Team Shadow: Ferrovore

[Eventorizon]

Its a good idea in theory and it would be interesting to see it implemented, but I think that for some reason or another you will find it causes more issues than it solves.

The tilt switch may be activated by hard hits during combat, which is more an annoyance than an issue, but if you were say hit by a vertical spinner and tossed your shrimec would start coming out before you hit the ground and potentially break on hitting the ground. It could also mean it sticks out at an unwanted moment and gets taken out/twisted/ripped off by another robot.

Id also advise against putting your wheels at the front of the robot as it makes it a pain to steer, you are better off having them in the middle, just rearward of the centre of gravity. Our new Axe bot has the wheels at the front and it has a habit of not driving straight when accelerating because of this.

You also don't need to have separate batteries for your drive, weapon and shrimec (unless they are all different voltages). It adds wiring complexity, more safety links and more points of failure. Conker 3 has a 5S (22.2v) Drive system and a 12S (44.4V) Weapon system so it has to have separate voltages as they are vastly different. However, given your list of parts, you only need 1 massive 12V pack to drive everything. You could slightly over volt everything to say 14.4V (I am assuming you are using 1.2V NiHM cells) to get a bit extra speed and power from the parts. A small overvolt wont be an issue as the parts run for a maximum of 5 minutes or so in a fight.

Hopefully that gives you some ideas and should help make your build easier!

[Danny B]

You raise some good points, although I have considered most of them already and figured out some countermeasures.

I figured the tilt switch would be sensitive to lateral force from a jolt, so I turned it around and programmed the circuit to activate when the switch is off, meaning the robot has to be completely upside down (within the 30 degree sweet spot in which the switch is inactive).
Also, to prevent it from activating before the bot hits the ground, I programmed the IC to only activate the srimech if the robot has been upside down for 2 continuous seconds (check it's upside down, wait 1 second, check again, wait another second, check again. If all 3 register, activate the srimech).
Not to mention, I don't plan on entering spinner events in the near future.

Regarding batteries, I suppose I could put the drive and weapon on a single battery. I probably still need a separate one for the srimech actuator, since it's running on a speed 550 motor and therefore a large drain.

Taking your advice on the wheel placement, I did some rearranging. Geometrically, the wheels are in the middle, and I can't really move them back without putting them right at the back.
So to shift the centre of gravity forward, I moved the batteries to the front. That combined with the weight of the heavy steel jaws hanging right out at the front should do the trick.

[Eventorizon]

Regarding batteries, I suppose I could put the drive and weapon on a single battery. I probably still need a separate one for the srimech actuator, since it's running on a speed 550 motor and therefore a large drain.

That's really not a problem. A 550 motor is tiny in comparison to some of the motors (Speed 900's for example) that were used on NiMH Packs about 4/5 years ago (before LiPo's were commonplace). People would run two 775 motors (Drive) and a speed 900 off one NiHM Pack. I even have a picture somewhere of someone running 4 Speed 900's for drive.

As for the shrimec, that should all work. It will be interesting to see if it works in the arena.

Oh, and I cant tell from your drawing which is the front and which is the back, might just be me.

[Danny B]

Maybe I will be alright using just 1 battery, then. After all, I'll only be using the srimech for a few 7-second bursts per fight, and it's not like I'll be using either of the other systems while it's operating (the arm should close from fully open in around 2.5 seconds).

If you were wondering about the drawing, the front end is on the right.

[Danny B]

UPDATE

All the pieces for the bot's jaw and spine are now cut, and ready for welding next weekend. Technically it has a ladder chassis, much like the notoriously indestructible Toyota pickup truck!
Armour has been confirmed, it will be 20mm HDPE sides, 8mm HDPE top and base.

[Danny B]

UPDATE
Ferrovore's weapon is working! Not the fastest crusher around, but based on preliminary tests on a tin can and a mobile phone (see second photo), it looks like it has a decent amount of power. Also tested it on a 6mm HDPE offcut, it just managed to pierce through. Hopes are high!

Next priority, mounting the motors.

Weapon1.jpgWeapon2.jpg