I can sort out the wheels for you no problem :) just PM me with the sizes you want and how many and I'll bring them along to save you the postage.
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I can sort out the wheels for you no problem :) just PM me with the sizes you want and how many and I'll bring them along to save you the postage.
That's cool will send you a PM now!
Got some more offcuts and stuff I found lay about different places. Planning on building running gear into this for Beetle Champs. Bought some botbitz from Ellis and going to get a 3s lipo. Thanks to Will got mixing going on my naff transmitter but have also bought a three quid mixer job and failsafe off amazon just in case.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psq13g8cvp.jpg
Also!! Found this bad boy at the tip! So also frantically working on The MicroWave of Doom!!! Gonna build it up as a feather with a sabertooth, some drills and a 12v nimh as I have a few kicking about by now. Will get some more pictures as I start tearing it down. Saw one in Oz running on some of the youtube fights and have been obsessed ever since, decided I needed me some of that.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps5kexeoy1.jpg
yay skipbot i want to see it topple a few of the big hitters in the competition just for the giggles
Can confirm it will probably take out Hyperion because it''s something I designed and that pretty much dooms it from the get go.Quote:
Originally Posted by suvv
^^
Same goes for my new beetle, i built it therefore it will fail miserably.
I don't expect to win anything to be honest just like having a go at building and driving round the arena. To date I've only ever won a few fights so you will all batter me no doubt.
Well have made a bit of a profile on the Iron Games site and signed Rancid 3 up to the champs in Nov. Ready to unleash a 1.5kg can of whoop ass on the spinners lol.
Not had a bit of an update in a while so thought I'd best keep my adoring fans happy. Well firstly wanted to say don't take microwaves apart, they're full of high voltages and dodgy chemicals and you're better off just binning them. The magnetron and big capacitors are particularly nasty. Wooden heavyweight frame has been perfected after a summer of rubbish ideas and it's going to be my main focus for next year I think. It's basically a wooden thwack bot. To be honest the hardest part has been mounting wheelchair motors, that were designed for a tubular frame, onto a flat base plate. Obsessed with a wood robot for some reason. Keen to get out of the spinners and after four years fighting on and off in every other weight category I think I'm ready for a go. Piccies below (of random parts gathering and bongos).
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psxvgmwlql.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...pscqhoaeeq.jpg
Beetle is going well, I've bought a lipo, a cheap 3s charger and power supply, lipo bag thingy, some botbitz and a load of connectors and cabling. Robot is finished physically, just going to charge the lipo and cable everything together for the weekend. Got some better bolts am going to mix on the transmitter. Oh and you can see the difference between the old nimh brick and the new batt!! Lipo ftw. Questions, thoughts, opinions welcome as ever.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psgs23zvbd.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psweikrks9.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps1trcg7lt.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...pss5ug2ns2.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psa4ij1ru5.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psrpfobu3u.jpg
Are you bringing the beetle to the champs? And what is the wedge made out of?
Nice pair of bongos. Got a similar set myself but haven't played them for a few years. Got a bongo cajon recently though that's pretty cool :)
Hey tweedmeister its 2mm ally after 2mm steel was too heavy and then the 3mm ally version was too heavy too lol. Just started with a square sheet, drilled the holes and bolted it on. Then hammered the scoop over and took it back off and hacked open the corners for some wheel holes :-)
I was wandering a craft fair and thought those bongos were awesome so invested :-) my girlfriend is tearing her hair out at the random stuff I bring home. Been getting better at playing them but cajons look like the next purchase! Was trying to decide whether your post was a metaphor for something rude or whether you genuinely play the bongos lol.
