If i was borrowing someone else's battery i'd obviously make sure it was properly held down and protected
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If i was borrowing someone else's battery i'd obviously make sure it was properly held down and protected
I can bring an 18V pack?
Cheers Matt but right now there isn't much point as i doubt i'll even be able to make it now. My idea of stuffing the bot into my toolbox seemed a great idea at the time but now it doesn't fit, and i doubt i can just plonk it on top and get away with it on a train, obviously i could take the axe off but that would mean gutting the whole robot everytime i want to get it to and from the event, so short of somebody giving me a lift up there which at this short notice i doubt will happen it looks like i won't be attending.
I'm sure as long as you had sharp edge protection on the axe head it would be fine on the train? You can't leave me in the arena alone with Mr Mangle and Binky!
Need some help do ya ;), having never taken a robot on a train before (obviously) it's hard to say how they would react, everything has sharp edge protection that needs to and the axe has a locking bar to stop it moving over, and obviously there aren't any batteries in there because well mine are toast. Anybody had any experience with trains and robots?
You can always put the robot in a small bag/suitcase along with your tools/toolbox. Or put it in a cardboard box, or wrap it up like a parcel/ present and no one will know!
Dave W regulary takes the train, even into the deep dark outback of Vilvoorde. And that with 1 to 3 feathers, or equivalent in parts.
Right, well i guess if i can get away with it there's no problem, other than the fact that i have no battery as of yet, although a few people have offered so hopefully i'll have SOMETHING to work with.
I've been on the phone with the train company and to put it bluntly they won't let Hatchet on a train regardless of how well things are protected/strapped down/anything. So at this point it looks like this year was a giant waste of time and money, hope you guys all have fun at the champs
You shouldn't have called, you ruined your "I didn't know that" chances.
Here in Holland i've taken my machines on the train on several occasions, even international ones. Everytime my ticket got checked I would get a few question and a lot of positive responses overall.
A simple carry on (I mean a suitcase on wheels if I used the wrong word) will do perfectly to 'hide' the machine.
Probably was a bit stupid asking but meh what's done is done, the only way i can see me getting it up there is to get a taxi to the train station where Ed Wallace is meeting me and then either leave Hatchet at the event ( in the arena or something) overnight, failing that would anybody be willing to take it with them for the course of the event? i realise that is asking a lot but it would help me out and i would be very grateful.
I would go with sticking the bot in a suitcase - it just worked for me flying half way around the planet :). Maybe also wrap some cardboard around the axehead just in case. Unless you absolutely know the bag gets an inspection its going to get on the train just fine - like every other traveler with a suitcase full of clothes.
EDIT: Or you can throw it in the back of my car overnight.
Thanks Nick, I'm getting a taxi to the train station to meet Ed tomorrow and then if the offer to keep it in your car is there i'd really appreciate that. In terms of Hatchet working hopefully somebody can sort me out with a suitable battery and it can get through the tech check okay.
You can leave your robot at the NEC overnight, I will be. Sam I am happy to pick you up tomorrow morning if it's not too far from me.
Awesome leave it in the NEC it is then, and i've booked a taxi now so i'll be okay getting up there tomorrow but thanks for the offer Ed, i'll meet you outside the train station like we planned i don't want to put you out too much.
Ok mate, glad it's all sorted. See you in the morning .
Finally the end of a very long and stressful day, toolbox is all packed, robot's on it's cradle and i'm bringing along the Nimh batteries plus a spare 7.2v for cells as i'm hoping i can get those working, if not i've had plenty of offers from roboteers willing to lend me batteries so thank you to all of you.
See you all tomorrow !!
Prepare yourselves this will be a long post, i had a blast at the champs and thank you to everyone for making it so enjoyable and being so welcoming and helpful with getting Hatchet going. Hatchet as it stands at the moment needs some major TLC, the chassis is just about still usable for the non spinner events so for the time being ill keep that, the axe, motor and electronize for firing the axe will stay as they at least have performed flawlessly but the chain will be going from 6 to 8mm and the reduction from a 3.5:1 to a 6:1. The Nimh batteries have had it so a 6s lipo will be going in which with the new reduction should see the axe power increase dramatically. The drive Electronize have also had it, they weren't performing well all weekend and during the gladiator the right side drive motor was stuck in full forward so they will be going and either some Tz85's or 30 amp botbits will be going in, also the old scoop from Hardwired which Matt was nice enough to let me use will be staying on the current machine as well as being used on Hatchet 2. That brings me on to the important news that Hatchet 2 is infact already in the pipeline, the idea is to keep what's good ( not much) and improve the rest, so with that in mind here's how it currently stands. The shape will change, ill be keeping roughly the same profile on the front as i like how it looks but the whole body will be longer and shaped like Thor i.e the roundish sides and elongated narrow, sloping back, the baseplate will be 5mm aluminium as i need something tough but still flexible enough that if it takes a hit i can bash it back into shape. The body panels will all be 20mm Hdpe with helicoil inserts to hopefully stop the threads stripping, the new axe bulkheads will be 15mm nylon with bronze bushings for the axe to run in and Harry has said he will machine those for me as i dont want to try and use a jigsaw on nylon, i'm considering smaller wheels as i have some 75mm blue wheels ready to go and the custom ones from Mario i have been using are playing up, i may stick with drill motors but buy some 18v ones to compensate for the increase in battery voltage, the whole outside of the machine will be wrapped in 10mm Hdpe which i will use a heat gun to bend all around to have a single outer piece of sacrificial armour. So if you managed to sit and read through all of that i applaud you, again thank you to everyone for such a great first event, i'm hoping to start upgrading Hatchet/ starting Hatchet 2 within the next couple of months when my wallet isn't suffering so much and i can bear to do any more robot building/fixing, hope to see some of you again soon and look forward to some updates when i get round to it.
