soon as the weather clears up again, I'm gonna get straight back onto armour cutting and shaping, then soldering stuff.
And I signed up to the Manchester event, but I've also said that if I can't make it, I will contact John via Facebook.
One week left... and not a lot has been done... thanks weather.
Hopefully, tomorrow, the weather'll be a little clearer where I am, then me and my friend can get everything cut out, and then I can just grind out the angles needed to make things fit together.
It's not looking hopeful, but if I don't make it to Manchester, then I have to try and convince my mom to take me to one of the other events... outside South Yorkshire, haha.
The next nearest one to Sheffield is Grantham, which is a Robots Live! event. That is the 23rd + 24th June.
You had a look at Sheffield Hackspace ? It might be a useful resource for you. Also ask R9000 (Rory) in case he know any placesQuote:
Originally Posted by Outlaw
Hackspace wasn't that great last time I went. They have very little in the way of decent machine tools, mostly it's a place for 3D printing and little electronics projects. Worth a look, but not really good enough for mechanically-focused projects like ours. As for nearby events, yeah the north is pretty shafted when it comes to live events. Robots Live Grantham is the next-closest as Ocracoke said, then there's the FW champs in Birmingham late this summer. I don't know if there's anything we can do to entice XR and RL to come up a bit further North, maybe we can pitch in together, buy an etek and dangle it on a string somewhere up near Newcastle.
Has a date for that been announced yet?Quote:
then there's the FW champs in Birmingham late this summer.
Nothing's been announced, but the summer Insomnia this year (i64) is set for 23/08/18 - 27/08/18.
huh from the photos off google maps it looks well enought equipped to be of some use, plus looking at the calander the CNC & Machine Building SIG each Friday look intrestingQuote:
Originally Posted by R9000
Well just my luck for the weather to be absolute pants today, haha. Not only that, but my friend texted in saying he couldn't come over either. Double whammy on a Friday the 13th... go away Jason Voorhees.
Well, managed to get more cut out, got all the panels cut, and the side panels drilled and attached, with a hole on the back to access the links too. Just need to bend the sides back into shape because the radiator the HDPE stood next to heated it up, and I never realised it until I tried to bolt it together, so more than likely, I'm going to try and bend it a little more haha. BUT progress has been made!
Right half of the robot all bolted up, just need to do the left half, then vacuum it all out from the top, remount it all, solder the lights and motor, reattach the weapon and then a test drive. I don't think I'll be able to get a skidplate on unless someone jerry rigs me one on the day, but that's about it.
Also, thanks to my mom, I may only be able to attend one day of the event only... unless I can convince her that someone can take me from Sheffield to Manchester... though knowing her, I highly doubt it...
I have some offcuts of Aluminium treadplate that should suffice. I can adapt it on the day.Quote:
I don't think I'll be able to get a skidplate on unless someone jerry rigs me one on the day
Well, due to my own incompetence in verbal communication, I won't be making it Saturday... BUT Sunday is a definite shout... if John allows me to join in on that day haha....
All that needs to be done now is soldering and that's IT. And maybe a little decoration...
EDIT: Yep, got confirmation of being able to join in on Sunday, so hopefully I'll see y'all in Manchester then. :D
Awesome-sauce, see you tomorrow. ;)
Well, insert long explicitives here...
despite 4 straight days of work, and a lot of pain in my body, I'm not going to be able to join in on the fun in Manchester...
But it gives me time to recover and improve on ol' Ratatoskr a little.
What the problems ? As we could be able to fix it at Manchester
Everything was misaligned. The front plates and the side plates were fighting for the same space, the bolts wouldn't go in straight and it all felt like a bodge job. Just wouldn't survive in the arena.
But I guess all is not lost, as I can just take my time for another event, and make sure everything's properly in place, easy to get on and easy to take off too, without destroying myself.
Okay so I guess I should do an update seeming as I've not done that in a while, haha.
So, the general consensus me and my friend is going at here, is that we're going to make Ratatoskr a little bigger. Which means redoing all of the HDPE... And although that's not the end of the world, it could be a lot better.
