Here we go again!

As a lot of you that attended Extreme Robots Manchester in 2018 will know, that whilst the previous iteration of Broadax potentially could have made a great brushless axe, it failed to deliver, having a number of design issues and being rushed to make the event.

As a result, I decided to redesign again, with the aim of ironing out a number of the issues.

On the hit list:
  • The axe mechanism - no longer Chain/Sprocket, this time around, it's Spur gears all the way - no chains to break of go slack or out of alignment. Also dead shafts all round, to remove the need for bearings pushed into the bulkheads which makes for a much more sturdy and robust overall configuration.
  • The drive mechanism - raised up substantially so that it doesnt rub the ground and beach itself. Again spur gears, removing the great but too wide planetary gearboxes used previously. Ratio change to 6:1 to give it greater top speed.
  • The armour - not symmetrical any more (boo!) but designed such that it doesn't cause clearance problems and to lean the front into the floor more reliably. Also, not welded but one piece bent, and attached with anti vibration mounts.
  • The electronics - switched up a gear to VESC 4.12 ESCs for drive


Since April, work has been ongoing on the CAD design for this bot. Here's a more-or-less final render:

Broadax-2.0 v94.jpg

Towards the end of May and early June, this was finalised and the whole design has now been water cut, and the front armour bent from a single piece. Assembly has started but hasn't yet finished.

IMG_20180625_200043.jpg IMG_20180618_191105.jpg

Still on the do list is some brackets to attach the armour to the body, wiring, VESC configuration, and a paint job!