New to Combat Side Of Roboteering so here goes my list of most likely Newby Questions

[TheYorkshireProject]

Hey People Of The Forum.

Im wanting to get into the combat side of RC, having raced in the GT12 area I know some basics about how RC stuff works but ovbiously im still a newb with this and got to keep reminding myself of it.

What weight class? Beetleweight. Why? Cos I dont want to mess with the FW but also would like something a bit beefier than a AW so middleground it is.

Bot in question? So im planning on building a flipper (servo) robot for the first crack. I've been hitting the stores for components to gather rough sizes of the bots etc as im clueless to what size id like........Really taking a shine to the size and nippiness of RogueTwoRobots Flatulence.

Part wise im looking at so far is:


Botbitz – 10a Brushed ESC http://ranglebox.com/product/botbitz-10a-brushed-esc/

Drive Motor 1000rpm from Ranglebox http://ranglebox.com/product/1000rpm-gear-motor/

SM-S8330M servo for the flipper http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__54656__SM_S8330M_137g_30kg_22_sec_UK_Warehouse_. html

Wheels will be Banebots 1-3/8" along with banes hubs

Armour looking at 10mm HDPE on outs and prob be 3mm on under? Lifting platforms think i've got down 4mm steel.

Transmitter got to buy a new one cos I'm an idiot xD - prob be looking at something from Spektrum like a Dx6i

Any help for a fresh newb thats trying to take on the world as i delve into the forums will be much appreciated.
Cheers
Sam

PS edit reason: Updating as I go

[Flag Captured]

Welcome to the forum! Beetles are an excellent starter class IMO, so good call there. The botbitz 10as and 1000rpm Gearmotors both from Ranglebox are a very solid starting point drive wise, run that on a 3 Cell Lipo battery and you'll have something very nippy. I use 4 Cell Lipos on my beetle Fhqwhgads which gives it a lot more speed and power generally, but the Escs don't tend to like it unless you add heatsinks - it's doable but it's a bit more messing!

For wheels, I've used the Fingertech snap hubs but there's other alternatives, Shockbots offer 3D printed ones and Banebots (which I'll be upgrading to soon) have rather grippy ones but are expensive thanks to them being located in America

Materials, get yourself some HDPE - Fhqwhgads uses 15mm all round (from Direct Plastics) but I think you could get away with 10 or even less depending on your design. Keep posting updates on here and I'm sure the collective conscience of the forum will help out where they can! Best of luck with the build

[TheYorkshireProject]

Thanks for the reply Matt! Been looking at some banebot ones but see what price comes too. Got a few 3 cells laying around somewhere.

With living in Sheffield and having some mates in the plastic industry I might be able to get it sourced well....time will tell I guess.
Congrats on winning the UK BW championship Matt :P.

[TheYorkshireProject]

Starting to get closer to finishing the skeleton of the robot. Using solidworks to design it

Looks okay i guess. http://prntscr.com/9vtelr

[Flag Captured]

No worries! Thanks too haha, I was pretty surprised - there's some cracking beetles out there!

I'm based near Sheffield too! There's a few of us now it seems haha
That design looks solid too, it's a nice start! What are you planning to make that lifter plate out of? I think Flatulence's is 3mm aluminium but I could be wrong there...

[TheYorkshireProject]

Glad to see Sheffield having a presence and been put on the map for something again .

As for the flipper im defo most likely going down lines of aluminium. as for the thickness, i dont know yet, going to see what the carnage spinners do in BW and the weight I have to spare. Lots of research to do.............

[TheYorkshireProject]

So bit of research was done while solidworks was playing up and ive come to these items to add:

Adding to list:
BaneBot wheels looking at prob smallest one 1-7/8" with the hubs from robotshop.com
Mini 1000rpm motor from ranglebox
Armour Material - HDPE
Flipper - Aluminium (Thickness TBD)
got my ideas for the battery too...........but expect all this too change as Ill be trying to stick to least shops as poss as im a tight arse when it comes to postage fees etc :P. Im a Yorkshireman what ya expect

[TheYorkshireProject]

Instead of creating a new thread thought id chuck it in here to save spam. Im really struggling getting my wireframe as an actual solid object so i can start positioning motor, servos etc to get a sense of the best size for chassis. Ive tried googling around to no luck at all.

Im using solidworks for the cad

The file is in my dropbox if anyone could have a mess around with it please . https://www.dropbox.com/s/lvm4p3fkbx...is.SLDPRT?dl=0

[epicentre]

Solidworks has built in tutorials which are really useful for learning the basics, and I would definitely recommend running through the early ones at least. That "wireframe" you've got is a 3d sketch, and there's no magic "make this 3d sketch into a solid object" button (to the best of my knowledge).

To simplify, the general way of making solid objects in Solidworks is to sketch in a 2d plane, extrude that 2d sketch to be a 3d solid object, and then repeat that on further surfaces and planes to add or remove parts from that 3d object. The tutorials will teach you how to do all of this.

I don't mean to be flippant; once you've got a general idea of how it works I'm sure people will be more than willing to help with any specific queries. I'm not an expert in Solidworks by any means, so if anyone disagrees with me feel free to pipe in.

[TheYorkshireProject]

I knew id be finally using the tuts for something. Just sempt all plain sailing doing the 3d sketch then i was like hmm im stuck

[SJJMcGhee]

Are you trying to make your "wireframe" into a body-shell or monocoque of sorts? I can't get the file to open on my solidworks but if that's what you're trying then you'd be looking for the surface tools. Fill surface or boundary surface will probably do it, but be warned, surface can be a massive pain to make work properly. From there thicken would turn it into a model of a certain thickness and a representation of your body-shell but your best bet is to watch the tutorials, have a look on YouTube and then have a play.

[TheYorkshireProject]

im just trying to make it into a body shell so i know where im going from there for the positioning of stuff

[RogueTwoRobots]

The lifting blade/flipper on Flatulence is 3mm steel, and the Hardox blade on Lynx (now First Lefts) got most of the way through it in a few areas, and all the way through by a mm or so. But if it's nice and angled, it should deflect the majority of the blows.

And I'm glad it's been a bit of an inspiration. The whole robot has pretty much been a lucky accident, with no serious design having gone into it yet winning almost every battle/event it has been in (damn you FHQWHGADS!). The key though is simplicity and reliability, that seems to have gotten it through. Almost no maintenance required at events

[Duffman]

Jamie, while you're here...

How well does Flatulence cope with big hits across the flipper arm, given that it's bolted directly to the servo horn? I realise you've supported it from both sides of the servo; has that proved enough to keep the servo from taking too big of a shock?

[TheYorkshireProject]

Nearly done with the cad, then will look at the materials. Thanks for letting me know about the lifting platform material Jamie and how it coped. Still in the mist of watching countless BW fights on youtube to see whats best thickness and stuff xD