motors

[muchalucha]

(dear Jack) my Fw can pwnzor your antweight

I would advise starting with A FW as they are in a lot of cases easier than ant weights and IMO more fun :shock:

[joey_picus]

I'd disagree about being easier, it is very possible to build a fairly competitive antweight using superglue, a Dremel cutting disc and lots of No More Nails double sided strips :P

[muchalucha]

i would agree with you joey but its the hacking of the servos that gets the newbies , it took me quite a while to get it right and the internet guides are not substitute for experience

[joey_picus]

I didn't hack my servos XD got them pre-hacked from Pete Collier's store, much easier...

[muchalucha]

one pre hacked servo motor is like 30 quid though , and a ddrill motor is ten , so its cheaper to build a FW

[Ellis]

That's a very twisted way of looking at it though, Tom. Although I guess there isn't too much of a difference in price, but it's an unfair quote, because you could spend thousands of pounds on a single piece style armour, use top-end motors and a super expensive radio system for an AW, when you can use drills, second hand ESC's and wood for a FW.

Money wise, they would probably end up costing around the same. I recommend (I have not yet built a robot) you op for the FW option

It's cooler, too

[typhoon_driver]

go for the featherweight........my latest one is only costing nearly 2K :P

But seriously, drill motors are the way to go if you are starting out.

[RogueTwoRobots]

Just thinking about it, feathers can be done for pretty cheap these days :shock:

Two drill motors: ~£20
Two 'blue' wheels: ~£15
2.4GHz RC gear: £40
Potentially Tom W's low-cost speedo: £30
Batteries from drills: no extra cost
HDPE (as an example) for chassis/armour: £25 (guesstimate)

So that's ~£100 for the major parts. Add a bit of extra cost for fixings or wire and that's really not that expensive. And then you've got something that you can throw into a whiteboard and have some fun with. Has it ever actually been that cheap to build a FW using entirely new parts?

As for the FWs vs AWs debate, its all down to personal preference. The best way to decide, if possible, is to go to a FW event and an AW event (or one event if both classes are running) and see which one you get more excitement from watching, then opt to build for that class. I would go for featherweights because I feel their larger size enhances the joys of battle, but others would argue that you can get just as much enjoyment out of antweights. So all down to what you prefer

[muchalucha]

when i get micro controllers sorted out , theses esc's could be as cheap as 20 quid !! As for the hdpe , i built my latest FW ( making its first appearance on sunday !) almost entirely out of craigs of cuts from saint ( thanks for those craig ). and when i have bought hdpe in the past , for a FW its only been about 25 quid , and the planet 5 2.4 ghz systems are only 35 quid ( no pound sign on my crappy keyboard)