RogueTwo Robots

[psycho_fling]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

the closer the head of the actuator is to the tip the more force you will end up with

[Mouldy]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

drumrolls looking good jamie...

going to wrap it in hardox like the old one?

Im suprised your drums so well balanced with 3 teeth being aranged in that orientation across the length of the drum...i.e. callums drum wasnt ballanced due to having one tooth either side on the oposing angles...

[calumco]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

you'd have to have an extremly well made mechanism, linkages and not to mention a really good actuator to get good forces in a horizontal crusher.

my new ones just about met its match at 15mm hdpe, it'll crush it but only so far in before it stops. something which the old horizontal pinsor never could have managed, that wouldn't have even gone through 5mm or so

jamie, i'd really suggest that you used the 800kg actuator on a vertical claw like mine cos youd get crazy power in that. but then the draw back is how yours is and how mine used to be it was easy as hell to drive up to a robot and grab hold of it, going to be difficult getting a robot to stay in my claw whilst it closes with both of us probabily moving about n that

[RogueTwoRobots]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

going to wrap it in hardox like the old one?

Im suprised your drums so well balanced with 3 teeth being aranged in that orientation across the length of the drum...i.e. callums drum wasnt ballanced due to having one tooth either side on the oposing angles...

Yeah I've still got the hardox armour for it. I need to re-weld a few bits where NST bent or broke them, but the problem there was that when I ground down the welds to tidy them up, I probably took a bit too much off and was left with quite a thin join. This time I'm going to weld them inside and out and not go as crazy with the grinder. Also going to cut a piece of steel to go round the back (so that the two pieces of side armour can get welded together to form one complete layer) and then cut and weld some bits on to make a hinge for the rear wedge. No more 'heavy-duty' hinges from B&Q

The drum's not balanced yet, so it vibrates like hell! Doesn't seem as bad as Calum's one did though, I think the three ring teeth even things out more than the two solid blocks of steel. But I reckon I can get it pretty well balanced with some careful grinding work.

jamie, i'd really suggest that you used the 800kg actuator on a vertical claw like mine cos youd get crazy power in that

I was actually considering making the mechanism interchangeable between horizontal claws and a vertical crusher (with a set of jaws similar to Sgt. Bash's on a FW scale) but then you put posts and pictures up saying that you were going with a vertical crusher for Pinsor 2, and I didn't want to seem like I was copying you again

I'll stick with the horizontal for now and see how it goes at Edinburgh, then take things from there. I made a prototype vertical crusher a few years ago (wood chassis and polycarb claw) and it went through a cardboard box with ease. It was an amazing sense of power at your fingertips, even from that, and as a result I'll always favour vertical crushers

[mattsdragons]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

I would like to do a vertical crusher but I would needs more powerful actuator for that

But horizontal ones do look dam good

I would probably run a vertical eventually but I would need it to either be investable or have a srimec

[calumco]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

haha, jamie i really wouldn't mind where was your actuator from btw? got mine off ebay agessss ago, i was lucky to just randomly stumble on it.

i was going to do a crusher out of a 1.5 ton car jack mechanism but they're too heavy so it woulda been near impossible to get that in the weight

[mattsdragons]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

Mine was from team mayhem and it was originally used in Mr Happy

I'm always looking for more powerful ones though if anyone has any spare

[typhoon_driver]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

Jamie, you'll probably find that it's the relay that's gone on the battle switch board. Had a similar situation a while back. All I did was take another relay and piggy back solder the connections onto the original board to see if it was goosed completely. Usually if the LED changes from flashing to solid etc when activated it is still good

[RogueTwoRobots]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

Good shout Gary, I've got a fair few spare relays kicking about that I can try that with. I thought it might be the relay since the green light was still on but having not used them before, I couldn't be sure.

Calum, it's an Okin Deltadrive I bought the actuator off Alex Marler a few years ago now but I have no idea where he got it (eBay perhaps). I looked at changing the motor to a Speed 900 for more speed/power but couldn't see a way of doing it without risking messing up the gearbox.

[RogueTwoRobots]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

Update

Finally some progress on Carcinus
It was partly done before the champs but as I was rushing it I never took any pictures, so it's now gone from a pile of parts to something that looks close to completion:



Pretty basic setup. Two 12V drill motors controlled by Electronize 15A speedos, an Electronize switcher controlling the actuator and everything powered by two 9.6V, 3700mAh Nimh packs.

There's still a bit of work needing done to the main claw mechanism, which I hope to press on with tomorrow. I think I've hit a mental block with it; I know what needs to be done on it but just can't be bothered with the hassle of cutting and drilling a bunch of 20mm Nylon and 5mm steel. But ideally I will get through most of it tomorrow. The mechanism is going to be the opposite of the previous model - i.e the claws will close when the actuator retracts. I'm not sure if that method has any advantages or disadvantages compared to the push-to-close mechanism, but there will be a few more linkages involved. It just happens to be the mechanism which is more suited to this design.

In the meantime, it's started to get a bit of personality as I incorporated the power LEDs into some crab eyes:



Gimmicky more than anything but I like it

Started forming the armour for it too:



8mm thick HDPE bent to shape using a heat gun. The original plan was to stick quite religiously to the octagonal(ish) shape of the base plate, but as I was bending it, it was easier just to let the pieces bend over a larger radius. So there's a bit of an air gap between the armour and the internals, which is always a good thing. It was also going to wrap right around at the back but it was easier to bolt it on at the edges, so the gap between the panels (where the linear actuator mount is) will play host to some sort of chain flail that will cause deadly paint scratches to any opponent when the robot is in a full-body spin!

And finally, placing the claws to get an idea of how it will look:



I'm leaving the armour clamped overnight so that it cools in the correct position. With the curvy sides, it should make it harder for a spinner to grab hold - compared to the boxy old chassis - and it's also reminding me a little bit of The Stag, or its featherweight replica Staglet (for those of you who remember that). Overall, it's definitely a massive improvement on the first incarnation.

More work to come tomorrow; fingers crossed for getting some proper claw actuation!

[Team Invade]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

Looks great

[calumco]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

looking nice jamie, love to fight that with mine when we're both finished once my permant hangovers worn off from download i really wana crack on with mine and get it all finished off, hopefuly have mine driving and everything in a week or so (Y)

[mattsdragons]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

we need to have a 3 way clawed bot fight once all ours are done

[Anttazz]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

Should be more worried about the flail than the claws I think, from what i've seen Carcinus is either in a full body spin or in the pit

[RogueTwoRobots]

Re: RogueTwo Robots

Very true, very true

Not sure if it'll have a flail on it for this event, probably just a fail.
Then again, might grab some chain from B&Q tomorrow, or weld something up from excess turbine base plate