Skipdiving Robotics

[craig_colliass]

There are a lot of Feathers that have enormous amounts of power. and E-Knock still pushes them around with 4 drill motors that are usually under volted. It is always down to the power you can transfer to the floor in the form of grip you should be able to get away with 100w of power but the tyres need to be able to grip well. E-Knock is slow but has more than enough pushing power that in some fights has pushed 2 or 3 feathers at the same time.
I can't see why the motors you have suggested cant work, but it might not be the 2016 FW champ!
but that's never been our thing anyway

[daveimi]

Yeah exactly, its all a bit of fun and I'm enjoying learning and making friends as I go. :-) I've decided to give the small motors a go with some of the pololu hubs and wheels. They even sell the motor mountings for a few quid. The thing I'm excited by is the fact that if its reasonable and survives an event it's an easy to sort drive train for new builders. It also means virtually anyone could build a beetle or feather. If I was building a contender for the UK champs I know I would need a properly made chassis and a couple of hundred quids worth of drivetrains lol :-) its nice to hear from people who are also just out to have fun n learn :-)

[daveimi]

The next 3lb can of whoop ass is coming soon...



Had to buy this when I saw it in the shop....

[daveimi]

Well not updated in a while as been waiting to see what's happening in the world of Feather's and Beetle's. Decided to give Rancid a good refurb with a new scoop. I reused the old internals into a new body with a new scoop and paint job. It's just the usual 2 x 1000rpm gearmotors, sabertooth, cheap transmitter and receiver, small 3s lipo and a load of sticky velcro and tie wraps. Got to the final rounds in the UK champs but I found the double scoop a bit naff. I want to build something really nice with an active weapon as I'm at the point skills wise of being able too but don't have a clue what to build, just want something a bit different. Anyway, picture below of Rancid as it stands, any thoughts, oppinions, suggestions welcome as ever. I have a wooden feather body I built at christmas but haven't bought any running gear for it, should probably have a go with that as well but there's no events up north for feathers a lot of the time so a bit nervous about spending a hundred quid on the stuff to only run it once a year or whatever.

[daveimi]

Decided today I'm going to build a daft useless beetle thwack bot

[Albear]

Hey Dave, long time no speak Rancid's looking great! Certainly looking neat and i love the paint job! Hows the "strainer of pain" comming?

[daveimi]

Yeah the colinder thingy is running well. Ive got a house full of useless beetles including a biscuit tin lol.

[daveimi]

Howdy fight fans, decided to move up a level and build an active weapon. Had everything sat ready to go but pulled it apart today. Started to build the fine specimen you see before you It's going to be a grabber, with a blade on the front and a servo powered arm coming over the top of the front bit of wood. It will be somewhat...agricultural...and you're not allowed to laugh lol. In the back will be the really good rancid drivetrain and a receiver, lipo and sabertooth. So the plan is the ally blade picks stuff up and it comes up against the wood, where by the arm (smallish) just pushes down from the top and holds stuff on the blade whilst I drive over to the pit. That's the plan. I'm planning on the arm looking like Rabid M8's a bit, sort of. Trying to make weight is proving hard and I know it all looks a bit weird. It's just the style I know and the type of stuff I build I spose. Any thoughts and oppinions welcome as ever.

[Albear]

Looking really neat! Will the arm be also used to self right you?

[daveimi]

Erm I'm not sure really. I hadn't planned on being able to self right, although it would help. The beetle class for me has been more about spinner survival that flipper survival.

[daveimi]

Did a bit more today, decided to call it Rust unless it's already taken. Spent ages n ages making the front bit with literally just a hammer and the corner of a paving slap in the garden patio. Can't believe how stupid I must sound lol. I started with a sheet of 2mm ally, then just snapped one side off by hammering it one way then the other n it just sort of snaps. Then "cut" the other dimension the same. I have angle grinders n all sorts but cant be bothered dragging it all out lol. Then just hammered it all into shape checking it a bit at a time and eventually got the fit right. Then drilled it and bolted it on lol. So yeah. I ordered a servo from hobbyking to attach the grabber dabber onto, which will just be a really basic curved bit of *something* to hold people on the ramp thing. I made sure to get a 20kilo servo with metal everything on it, cost about 15 quid plus p and p. I want a bit of torque but can't be bothered with it pulling too many amps. When it gets here tomorrow I'm planning on starting cutting and shaping the pincery thing by hand till it feels right. Gonna attach that to a servo horn I've home brewed but forgotten to take a picture of it. Then attach the servo down somehow in the front of the robot with the batt, rec and esc and tie wrap the drive motors in, hey presto. Need to get some thin light plastic from somewhere to make a lid as I have no weight left.

[joey_picus]

Looking good two things I would reccommend;

1: I'm sure you know this already but you can score aluminium up to about 3mm and it makes the whole 'using metal fatigue to get the size you want' process a lot neater (I've been there!)

2: For the grabber you're probably going to want a little bit of flex to stop the servo stripping itself - in ants a few people have used clampers made of stiff but springy wire for the purpose. If you can get a decent mechanical hold on the other robot they shouldn't be able to get out flex or no flex!

[Rapidrory]

I use a bit of old coat hanger for my beetle grabber... little flimsy but gets the job done.

[daveimi]

Coat hanger is a good idea! It's just anything just to have a go at making my first active weapon lol. Joey thanks for the offer of everything, gonna get it all together and weight it and will let you know if I need anything. Have you got any picks / vids of your grabber beetle Rory?

[daveimi]

Well don't really know where this is going tbh, got wind of the beetle champs is happening end of Nov, so found some bits from people. Family members, that sort of stuff. So I've got a couple of chassis's I built, as well as a pile of random metal, wood and plastic. So I've got it all together, spent time this afternoon finding my motors and electrics, speedo and rx run great. Motors and gearboxes stripped, greased and all back together. Tried it on the bench and it all runs champion. Thinking about a pusher made of one plate of wood with metal lip, and lid over electrics.Wanna build a weapon but don't have a clue. Also desperate to build a thwack bot but it'll just get picked up and shoved down the pit. I'll have a think and get back to you.