Damn...
quote:

Provided nothing breaks

Why oh why do I say these things??!

I took Drumroll down the industrial estate yesterday and tested out the drum. Very impressive stuff. Smashed up a computer monitor, the old drum, and the old chassis. Getting some nice airtime from the drum etc.
I was then driving the robot towards the old chassis again, and unbeknown to me, one of the bolts holding the shaft in had vibrated loose and fallen off (I forgot to loctite it).
Two seconds later, the shaft wiggles out one end, the drum drops to the ground at full speed and SMASH. Sparks from the concrete, a shattered top panel, weapon motor mounts broken and motor ripped out, front bulkhead cracked in two, baseplate bent and tensioner bent. Dont get me wrong, it looked spectacular (and Ill have it on my video camera at Rebel Robots if anyone wants a look) but man, I dont think Ive ever sworn so much in such a short space of time.

Drumroll is not dead though!

Managed to repair most of the damage. Thankfully the weapon shaft is unbent, drum is undamaged (apart from some blunt teeth) and motor still works, so its almost all back together. Just need to flatten the base panel and come up with a temporary bulkhead fix for Rebel Robots and Robo Challenge. After that I could either cut a new bulkhead or take some time out from competing and start planning/building Drumroll Mk2, with invertibility and gyroscopic dancing

Getting an exciting tingling feeling now what with the Rebel Robots arena being officially good to go, plus the fact were only five days away! Wondering whether to get a haircut if were going to be on camera (anyone who has seen my recent Facebook profile pic is free to offer their opinion :P)

Sharp edge protection, locking pins and paint left to go