That old scoop, ain't that the one I made earlier?
That thing is ment to be the blastdoor of a nuke shelter.
Attachment 4466
I'm fairly sure this thing was made for Hatchet, it fits so well it's unbelievable and it makes the whole thing look an absolute monster!
Cracking first machine though, that axe is very powerful when it gets going! You and me are both first-time roboteers, so I guess we'll both be taking notes on how well out machines have performed and make adjustments accordingly... Shame we never got that 1v1 going, but HardWired II 1/2 vs Hatchet 2? That's a winner for next time!
Yeah it's the old scoop you made, Matt's dad brought it to the event and it fit Hatchet perfectly
Cheers Matt, the axe is powerful but the actual mechanism is flawed and just not up to it. Hardwired performed absolutely brilliantly and will be one to watch for the future, especially with the upgrades you have planned. Hopefully we can get a 1v1 going at some point when both machines are finished just make sure you have more than 2mm stainless on top because \\hatchet 2's axe will just bend it like foil i imagine.
Edit: also let me know if you do want rid of those Botbitz at any point as i'll definitely have them off you
The axe itself is great, all I'd say is thicker chain, more powerful (or more protected) motor and it'll tear it up like nobody's business. I think it'll be a tough nut to crack too if you can get those upgrades you mentioned in there too, I think the parts you said to leave are fine as they are, just the worry is the older parts... Definitely too, I'll let you know! Not sure if I'm selling them yet, kind of erring on the side of yes but I'll let you know. I've got another machine to build using drills so it might be ideal to use these!
Just upgrading to Lipos should get that axe swinging even harder - definitely upgrade the chain at the same time.
After rereading the large post.
Is it an option to use alineas next time? Makes it a tad more easy to read.
On the ali baseplate. 5mm ali = 12mm HDPE in weight. 5 mm Ali bends, 10mm HDPE flexes.
Upgrade to LiPo, easy weight, saves money, and is the new standard. LiFePo4 is fine too, and has the advantage of being allowed to be recharged in the robot.
The wheels are acting up? How do they act up? The only thing I can see is lack of grip by the compound of the tyre used.
That seems also the issue with the wheels of Hardwired. I'm going to look into that, as several other machines use the same tyre.
The scoop. It was ment to be active, that's why there are axles in there. Making it heavier than needed. Nothing an anglegrinder and a welder can't solve tough. For a passive scoop you want one solid back/mounting plate.
More axes... if I find the time...
The threads on the wheel hubs looked pretty stripped to me; I saw the wheels just spinning on the gearbox shafts at times.
Perhaps rather than a 5mm baseplate, some vertical ali plates or L sections would be better - it seemed that the bot was flexing after impacts and then the frame was scraping on the floor.
If you use threaded inserts (a good idea IMHO), make them as deep as possible to prevent pull-out.
Same base of hubs as the ones used in Defector. Shouldn't slip on the shafts.
Maybe adding a setscrew grabbing the shaft could help.
The wheels appeared to not quite have enough grip on the floor, but I think that might have been a clearance issue, they did slip on the shafts after some damage though, I have a feeling there's a locking screw gone loose on it somewhere, but I didn't have too close a look at the wheels...Quote:
Originally Posted by maddox10
I think the biggest problem with HardWired's wheels is purely that they spun so fast that there was no way they could get grip. I put it in he arena with Massacre's bar taped above the wheels and run it on low speed, with a lower charge on the battery and it seems to solve some of the problems. The biggest thing I found was wear though, mine wore out after only 2/3 fights, but that's most likely because of the fast spinning.
Hatchets problems appeared to stem from the baseplate issue and it beaching itself I think but I could be wrong!
The wheels would screw onto the shaft tight as usual but then as soon as the robot was in the arena they would just spin on the shaft and not tighten up, not really sure why but it may be because the grub screws went early on and i didn't have spares. In terms of grip what had actually happened was that the tread had worn down so much that the screws holding it on were proud above the rubber hence no grip, but i only discovered this once i got it back for a proper strip down. As for the base material i'm still undecided, the 10mm Hdpe baseplate that was made at the event has held up brilliantly but i still think 10mm for a baseplate is too thick.
