Team Death - New Heavyweight

[team death]

I have been out of the Robot combat scene for 6 years now but you
know how it is, its hard to get robot fighting out of the blood and the
latest series of Robot Wars on tv has revised my interest.
I'm not a stranger to building heavyweights, I have built 6 before
with my last Robot Chimera taking part in the Roaming Robots uk
Championships in 2011.

Anyone who knows me knows I don't do off the peg robots, I tend
to look at an object like say a microwave oven (robot 1) or a plastic
dustbin/dodgem car (robot 3) and take it from there.

So my starting point for my latest creation is a ride on lawnmower
grass blower and a propane gas cylinder (deactivated) and wheelbarrow
wheels.....the build Diary begins.

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Interesting start point already just from those 3 objects. Looking forward to seeing this!

[Sam_DRT]

Just curious, was that the same chimera that has since competed in robot wars?

New creation sounds interesting, have you got a plan or are you setting yourself a challenge by using those parts?

[team death]

Hi Sam
The Chimera on Robot wars was a different team with a tenuous link
to my robot Chimera-see Wikipedea fandom for full history.

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Hey there,

I've teamed up with Colin on bringing this heavyweight to fruitition, so hopefully I'll be contributing to this diary on a frequent basis
Yesterday (Sunday) was my first visit to the workshop, and after a quick introduction to the power tool of choice for the day, an angle grinder with varying discs, we got straight to work.
We removed some existing wheels that had been welded onto the main body (the old mower leaf blower), and after cutting some excess off and removing paint for a good weld, attached the front (part of the propane tank) to the main body small joints to start with for positioning sake.
We then spent a while trying to align where the wheels will go on the body, and then that'll turn into next weeks job to cut out the now marked sections the wheels will be fitted into.

I've only been to the workshop once, but I already feel like I learnt a lot from the experience!
Unfortunately in the eagerness to get underway, I forgot to take pictures. So hopefully we'll remember for the upcoming Sunday!

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Another Sunday passed, another day with Colin working on our robot!


Before I arrived, Colin had cut the holes in the main chassis as to where the wheels were going to go, so today we could get straight on with other things.
After lots of cutting, welding and measuring every movement of things, we got to the point where the basic chassis shape has now taken form, it's amazing what a few bits of metal can do! We purchased some extra fabricating metal to help hold everything in place, which we've already found use for, with lots extra left for future use.
Colin took a few photos of the days work and outcome, and he'll post them in another post soon.

We also had a few discussions as to how the wheels will later connect to the motors, discussing things like ease of access / rapid repair vs extra padding against certain weapons in the long run, found time to joke over possible end paintjobs, and we conversed about the best way of acquiring all the electrics for usage later on, look out for a possible post on that in the coming weeks from myself or Colin.

I'll be taking next Sunday off, as i'll be on a 6 hour coach to Renfrew, Scotland, to watch a recording session of the next season of Robot Wars. But hopefully it'll be all ahead full as normal Sunday after!

[team death]

Heres Some photo's of progress so far on Team Deaths new Heavyweight, I have
disscussed a name for the robot with Adam but we will keep that under Wraps
until the robot is finished and tested-in effect to live up to its name-after all
its no use calling it The Winner ooops for instance if its a complete no hoper.DSCN1721.jpgDSCN1727 (2).jpgDSCN1725 (2).jpg

[Roboteernat]

looking good! will you be accessing the electronics from a removable panel underneath?

[team death]

For sure Nat-we may use HDPE as the base panel or a composite

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An image I took from a different angle. Pleased with the progress, bit of a unique shape to it!
IMG_20170507_153355.jpg

[adz600]

looks cool, very different

[katch]

My kind of engineering!!! Whats it weighing in at already ?

[RogueTwoRobots]

Looking great, very industrial and old school! I worry slightly that the narrow wheelbase and long body will make turning difficult, but time will tell.
The connection between the dozer blade and the body looks to be fixed. Any possibility of making it pivot left/right using an actuator, in a similar way to how some dump trucks steer? That would be super cool

[Al_]

Loving the look of this, great work! I hope you keep posting lots of pictures as you progress

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Cheers for the replies everyone!

Looking great, very industrial and old school!

I did joke to Colin that it looked like it was about to take a heap of the pebbles and go and dump it somewhere else, it does indeed look quite industrial!

I worry slightly that the narrow wheelbase and long body will make turning difficult, but time will tell.
The connection between the dozer blade and the body looks to be fixed. Any possibility of making it pivot left/right using an actuator, in a similar way to how some dump trucks steer? That would be super cool

In the image, the wheels and scoop are actually floating, and yet to be connected to anything. So there is room to do most things still before any finalisation occurs. For the steering, we may also put a third wheel in, depending how it steers and if it can drive satisfactory or not on the two with the scoop dragging on the floor or if that slows it down too much, makes turning too awkward or gets stuck on debris / floor tiles too often. The scoop is intended to be more of a weapon than just a scoop however...

At this point, it's still in our heads on how most of the end product will work, literally nothing is written down and we work from ideas, discuss them, that seems fine, lets try that!
The end thing probably won't look that industrial, after its been painted. Although that is something to consider, keeping it industrial in regards to the paintjob...

My kind of engineering!!! Whats it weighing in at already ?

I would guess somewhere around 25-35kg, although i'm not that strong of a person so i might be misjudging it....

Loving the look of this, great work! I hope you keep posting lots of pictures as you progress

I'm sure we will, the main problem is just remembering to take them!