Team Kaizen Build Diary

[Ocracoke]

EXR Portsmouth 2019
After getting up at 3am to get down to EXR Portsmouth with Voodoo 2 and Jibril, there was a fair bit to do. The speed controller needed repositioning, the axe mechanism needed testing and the big Scythe needed to be fitted onto the mechanism along with a slot being cut in the front beam.

Many thanks to Theo and Nat helping with the front beam, it was eventually cut and the axe now cleared it nicely. The ESC was repositioned and tested with the separate receiver, which eliminated the jitters so on went the big metal Scythe. A few people had commented on how heavy it felt and I was a little concerned myself after it was attached, so I fitted a rudimentary bump stop to raise it up a little from the flat to help it get moving.

With Jibril ready, I was all set for my first fight, which was against Voodoo 2 but moments earlier, when loading, the transmitter fell on the floor and broke one of the switches, so the transmitter wouldn't turn on, meaning I had to be swapped out with You Little Ripper. I wasn't best pleased but got it fixed anyway. This meant I missed my chance to fight in the first show.

In the second show, a few HWs had dropped out so I was made an honorary HW and was promptly placed into 1v1 with Team Shock's Earthquake. This, despite losing, was a fun way to lose. The Scythe did fire but it's slow and when turned over lacked the power to self right. Eventually, the drive ESC receiver wires were snagged in the drive wheels and the whole robot stopped. The fight lasted 1:55, which isn't bad when you consider the 50kg+ weight difference :P

The battle damage was pretty much on the Scythe, which Jibril landed on several times. The 10mm shaft for the output gear was bent, the axe ESC had also broke again (the soldering failed) and the drive receiver disappeared completely. A hasty rewire to use the Scythe receiver as a drive receiver and removing the Scythe itself and Jibril was running again as a rambot.

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The next fight it was involved in was a Heavyweight Melee with 2 Headed Death Flamingo, Ripper and Earthquake. This is one of those "flying lessons" battles where Jibril was sent flying by both Earthquake and Ripper, the latter causing Jibril to hit the ceiling at one stage. I knew I wasn't going to win but I would have liked to have survived the fight. Sadly not to be, the radio receiver wires for the Axe ESC exploded and caused the receiver to conk out with some smoke. At least I wasn't thrown out of the arena, so there is that.

Despite the damage, the event was fun. It was great meeting a new fellow Middleweight in Bump and Grind and the event itself was quite full on. The fact I was placed with robots weighing nearly 3x than me didn't bother me in the slightest, I found the experience to be hilarious and insightful as to what works and what doesn't work. I would have liked to have fought a Middleweight but such is the draw, many thanks to Greg for putting me in where he could.

So with that in mind, for Jibril 1.1, the following needs to happen:

• New drive wheels with more traction
• The Scythe needs better gearing, approaching 12:1 with a thicker final shaft.
• Fix the Scythe ESC again
• Replace the lost receiver
• Replace the power LEDs
• Replace the locking pin guides
• Secure the wiring properly.

The thing is, I may not have all of these done for a potential day at EXR Guildford (the last 5 definitely need doing). I'll know over this week as to what really needs doing but if it doesn't make it to EXR Guildford, it will go to RL Grantham.