Update

I was back home over the weekend there so managed to get a few more bits and bobs done.

First up was replacing the burnt out/damaged 775 motors from last year and getting all the gearboxes reassembled, then soldering all the tails on. Also soldered connectors onto the new TZ-85s and lipo packs, so everything's ready to go on that front:



ESCs snugly fitting in the base of the robot:



Put everything in for a quick drive test today and discovered a slight bug in the drive setup. One TZ-85 is self-programmed, one is a BotBitz version. Turns out the codes used have slightly different parameters as one wheel starts before the other and at a faster speed (even when trimmed out). The BotBitz one starts more slowly and has better low-range control, but doesn't seem to go as fast at full speed judging by the sound of the motors. The self-programmed one has poorer low-range control and starts out a bit faster. End result is that the robot is currently pulling to one side when driving. I'm assuming that I can just reprogram the BotBitz one with the self-programming code (and reconnect the middle wire) so that both ESCs behave the same and the drive is more balanced.

The weapon belt(s) also arrived so I was able to rig up the motor and drum. First fit was ridiculously tight; the drum spun but it was putting a huge strain on the brushless motor pulley. So I milled a small chunk off the edge of the brushless mount and turned the bolt holes for it into slots so that it could slide a bit closer to the front of the robot. This, along with cleaning out and oiling the bearings, made for a much smoother spin-up. It's still ever-so-slightly on the tight side but once it wears in a little it'll be fine.

And for those of you who haven't seen it:



So with everything in place I chucked it on the scales with the old Hardox armour from last year:



Not bad! The only thing left to add are the top and bottom skids which will be Nylon so won't be that heavy. The top panel will probably drop down to 5mm and, although I'm still not 100% sure what I'm doing for armour yet, it certainly won't feature the slab of 5mm steel that makes up the back panel of that Hardox armour, so that, along with still having weight-shaving options on the ali bulkheads, means that it should comfortably be in weight.

Also made a start on retreading Reaver's wheels with bike tyre. No more worn down Banebots wheels needing cleaned after every fight!



Only managed to get two done before having to head back up the road, but I like how they're looking so far. Gives it a bit of an all-terrain feel.

So that's that for now, got four days of work (woo, public holidays) then I'm back down for the mad rush to get everything finished before heading to Birmingham. Usual onslaught of pictures and text shall resume then.