Promotional robot??

Not sure if this is any interest to anyone, beyond my skills, budget maybe a bit low for most,unless you got materials lying around, Are you interested in making a promotional robot, their is a budget of £1000, 8 channel radio supplied. Must stand upto 5ft tall (overall size and materials used unimportant), with remote moving arms (up and down), moving head (left and right) must stress most importantly it has to have CHARACTER AND LOOK WELL MADE, very flexible on design, entirely your own ideas once drawing approved,documentation to sign on completion for rights/ownership (as its for promotional purposes) must have proven record for fabrication. shame their wasnt a spare £49,000 otherwise it would of been easier to buy the short circuit robot off ebay!

Couple of questions:

a: Is there a deadline for this project?
b: It is not for combat robotics, right?
c: How long does it need to operate at a single charge?

What is it for anyway?

a temporary pic has been put on profile of something similar thats required, but not as bare looking. their is £500 upfront deposit and £500 upon completion. its not for combat robotics nor robot related, it needs to be ready for mid november. it is for a new company starting up and will be used in a shopping centre to attract local interest over a 4 week period, its to make the company stand out in a way thats fresh and different. it needs to run for approximately 30 mins to an hour. shorter time is ok providing it can be charged quickly or a quick change of batteries. batteries and charger dont need to be supplied providing you can supply specs needed. but it will need a failsafe and removable link for safety reasons. the company have a £2 million liability insurance just in case! after this event it will live with me and may be used as a free attraction at fighting robot events if requested as entertainment for the kids etc. their will be no charge for this, in the future it will be offered to use in charity related items, it is strictly non profit making only but also advertisment for the company who are keen in raising money for under priviliged kids charitys.



(Message edited by ady on August 17, 2007)

(Message edited by ady on August 17, 2007)

So they basically are looking for a johnny 5 (short circuit bot)?

that was the only picture that could be found on the net. something along those type of lines.

does it need to drive as well?
what speed?

We might be interested, mail me the exact specifics you need please.

leo (at) computerclub . nl

back to the drawing board, if anyone is able to help then please get in touch, unfortunatley we have had our fingers burnt and left with a robot that is a pile of ....... rubbish that doesnt drive and no budget now, and lots of disappointed kids that we have had to cancel on.

any drive parts in this machine will be salvaged and sold on ebay as a job lot (as we believe they are not suitable for this type of project anyway)but may be of use to some people on here, the rest is being stripped as we speak. we are now looking for someone with a proven track record and good experiance of robots/drive systems.
what we are now looking for is a simple basic drive system that we can be mounted simply inside the frame we have (speed controllers also required), the robot only needs to move at the speed of mobility scooter etc....but would like it to run ok on tarmac, school hall floors etc... without damaging the surface,our current robot drive is not modifyable/repairable in anyway we believe, it needs to be started from scratch.
as we have lost so much money we are looking for something cheap, basic and reliable. the robots weight without drive is around 50 kgs i reckon and stands about 5ft 5 tall. i saw a boxing robot at the leciester event with go cart wheels (the blue one thats head fell of lol, in its last fight) which would be ideal to what we are looking for.
we will be using a spektrum to mix the drive, and it runs of 2 x 12v sla batteries running on 12 v not 24v. (as it has alot of 12v lights on the robot also) it needs to run for about 30 mins or so of one set of batteries.

we will be able to go through exactly what we want in finer detail, but basically we just want to mount the motors easily and the wheel needs to stick out the bottom of our chassis base a bit so it doesnt bottom out.

(Message edited by ady on February 07, 2008)

You had a look on ebay for wheelchair motors? The boxers use them, will give slowish speed, and be fairly smooth and reliable.

will have a look, thanks alan

Arent you being a bit harsh on Gary here?
If it is only a drive problem that should be easy to fix.

If anyone wishes to take on the task of fixing the current drive train I am happy to advise where the problems currently are and how to fix them.

