FW electric crusher build

[Al_]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. I have a FW hydraulic crusher so I'll have a stab at answering your questions.

225mm jaw opening will fit most featherweights in it. There will always be the odd one or two too big to fit, but it you go chasing every last one its not worth the trade off in increased weight or less crusher effectiveness.

Does it have enough bite force? Impossible to say really. As before there will always be bots you can't crush and there are so many variables such as different armour types, thicknesses, where you grab a bot and so on. Put a good drive system on it and at worst you have a crusher for lightly armoured bots and a capable control bot for the heavier armoured stuff. More crush is always good but you'll add weight to yourself to make sure your own bot can take the forces too, and crushers have to be very sturdy to do this to begin with. Are the 20mm HDPE bulkheads going to be up to this?

Just as important as the amount of crushing force, I would say is the speed at which the crusher closes. There is no point having the most powerful crusher if you never get to use it on anyone.

I would also suggested you think about at least some form of self righting, you will end up flipped over at some point. Also, try and get a good estimate of weight for the whole robot before you start, it disappears fast.

Please don't let that put you off, crushers are an ambitions bot for a first build. (It's your first post, I'm guessing it's your first bot?) It's always good to see another crusher in the works!

[Draper]

It would be my second robot, I also have a thwack bot made from steel box section.

I was unsure if the bulkheads would be strong enough, not worked with hdpe before, I could double the thickness around the anchor points or strengthen it with steel. I was also concerned if the 10mm thick steel would be thick enough for the claw.

How does your bot self right? I was thinking of roll bars to passively self right it, they would also protect the actuator from attack as well.