Failsafes........Help!

Hi all,

For iMPACT I need a failsafe to compete in any major event. However to compete in Roaming Robots it needs to be a Removeable link. What?!
Someone please help me. Any advice on failsafes will suffice.

Thanks

Rob

A failsafe refers to the R/C side of things.

In the event of a radio control signal loss the failsafe outputs a signal to stop the bot and turn off the weapon.

A Removable link is on the battery side of the bot .... usually a 2 pin plug with both poles linked by a loop of wire ....its removal disconnects all battery power to the bot.

http://www.dannysrobots.co.uk/diary/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/wheelsandlink.jpghttp://www.dannysrobots.co.uk/diary/...elsandlink.jpg

Pic shows a plug ( looped wire ) and is the actual removable link ...it is shown plugged into a socket ...this has the two seperate red wires coming from it ....one of which goes to the battery the other goes off to power the bot.

(Message edited by woody on February 23, 2008)

How do I attach it to the actual robot; would I have a panel sticking out of the armour or what?
And how much to these things cost? And for a FW do I need a kill switch?

Thanks Woody

Rob

Most people have an open slot in the robot armour, or a door pannel that opens (with out the need for tools) to get access to put in or remove the link. They are a couple of quid from Technobots or slighly more expensive from RS.

As for a kill switch no you dont need one, you need RC failsafes on each channel, some speed controllers failsafe as standard. And a removable link that removes all power from the robot.

Cool, so which SCs do have a failsafe as standard.
And Does this mean I need to have 5 failsafes, one for each channel?

Thanks,

Rob

Buy a Spektrum DX6 with a BR6000... failsafes on ALL Channels and is the standard equipment most of us use.

http://www.robotmarketplace.com/marketplace_rc_radioDX6.htmlhttp://www.robotmarketplace.com/mark..._radioDX6.html

You only need a failsafe on the channels you plan to use, i.e one for each drive motor and one for weapon, depending what it is obviously. Woody is right, if you get a specktrum BR setup then you wont need any secondary failsafes.

But since you asked, Electronize and vantecs are the only speeds i have used and both have failsafes built in.

from what i have done the electronize failsafes dont work, i always needed extra ones

But I have found that the electronise failsafes are very reliable and have had my machines tech checked dozens of times, running electronize SCs, and never failed.

I use Mtronik Speedos in Basher! and they are brill. They have failsafes built in and are quiter hard wearing. I burnt my drive motor out and speedo was fine. The only problem with them is they only run at 12v.

Yeah but how much do they cost. Some of us have a relatively tight budget! Thanks for all the advice on the failsafes though. Please keep it coming!

Rob

Hi Robert, Do you have a Transmitter already?
If not I wouls recomend getting the new DX6i, it sounds expensive but were getting them in in a couple of weeks retailing at £109!
If you dont have a transmitter i would seriously recommened one of these to get rid of any future problems you may have with interfierence and failsafing. I believe the Sabertooth speed controllers from Dimension engineering (sold by technobots) have failsafing, they are excellent controllers for low current like drils.

agree with grant their, a spektrum is well worth the money, you will never have interference problems nor need failsafes (get a br receiver, designed for robot use from robochallenge) which failsafes on all channels, the standard AR reciever that comes with the transmitter will only failsafe on throttle. i used sabertooths which are really good (can run on 24v), it mixes the 2 motors for you so you get perfect and very precise driving, i do find personally that the 25a dual is better than the 10a one though in my opinion.
your inital costs are a bit, but like me, once you have them you can really tell the difference in performance and reliability.

if you run seperate speedos (like 2 electronise)which i used for ages before sabertooth;s you can also use the spektrum to mix them for you, giving you control all one one stick, electronises are good and were really reliable for me.

Okay I havent bought one yet, but Im not exactly made out of money! I suppose if it is worth it Ill look at it. Please can you give me the website for it and Ill take a peep. But if you are using it I trust you!

thanks,

Rob

A Spectrum DX6 with BR6000 reciever isnt more expensive than a cheap 40MHz RX/TX with 3 or 4 added failsafes and the extra trouble to mount the unshielded, unprotected antenna as well the more extensive interference issues.

O.K so its worth it?

Rob

For us, yes.
Team RCC converted all the machines in our stable to Spectrum, except one, the Antweight Katyusha.

This made short work of our multitude of RX/TX sets, and all the headaches about failsafes, antennas (you cant hide a 40MHz antenna in a metal armor, nor can it touch it, nor is it a good idea to have it close to the motors or high amp lines), interference and so on. Now we just build in a standard pack. For a heavy that means a Sidewinder and a Spectrum BR6000 reciever, for a feather thats a Scorpion XXL and same reciever.

The only thing we have to do is bind and program the sets.
And buy a new reciever if there is a new machine to be rewired.

Like Grant said: Take a good look at the Spektrum DX6i that is going to hit the shelves a couple weeks time.

http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPM6600http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/D...ProdID=SPM6600

It is a very cheap 2.4GHz solution and promises to be a very good alternative to the DX6 and DX7. It has some significant improvements over the DX6, and is a lot cheaper than the DX7 or JR X9303.

O.K it sounds very good to me and thanks a lot. If everyone says it is worth it then Ill go for it. Please keep suggestions coming though.

Thanks all,

Rob

(Message edited by touchwood on February 25, 2008)