Nice write up and was glad to finally meet you and Ensign Wedgeley Crusher in real life at RoboDojo. Was it my imagination that it seemed to move with a all or nothing affair? It seemed to be wheel slipping everywhere which I imagine made controlling the robot difficult. Could do with some bike tyre on the wheels perhaps?
Team Kaizen - Build Diary for all the robots
AW: Amai, Ikari, Lafiel, Osu, Ramu
BW: Shu!, The Honey Badger
FW: Azriel
MW: Jibril, Kaizen
Thanks, likewise! Hopefully we'll see you at the next one, maybe with Azriel along too?Originally Posted by Ocracoke
Controlled movement is still very much an issue, yes. I think the bike tyre idea may be a winner, either that or get some Colsons which was the original plan. Seems to be hard to get hold of the 5" ones though (they only ever seem to have one in stock at Robotshop which is not really going to improve matters...). I think the power-to-weight ratio is also part of the problem, as we're still only tipping the scales at about 7.3 kg - still definitely very underweight, though at least now the robot is significantly heavier than our cat. Playing with the Tx and dialling the power waaaaay down makes it quite driveable and still fairly nimble.
Now.... for an event write-up.
ROBODOJO MAY 2019
We started off this event in slightly better fashion than the one in January, as we didn't get lost/stuck in traffic on the way up the M1. Having finished building shortly before 8 PM on Saturday, we dashed home for the now traditional fish and chips and got to the pub we were staying in by 10:30, so plenty of time for a pint before turning in.
We decided our main aim for this event was to win at least one fight by KO. Subsequently we added two more, which were for the robot to function for the entire event (i.e., not break down or need repairing) and for use to successfully grab another robot in the jaws at some point.
We arrived at the event in high spirits, spirits that we slightly dampened by the absence of the excellent bun van than had been there in January as we were looking forward to another delicious breakfast cob. But no matter, we staked out a quarter of a table by the door and did some last minute tinkering (mainly adding the chunks of scrap HDPE in the photo from the previous post, giving some protection to the chain drive and lead screw).
It was great to see a some familiar faces and 'bots, and we were sharing our bench with Luna-Tic, Crota, Amnesia and Bhargest.
Fight 1: BWX
For our first fight we were drawn against the latest iteration of Boring Wedgebots, number ten, abbreviated to BWX. Becky lost the die roll and so had the dubious honour of driving.
BWX was looking a bit smarter than the last one we saw (eight I think), with a fancy paintjob, proper looking wheels and big ol' spike on the back. It also didn't have a huge block of steel cable tied on top to weight it down. However, the Sportsman side of this event was looking pretty strong so BWX felt like one of the less terrifying opponents.
As discussed above, Wedgely was once more pretty twitchy to drive so any precise manoeuvres to bring the jaws into play were out of the question, and this ended up as more of a shoving match. Note the chorus of "ohhhs!" followed by complimentary remarks near the start - unfortunately I failed to catch this in the video because I was watching it, but basically the robot nearly went over the edge of the arena before dramatically reversing at the last moment.
Here's the fight then:
A lot of wheelspinning, a lot of wheelies, very little directional control... but ultimately VICTORY! Wedgeley Crusher's first combat win.
Fight 2: Amnesia
Yes, so this is Amnesia as in the FW champion Amnesia, so (with all respect to Theo and BWX) a slight step up in terms of the opponent intimidation level. It seems like the sportsman competition has become more of a "no spinners" affair, rather than the "beginners and bodgebots" that is was in January...
Simon had the mischance to drive for this round:
Thankfully Adam was kind enough to flip us back onto our wheels after flipping us 10 seconds into the fight... We then managed to end up with both robots simultaneously beached on the edge of the push out zone, then we managed to get free but immediately got stuck again.
Unsurprisingly we lost this fight but it was enjoyable and I think we did well to manage a couple of minutes vs the FW champ!
No significant damage from this fight, and the wheely bars seem to have helped a bit... maybe.
Fight 3: Midas
We faced Midas last time. It looked scary, which may be why we "accidentally" drove off the side of the arena on that occasion. The crusher was probably the weapon that was most able to do us damage, since the flimsy bits of extra HDPE armour were only going to be helpful against impacts (so axes mainly), if anything, not sustained pressure. This time it was my turn to drive.
Pretty clinical work by Midas here... didn't stand a chance once we'd been grabbed. This is where the only way to win would've been to out drive the opponent which wasn't on the cards due to the robot being undriveable and indeed undriven by any of the drivers before the day.
Intermission: Nut Collecting (Satanix and BWX)
During a lull in proceedings we had a quick non-combat game vs Dave with Satanix and Lucy who took a loan of BWX. I was volunteered to drive since I only got a brief go in the previous round. Wedgeley continued to be difficult to control, although the ability to spin VERY FAST is useful when you want to redistribute the loot a bit...
Fight 4: Tantibus
Before every fight we'd been saying "ooh I hope it's not one of those nasty axebots", so I suppose it was inevitable that we'd get a nasty axe at some point. This was the point in question.
As we'd each now had a good go each at driving, we started the lottery again from scratch and I managed to lose again.
Again, pretty clinical job by our opponent. Two things stand out here: one, complete lack of traction - we had our wheels on the ground, so should've been able to shove back at least a bit; and two, the front forks need to be sharper/lower to the ground. Our supposedly wedgey front bit met the vertical slab of Tantibus and bounced right off it. Probably shouldn't have raced right towards the opposition either...
In any case, this was a more successful second outing for the Ensign, and I'm happy with how the weapon came out even if we didn't get to use it. We need to make a few tweaks for the next event but if it came to it we could pretty much take it back without any additional work and it would just about do. However we will make a few mods before the next Robodojo in July:
- Improve the top jaw a bit - maybe have some sharp teeth, and something more substantial than HDPE between the steel parts
- Sharpen the lower jaw
- Better traction!
- Find something better than shaft collars for the lead screw restraint
I also need to replace one of the diodes in the limit switch circuit as I cooked one while trying to crush another can.
Last edited by McMullet; 23rd May 2019 at 13:50.
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