Team Kaizen - The Honey Badger

[Ocracoke]

Well, the 2.2 refit has been a while coming. It has been 116 days since the 12th of December 2017 when the refit technically started and there has been a few setbacks (largely of my own making) but finally, The Honey Badger 2.2 is completed!

DSCF6266.JPG

The lifting arm is now interchangeable with an axe attachment which although the motor is not ideal for such an application, works as well as I can expect and if I do end up doing a 2.3, that will be the main change. The white safety tether looks slack in the picture but it tenses up as it goes down and should do the job here.

You'll note the large slab of Aluminium for better impact protection this time around and the much thicker and larger side wings being made out of 4mm steel so hopefully being flipped up and over will be a thing of the past.

Internally, apart from the added weaponry wiring, not much has changed apart from the switch over to a OrangeRX system which I am readily getting used to but I do still need some more driving time with it. The armour is still 10mm HDPE with 3x 40mm Oak chassis crossmembers along with the 5 bar tread plate at the front and sides.

There are still tidying up jobs to do, notably the front plate bends over too far grounding out one side of the robot on the floor but that is a 10 minute job to cut off the excess and tidy up so not too concerned yet. I'll see if I can get some videos of it running around tomorrow.

[Ocracoke]

And here is a video of the testing I did today with it. Perhaps the most important one here is get some threadlock on the nuts.

Otherwise still as uncontrollable as ever.

[Maxamuslead]

at Manchester we need to a axe off with Broadaxe =D, now of any other axe/hammer bots going ?

[Ocracoke]

I am hoping Hatchet and Ratatoskr will be at Manchester, a 5 way axe off would be awesome

[Shooty]

I love seeing just how much this bot has evolved over the months, and it just keeps getting more and more character. The checker plate aluminium in particular really pops!

[qbnut]

at Manchester we need to a axe off with Broadaxe =D, now of any other axe/hammer bots going ?

Why me specifically? :P

I think there's a good 7 or so axe/hammer likes going at the last count, if Team Arc and Team Panoramic are also bringing theirs as I've heard on Facebook

[Maxamuslead]

Why me specifically? :P

I think there's a good 7 or so axe/hammer likes going at the last count, if Team Arc and Team Panoramic are also bringing theirs as I've heard on Facebook

Because i love you..... more the fact i didn't know who else was bring axe bots

[Ocracoke]

Crikey, 7 axe bots... going to be very choppy in there (bah-dum-tish). It is going to be very interesting seeing how different the various implementations are and how effective they are going to be.

I love seeing just how much this bot has evolved over the months, and it just keeps getting more and more character. The checker plate aluminium in particular really pops!

Many thanks! Definitely characterful and the effect of that impact plate on the front of the bodywork is definitely eyecatching. Hopefully it will work in the arena as well.

[Shooty]

With 7 axe bots I feel that this is an accurate representation of what will happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-2YN_Ak9eE

[Outlaw]

If I get Ratatoskr done in time, then that'll be another axe bot for you to keep an eye on. :P

[Ocracoke]

Aye indeed!

I think there are three improvements I can make to the axe on The Honey Badger before Manchester:

1. Increase the voltage from 13.2v (LiFePO4 4S nominal) to 19.8v (LiFePO4 6S nominal), which should have the effect of making it faster and have a bit more oomph when striking.
2. Add a bit more weight to the axehead. At the moment, it is pretty light up there.
3. Sharpen the axe blade properly into a point. :P

[Ocracoke]

So mixed results - I upped the voltage from 13.2v nominal to 19.8v nominal and the axe now fires at a relatively quick rate. I'll need to get a new LED to handle the upped voltage (I am all out at the moment) but a bigger issue is that the whole thing jams every so often. I am not sure why this is but once the axe retracts and when you try to fire it again, it simply does not move. Sounds as if it is trying, will need to free it up and then see what is going on.

I've not had a chance to add more weight to the axehead but I've sharpened the axe so it is making more of an impression these days, when it wants to work :P

UPDATE: The axe is working again. Took the gearbox case off and watched the mechanism in action. It hasn't stripped any teeth but the whole thing was a bit slack in one direction. Put the case back on and re-tightened the case screws which now means the gearbox is working but I don't think it is handling the shock at all but is that really surprising given it is a solid gearbox?

If I do a 2.3, I'll be going to a custom built gearbox - I've been researching this for Kaizen but I reckon a lowish Kv inrunner connected to a relatively high gear ratio box will offer the performance I need.

How long it lasts at EXR Manchester is the big one on my mind.

[Ocracoke]

Annnnnndddd now the grub screw has sheared in the hub, new one required and ordered Definitely going to change this mechanism, it just does not handle shock at all well.

Actually, in addition, I am going to try and build my own hub, see if that makes any difference.

[mrsam]

I am hoping Hatchet and Ratatoskr will be at Manchester, a 5 way axe off would be awesome

Unless Shane brings the old Hatchet along it won’t be there unfortunately, there is a new Hatchet in the works but it won’t be a thing for a while yet.

[Ocracoke]

No worries, plenty of axe bots left to have a play with I would like to get mine going again :P