And we're going to go with rounded numbers, so to speak... so lengthwise, it's going to be 60 cm long, widthwise'll be 50 cm wide, and heightwise'll be 40 cm tall. Not only will that be much better to try and organise, I can also try to get it cut out by the people of DirectPlastics... if I contact them, considering it all haha. They don't do complex shapes, but if I just ask them to do the rectangular shapes, and I cut out the necessary angles out, then it'll be all hunky dory.
As for what's going to happen with the other pieces? Weeeeell, they're more than likely going to be reused for other projects. And the baseplate can be used as a testing bench, so to speak.
And now I have a working area outside too! Which means Ratatoskr's been moved into that space... which is all the way down the other end of the sodding garden haha. Oh well, least I have the space to work indoors now... as long as I don't get HDPE dust in my mom's dying equipment.
If I may ask, why the size change? Seems to be a lot of effort down the drain.
If you are getting HPDE to cut by DirectPlastics, or to supply cut pieces make sure you take into account that they can be 3-5mm tolerances (normally under). I managed to get a replacement piece the first time, but after consulting their cutting operator they've said they cant guarantee anything exact.
@Ocracoke Because, genuinely, things didn't really sit right with me...
Attachment 8141
Had to pull this from my facebook, but you can already see the problems. If not, I'll go through them all, haha. And if the pic's too small, here's the facebook post.
First off, the front panels. The side's only held on one bolt, which is a complete health hazard. Not only that, I was having to pull and push the panels into place, otherwise they would've been jockeying for the same space, and had I cut the particular piece out, theeeen things wouldn't fit anymore. And if I did make the front panels again, I'd have to use a heat gun to attempt to bend the piece properly, that way I won't end up having arguments with said panels.
Secondly, the front top panels. Same kind of problem with the front panels, having to pull and push it all around. Not only that, but a big blunder on my part forgot to put in some holes for a safety bar to slide through for the axe mechanism, and when I had designed the top piece to be swiveled around to access all the electrics and motors and such, I kiiinda forgot about the bar. Not purposefully, don't get me wrong, it was just a simple oversight.
Last but not least, the battery placement. I was never really a fan of the placement of my batteries with them being exposed, especially over all the mechanism stuff for the axe, and exposed LiPo's for me are a biiiig no no, but I had no other place for them to be able to go without shoehorning everything in. I would need to make a proper battery box out of some of the sheet steel I have.
@adamclark I know, don't worry. If anything, I'd give them measurements that'll allow them to have such tolerances haha. Oh and on an unrelated note, loved the HW 259.
I can see why you might want to do this - undoubtedly will take a while though.
I made a bit of a boo-boo with Kaizen when I placed the drive motors too far forwards on the base plate and thus, the speed controller didn't fit. I ended up putting that in the space where the axe mechanism is and will put a layer of HDPE (and also protected by the polycarbonate shell as well) over it for protection. The axe mechanism would then need to be adjusted to be at 45 degrees when implemented so that everything fits and doesn't hit itself.
The alternative would have been to get new side and inner panels panels, probably a new base plate as well and move the motors back, redrill all the mounting holes and recut the inner panel grooves again.
So I've been figuring out how to go about this without spending a whole bunch of money, and I've got a couple of ideas.
1a; The battery placement. Which does mean I have to cut a large part of the left rib out, cover the hole that holds the base to the rib, but I can attempt to put more securing bolts into the back of the robot. So although it'll look... unwieldy at first, it's probably the best way to go.
1b; I can use some of the metal I was planning to use for a skidplate to make a battery box. My only problem is that I don't exactly have any welding equipment to get it all secured. And I'll have to prototype it all out. Once it's made, welded and able to be bolted down to the baseplate, I can probably "shockmount" it (by adding a couple of washers and a small piece of drilled HDPE block) underneath it and bolt it down, and cover the box itself in electrical tape, kinda mummify it and make sure that if it does come into contact with metal for whatever reason, it won't blow itself up. Just as a safety precaution more or less.
2a,b,c; Redesigning the front, top and side panels, which'll be split up into a,b and c respectively.
2a; The front panels in my thoughts have been the major problematic area for me, especially when I tried to rush it to get Ratatoskr to Manchester this year and ultimately failing to do so. So I thought "I'm going to redesign those three parts and I'm going to start off with the front." So, in order to do that, here's the major thought I'm putting into it... Wings... or rather, "Ears." They will be mounted first, and modified as needs be.
