any more progress James?
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any more progress James?
echo echo echo echo......
Lol hi Alex sorry for the lack of updates, predator has taken a back seat over summer/ autum due to work loads however I'm going to continue now and get it mostly running for our open day which will be announced for early December
np thoughts so look forward to seeing it :)
Hey Alex, I can't seem to see your build diary for all the tumbleweed :lol:
its coming soon dont worry pedro :)
So work hath begun... again.... to get Predator running, it will definitely be at our next competition.
Here the arm mech is complete. A 12v drill running a ball screw which the arms attach to. Its as compact as I could make it.
However it still didnt fit in the robot so the shoulder brace has been cut out. The back panel and tube will be re shaped to fit around the arm mech motor.
The motor just pops out the top, will require a top panel to flex out of the way when the assembly tilts back
Maybe shortening the motor, taking out the fan and making the body shorter. Not easy, but doable.Quote:
Originally Posted by james...venom
Or just buy a shorter motor? The ones used in rc cars are often shorter.
Looks sweet james. Get a test video :)
All in and done, Arms operate really nice except I need some limit switches otherwise it hits the end and bends the mount doh! Will get a vid online
Lots of work now done on Predator. Here is the single tooth ring which has been beautifully machined by Kenny at ALK Engineering. All we need to do is machine the profile out of the disc to key the tooth in.
Voila! The Tooth is now keyed into the disc which will hopefully take all the stresses rather than shearing the bolt. the disc amazingly weighs 3.2kg and spins approximately 4000 rpm. Im really pleased as with a single tooth the machine could be competitive.
Predator is now fully functioning, just needs tweaks and armour. The first full test was at our Robo Challenge Open Day. He was due to go in with Jarvis' robot for a first battle to give it a good shake down.
Before the battle we decided to test all the functions and give it a run around. Unfortunately 2 problems occurred. First of all the receiver for the arms/head had a problem where by the centre kept moving to the point where we couldnt trim it out. This meant the head kept trying to tilt back and the arms were forcing themselves down.
The second problem was burning out the motor and speedo to the head. It spun up fine to begin with but a reasonable hit on the wall seemed to kill it and then it went up in smoke. We stripped it all down and it appears that there were no location pins in place to hold the windings to the front case. This meant it was free to rotate and when it hit the wall the motor twisted and shorted the wires out. Really disappointing and expensive.
New motors and speedos on order now so shouldnt be long before its fully running again. Just the armour to do now. The best thing is the robot only weighs 10.2kg!
She really is a thing of beauty James, well done :proud:
And having so much weight to spare is impressive, all the lightening during the build has clearly paid off. You got anything lined up to utilise the spare weight?
Thanks Jamie
3mm ti armour should beef it up a bit which hopefully will make it a competitive machine. Fingers crossed. The remaining weight will be used to beef up the parts which will inevitabley break or bend lol!
I loved this machine 3 years ago when I first saw it as a beautiful (behind the scenes) project, (no offense intended)! to see it come to life is awesome, what i like is that it is great to just look at without it even moving,my single tooth spinner was originally excellently machined by you guys,and they are the future, a drum has no chance tbh (unless we breakdown) I like drums coz their different and if I had a wedge or flipper I'd worry a bit but against a single disk tooth spinner, they ain't got a chance in hell expect if we breakdown or my bad driving lol!
Thanks Ady, really appreciated.
Single tooth is the only way to go now, when will yours be back in action?
Just remember who used single tooth first over here boys :lol:
Nice machine James. I may have missed it as I was only able to watch a bit of the video but are the arms and tail operational?
Looking awesome James.
It looks & sounds like everything runs real smooth on the video.
Just a thought, is there a way you can use the 3mm ti to double both as armour and a way to stiffen the chassis up further? Particularly the parts of the chassis which take the most stick when the disc impacts.
Thanks Gary, yes all the functions work but we had trouble with the cheap orange rx. The mid point drifted out so quickly within 30 seconds we couldn't trim it and not long after the stick range wasnt enough to stop it moving the arms and head. Changed it to a spektrum rx so I'm hoping its all ok now.
Cheers Sam. Yes definitely. Was hoping 3mm ti armour would take most impacts around the sides but all the front would probably need some hardox. If NST got into the neck area it would cause alot of damage. Im trying to stiffen it with some more bracing on the neck so it doesnt twist the head but I think it will need some real protection too. The tube is only 10mm od and 8.6mm id so its not going to stand up to direct hits argh. It will definitely be at the UK Champs, what happens to it after that depends on if it gets mangled and if the new robot gets finished.
Hi James, it's back in the uk, speed controller for drive and it's ready to roll, will be posting vid after Xmas now
Looks really nice and unusual
Build quality - well certainly beyond my Black and Decker workmate :lol:
Been working on the top armour. Created a Polycarbonate top so I could shape it to the bars underneath.
Once the shape looked good I cut it from 1.2mm Ti
Shaping it to fit the tubular body was a pain but here it is finished and fits nicely. Hopefully now when the head hits itself it has some protection!
so you give us hope with a polycarbonate top then take it way with a Ti replacement :cry:
Nice work :mrgreen:
Thanks Chris :)
Been working on the side armour a bit. The front is 4mm steel which is welded to the chassis so hopefully it will help support the tubing.
Then there is a 5mm steel end plate as I think this is going to take the brunt of impacts.
Here I am designing the top panel in cardboard. As my motor sticks out alot more than Warheads ram the top will look very different.
Started to make the top panel from 0.6mm ti but I just cant get the right curves into it. 1.2mm ali it will be
Beating the shape into the ali panel to try and make it fit the tubes and give clearance for the motor.
And here it is in position. Looked nice but a bit big.
Oh forgot to take any pics of the side armour which is shown here. Flippin complicated to bend to fit the tube chassis bit finally got it on!
Grant just got back off holiday and said the top panel looks rubbish lol. I have to agree...
So ive re shaped it to give the machine a more aggressive slimline look. I thinks its an improvement on the big bulbous design.
It looks amazing James.
Thanks Leo, will see if I can make it to your Antwerp event with it... if its survives the champs!
Re formed the ti back panel so when the motor pulls back it doesnt catch. Couldnt bend it far enough so ive just put the bottom bolts in so the panel flexes out of the way.
New scorpion motors should have arrived today. Just need to attach the top ali panel, fit the new motor and wire up!
I'm actually really hoping to draw this in battle. Not sure if it's suicidal tendencies (not the robot version), if I fancy my chances, or whether I just want to share the arena with a thing of beauty :)