Team Kaizen Build Diary

[Ocracoke]

Yes, the new floor is going to be a one piece affair. Looking at 900mm squared 6mm polycarbonate at the moment, still not finalised the design just yet.

EXR Guilford 2019
So Jibril went to EXR Guildford. I had very little to do before the event started so I ended up drifting around the pits, chatting to new MW competitors in Jackpot mostly. Otherwise, with my batteries charged and Scythe ready, I was pretty ready as I'll ever be.

Prior to the first fight however, Jibril embarrassed itself by running into the side of the door frame into the arena and I distinctly remembering the announcers calling this out. This was quite embarrassing and threw me off. The fight itself was pretty dire from my perspective as well. Once again, the robot struggled for grip and then the U bolts for the motors caught on the floor, which meant Backflip could get in underneath and, for a first in my robotics career, threw me out of the arena.

The damage wasn't terrible but the axe shaft bent again. By this time, having been up since 4am, I was tired and hungry so getting it sorted was an absolute faff. The weight of the axe made this even more difficult but eventually, a new shaft went in the robot reassembled... only to find the ESC had once again failed. I am going to build a custom controller for this.

Anyway, with the axe reassembled, the robot went into the second MW melee of the day. This was even more brief than the first melee for me but for a brief moment, the robot found grip and charged at what looks like full power into the wall before being flipped up and eventually pitted.

I am going to be building the two stage box when they arrive but I also need to see if the ESC is salvageable. I also need to cut off the threads on the U bolts and add neoprene to the wheels to see if that can help. Also, the front fixed castors has buckled so they'll want replacing with perhaps some Oilon feet for slipperiness. I do have to say, Jibril is the most frustrating robot I've worked on. It has all the potential to be an excellent robot but it is just been one headache after another.

If I can find the time, I'll see about putting Azriel together as well for RL Grantham as well.