Team Smoothie! Build Diary

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Originally Posted by daveimi

Would they get mad with me if I fill the form out as though I'm entering a robot and then just turn up with nothing?

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Should be fine, as long as you submit a membership application for the FRA. Actually, being the first event of the year, you should be able to join up/pay at the event itself.

Featherweights at these events don't feature as prominently as heavyweights. They get a couple of fights per show and those usually consist of large meles so if you were to sign a robot up but not actually bring it, it wouldn't disrupt things. You'd even be as well to bring along your unfinished robots if you were wanting to get any hints and tips. But at the very least, as Tony said, we'll have a spare robot for you to drive :)

Hi, sorry for not replying for a few days. My Dad has had heart problems over Christmas that he's half way through getting sorted out and he's been my biggest source of fabrication skills teachings lol. He's been an engine builder and race mechanic for years and so when I was showing him all this and my robot he got interested and got involved.

I'm asking other people if they wana climb in the car with me and running down to Barnsley, its only an hour or two from here in Costa Del Blackpool lol :lol:

Just as an update I ordered a Sabertooth this morning. I was planning on a low budget build, but after realising that using 2 seperate motor controllers that way I would need a mixer and a rats nest of wiring I couldn't be bothered. Then when I got to Technobots the 2x12A controllers were around £50 delivered which made the whole thing a no brainer. I know there are reports of them being less than rugged but it will be easy to set up for a first time builder like me and the whole robot so far has only cost about £40 to build.

Sabertooth arrived today, it's tiny! Anyway, am really excitied. I decided on an M8 bolt and thread convention to hold everything together, ie. bracketry, panels etc. I've also come up with the idea to use a lid to the roasting dish made out of several baking trays, and a getter-underrer prong made out of a sturdy spatula. I bought three just to be on the safe side. I've also been and bought another roasting dish...also just to be on the safe side.

So now with thread convention decided on and my weapon that I've dubbed The Spatulator I can't fail. So at the minute my parts hunting looks like this:

Roasting Dish
Gimson GR01's x 2
RoboChallenge 100mm wheels
Sabertooth 2x12A
Spatulator
M8 Bolts, Washers and Nuts throughout

On the list for accumulation is:

12v Battery pack from somewhere or other (found an awesome place that sells them but can't remember where)
Charger (saved in ebay watch list - awaiting paypal funds)
Good Radio set (giant kod? better make than that? I dunno)

Another thing I need to study form on is the bolts that hold the Gimson's to the roasting dish. They're pretty small and I want to get some washers for them but have no idea what size they are. Anyone have a clue? In other news I'm also in the process of nabbing some wire from somewhere to cable it all up. I'm gonna need a chock block I think to cable into and out of. I also need to sketch up something for a removable link to add an LED too as well. It's all go!

Dangerous Dave

More progress this week with some pictures. Below can be seen the robot now incorporating the Sabertooth and new weapon the Spatulator. The basic gist is that the Rx and ESC will sit in the back corner shock mounted and with an extra layer of protection around them as they've been the expensive bit. Then in the opposite corner at the front will sit the battery pack that's on it's way in a home made holder. There may also be a chock block somewhere as a distribution for cabling etc depending on how tidy I manage to make it. Also to note is that one side wall will be receiving an LED and Link soon. Two pieces of angle ally are also being cut and bolted to the front and back walls to form the mounting for the lid to bolt to.


http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps4bb90495.jpg


http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psf0461983.jpg


http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psfc8b262c.jpg

The robot looks great, whwn you have finished it would be interesting to see how good that sabertooth is as i was debating to use one in the robot i am currently building but chose the slightly more expensive scorpions. The robot looks good. Keep up the good work and i would love to see this moving.

Thank you for the reply!! Glad you like it, my plan is to build as many batty robots as I can lol. The Sabertooth was originally going to be a 2x25A but when I had a look the 2x12A looked up to the job.I was looking at the Scorpions but struggled to get hold of one. That and they were a lot dearer. So far it's been a £3 roasting tin, £20 worth of Gimson's, £40 Sabertooth and £10 or so's worth of wheels. Add to that the £25 radio and £25 battery that's on the way and the whole robot has been build for around £130. Then if it drives and is rubbish I'll gradually add money to it where needed to get it ok ish lol.

Wow thats great. For the money you have spent and the parts you have, you have done amazingly. I am currently building my first robot and have spent 210 pounds and expect to pay a further 180 pounds. I would love to see this project with a weapon as the ideas you have are great.

Which designs do you have for robots? I come up with different shapes everyday and sketch them on envelopes n all sorts. I'd like to get the roasting dish up and running and then build a proper ground up robot. I'm just trying to come up with a cool weapon that's not a spinner, at the minute a big pair of jaws is winning lol. I'm half way through making a plastic set of jaws to see if the mechanism works first. I'm also really digging the idea of a chewer like Pussykat.

I like stuff that's different, Craig Colliass' robots are cool. I like Mini Mighty Mouse and and Tiny Toon as well. Oh and Little Hitter is a really clever bit of packaging.

I come up with quite complex designs and i prefer to use weapons like you said, pincers but my all time favourite weapon would have to be a crusher much like razer however i do not posses the knowleedge, courage or experiance to even try to do this weapon. On my current robot i am using an axe as it is simple and i can flip myself over if i am flipped. As in all robots spinners are a problem and for axes and pincers this may be a problem as there is a possibility that they could get broken but if you have a good design, much like yours, you could be a lethal opponent to battle.