Team Kaizen - The Honey Badger

[Albear]

Deadliest weapon in the world right there

Dont knock it, papercuts really hurt!

[Ocracoke]

Dont knock it, papercuts really hurt!

Hahahahaaa!

I had tested it with a hand before I filmed the video The only issue is that with a hand motion, I couldn't get a good idea of what the motor would do in place. It was a very quick 'n' dirty concept test.

Actually... I may have a way to preform a reciprocating action... I wonder if I can get it done before Maidstone? Watch this space.

[daveimi]

I love we're all just building n messing about in front of corrie lol :-) love the shape of you're robot it's like the perfect shape.

[Ocracoke]

Hahaha, thanks The shape does look purposeful when zipping around the arena but it is slab sided at the moment, going to need some wheel guards so it can't land on its side.

[adamclark]

What about something like a Whitworth Quick Return Mechanism ?

[Ocracoke]

Hmm... that could work, thanks for the suggestion. I'll see about modelling a scale version first and go from there.

[Ocracoke]

Here is a rough and ready proof of concept of the mechanism.

This fulfils the brief I want from a axe for The Honey Badger. I do have a concern about the amount of sweep the axe might have but I guess it will come down to how big the slot is and where the axe pivot point is in relation to the motor.

[adamclark]

Excellent to see that something from 1850 still has a place in modern RobotWars

I'm still experimenting with bigger diameter drive wheel and longer arms for more thwacking and also the placement of the bar pivot. There are some other linkage mechanisms that work but are more complicated and then you run the risk of things breaking and being overly complex.

[Ocracoke]

I agree, you don't want overtly complex mechanisms that can break/shake loose during a round.

For this application, I think I need the pivot point immediately behind the drive wheel to try and get the axe as far forwards as possible. Any issues with freedom of movement can be rectified with a longer axehead if it comes to it, might end up more scythe looking in the process.

[adamclark]

A variation on a fauchard would suit quite well instead of an axe.

[Maxamuslead]

TBH i think you should work on developing the first design as you could be able to design it to have a full 180 degree arc and possibly compress it.

[adamclark]

[Ocracoke]

I am not planning on building this until after Maidstone (I know I said I might do in a previous post but I've since decided to spin the research I've done for that off into something else) so plenty of time to work this one out in prototypes and so on.

I don't think the weaponry really needs to go the full 180 though, 120 degrees is more likely given the wedge shape of the robot. The quick return mechanism, I think, can offer that with a suitably big enough drivewheel. Wherever it can transmit enough torque to be effective is another matter though I accept that there will be some losses in the mechanism. I guess using the same motor as the drive motor (which is 13.7:1, ~1500rpm @ 18v) would be quick and have enough torque.

A variation on a fauchard would suit quite well instead of an axe.

Hmm... perhaps. If it was mounted as in the video you linked, I guess it would be more effective with the rest position in the wedge lifting up with the rounded part of the blade lifting up to cut and hook underneath rather than striking down.

The glaive does look neat though... reminds me of Ronin from the classic Battlebots Long Beach/Las Vagas events.

[Ocracoke]

So I've added on some bars of metal by the wheels to try and keep the robot upright. I am a little unsure about the look of them now they are on there but they serve a purpose or two. They will need painting obviously.

DSCF5875.JPG

The hotel is now booked for Maidstone and The Honey Badger is practically ready to rumble. Will also be bringing a fairly lardy antweight in the form of Osu made largely as a challenge to see if I could use the recycled bits from Shu! and bits from around the house.

DSCF5870.JPGDSCF5871.JPG,

[Ocracoke]

Been working on the front wedge the last few days to try and make it more effective. Re-watching the fights that The Honey Badger 2.x has been in, I note that when the robot comes up against a competitor, it more often than not smacks the bottom lip of the wedge ride than ride up the wedge. So the wedge plate has come off and with a couple of slightly misaligned hinges, it now should be flush to the floor (or it will be when I've metalworked the plate some more).

The other thing I noticed was that the chisels seemed to be ineffective so I took a proper look at the chisels when mounted and guess what? They are too short. Now with the wedge plate now more effective (in theory), this should not matter as when the competitor rides up, the chisels should reach now.

This is really just adaptation on the fly, the 2.2 revisions will include a remade wedge plate, a bit more armour and that luxury, an active weapon(!). If I have any money left from building Kaizen, I may up the voltage of the motors to 16.5 (5s LiFe) or 19.8 (6s LiFe).

Just needs re-painting before Maidstone now.

DSCF5876.JPG