Hello Roboteers,

We are a team of engineers planning to build a crushing robot for Robot wars 2017.
We originally intended to build for this season, but due to the time constraints this was not possible, so we started work on next year.

Since we have started we have decided on the main concept of the robot, a two stage piercing arm.
We have done some testing with a manual hydraulic press to get an idea of some forces, and hope to generate 6 tons at the tip of our weapon.

There will be a typical hydraulic piercing arm set up mounted on a pivot, driven by an electric motor.
The First stage will be an electric driven jaw like arm, with a vertical piercing spike.
The idea being that this will act as an axe, (and double as a self-righting mechanism) so that the second, slow and powerful stage can act.
The hydraulic cylinder mounted on the electric arm will have a shot bolt to lock the hydraulic movement from overpowering the electric motor.

Our drive motors will be placed on order at the end of this week, and the plan is to mock up a chassis to figure out the drive system and identify any problems before the full design is finalised.

For the drive system, we are going for the NPC-T64, planning to run at 33-36V
http://hobby.npcrobotics.com/store/npc-t64/

Controlled by the Ampflow Dual motor speed controller, rated at 160A per channel
http://www.ampflow.com/motor_controller.htm

We are currently planning on running the weapon system at a higher voltage than the drive.
For the electric motor arm, we were planning on ordering the Ampflow A28-400-F48-G, the fan cooled 48V motor and gearbox controlled by the Ampflow VEX speed controller. This will have to be geared down further for use on the ‘axe’ arm.
http://www.ampflow.com/ampflow_gearmotors.htm
http://www.ampflow.com/vex_motor_speed_controller.htm

We are only purchasing a single Ampflow A28-400-F48-G initially, and are hoping that the motor can be used for the hydraulic pump, which we have not yet been able to find.

The next components (we think) we need to get the rolling chassis working are the RC transmitter/ receiver and batteries.
I currently think that LiPo are probably the best option?

Can anybody recommend any makes/ models and UK suppliers?

Any thought are greatly appreciated, as we are the first to admit that we are not quite sure what we are doing.

Thank you!

Tom