Spinning Top Robotics

[Omnibot9]

One of the ideas I thought worth thinking about is basically a remote control motorised spinning top with an outer shell on top counter spinning to give a frame of reference. The robot would use weight distribution or a moving contact to move in any given direction and the sides would form a blade. Does anyone have ideas on how I could go about designing something like this?

I need to learn through having my first ant weight built and fighting but wanted to throw this idea out there to see what others think anyway. It would be nice to have more risky builds, rather than the safe (because we know they work well) designs to add more variety. That of course isn't a complaint about those builds, rather the fact it is tempting to always do what is known to work. I know my first builds will fall into the safe category for example.

[Omnibot9]

https://hackaday.io/project/1413-rc-battle-spinning-top
This gives an idea of what somebody else had also been thinking of. The only other thing similar would be the beyblade toys that can be controlled when already in motion.

Here is a a video that shows how this form of motion can stabilize (as well as move) such a bot if it were built.

[Omnibot9]

The internal mode of movement might look something like this.

If I wanted to go for lighting then maybe something like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8yiNx5SVxE

[Piggeh]

Whether it works or not its a novel and interesting concept none the less, definitely a crowd pleaser at events. I'm very interested to see how you'd go about this and whether you could get it to work. I don't know much about it but you could probably get your translation from a reaction wheel. How would you go about getting everything to fit in it? Pancake motor with everything else ontop/around? I guess you would only need two motor drivers, one for your reaction wheel and one for your spinning motor. You might need a custom solution to map your reactionwheel control to understandable controls on your transmitter, you could probably do this with a microcontroller like an ATTiny or PIC. Then you need to fit your battery and receiver as well. Quite the challenge but if executed would be awesome.

[adamclark]

Heresy !

[Hiphopbots]

Really cool concept. You should look into pendulum drive or flywheel as you already have been thinking about.
I would suggest that you take a look on how the BB-8 internal drive mechanism has been developed. It's all around on the internet and there is a special facebook group for it too.

[Omnibot9]

Thank you. Yes the BB-8 mode of transport is interesting. It would take a very very skilled team to weaponise what is essentially a rolling sphere. It could be done, but harder than this idea.

I just want new ideas that fit with what is possible today.

[Omnibot9]

Heresy !

Just to clarify. The idea is to use weights on the inside that can be moved to tilt the robot. It would mostly work like a gyroscopic helicopter crossed with a motorised spinning top. I might actually try a POC by using a small gyroscopic helicopter. Is there anyone any good at CAD or programming that might be interested in working on such a project? There is no way this could work without a small computer of some kind either remotely or on board.

[Omnibot9]

Although this is only ONE of the crazy contraptions I was thinking of. Other ideas were inspired by these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLFse2RcuRU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03C6GA__onw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsCmG6O0Eo4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzaFoqD_loI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEKCcs8-O4A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK54Bu9HFRw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVYz7g-qLjs

Even the self assembly you see in transformers/power rangers (I really don't like power rangers - this is just a helpful example) is an interesting concept. Think of small armbots, a main body (using tank tracks and a fold down structure) and a head.

[Hiphopbots]

Not to be an idea killer, but I don't see how any of the other concepts will work in a robot fight, where a robot benefits from being simple constructed to be reliable and mass also has a high impact on the performance, just like martial arts, I don't see how ten 8 year old boys will win a fight against you unless they go straight after the nuts, then you have to figure out how that projects to robot fighting. But would love to be proven wrong!

But here is your Robot

[adamclark]

I would want Mechadon or Snake vs any other robot ever.

[higgeh]

I think the challenge on this would be reactionary force. Your area in contact with the ground is sooooo small that any pusher will just push you around.

[Tim The Plumber]

Just an idea....

How about having gyros internally which would allow you to drive the outer shell around and then have some sort of vertical jumping ability to allow you to get on top of the opposition and then just pound down on them to break their wheels etc.

[Hiphopbots]

Just an idea....

How about having gyros internally which would allow you to drive the outer shell around and then have some sort of vertical jumping ability to allow you to get on top of the opposition and then just pound down on them to break their wheels etc.

If you change the direction of a spinning flywheel, you might be able to make a jump in this way?

It's starting to be a cool concept.

[Omnibot9]

Yeah. It is that simple (almost). With the speed and computer controlled mass distribution on three axis, a downward fan type assembly, a blade, an rc helicopter gyroscope and a counter revolving upper armour assembly it is in theory doable. I need help with programming and CAD. That is the main problem. I should start committing something to paper.

Can I move this thread under Build Diaries somehow? I suspect if I every had the funds, time and assistance this would end up being bigger than an ant. I would like a proof of concept build before considering a HW. So I'm open to sponsorship!