So quick update, brackets for LA have been mounted, and motors are (slowly) being fitted. Progress has been slow due to guesswork of how exactly to go about certain things, but many of the construction methods have been figured out by now. One of the problems I faced was how to drill a completely vertical hole through the sides of the HDPE so as to mount the barrel nuts. An issue made harder by the fact that I don't have a drill press. Fortunately, we've been able to MacGyver up a solution. In terms of Getting the hole drilled vertically, I got two angle brackets, fastened them together to a piece of wood, and am able to use the resulting shared hole to drill vertically. and using some spare wood and poly, I've gotten a spacer that puts the center of the hole at 5mm away from the spacer: just perfect for drilling into 10mm HDPE.





As for locating the position for the barrel nut, my old man came up with something pretty clever. By sticking a drill bit into the hole, and shining a torch underneath the plastic, you're able to see the drill bit inside, and thus locate the center of the hole (sorry for poor quality of the pic, my phone is rubbish with contrast, I promise I'm not building the robot in a cave).



Chances of getting the thing ready for Insomnia are very slim, but I am finding the construction to be moving at a far faster rate than I was expecting, and I should have accommodation should I get the machine done and get selected. If not late August, then my next goal after that is to get it in a battle before the end of 2017.