Update

Got another weekend of work done. Had hoped to make a start on getting Onyx & Carcinus ready too but things on Drumroll ended up taking longer than expected so they'll have to wait till the next weekend I'm down (which will be the last one before the champs).

So with Drumroll, the mechanical side of things is pretty much done. Got a dividing plate made up for the battery compartment, got the drive motors greased up and run in, top and bottom skids for the front have been made, brushless motor has been mounted, polycarb top panel has been fitted, as has the armour. Two of the triangles that stop the bot resting on its side got smashed off against Galactus last year, so welded some new ones in place. I think I'll remake the armour after this year's event, the current stuff is looking a bit worn, though it will still hold up.





So it's mostly wiring up the electrics left to do, plus make a mount for the link/rx/LED. Then it'll be time for a coat of paint (bye-bye shiny) and, hopefully, some testing. Got new belts on the way for it as some plonker overlooked something in CAD and moved the drum shaft closer to the robot, meaning that the nice, perfectly fitting belts that I used to use are now as loose as Katie Price's undergarments. The new belts look like much better material and are cheaper than the old ones, so I'm just waiting to see what the catch is - probably the wrong tooth profile or something!

Anyway, I managed to wire up a quick test rig to see how it drives with the new motors and ESCs:



Pretty happy with it so far, can see me keeping it on 50-60% rates most of the time but it'll be nice to have the extra speed should I need it.