Well another bit of an update, finished the beetle off. Bought some Botbitz and couldn't get them cabled and running right so have gone back to my old sabertooth that's showing it's age. If I'm still fighting in 2016 in the Beetles I'm going to buy another Sabertooth as it's taken a beating for 4 yrs in every robot I've built and has never let me down. Power with the Lipo is good although they are temperamental, no where near as robust as the Nimh packs but at quarter of the weight I can live with it. I own a 70's landrover and a mega old picasso and won't buy a new car till the current one hits 300k miles or so, so am really into things that will go the distance. Not really feeling it with these lipo's, can see these becoming a consumable item near enough. Have been umming and arring about the spinners for ages, decided I'd have a go at the champs with the best robot I can make by myself and see how it fares. If it comes home in bits again there will either need to be a spinner-less class or we are able to develop weapons / armour that snag or I may call time on it. The beetle thing has got me fighting most months this year it's been awesome but also the most expensive in terms of written off parts as every event has some sort of half kilo 15k contraption fighting there. Going to finish heavy off over christmas.
Have some pictures and video below, pretty much ready for the end of Nov really and not much else to report. Christmas is going to be sorting out heavy ready for spring to see if the EO's will let me go. Pictures to follow of the heavy once I've gotten a bit further and it looks half respectable.
As ever, thoughts welcome.
Pics and vid:
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psqkbsu7gf.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps6zi24e0d.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...pst8kuzbct.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...pssysqcweu.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psqjzrr5bc.mp4
To be fair, Fhqwhgads 1 was a random 20mm piece of wood and 2mm hdpe and that stood up, it's more design than what materials you use* - this looks fairly spinner proof but I reckon that wood will get chewed up. Nothing's going to get through it though haha.
Maybe try and put some corner pieces on for extra strength?
Edit: also a bit of luck... But still :p
Yeah just wanna fight my robot, push people about, get rolled over n hammered on a bit not get completely shredded at each event. Not saying better design won't help etc. But ultimately for me every event being full combat is unsustainable.
Looks great!
I agree with Matt, nothing's going to get through that wood, it'll make lovely sawdust when my 13k drum has a nibble though ;)
When you say you couldn't get the botbitz to work right what did you mean?
Totally my own fault, had connected it all together so the power came in from the battery, through the link and then split into each speedo. Connected motors and receiver, had laptop on with cable info for the receiver and speedo and it was all together spot on. Triple checked it for correctness and continuity as was petrified of lipo. Plugged up and stuffed the link in...BANG and lots of smoke. I know it will be the wiring shorting somewhere. So had a rewire from fresh. Started again and it powered and ran and then randomly popped again. I'm degree trained technician so did the usual methodical problem solving, swapped out my old loom n receiver and tried methodically working thru changing components. Same gear works great on sabertooth but plug botbitz in it pops n smokes. I've kept them.to one side n gonna have a look at others at the champs. Was mystified to be honest, suspect some weird compatibility problem, both becs giving to much power, so on n so forth. In no way is it the controller n definitely me wiring to cock somehow.
What voltage lipo are you using and did you have both BECs connected at the same time?
Hey Dave!
Spent an afternoon reading this thread and its fantastic to see how your ideas and skills have progressed! Plus, its been somewhat entertaining seeing bigger and faster machines whizzing across your kitchen only to see pics of the next day and the big holes and dents all over the place! But hey, thats why we do this i guess lol. Must say your latest offering looks great, keep up the good work! Hope the see you arena side sometime :D
Hi Jamie yes both becs were connected n your gonna say that they shouldn't have been lol. And thanks Albear I'm a naff builder there are loads better threads lol I'm just low budget recycler of random stuff! Welcome n give us a shout if you need any help.
Both BEC's shouldn't have been connected but i've never heard of esc's blowing due to that, usually it just causes your rx to die. Sounds to me like you shorted something, if possible put up a pic of the wiring loom, maybe someone will see something you haven't.
Meh, im not going to be any better to be honest. Its all about the joys of building and the thrill of fighting i guess! Or at least, i hope to find out! Thank you, will do! If you need any team members id be up for skip diving lolQuote:
Originally Posted by daveimi
Lol your welcome to come to the beetle champs in Birmingham etc. at the end of Nov if you wanna learn. It was people talking me thru stuff in the first place that got me reasonably au fait with it all so I could have a first few attempts.
Looking good! Planning on any side skirts?