Edit: also just noticed your bit about the axe motor Matt, the current motor is more than powerful enough, if you think about it it's a 24v motor which i was running at 16.8v and it still had enough power to swing Hatchet's axe enough to break the chain on the axe several times. It definitely needs to be protected though and that is something that ill address in the next one, just some Hdpe bent around it with a heat gun would probably be adequate.
Not that you needed it this time, but I can post some photos on battle-hardening those scooter motors so they are a bit more shockproof.
Yeah that would be great Nick, since the Binky fight having some kind of protection for the motor seems a must, it got too close to taking it out
Quick video of Hatchet post champs, filmed this yesterday but it's taken forever to upload http://s921.photobucket.com/user/mrs...3ca13.mp4.html
Just have the chassis made out of 7mm Hardox, that'll protect it!
Seriously though, it's a very solid machine and with some upgrades it'll be very strong. In any case, it looks rather mean with that scoop - I can't believe it actually fit, and I'm rather glad I brought it down for you now haha! Just need to fit a 5S LiPo, check up/replace your drive motors and improve the transmission on the axe and that'll be quite a formidable opponent!
Also, regarding your wheels... Remember how I said a motor went? I shook it to see if there was any loose parts of the magnets or whatever and there was a small m4 grub screw in there. How that happened, I have no idea, but I guess that solves two mysteries of the champs! I'd guess it was when I did the wheel change on mine, probably managed to pick it up on that little bit of grease that ended up on the gears...
Yeah the scoop looks awesome, definitely a keeper! that grub screw was probably one of the ones that got left on my bench which were undersized so i didn't use them, that's about the most damage Hatchet did to a robot aha. I really hope i can make it to Barnsley with Hatchet as you said you were going to go i want that 1 on 1 with Hardwired!
It does! Really compliments the whole look! Well, if that really was what caused the motor to go kaput, you're the only person to have caused terminal damage to HardWired this year! The motor still ran somehow but I think it was running at stall mostly. I was just feathering it but I was still technically mobile I guess!
And I definitely will be going to Barnsley, it's literally 15 minutes away haha - hope you can make it up too! We definitely need that 1V1! Hopefully I'll have sussed HardWired's traction issues by then so we'll be able to have a proper old scrap!
If i can get Hatchet running by then i'll definitely try my best to get up there, it's not much more than an hour on the train so it's possible. I've watched the gladiator battle back and that 18v battery made the axe look really powerful so at least a 5s lipo will be going in, if not 6s, it depends what this version can handle.
Well, you've got the weight (and space, if you buy the right ones) for a dual battery setup, maybe 4/5s drive, 6s axe? The only worry would be overvolting the drills too much, they're not the most reliable things in the world as far as I remember... If you've got 18v drill motors though, go nuts!
I'm thinking about some 18v drills but a dual battery set up might be a good idea, the 30 amp electronize i'm using for the axe is 24v max and a 6s lipo fully charged is around 25ish, i know that No Toy runs that set up but his axe runs on a bigger ratio with smaller gear motors so maybe it's easier on the ESC that way, besides the way that Hatchet's axe ran on the current ratio on just 16.8v Nimh proves that it has the power already so if i increase the ratio slightly and up the voltage to 5s i reckon it'll have more than enough power without being over the top.
Had a chance today to sit down and draw up some design ideas for Hatchet 2 and also priced up the majority if parts that i'll need and overall it's not too bad if you consider i have almost a year to build it. The new look chassis design i have is radical to say the least and makes Hatchet 1 look a bit boring in comparison, i'll be keeping that under wraps though until i start building. Here's a list of the specs i'm currently considering..
4mm Aluminium Baseplate
20mm Hdpe bulkheads with 8-10mm Hdpe bent and wrapped around the whole body in a single piece
15mm nylon axe bulkheads with bushings/bearings to really free the axe up
5s 2650mah 65 - 130c Turnigy nano tech lipo, don't believe the rating for a second but it's a good price
Tz85 drive speed controllers
12v drill motors for the drive, still not ready to fork out for gimsons although i'll see what money is like.
Same axe as before but much more powerful, 5 - 6:1 reduction instead of 3.5:1 and 8mm chain rather than 6, couple that with the higher voltage and the switch to lipo and i think i'll have an awesome weapon.
80mm wheels this time rather than 100 as i feel they were a little exposed this year.
Let me know what you think
Sounds a good list of parts! Only things I would mention though is the wheel size and your drive - I think personally you'd be fine with 100 still, mine were 80 and they seemed a tad on the smaller side, unless of course you're making the machine less tall in which case that's fair enough! Then the 12v drills may be a little pushed on 5S in terms of their overall reliability, you might want to look for 18v drill motors or similar if you can find any suitable ones. Other than that, sound! Also, are you still using the hardox scoop on this new machine?
Do like the sound of a single piece of HDPE wrapped round the body though, I do recall that there's a machine in the US that works a bit like that, it's got layered armour and it's fed into the front somewhere, improves strength I'm told - that's definitely a good thing!