2b; The top panels I was alright with until I tried to start modifying them to get the front pieces in, now they just look a mess, so they're going to be redesigned so that when bolted on, they'll actually hold the front plate in, instead of just having one bolt holding which in my eyes is a big no-no.
2c; Same as the top panels, but this time, I'm going to shape them so that they will actually fit into the gap behind the front panel and between that, the top and the back panels, so those will be done last.
3; The weapon shape. I'm still wishing to go for the repeater axe, and I will get it done, mark my words- actually no, don't do that, because that's actually brought bad luck to me in the past. Anyway, as much as I love the weapon shape, I made it into more of a repeater "mace" by wrapping the chain that I was going to use to keep the axe connected to the bot around the head of the axe itself. Although it's not a bad idea, I'm wanting to use some of that chain for safety. I'm going to keep the chain around the head of the axe, but I'm still going to put the spike there as well, so that the chain can provide a little weight behind the entire thing.
4; Speaking of the axe, I may need to redo the longest part of the linkages because along the lines at some point, in a bit of a panic, I realised there wasn't any wiggle room, so to speak, so I tried doing it by hand, and instead of it going along a straight line, it went up and to the right. So that piece needs to be redone.
So my shopping list is surprisingly small, considering it all, just 2 more large pieces of HDPE (yes, I know, large and small, a bit contradictory), a lot of patience and a lot of sun cream, so I don't burn myself.
So me and my friend decided to head down to the shed that my robot now resides in, and surprise surprise, the dowel nuts may have the showings of rust. But that's to be expected when it's left in the shed for... well, a couple months whilst deciding what to do, especially when your friend was grounded (despite being older than me). Not only that, they're fairly cheap from Screwfix so not a huge problem. All the rest of it was still in good nick, so we're okay on that front.
ANYWAY, we removed the front panels and the top panels, and we discovered that the sidepanels aren't too bad. So if anything, we can trim them down a little and go from there.
Same goes with the left column, we can actually trim down a lot there, seeming as we're doing a slight rejigging with the position of the batteries. All we'd need to do is put the screw on the underside a little further forward so we still have it secured to the baseplate without worry.
Alright, long time no update, but now that I've had a sit down and think about it, I have an idea of getting the front panels on more securely. By making some brackets along the angled areas of the front of the robot. That way, if need be, I can cut the front panels to sections rather than one big piece. Although it may end up being a little weaker around the front, there're a few ways of making it stronger afterwards, such as cross sections.
You know, now that I typed it up, I honestly should draw something out to make it a little more clearer about what I'm going to do with Ratatoskr...
Well, unfortunately, back to plan B, which means redoing the entire body. The electronics are alright, but thanks to my general incompetence, the body acts like it's a 30 piece jigsaw with 2/3 pieces missing. BUT I'm going to use this experience to move forward, and take my time. Not only that, I also have plans and ideas for a new body already. Just need to get it down onto paper.
Not only that, need to give a shout out to my grandfather, who's agreed to help me with this all, especially the cutting of the next body of Ratatoskr. Fingers crossed I can salvage some of the plastic from this iteration, and fingers crossed I actually keep it f*cking simpler.
Sidenote: the weapon will still be the same, that isn't going to change haha.
So, quick little update, I've been advised to template everything out of cheap, equal thickness yoga mats, and build that to a 1 to 1 scale now, before hitting up the plastic again. Hopefully by doing this, I'll be able to get everything aligned, placed neatly and tidily, make notes as to what needs changing here and there, and so on and so forth. Thankfully I've got plenty of yoga mats to work with, considering this is the only thing I'd be doing with them, not yoga, haha.
I have an honest question;
Would it be easier to 3D model it all out first on say Fusion 360, flatpack that and get it all cut out by a third party, or should I continue with the yoga mat approach?
That depends on how able you are to use Fusion or a similar CAD program and wherever you are comfortable doing that. If you feel confident in using a CAD program to design your robot, cool but prototyping from material can also work, it does help inform you what the robot will look like in real life and what the potential pitfalls of that design might be, CAD might not immediately tell you this. I tend to sit down with a pen and paper, build the machine from there and if I need complex/accurate parts, then I CAD those (it is what I am doing for my middleweight).