Team Thrifty /Fifty Build Diary for Bitza

[PJ-27]

Oh yeh! Forgot about that. I don't have it, my team mate made it up. It's changed quite a bit but I'll try and get a hold of it.

[gizz]

Yeah nicely done guys. Looks much more competitive now aswell

[psychostorm]

Looks great & fairly original too. Nice to see something not come out of a CNC machine nowadays.

Two points though -
Is that scoop Ali? My 3mm Ali has bent under hit from a spinner. My 8mm has distorted slighty also but they were both flat panels so...
You'll probably need a back panel - it's a bit too open.

[PJ-27]

It's a lot more rustic than we originally intended, but that's to be expected. Originality was what we were hoping for, its out only strength!

Yeh the scoop is ali (the side of a dish washer.....) Think of it as ablative armour....

The trouble is we hit the weight limit a lot earlier than we thought we would (how do you guys do it!) so our intentions for something more sturdy got interrupted. To be honest hearing that 3mm ali didn't just get obliterated by a spinner is good news!

As for the open sides they were partially intended, with the thinking of the less to hit, the less to get hit! As it turns out not having sides is a great (and necessary) weight saver!

[Laser]

I like the idea of using a side of a dishwasher as a scoop and your robot looks good for a beginer.
Just one question, How much is the ground clearence? As it doesn't look very big from the pics.

[PJ-27]

I like the idea of using a side of a dishwasher as a scoop

I don't! I doubt it'll stand up too much to be honest.....

The ground clearance is - from the front it's nothing (the scoop scrapes along the ground) from the sides is not much more than the head of the round heading coach bolts it uses as skids.

I wouldn't know if it's big or small having never seem another FW in the metal/plastic. It's dimensions are roughly 45 x 30 x 20 cm.

[Laser]

It's not the best to have no ground clearence at the front, as the scoop may catch on the floorboards of the arena.

[PJ-27]

It's OK, I can just bend the scoop into shape with my hands......... Think of it as adjustable ride height that I can alter dynamically to match the current fighting environment.

[Laser]

You could have a caster/roller just behind the front.

[PJ-27]

Update:

The new Rx arrived and is installed. It doesn't look right having something new in the robot, I may scratch up the surface a bit to make it fit in.....

Our welder has packed up, so the final parts of the robot have been bolted in place instead. Not ideal but it'll have to do for now until we get that sorted.

Not entirely sure what's going on, but I think one of the clutches in the drill motors has decided to start slipping, so need to check the grub screws.

Had a weigh in and found we are about 100 grams over the limit, so need to shave that off somewhere.

Added some upright supports at the front of the robot, that act as supports for the scoop and as mounts for the side ears.

Then as a test of strength I decided to stand my lardy (15 stone) arse on the robot to see if it could take it and it does no problem.

So almost there! Just a few things to iron out and we'll be ready for Birmingham.