Got to the quarter finals on Sunday and was a place away from the Semi Finals as is, so I know the idea works. The next plan is a pyramidy type set of skirts down each side with something daft on the top. Fav robot ever is this...
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m.../bot-00092.jpg
You should have a mini skip or a trashcan lol (referencing the thread not saying its rubbish!)
That's a good idea :)
Dave! ive had a fantastic idea! Why not have one of those gold Chinese cats with the waving arm like you see at Chinese restaurants; BUT the arm actually comes down far enough to hit the other robots with its paw that actually contains claws! :D wouldn't be an effective weapon (you might leave some scratches) but it would sure be fun!
Gonna have a go at featherweight as well next year with the same idea, just halfway through putting it together now.
its been 10 days since your last post, updates please! :D
My ultra rubbish featherweight made from scraps of wood has this weird body together, am now researching drivetrains and trying to find a massive sheet of ally from a bin somewhere. Will upload a pic over today as can't get photo bucket to work. In the same breadth you will laugh at it but the stuff has literally come out of the offcuts bin at b n q. This is the first time I've been pressed for an update its stressful! Lol :-)
Not sure whether this is any good or not, it was only supposed to be a bigger version of Rancid for a bit of fun. It won't be invertible, and I'm not sure whether to alter it slightly before I get in to far. Was thinking of making a smaller wooden box that I can make invertible, the feather stuff is all flippers so invertible is the name of the game, beetles are all spinners hence the weird Rancid design. Anyway, you can see where this was going lol...
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps2yckdf73.jpg
Haha! sorry didn't mean to press you i just love you build thread as my over-lunch read! id say invertible (or at least self righting) is a must, but i think a bigger version of the smaller robot (Rancid?) would be a fun continuation of the line! Maybe a weapon on the bigger one? im also assuming the green crayon is for scale lol :lol:
haha green crayons rule when you have a 6 yr old and 2 yr old ransacking the place. Yeah come up with a better idea this weekend lol.
Hello fight fans. Featherweight body finished using off cuts. Going to order a drive train over the next day or so. Think I've surpassed myself in the cheap and cheerful stakes, it was mostly built using the "by eye" method lol.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psdyetxirz.jpg
looking pretty solid! maybe neaten up the sides and it will look swell! that scoop is looking.. rustic haha
Yeah I think if I measure stuff more thoroughly I might stand more chance. Anyway, excited to try a low powered drive train to see if hundreds of watts of power really is needed. My beetle weight will happily push a 5kg weight around so am interested to see if pololu 37mm gear motors will shove 10kg. In which case its a cheap, off the shelf drive train. I have the battery, receiver and speedo waiting to go in so really should hurry up and order some motors and wheels. I like trying quirky and untested products. I was the only person running pololu wheels I think at the beetle champs and they were utterly spot on. Dunno why more people don't try some of the off the shelf stuff more often.
Well to give you a ballpark figure; to spin Richie's quite grippy 100mm wheel at 400rpm on a flat surface takes about 100W. Anything more than that would just spin the wheel faster.
I approve of trying quirky and untested products; Most of the things in Richie are rarely used in other feathers, were basically found in the scrap, and worked very well.. though sadly the quirky parts I'm trying out these days are rather more hi-tech :L
Yeah I thought that, there's one of the build diaries where the builder talks about how you just need a lip to raise an opponent's wheels off the floor, and you can shove them around till your heart's content. Think it might be Jamie's. My beetle has 500rpm gear motors and will out-push two of the kinematic pay to drive robots at once. I know these are 3kg each give or take, so it just made me wonder. In feather circles I know that drills are standard, but drills at 7.2V still pushed opponents around in my first robot. So 7.2V x 7A gives about 50W per motor. The 37mm pololu stuff is cheap and 12V at 5A about 50 - 60W. There are then two ratios, one of which is pretty close to the 550rpm output of drills, and the other is 300rpm ish which on the 90mm wheels I'm planning might make it a bit slow. Gonna have a think for a couple of days. I'm leaning towards 300rpm as it's more controllable and arguably more torquey.