Barróg - Featherweight Lifter Build Diary

[Shooty]

Late as always, but here is the update from the bots from XR Bolton.

DAY 1:

We arrived at the event in good time, and both machines were looking ready to go. Unfortunately upon arriving to the venue we discovered that despite having more tools with us than some of the heavyweight teams, one of our transmitters was left back in Ireland, and I still knew very little about programming the new Spektrum Dx6e, as did most other teams around. Ultimately before the first fight, we ended up using a 6i for controlling Barróg 1 driven by my dad, donated by the Botwrights (Binky, Crackers N' Smash), and a more familiar Devo 7E from the Raes (Team Tartan Heart, Nessie), both of which we were grateful to have. I also was finally able to get my hands on the two extra 30A BotBitz ESC's I bought earlier, so it was only at the event that I was actually able to run both bots together.


Both bots ready to go in.

Because we were ready so early in advance, we both got to drive the machines around the arena before the first show to warm up as it were. Unfortunately after only a few seconds of trying to use the lifter on the new bot it stopped working, and once we took it out the problem was apparent: the 30A fuse protecting the lifter had blown. I've used 30A fuses to protect my 30A ESC's in the past with Barróg 1 with minimal problems, so I assumed that they would be fine with a similar twin drill setup. However I failed to account for the fact that the lifter would have far more stalling torque applied to it, and as a result every lift was in danger of exceeding the amperage loads. Without a more powerful ESC there was little I could do, and if I removed the fuse I'd only end up buggering one of my ESC's, so I decided to just replace the fuse, knowing it was a short term solution.

In the flurry of rebuilding Barróg Doom it unfortunately wasn't in one piece for the first fight, so I ended up just driving the first Barróg in the fight instead. (Credit again to Team Ironclads for the footage)



Some observations from this fight:

• Fairly standard fight, went the full three minutes, didn't get hit by a vert, which is always good in my book.
• My largest contribution in this fight was righting the wheelie bin.

POST-FIGHT:


So after the fight Barróg Doom was fully reassembled and ready for testing, OG Barróg only needed a quick charge to be safe as well. Both machines were entered into the second warm-up to see how they handled. Unfortunately 20 seconds after starting Doom was shoved into one of the corners, splitting one of the side rollers, and somehow getting the machine stuck either on the wall or the floor. While trying to free myself, I ended up blowing the fuse on one of the drive sides, and lost the lifter fuse as well in the process. Meanwhile my dad was still getting the hang of driving a featherweight, and got flipped by Explosion multiple times in the process. We did get to find out however how OG handles getting flipped; the plastic top cracked slightly, but the wheels survived the sustained flipping, something nice to know as I never got to test out that part of the machine throughout all our fights.


For some reason Boom getting stuck caused one of the rollcages to split. Very strange indeed.

For the second fight, both machines were armed and ready to go in when Murphy’s Law reared itself again. Shortly after driving Barróg Doom into the arena the machine stopped responding to my radio setup, causing me to frantically take the machine out before the fight started. Dismayed, I ended up again driving Barróg for another fight, still unsure as to what happened to Barróg Doom.



Some observations from this fight:

• The strategy remained the same as the last fight, survive until the pit drops, then get as many as possible in there. I personally counted three pittings in the fight above, so I’d consider the strategy a success.
• At 2:35 Binky gets a nice charge in on Barróg, but like similar fights previously Barróg still has maintained its almost unexplainable characteristic of being able to shrug large hits off. It’s nice to know that the machine’s chassis still holds up to these hits 20+ fights later.
• One thing different on the Dx6i compared to the Devo 7E I’m used to was the mixing already programmed in, limiting turning down to 40% and acceleration and reverse at 60% of what’s possible. This makes it easier to control, useful given how my dad was using it to learn how to drive, but also meant the machine never got in the powerful pushes I knew it could manage.

POST-FIGHT:

While it was a good fight for Barróg, I was still very disappointed at how Barróg Doom stopped working the way it did, especially as I was now halfway through the event with not a single fight under Doom’s belt. Upon outside inspection, it seemed the Orange Rx used in the bot was having issues, occasionally starting and stopping when large numbers of machines were active. Since radio issues are the worst possible failure for any bot, I figured I needed to upgrade as soon as possible to prevent it happening again. I spent the rest of the day brute-forcing my way through the Dx6e, teaching myself how to program it, getting my desired mixings through, and replacing the entire radio system on the bot.