Thread: Build Log - Bread Dead Redemption (FW) - First Build.

Event Report - Robodojo(s) July 2020

Well, my friends. It has been a while, hasn't it? We have all the improvements to cover, plus both (Yes, both!) Robodojo Sportsman events in July. It's going to be a long one. Make yourself comfortable, grab a brew and settle in for the latest updates from Bread Dead over the last few months.

Improvements

So improvements-wise, we faced a mad rush to get BDR ready for the March Dojo. After working on it constantly for 2 weeks to get it ready, only to have the event cancelled due to the announcement of lockdown, my motivation to work on it dropped through the floor. At the time I last updated this log, all was left was to fit the toaster and the front dustpans. Instead I busied myself with other robot projects, including an antweight, a beetle and acquiring a heavyweight chassis.

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I wasn't expecting featherweight events to return as quickly as they did. Honestly, I was expecting 2020 to be a complete write-off for events in general. When Robodojo announced a July competition, I faced a bit of a dash to get BDR fighting fit.

Toaster

Not much to report here. The intention was that the toaster lifts off entirely to access the internals to avoid a repeat of pulling motor wires out. Easily solved with some stainless steel angle brackets. The previous 10mm polycarbonate top panel on the inside of the toaster was replaced with a 12mm sheet across the outside now that the slices weren't required.

Dustpan

Oh man, here we go. The original pan was to bolt the new pans together in the same manner as the old one. However, the previous complaints were that the middle ridge was affecting the ground scraping capabilities and that the metal was too thin. I had been itching for an opportunity to practice with my new welder and had a sheet of 2mm mild steel lying around, what could possibly go wrong?

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Weld prep.

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I cut out a template from the sheet steel to weld to the underside of the pans to support.

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Success! Ok, the weld quality wasn't great but it held, which I was happy with for a first attempt. Problem was, my calculations had the robot significantly overweight. The angled point to the pan was also affecting our ability to point it down, causing issues with ground scraping. We were going to have to cut some out.
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The center join was gone. Having already welded the pans, trying to weld together two sheets of different thickness was going to cause issues.

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Yeah, not great. I had to grind the lip of the dustpan back so the weld wasn't on the leading edge, so the leading edge is only the bottom sheet of steel. Down the middle the dustpans were too thin, so just melted away. I did the best I could, but it isn't pretty. We also added a bar of 10mm HDPE to the top to support the weld there.



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If in doubt, cover it in spray paint. We added some angled HDPE guards to the back of the dustpan to protect against any side swipes.

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Good to go!
Robodojo - 12th July

The day of the event arrived! Masks on faces, we arrived at our pit space for the day alongside Alan with Pressure Point. You could feel the anxiety in the atmosphere due to the social distancing, but as soon as the first fight was done it was like all was well with the world again.

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Oh, and unknown to me, they had added a 2 inch steel lip to the pushout zones, making my plans pretty much useless! This was going to be tough, with most fights likely going the full 3 minutes if I didn't get knocked out.



Round 1 - Exabyte


First round was against Exabyte of Team Phyte, a low wedge similar to Steel Sandwich of the original RW series. I was hoping that the dustpan would be enough to get underneath, which it did. Once I saw their back forks flip under the robot, I left them stranded for an quick knockout win! Off to a good start!

1-0

Round 2 - Red Hot Tilly Pecker & Euphoria

Due to the odd number of robots in attendance, each round included a Triple Threat. The draw wasn't kind for me in this one, putting me against the vicious axe of Red Hot Tilly Pecker and lifting power of Euphoria. Having chatted to both Isaac and Shane beforehand, the early advantage was going to come down to who Tilly went for first. Either Euphoria because of an ongoing friendly rivalry between the two, or me because, well, it's a toaster.

The fight started cautiously too, with each bot waiting to see who made the first move. Euphoria and Tilly went for each other and the fight was on! I got a few good scoops in before Tilly and Euphoria teamed up to flip BDR on it's back and out of the fight. Euphoria later got stuck on the plastic and a few of Tilly's axe hits got to Euphoria's lifter gearbox, which reduced it to a push bot for the rest of the afternoon.

A really fun fight. One slight issue was that I noticed one side of the drive wasn't working while BDR was on it's back. Got it back to the bench and all was well. Hmm. Oh well, hopefully a nice draw in the next round...

1-1

Round 3 - Pressure Point

Oh no. Not again.

Yes, it was a January rematch against pit bench buddy Pressure Point. After the damage it caused in January, I was glad I had made changes with fighting it in mind. The dustpans survived with minor dents, rather than going straight through. A solid fight, I tried my best to keep the dustpans pointed at Pressure Point as I knew he couldn't reach anything vital.

It was all going very well until the drive died on the same side as Round 2 again, at which point I was a sitting duck. Pressure Point took advantage by grabbing the side of BDR and putting it's beak straight through the link, pushing it in to the wheels where the wires got wrapped up and pulled itself out.

Checking the batteries after the fight, each cell was around 3.7V, which led me to believe that the ESC voltage protection was kicking in at nominal voltage after around 2 minutes. If this was true, it meant that I would have to drive like hell to score points and just try to survive when the drive started dying.

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Ouch.

1-2

Round 4 - Neophyte

And what an opponent to test that vulnerability! The second of the Team Phyte bots was Neophyte, a linear actuator driven lifter. Neophyte would need just one good flip to win, so I would have to be on my A-game for the full 3 minutes. Kind of difficult when your drive cuts out after 2:30...

The fight started well, pushing Neophyte around and even managing to bend it's flipper at one point. They managed to get a couple of lifts in, but not enough to topple BDR. When the drive began to fail, BDR was lifted on to it's back just as cease was called. Saved by the bell. BDR was given the win by Judge's Decision.

2-2

Round 5 - Parasite


The final round was against Parasite, the final robot of the Team Phyte triumvirate. This posed a real threat, as the axe would rack up points quickly with the judges. A very close fight that went the full 3 minutes, it was eventually decided by Alex (Judge) inspecting the top panel of BDR for damage before ruling that BDR had been given the W on control and aggression.

This left us at 3-2 for the day. Well placed for points on the yearly leaderboard! When the scores were announced we were tied for 4th, which meant a playoff.

4th Place Playoff - Mattock

4th place was currently contested by Mattock, driven as a loaner-bot by Theo. Theo had also successfully piloted Mattock to 2nd place in January, so was definitely a real threat. We had been angling for a rematch since December when I faced Boring Wedgebot, so it was great to have a fight for meaningful points!

The fight started well, dodging axe blows and getting a few good slams in. Unfortunately the drive died earlier than expected and I was crab walking. I eventually found myself pinned against the wall with axe blows raining down. Due to damage taken in the fight against Pressure Point, the link was held on with a zip tie. One incredibly accurate axe shot was all it took, the fight was over.


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Yes, that's my link on the end of Mattock's axe. If I was going to go out, I'm glad it was spectacular.


So we ended the weekend in 5th, gaining 4 points for the yearly leaderboard which is a fantastic finish considering it is only my 3rd event. Also, the fights I lost were to 1st (Pressure Point), 2nd (Red Hot Tilly Pecker), 3rd (Euphoria) and 4th (Mattock), so there is no shame in that!

Very pleased, with clear areas for improvement.

To make matters better, it was announced that due to dropouts, competitors from the 12th would also be allowed to enter the second event on the 26th! Two weeks to make improvements. How did we get on?


In the next installment: repairs, improvements and the second July round of Robodojo Sportsman!

To be continued....