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Time for an update, as things have not been quiet!
For 2020, there were various things I wanted to do:
1.Update my sawbot Head For The Exit, improving the machine on the faults that were revealed during the Edinburgh event
2.Build a new version of my lifter This Is Not A Drill, for my son to pilot it at a forthcoming event.
As I wanted to get the new machine dialed in on time, I set about with building the new TINAD as soon as possible, so we could get as much driving practice in as possible.
There were various conditions I wanted it to meet:
1. Be a brick, especially since my son would now be piloting it
2. Give it some proper drive- and weapon power for once
3. Build it with the bending techniques used in Woo and HFTE
LINK TO IMGUR BUILD ALBUM HERE (will be updated continuously)
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It was great to just start over, using all the lessons from the years since the last version in a new iteration. Pretty much all of the HDPE used in the new This Is Not A Drill has been bent to some degree, giving it a fresh look to bring it into the new season, updating the lifter to how my machines tend to look nowadays (with a specific nod to its ridiculous wheelguards, that needed to be bent in three places without the use of clamps).
Now as we know the Corona crisis hit, effectively cancelling any events for the foreseeable future. The machine was already finished though, so I've put a detailed run-through of the construction here.
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I even saw fit to make a simple bespoke cradle for it, from the off-cuts I keep.
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Ofcourse, following the cradle of Head For The Exit, also TINAD's cradle got adorned with a warning sign. This sign reads 'PAY ATTENTION, PLAYING CHILDREN'.
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Now, my machines traditionally get their reflective livery right before the event, so this is how both Head For The Exit (with old top armour though completely revisited elsewhere) and the new This Is Not A Drill currently look. I'm still brooding on how the new striping is going to look, but it seems I'll have ample time to think about it.
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Great stuff as ever. The organic look of these machines is so cool.
I like the idea of an imgur diary - it seems like it's a nice halfway house between a forum thread and Facebook.
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Thanks! I feel that with Imgur it's easier to keep updating a build report without having to make a new page. It now has everything on one place.
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Looks awesome, better bending than I could ever do. There is a heavyweight that your latest creation reminds me of, Tánshè. Saw it at EXR Cheltenham 2019 and it looked very curvy in real life.
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Tanshe is a ravishingly beautiful machine for sure - I suppose as compliments go this is about as good as it gets ;) thanks!
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I got some people requesting to show how to make spacers using basic tools. Time for another tutorial!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUL8wlrHhWQ
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This past week saw a nice opportunity to bring the sport into more of a spotlight here in the Netherlands, so naturally I gave both This Is Not A Drill and Head For The Exit their war colours.
The reason grabber-Woo is not in this picture is because I dismantled it - I have some ideas for the future which don't fit in the existing chassis. It does feel fitting to speak about its construction though... so here's a small walkthrough.
Grabber-Woo: The Woo with a Weapon
After Bugglebots Season 1 both Cosmin and I set out to make clusterbots with active weaponry. Cosmin went his way of the evil-spinner, whereas I dove into the control-corner and set out to see whether I could have a robot that had Woo's drive, but also something to grab onto opponents.
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The idea for 'Grabber-Woo' (or 'Gwoo' as we came to call it) was born. I didn't go for a U-shaped chassis this time though, as the design required a hinge for the claw, and invertability in the back. I reckoned I could still bend the chassis bulkheads, and use a Ti-baseplate for strength.
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Now, making these bulkheads wasn't that much more difficult as making the single-piece one anti-spinner-Woo uses, but making them symmetrical really required some triple-checking. Measure thrice, cut once.
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For the wheelguards I figured that, as it wasn't going to fight spinners anyway, some 1mm HDPE would be fine. It would work with the lines of the machine, but still provide some cover. Naturally, to get an idea of the final shape, I used some cardboard.
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For a machine this stricken on weight, I sure as hell was finding more excuses to use Titanium everywhere. These are brackets for the servo that I fashioned out of some 1mm offcuts. I will blame the polish on my obsession with aesthetics.
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Here's the bulkheads married to the baseplate, which has a slight curve in the back to aid mobility in case the front gets lifted. In hindsight Gwoo's chassis was probably ridiculously overbuilt, seeing as it used 15mm HDPE for the bulkheads.
Then, the forks. Gwoo needed to get underneath anything, so I fashioned the lower jaw out of some 8mm stainless. Rough cut at the bottom, finished product at the top. Polish everything!
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Here's the claw fitted, fashioned out of a 15mm piece of bent HDPE, with 3mm HDPE teeth at either side. The wheelguards are on there too, and the top armor was going to be 1mm HDPE as well.
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Gwoo prior to the 2019 UWE Bot Brawl. Cosmin and I set out to attend with WeeWoo there, to test the new machines and see where they could be improved prior to the possible second season of Bugglebots.
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After UWE, where Gwoo only fought once in a rumble, I wanted to make the lower jaw lighter and less prone to disappear underneath the machine - this nearly happened in its one fight, so time to break out the Titanium! Using some HDPE I made templates, to get an idea of the shape. Using Titanium sheet, not only would the claws be lighter, but also cover a bigger area.
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Here are the first two cut out of 2mm Gr5 Titanium, with the stainless fork for comparison. The center two forks of the new jaw were staying straight, but the outer two forks were going to Bendertown.
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That's more like it. There was another thing I wasn't too happy with yet though, and that was the size of Gwoo's mouth. Gwoo had so far only used the single hinge, so I created a second hinge above the first one especially for the upper jaw. This made Gwoo's jaw larger as a whole, and enabled it to grab something properly.
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This was the Gwoo that fought at Bugglebots Season 2. It was too bad that this machine only fought twice in 2 events (and both fights were rumbles), but as an exercise of what's possible I enjoyed it quite a bit.
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Gwoo still had quite a few shortcomings though, which has driven me to rethink the design into something more effective. Wen season 3?
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About time I updated this thread!
With my first event in two years having taken place this weekend, I've updated the first post with both the build diary of the new Head For The Exit and the report of said event.
Once I get around sorting out a post-event video, I'll post it here too.
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Great build diary Greg, and the new iterations of HFTE look amazing as always. Particularly loved the completed bot look with the halo, and the shattered glass reflective decor! It's got me thinking about improvements to Scavenger.
Unlucky with the event but I'm sure it'll do you proud at the next one, and hopefully see you there!
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Thanks Jamie! Already had a gander - with all the spares I'd made for Bristol (and which were untouched) most work is internally now. Had a look at my homemade hubs, they seem a great alternative.
See you at the next one - we missed you in the fight for The Spindle!