Team Shadow: Ferrovore

[ady]

Looking good, but round off the corners if your going into full combat

[Danny B]

Looking good, but round off the corners if your going into full combat

No worries there, I'm still an amateur so it's strictly non-spinner events for me!

[Eventorizon]

I have just one question...

https://youtu.be/_GMpkn43qgo?t=1665

(If it doesn't work go to ?t=1665)

Looking good though! My first Bot was pretty boxy too, I was just mad enough to go in against spinners :P

[Danny B]

WP_20160403_19_31_29_Pro.jpg
Externally, the bot is finished. Just a little more wiring to do, and I'll reveal the finished product just before the Manchester event!

[R9000]

Hey, could I ask how you cut/drilled your HDPE? I'm about to start on mine in earnest, and wanted to see how you went about it.

[leorcc]

Treat it as if it was wood. Coarse wood blades for sawing, wood drills, same way of connecting.

[Danny B]

Leorcc pretty much has it right. Table saw for large and thick pieces, band saw for smaller and thinner ones, and a rotary tool for the really fine details. Always use coarse wood blades, and don't push too hard or they will clog up and blunt very quickly. Use a sharp wood drill, I learned the hard way that normal HSS drill bits grab into the plastic too fast and go through it like a corkscrew.

[R9000]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks a lot.

[Danny B]

Ferrovore is back from its debut appearance, here's the rundown.

Pros:

• Never broke down
• Cosmetic damage only
• Weapon performed perfectly
• Successfully pitted an opponent (without diving in after it!)

Cons:

• Insufficient ground clearance, kept getting beached on debris
• Front not low enough to get under opponents efficiently
• Not enough power to use the weapon while driving flat out
• Automatic self-righting mechanism too unreliable
• Opponents held in the jaws could still push back

Modifications for next time:

• Fit larger wheels to raise the clearance and drop the front lower
• Use conventional radio control for the self-righting mechanism
• Install an independent battery for the weapon
• Figure out a way to lift the nose while biting an opponent

Watch this space for more build updates!

Before-after.jpg

[R9000]

Great to hear it performed fairly well, certainly it seems to have survived the warzone. It'll be a shame to see the auto-srimech go though. Best of luck with the modifications!

[Danny B]

Thanks! The problem with the srimech came with the last match of the weekend. The bot was flipped and ended up with the jaw jammed between the rails in the wall, so it couldn't roll sideways. Had the match finished any later, the whole srimech would have burnt itself out. Conventional RC gives me the power of veto.

[RogueTwoRobots]

What about fitting a remote kill on the srimech circuit so you can turn it off to prevent something like that happening again. Infact does it not need one anyway since its an autonomous part? Been a while since I've read the auton rules section.

[craig_colliass]

Here is a mechanism I developed for Cherub as I found when I lifted up another robot moving about the arena was difficult.
So I developed a front wheel mechanism that when I lifted the opponent, this mechanism lifted the front of the robot, about 8mm enough to let it move.
But when the lifting forks were down on the ground the front of the robot was in the lower position, to get under the opponent.

hope this helps.


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[Danny B]

UPDATE

So it's been a while since I updated this thread, but that's what happens when you can only attend one event a year.

The original Ferrovore is gone. I scrapped the chassis and jaws, leaving just the electronics, actuator and drivetrain. For the Mk 2 version, I have decided to create my first lifter, but with a slight difference.
In most electric lifters, the actuator extends and pushes on the front of the arm to generate lift. In this case, however, I've come up with a flatter and potentially more versatile design. The actuator mounts to a dipped extension on the back of the arm, behind the pivot point, and retracts to raise the lifter (see below).

This means that I can mount the assembly into a flatter shape without losing as much thrust as I would if the actuator was attached to the lifter at a very shallow angle. It also means the lifter has just over 100 degrees of travel, making it more suited to self-righting.

More updates as they come, I'll try to be a bit more frequent in posting this time.

Ferrovore Mk2 side view.pngFerrovore Mk2 top view.png

[Albear]

Great to see the evolution of this bot, interested to see how the new all-in-one mechanism will work out