Logistically speaking it is impractical for me to take on the task.

firstly this is my new name, i have started a company and wanted this to reflect my user.

Arent you being a bit harsh on Gary here?
leo you dont know the full story.
If it is only a drive problem that should be easy to fix.
i wish it was that simple.

If anyone wishes to take on the task of fixing the current drive train I am happy to advise where the problems currently are and how to fix them.
and who is going to pay for it gary?

Logistically speaking it is impractical for me to take on the task
but it was ok logistically to take on the task? i even offered to PAY to post the items to you but thought you should pay the return postage once repaired.

i was never looking for a service contract, just a working robot and drive system. all that was asked was the robot could run on smooth tarmac/smooth school floors without damaging it.
we tested it for the first time the other day on a smooth school carpet, the robot struggled to move, the wheels were spinning and not gripping the floor, then we noticed the threaded rods used on the drive (pic to follow on profile later) were bent like a banana so we stopped it.

fair enough gary you did give me some pointers to fix the problem and after hours of trying was getting nowhere. i then wanted to send you the faulty parts to repair to which you replied sold as seen, no warranty which is very disapointing to here from a friend.
you have also now pointed out that comprimizes had to be made in the build (hence not using gearboxes for drive) which to me means corners had to be cut to get it in budget. i gave you an extra 4 weeks for the project and you only tested the drive days before i came and openly told me of last minute problems your garage wasnt a safe place to test the drive and as a friend i trusted you when you said it was fine.

it is a shame as the rest of the robot is great, the arms moving etc.... but what use is it if it doesnt drive, i would of thought the first thing to sort was drive. i would rather have an active drive and no weapon, than a active weapon and no drive.

I indeed do not know the full story. I was just amazed to read this.

adrian

can see robotsrus?

this the company you have started - if so whats it about?

I am not going to be drawn into a discussion on this topic on the forum. It is a private matter to be sorted between you and me adrian off the forum.

2 b honest john at the moment their are robot issues lol, long story. will say more later on when we know where we are going. all we know at the moment is it has cost alot of money and have a few teething problems.

in the meantime put a pic on profile of the troublesome drive system if anyone has any ideas,
have been kindly donated some free wheel chair motors, which i will try and fit some wheels to.

looks like it needs a spacer turning between the sprocket and wheel

gary i have moved on mate, im justing trying to sort out the problems, over emails i felt i couldnt go any further with you after you ended the subject with this.

adrian,
Feel free to post what you wish however any parts will not be repaired and will not be returned unless postage is paid.

No warranty was implied nor offered on collection of the machine. You had time to inspect it and seemed happy at the time.

pic on profile of the part i am tring to repair (2 of) if anyone has any advice or pointers it would be much appreciated.

cheers kenny,
basically a big chain goes from a bosch motor to the drive cog (16-1) ratio, those threaded rods are bolted to the drive cog and through the wheels (which were straight at one point) i wanted to remove the bearing at one end to change the wheels also (as they dont grip and wanted to try a wider wheel for more to touch the ground) but the bearing is seized solid, tried heating the bearing and also using a big hammer but it doesnt budge. i was thinking it may need new ones building from scratch.
the rods on this one bent alot worse than the other side, but this side that bent worse the drive chain is really loose and not adjustable. wasnt sure if it was related.

i dont know what caused them to bend like this so quickly, those threaded rods are pretty thick, perhaps its the torque?

Throw away the threaded rods.....Attach weld a seperate drive plate to the shaft in the place required and bolt the wheel directly to it.

Easiest solution i can think of is weld the sprocket to the shaft and weld the wheel hub to the axle as well (or as woody suggests weld a plate to the axle then bolt the wheel to that). If your stuggling for grip id suggest looking at the wheel posistion, you might find theres not enough weight over wheels, so either move wheels towrads the middle or move more weight over the wheels.

The bearing is seized solid, tried heating the bearing and also using a big hammer but it doesnt budge.

