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Thread: Sprouting Potato: 4wd Pusher

  1. #1
    Just a couple of days to go before Botfest, so I thought I'd share one of the bots that I completed last night. Say hello to Sprouting Potato:



    It's had a few iterations. First it was gonna be a wedge-shaped pusher, then a servo-angled wedge pusher, then after a minor fail at AWS 55 with my other bot, Suspicious Houmous, I decided to make it a simple 4wd pusher. I should probably stick an 'L' plate on the back, as my driving is AWFUL.

    Actually, I had an intention of letting my 7-year-old son drive, but I let him drive it around the front room and he just drove round in circles, sometimes breaking to drive it into a table leg or the entangling embrace of a throw blanket. Maybe he'll do better with an opponent to aim at.

    It's not totally finished. The side armour needs a trim, and I need to fix the front screws better (some HDPE will do that, and create a buffer against the motors, too), and it needs decorating! oh, and it's a bit too slow. I'm hoping it'll feel faster in the arena.

    The aforementioned Suspicious Houmous is also signed up for Botfest, but it had so many issues at AWS 55 that it needs a complete redesign. Two evenings and a morning to build a robot.. easy!

  2. #2
    Looks good! I need to invest in some polycarb I think, looks the nuts... I'm also intrigued by the servo angled wedge, sounds pretty cool.

    As for the rebuild, You got this!

  3. #3
    ha! thanks for the confidence, but don't be surprised if SH is a no-show. I'll give it my best shot, tho!

    the servo-assisted wedge idea was a bot with two large wheels at the back, and an armoured plate at the front that can be angled using a servo, so it can adjust if flipped, and can alter the angle against different types of bot. It seems like a shallow angle is better for getting under someone, and a steep angle is better at deflecting spinners or pushing. Not sure about that, tho, and it felt like it was probably a silly idea. :P

  4. #4
    Ocracoke's Avatar
    Team Kaizen

    Looks very neat, much neater than some of my creations. When I rebuild Ikari, polycarbonate will probably be my port of call.

    The aforementioned Suspicious Houmous is also signed up for Botfest, but it had so many issues at AWS 55 that it needs a complete redesign. Two evenings and a morning to build a robot.. easy!
    Yeah, easy peasy :P What kind of issues do you mean?
    Team Kaizen - Build Diary for all the robots

    AW: Amai, Ikari, Lafiel, Osu, Ramu
    BW: Shu!, The Honey Badger
    FW: Azriel
    MW: Jibril, Kaizen

  5. #5
    Suspicious Houmous is a lifter, using a motor attached to arms via gears, and has a few issues..

    To get it under 150g, I used 1mm polycarb throughout (the aluminium on top is purely decorative - it's a cut-up can of Guinness!), but it flexes badly when lifting, causing the gears to go out of alignment and the lifting arms to go floppy. Not ideal!

    When it does lift, it pitches forward, which lifts its own wheels off of the ground. Also not ideal - it's supposed to be the other way around! Easily fixed by moving the front wheels right to the front.

    The other issue is the ESC. I used a NanoTwo, as a DasMikro wouldn't fit, but between AWS and arriving home, something inside it broke. I don't have time to work out a solution (probably desolder the RX), but I do have a DasMikro in reserve. I just need to make it fit.

    Here's what it looked like for AWS 55:



    So, I need a new 1.5mm polycarb chassis (maybe even aluminium), I need to move the wheels forward (which might allow enough room for a DasMikro), and I might need to rethink the lifting mechanism if it's too heavy (a servo would be slightly lighter than the motor/Vex29 setup, but I dunno how to attach the gear, and it wouldn't be 360 degrees without modification)

    What could go wrong?
    Last edited by voorsk; 27th July 2018 at 12:17.

  6. #6
    Suspicious Houmous is a fine looking machine sir, Having used a Dasmikro literally last night, they aren't really much bigger than the Nanotwo, the issue I can see is the RX, the one I have is huuuuuuge (it has to poke out the top of the current shape).

    As for pitching forward, could you not add a little 'leg' to the front, similar to Okracoke's Shu! to give a lower effective leverage? Gotta be easier than starting again.

  7. #7
    The shell needs rebuilding either way, so I may as well improve it while I'm at it.

    There's not much room for a leg, as the bot is already 4x4x4 - the lifting arms have to be at a 45 (ish) degree angle to fit into the 4 inch cube, so the main body has to sit flat on the bottom. The main reason it's so big is because I had trouble fitting everything inside it. It's really crammed! Here's a photo of the underside..



    I had to leave space for the gears, so stuff wouldn't jam into them, and the axle going through the middle really gets in the way. Also, a lot of space is lost externally due to the arms. It all adds up.

    I have plans, though! Maybe too many plans..

  8. #8
    They look absolutely fantastic (I think?). I'm sure you won't come last, that's reserved for me

  9. #9
    Oi! Theo, back of the queue mate! I've had my name on last place for weeks now

    Fight you for it

  10. #10
    Bring it on!

    We'll have a whiteboard and control each other's, then we'll see who's last!

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