Team Psyclone: The Uprising (Of Build Diaries)

[TeamPsyclone]

Right, I think I've got a design decent, fun type ant. It's a little larger than 4 inches, so not comptetitive, but something to get my skills up with. I'll likely be 3D Printing it, soonish.

[Ellis]

Could it not go in the cube diagonally?

[TeamPsyclone]

Well, with a couple modifications, it still doesn't look too impressive, but I have no better software than Sketchup. A box with a lifter shouldn't cost too much to 3D Print, right? Also, thanks to a little scaling magic, it does now fit in the 4 Inch cube. I hope. Either way, it'll just be there for fun, rather than something that would go to AWS or whatever. If it works, then I'll move on to a feather, and see if I can make one that can be competitive.
Image of the ant model here:
http://imgur.com/a/7A4vl

[TeamPsyclone]

Good news! I may have finally found some team members, more than the limit, so I may need to weed out the less interested. It's seems to be going well so far.

[TeamPsyclone]

Well, slightly better news, quite a few of my friends are interested in building robots, on my team. Which is kind of awkward, since last time I checked, it was 4 to a team? Or would 5 be okay with the competitions? I have had a quick scour through the rules, but nothing seems to be said on team size.

[RogueTwoRobots]

Technically your team can consist of as many people as you like; often the more the better as you can pool resources to make a better robot(s). But as far as I'm aware, the limit of four people per team is to avoid overcrowding in the pits, so it might be better to limit the team to four (or form different teams) so that you don't have to pick and choose who goes to an event.

[TeamPsyclone]

I'll do that then, it's a bit harsh to say to people "You can't go", so I'll do two-ish teams. Maybe 3, depending on what I can do. Luckily, my friend who's on the team can weld, and use CAD, along with quite a few engineering skills, so I know who may be more likely to be on the team.

[TeamPsyclone]

So, it seems I've figured out a almost perfect team from my college, and hopefully, we should get a 3D Printed ant, or work on a feather, and maybe ideas drawn out for a heavy, maybe some scrounged motors or things. Just stuff for the future, after a quick scour of the forum, I realise it's a very bad idea to get into a heavy straight away. Or so it seems, as it's very costly to make one on more than bang bang speed controller, said wheelchair motors, and scrap. Basically, the same way as they were made back when robot wars first started, or so I believe.

[daveimi]

I'm just embarking on an extremely budget heavy. I'll give you the heads up when I'm further in!

[TeamPsyclone]

Hope it all goes well dude, I'll be following the build diary. I've seen adz's one, Ceros, and that looks pretty good. I may have to look for parts on the forum, or maybe see if the heavy Eric is still available, and spend some money on that. All being well, something may go right. We have all sorts at the college, Milling machines, Lathes, CNC machines, 3D Printers (Albeit them being small makerbots, though they'd be amazing for antweights). I've tried to make a bang bang servo/microswitch speed controller before, it didn't go too well, although some sort of relay should suffice nicely. barring that, I'm sure I've got one for a feather somewhere, and botbitz is supposedly cheap.

[daveimi]

Yeah definitely, any robot building is still awesome whatever the level! I've made a few duff feathers to get an idea of the wiring etc.. All the ideas are easy to scale up or down its mostly just construction techniques that change as the robots get bigger. I'm finding it gets less blaggable lol.

[TeamPsyclone]

I've not really made a feather althogether, but I've maintained around four, and a couple ants, so I should be in the clear to get going with a heavy, just some wheelchair motor driven thing. Any idea on what to do for a speed controller?

[TeamPsyclone]

Well, question time again, this time for the future, may be near future, though.

First of all, how in the hell do you make a speed controller fit for a heavy? I'd settle for a cheap servo controlled one, as if I made a heavy, I'd not be able to afford a decent ESC. What Limit switches, ect... would I need to handle the current of the bot?
Thanks.

[razerdave]

If this is a budget HW, I would say the relays you want would be 100A plus to do wheelchair motors or something like that. Anything bigger, you need a real controller. Also, I wouldn't be very keen on tech checking a relay and microswitch operated robot, so much to go wrong. You can use them, but extra measures to assure failsafe would be recommended.

You will find, driving into the arena with a bang bang system is going to be tricky :P

[TeamPsyclone]

Fair enough, I may have to save up and fork out the extra money, so I can actually get into the arena, never mind fight in it.
Is there any recommendations for a good decent ESC? I know the Vyper is around 120, and does one motor, and I've heard Wottys are good, despite their price.