Team Gas Diary's

[razerdave]

I also had a lot of trouble drilling it too, blunted a couple of drill bits in the process.

[Gaseraki]

I found hardox ridiculous to drill when I used it once. Only managed to make 3 holes.

[Gaseraki]

Been a rather productive night
I have mounted the motors, tapped a few dozen holes and popped everything in to see how its all looking.

Few pictures with most of the components in and the wheels placed to see how it looks.
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Wotty is very tight and resting on the motors. I have created a new wanted thread to see if any one has a sidewinder lying around as thats the most suitable ESC for this. (or possible a victor)
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If no one has a second hand one then I should use the wotty as I have no plans for it in anything else for bare minimum a year. I will only save about 500 grams going with a sidewinder. If I stick to the wotty then I will tweak the chassis a bit. Not a giant issue. Just move everything back 6mm and that will stop the watty resting on it.

Decided I am going to go with 3.5:1 reduction for now. As mentioned I have the options to change it but I could do with just seeing how it drives with the added voltage.

Also decided to just purchase some new lipos now. I was originally going to wait for the second version (with the weapon) But I might as well make the upgrade now and it will save about 1kg from the existing nicads. Plus a ton of space and higher discharge rates.
Not sure to go for 2, 4cell (29.6v) or 3, 3 cell (33.3volts)
Will do some calculations I have some time before I need to make a decision

Talking about batteries. I harvested an old laptop battery and made a pack out of it. Done a bit of homework and found these to be Li-ion batteries and have about half the current draw that a li-po has. Also these are rather old (8 year old laptop). But it could be used in a kilobot or something.

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Main jobs now is the transmission. Have 1 wheel done. Need to make 3 more.

*EDIT*
I would also like to use this opportunity to thank everyone so far for making me feel really welcomed again. I didn't just stop building things when I took a break from this hobby. I built a few arcade systems and handheld game units and the forums and community felt very dry and unwelcoming. Getting any kind of feedback was like getting blood from stone. Keep being awesome and looking forward to my next event.

[PJ-27]

I would suggest you go 6S Li-Po and use those Turnigy TZ85 ESCs. That would be the smallest, lightest, cheapest and most robust option.
There are currently some issues with mixing though when using OrangeRxs which I believe are being resolved as we speak.

[Ellis]

Not sure how happy the 85s would be right at both their voltage and amperage limit.

[Mouldy]

They'd run that no problem- looking great btw Godzilla, good to see you back

[Gaseraki]

Good to hear from you Mouldy Knew it wouldn't be long to be called Godzilla :P

Yeah I picked up two 85as from Aussie land. Not sure when I will expect them but probably 2 weeks. If they work fine and with the lipo that means I have saved probably 2kg. Crazy. So I need to start thinking about the weapon.

This weekend has been spent most on the transmission. Its been really tricky at times, especially without a lathe. But I have had good success.
Important that the gears are aligned but the wheels have a bit of travel (MM or two).

I managed to mount the 16 tooth fine onto the motor. Quite surprised as this was my third attempt. Two years ago I seemed to have some trouble.
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Sadly have quite a big job ahead of me. I originally planned to mount roller bearings into the wheels but have instead decided to mount them into the chassis. So I need to take off all the snap on parts on the bulkheads and bore out the wheel shafts properly.

I also have to create a new motor mount. After the weight reduction its not solid enough. So I have some spare 14mm nylon and will make a new one.

Here is a video of testing the first stage of the drive.
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[PJ-27]

How did you mount the gear on the Scooter motor shaft? Grubs screws and a flat on the shaft?

[Gaseraki]

Already drilled a 4mm hole in the motor shaft a so I just drilled through the spur gear popped a bolt through with a m4 nylon nut.

[PJ-27]

How big is the shaft!?

[Gaseraki]

10mm

Why the!? Same way I mounted the gear on Trojan 2. Wasnt a great robot but never had a problem with that part. Just everything else

[PJ-27]

Because most motor shafts are 3-6mm, and to put a 4mm bolt THROUGH that wouldn't leave much (if any) shaft left. But a 10mm shaft explains it all.

[blazerbotics]

Looking good Marco, nice to see you back building. I could start calling the robot 'Dave' again but seeing as I have a house robot called Goliath, I'm just asking for trouble!

[Gaseraki]

Cheers Alan, good to hear from you.
Dont know how Dave was handed over from Kenny to me but he can have it back :P

Saw the house robot. Quite monsterous! Does he do most of the unloading now at events?

[Gaseraki]

Not the most productive weekend for robot building as I had to do lots of wedding tasks.
Thought there really isn't too much left to do till I make a few more decisions

Most of the week I have been creating the transmission. All the wheels are constructed with the attached gears and sprockets and I decided to test them out.

Job which had to be done was replace the motor mount. Currently its a weight reduced 6mm nylon plate which is bending horribly. So I replaced it with 14mm non weight reduced piece (because thats the way I roll)
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Fine now and the first stage reduction is smooth and perfect.

Once placed in I realised that I was literally just 1 or 2 mm of from attaching the perfect length chain. I managed to get those in by drilling the bearing holes a bit closer together and the chain fit fine after.
While testing the wheels I am really happy with the transmission. However some of the wheels have some travel. Not up and down (which would mean that the robot bounces around when driving) but side to side (could rub against the chassis). Only by a couple of MM but perfectionist mode is active.
Not sure how this happened but probably in the process of creating and attaching them to sprockets. So I went about finalising a side. Managed to fix one wheel which had too much travel and put spacers in the wheels. Also cut down excess wheel shaft. Side runs very well and even though there is a tiny bit of travel. It would be hard to notice.
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Few notes.
Condensed version; motor mount done, half of drive finalised, other half 85% finished just needs finalising, wheel spaces, cut shafts, ect.
Guildford is now out of the question. I can now focus on getting the robot running with an active weapon for newport.
Its heavier than expected. Had a quick weight check and its looking at 9.5kg minus weapon, armour, batteries and speedo. I think I can shave some weight off that. The 2 60tooth spur gears is a big chunk of steel which I can shave some weight from easy. Also a massive shaft on the unfinished side which I haven't cut down yet.
Checked how much weight I would save by replacing the shafts but thats about 100 grams.


Notes on future projects.
Was in my parents loft and gathering a list of items I have for a possible heavyweight
two bosch 400s
Wotty evo (or what ever the 36volt version is called)
Tons of nicad cells and one 28.8 3.3 amp pack made. What an odd size battery pack that I decided to make.
two hydraulic rams
Lots of transmission (4 20 tooth half inch sprockets, 4 8 tooth sprockets, 2 60tooth spur gears, 2 22 tooth spur gears) Miles of chain


Missing
2 bosch 400s which I think I gave away or handed to some one. Any one remember?
Hydraulic pump. Either at the parents in law house or left in my last house unaware (which would make me cry....)
Gaint piece of 5mm hardox (sure its at the parents house)
Checking my notes I state that I had some bosch 750s but I dont remember buying them so I was probably lying or the MIB have visited me.

So many parts. Would be a crime if I just let it sit in a box for another 4 years.
My dream heavyweight. Some kind of growler/draven hybrid
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