Team Shadow: Ferrovore

[Danny B]

UPDATE

Progress has been amazingly quick over the last 2 weeks! With the acquisition of some fresh HDPE, the chassis is already rapidly taking shape and the motors/wheels have already been mounted (see below). Thanks to carrying forward all of Mk1's electronics, it's made it incredibly easy to plan Mk2's interior layout right from the start.

On a more aesthetic note, I was never that pleased with the styling job I did on Mk1. The plain black chassis was lacking in features, and the LED 'eyes' bulged out from the front where they could be easily broken.
This time, I'm partially making the lid from aluminium, which allows me to give it a lick of colourful paint. Also, I'm making the 'eyes' much more integral with the front end, opting to house the LEDs behind a pair of frosted polycarbonate covers for a more dissipated and organic glow. So if all goes to plan, this new version will be more in line with the insectoid theme I've been trying to achieve!

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[daveimi]

This looks really neat and clean :-) are you having wheel guards and a self righter?

[Danny B]

This looks really neat and clean :-) are you having wheel guards and a self righter?

The lifter will double as a self righter. I'll add some wheel guards if there's enough weight left over, but it's fairly low priority at this point since I'm only doing non-spinner events.

[Danny B]

UPDATE

Progress is going great with the new chassis. Although I've just spent a couple of hours cutting out the eye holes with a hacksaw and a dremel, and now there's a coating of fine black dust on everything in the vicinity, I think it was worth it to get one step closer to giving the bot some personality (see below). Hopefully the chaps at work can get me the lifting forks milled in the next couple of weeks, and then the rest of the machine can just fly together!

On a side note, I've decided that to give me some extra speed, I'm going to upgrade from a 12v NiMH to a 4s Lipo if I can get the money together in time (Just so long as I can protect it adequately, I don't want the chassis to end up turning into a warm puddle on the arena floor).

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[daveimi]

That lloks great This may or may not help, but if your motors are 12v and you can run 3s, you can get mega cheap chargers that just plug in the wall.

[Danny B]

UPDATE

The forks have arrived! Big thanks to Kcut for their help. Now I can finally get the lifter properly assembled (see first photo for a rough mock-up), and I can get the rest of the electronics fitted comfortably around it over the next couple of weeks.
Also, I just got the eyes working. No more LEDs bulging out of the front, this time the light is beautifully dissipated (see second photo). I'm finally starting to achieve the organic feel I was aiming for, and there's a lot more decoration to come!

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[sean retro]

looking good.

[daveimi]

Are you coming to Manchester in April

[Danny B]

Are you coming to Manchester in April

Yes I am, hope to see you there!

[daveimi]

Yeah definitely. Will be there with some basic contraption.

[bitternboy]

Is there a sign up for Manchester yet?

[daveimi]

http://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/KuT6ae5E58C1qBr

Here ya go

[bitternboy]

Yeah, I saw that one. Every time I try that link, the Uni network blocks it and tells me it's a Phishing scam and that I should be more careful :P

[R9000]

Is there a way to continue anyway? Or maybe try a VPN?

[bitternboy]

I can do it at home, I just wasn't certain it was a legit link
Also wasn't encouraging that the thread in events is called "Manchester, April 2016".