RogueTwo Robots

[RogueTwoRobots]

Update

Spent most of Hurricane Bawbag II in the shed today - or the Cave of Blunders as I'm now dubbing it - and made a bit of progress with Drumroll. First up was swapping out the existing drill motors for a pair of Gimson Robotics motors:



I've mounted them using the bottom inserts, but needed a 20mm HDPE spacer underneath to bring the shafts up to the same height as the old ones. Once bolted in, they're solid! So much more rigid than the old motors/mounts, although that bit of give in the old ones might've helped with shock absorption. Will soon find out if these being more rigid is a bad thing.

Then it came to making a bay for the lipo pack:



Advice from experienced lipo users (Dave, Kenny, Grant etc) would be appreciated regarding padding. It's currently sandwiched between two blocks of 15mm Nylon (perfect fit) and although there is left-to-right movement possible, this is eliminated when the top plate is bolted down. There's currently no foam in the bay but I plan on putting some underneath the battery and some between the battery and the white lid. Would this be sufficient? Or are there any parts of the bay you think I should consider remaking? I used to just bolt my Nimhs straight down but not sure what the best mounting practices are regarding lipos.

Starting to re-assemble the electrics:



The removable link mount has been moved over slightly so I can use wing nuts to hold the polycarb strip onto the mounting bolts. This is so I can easily unscrew and remove the strip in order to get access to the lipo for charging. The receiver will be getting moved to the other side of the second polycarb strip across the motors, as I realised just before heading in that it's currently going to be right next to the spinning can of the brushless. Power distribution bolts will be going somewhere on the front bulkhead, with better spacing and insulation compared to their old location.

Got some time tomorrow and most of Friday to do some more work on this. Hopefully getting the brushless mounted and some wiring done for a test drive. Also need to sort out a brushless ESC pretty soon...

[PJ-27]

Looks like it's going to be a serious contended at next years Champs. Also I can see a lot of the Gimson motors making an appearance.

[Mouldy]

Looks good Jamie... As for lipo mines just held down to the base with strap clips in 540, and 360 it sits in a box with foam... The best thing to do is use some hardish foam around it... The weakest point of a lipo is the front connection... Just put some form of protection around it... Not going to teach you to suck eggs mate you know what your doin

[RogueTwoRobots]

PJ, I thought it was going to be a serious contender at this year's champs, but it was a terrible failure. So I'm going to predict for the 2012 champs that it'll fail terribly, then I might stand a chance of doing well!
Yeah there'll be a fair few GR01s about. The fact that it's a drill motor but with a better gearbox housing, better bearings and multiple mounting options makes it an attractive package. Although they've yet to be proven in combat, I reckon they'll do fine.

Thanks for the info Dave. My battery securing methods have always been a bit cowboy in the past and while I know lipos aren't dangerous if treated right, I didn't want to risk it getting damaged as a result of shoddy bay construction. I'll stick some foam around the front area to offer a bit of support. Ta muchly.

[calumco]

looking good jamie that a 22v pack? thats what im going to be getting in the next few weeks for mine

[RogueTwoRobots]

Cheers. Nah it's just an 18.5V pack, keeps the voltage similar to what it used to be. I was originally still going to have 12V drills in it, so didn't want to overvolt them too much, especially since the robot is already pretty nippy. There's probably space and weight to go to 22.2V if I ever wanted to, but it's not something I'm considering right now

[billy breach]

I'm going to use a 18.5v lipo in my bot, what's the size of the battery (dimensions)? or do you have a link where you got them from?

Those crews you used to hold the battery down, are they just screwed into HDPE? or did you place some sort of threaded insert into the HdPE first?

I take it your charging th ebattery whilst in the robot? would the foam around it not great a fire hazzard issue?

[PJ-27]

Can't charge Li-Po's in robot unfortunately, it's in the rules.

[jonny]

Lipos aren't allowed to be charged in the robot.

[billy breach]

makes sence I suppose, just wondering how jamie will get his battery in and out quickly or easily in the bot. Something I'm thinking about for mine just now easy access.