No big hammer it requires knowledge of the housing type.

Lever the bearing ... use the shaft that goes thru if you like ...till its at right angles to its housing.
Then twist and remove via the two grooves cast into the housing.

looking at a website, someone used bearing but the were siezed and they put a large piece of pipe in the bearing and moved it like that (the longer the lever the easier)

Dont think Mr cotterell would be happy to see you set up a business called robots r us. i would seriously advise a name change to aviod any confusion

james, changed my robots r us name for the forum as i was advised by fra that it might upset the company robots r us, when we registered the business name as we found out ourselves that this company already existed, hence the business being called the shropshires robots r us co ltd, which was excepted by companies house, the full business name was too long for my username on here lol, I hope Mr cotterell doesnt mind but as it has been excepted by companies house who have issued us a registration number, their wont be a problem.

started building the 2nd robot myself, going great, pic on profile started it at 9:00am this morning. quite chuffed got a bit done in a few hours. got to build all the body on yet but this is how the base will look, (less the body panels)

looking at it could almost turn it into a hw, its the same size lol

(Message edited by promo robots on February 17, 2008)

It looks very nice and sturdy indeed. I presume you will get some ball transfer units or wheels at the front and back to protect the floors you need to drive on?

Wheels mounted Ok Adrian

DaveMac

yeah great cheers dave, works a treat, fitting a jockey wheel at the back, once i have cut it down, the sla batteries i was putting just behind the wheels, and am going to mount some small nylon roller type wheels of something on the front to stop it tipping. cant use ball castors leo, as i found they are great on indoor floors but awful on tarmac and soon get chewed up (want to use it on tarmac and indoors)

will see what its drives like when built first and see about making sum changes if it seems a bit unstable..

(Message edited by promo robots on February 17, 2008)

Use some Skateboard wheels & trolleys

good idea! didnt think of using them, they will be perfect, cheers.
the rear has a piece to go on yet and then a cut down jockey wheel (used on caravans/trailers) fits on that, quite a small wheel but with a fat treaded tire on it, just got to finish making some nice centre covers for the jockey wheel.

(Message edited by promo robots on February 17, 2008)

tested the robot drive and arm movement today, moves well, attracted a few people when it was driving up the street lol, it stands at 5ft 10 most of the main body frame is done, still got to make the head and hands, next weekend i am going to start fitting the body panels and build up the arms, some panels are being molded. got all parts to finish now, loads of lights to fit etc.......

pic on profile.

It looks terrific. Quite tall though, is it easy to get it into all the venues you want to take it?

yeah, it will only fit through a double door because of its width, its height is ok (just!) i think some single doors it will go through. really looking forward to getting panels fitted, loads of great stuff to fit.

looks good

whats it for?

looks like one of the boxers atm

promotional, charity, for kids etc....

need some help please, i am using a dx7 and i have one stick controlling drive (the 2 channels) and thre other stick controlling the arms (2 channel) all i have left on the spektrum is switches lol, and i need to make a servo turn left centre and right, anyone have any ideas how i do this. none of the switches i have left are 3 way.

Adrian, I can drop sam smith an e-mail for you, hes done this on his DX6 for tiberiouss claw. He replaces one of the top switches for a potentiometre, but you can do it with a 3 position switch.

i have swapped 1 of the switches and made an external buddy box for envys weapon. you could use a simple 3 position switch like grant said. i have 2 seperate buttons but it does work if that helps

cheers guys, if you could grant, hopefully its easy to do! im a bit nervous of dismantling my nice new dx7, also cheers shane, i thought of a buddy box but have absolutely no idea on how to make one lol
its basically to make the head move left and right, i was hoping someone might say it was a case of doing some programming on the spektrum but that would be too easy!

if it proved too difficult i could use a sky sports 6 i have, which would give me loads more channels, but i really wanted to use one controller for everything.

(Message edited by promo robots on March 03, 2008)