How Could I Improve...

[andrewj]

€œjust because a vehicle has a top speed of 100+ mph doesnt mean it has to drive at top speed all the time€ - Yes, that is true about vehicles, but since when were vapourbots even remotely similar to vehicles? They don€™t have accelerators, they don€™t have gears, and they don€™t have breaks€¦ we cannot control how fast they go to the same effect. If you never intend to drive at this top speed, why is it there?

Skirts€¦ just some thin 3mm Titanium or something. Skirts are something I€™m cutting down on, as they never work, use up weight and just provide more things for spinners to rip off. 10mm Steel bars sounds okay, but what about that on the base plate?

€œBy the use of a switch on the controller€ - what does this switch actually do?

Aaron pretty much hit the nail on the head, the gear change probably wouldn€™t work, and what is its purpose anyway? Nice idea, but ineffective.

Presented for your approval, since I mentioned how there was a decline in axes then realised I dont have one yet...

Name pending
WEIGHT: 100kgs
DIMENSIONS: 95 x 55 x 30 cm
SHAPE: Box with wedge, only the wedge is in two sections making something of a shallow plow shape.
COLOUR: Pending. will probably involve yellow and chevrons in some way
DRIVE: 4 24v DeWalt drill motors driving 4 wheels running off 6 6v NiCd packs. Normally 4 of these are used giving 24v, but an R/C switch can switch on all 6 packs at 36v giving extra speed and power for short periods. (this is the bit Im worried about, I dont know if the DeWalts are powerful enough or if they would survive 36v)
SPEED: 15mph average, 25mph under 36v boost
GROUND CLEARANCE: Wheels can be pneumatically raised/lowered (using a compressed air system seperate from the axe pneumatics) to give a minimum of 0 all around (this grounds it however) with a maximum of 50mm clearance, but normally has 5mm with 0 at the tip of the body.
ARMOUR: 4mm hardox front, sides and rear with 3mm titanium and 4mm polycarbonate on the top and 3mm aluminium base.
WEAPONS: Pneumatic axe on the front, running from a rack and pinion system and 2 2.5kg CO2 tanks giving about 40 hits in a match. The axe head is shaped similarly to Shunts but is tungsten tipped, weighs 5kg and can punch through 6mm titanium and dent hardox. Also has a big spike on the back.
SRIMECH: Via the weapon, which should be powerful enough to pull it over if it gets stranded on its sides.
NOTES: Base is coated with silicone rubber sheet to make it more difficult to push when in sit down mode. Internal components shock mounted for protection.
STRENGTHS: Very difficult to push or flip, good pushing power and weapon
WEAKNESSES: Armour could be better, raising/lowering system takes a second or so to work

[joey_picus]

Forgot to add, the axe shaft is steel and about 70cm long.

*kicks editing time*

[craig_anto]

yea dewalts would survive 36v but need the bursh housing remaking to cope with the higher tempreture hands up whos done it

[knightrous]

The usual mod for running the Dewalt 24v Hammer drills on 36v is the Dustin Mod. Basically they replace the bell housing and a few other bits and it allows them to run a bit longer before exploding... Also, Im not too sure how well they will go in a HW... You might want to consider a pair of S28-400 Magmotors @ 24v. Slightly heavier, but less space and more reliable.

[kodster]

Are S28-400 MagMotors really the best DC motors on the market for heavyweights today?

[knightrous]

Its really hard to class any motor as the best... It all depends on design and application. I prefer the S28-400 Magmotors over the LEM130s, because of the lower current draw, they are only 75mm in diameter, which means you can make robots 100mm tall (allowing 50% more side armour for the same weight!), instead of 150+mm with the LEM130s. Plus you need a stack more batteries and voltage to get the power out of the LEM130s.

Check these videos out.

Sewer Snake (S28-400s) VS Karkas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmTgmvb95bA
Storm 2 (LEM130s) VS Mute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvlT2wMDSU8

Who had more control and more push?

[joey_picus]

It was actually a middleweight design I had that I upscaled a bit, hence the Dewalts...if I had the Mags instead, would I still be able to use the 36v for short periods or would I have to scrap that?

[craig_anto]

I used Dewalts on 36v for a version of one of my robots (Heavyweight) so they can handle it,

S28 or LEM130? Dont confuse speed for power, Storm has more kinetic energy than Sewer Snake, SS bounces alot more than storm as well, there both good robots but its not about power in the motors its about the traction in the drive, Ive seen storm been out pushed by Terrorhurtz which has 24v Bosches
The best value motor in my opinion is the 24v Bosch GPA,

Example, Tanto V3 had eteks on 5:1 and it was slow top speed but plenty of torque literally nothing could out push it, Tanto v4 has Eteks on 3:1 ratio, its much quicker and the gearbox has more torque however its had less pushing power, i got the speed i wanted but lost the power that has in the past beaten Tornado