Team Kaizen - Kaizen

[Ocracoke]

Hey Everyone!

So after a deal of considering what I know I am capable of building and bearing in the experience I have had with The Honey Badger, it is time to get started with Kaizen, our namesake's Heavyweight. I've got a rough concept sketch of what I want to achieve but whilst I know where to source the motors + gearboxes/chassis materials/electronics I want to use, I am struggling with speed controllers.

I need something that can handle ~130A and brushed motors. I noticed that Big Dave 3's thread alluded to Turnigy Marine 180A speed controllers originally (but have appeared to have changed since) that look ideal but appear to be only for brushless motors. I know there are types like the Turnigy Fatboy, Vypers and so on but is there anything else out there would work for this application? I am not against reprogramming al la TZ85As.

I'll be getting the cardboard/paper out to make a 2D mockup of Kaizen after Maidstone and I hope to get this done (or at least running at any rate) by August next year. I'll see about posting a cleaned up version of the concept sketches soon.

[Theo]

What kind of design are you going for with Kaizen? And good luck!

[Ocracoke]

Kaizen is going to be an invertible 2WD robot with a pair of linear actuator lifter arms that can act independently of each other at one end and a bulldozer type scoop at the rear.

I am looking at using:

• CIM motors with 12:1 reduction gearbox
• LiFePO4 batteries
• 36mm thick Nylon 6 crossmembering over 12mm (initially) polycarbonate armour

Haven't quite made my mind up as to what the scoop material is going to be at the rear yet.

inital_design.jpg

[emisnug]

I need something that can handle ~130A and brushed motors. I noticed that Big Dave 3's thread alluded to Turnigy Marine 180A speed controllers originally (but have appeared to have changed since) that look ideal but appear to be only for brushless motors. I know there are types like the Turnigy Fatboy, Vypers and so on but is there anything else out there would work for this application? I am not against reprogramming al la TZ85As.

Big Dave 3 did originally have 180A Turnigy Marine ESCs for its brushless drive! However, between the motors having wildly varying winding quality, off centre robot balance and not being able to SimonK them, we've now moved to the TZ85A, and doubled the number of motors to 4.

Brushed motors, you'll probably do good to look at the Vex Victor BB 300A Speed Controller for Brushed Motors - it's what a lot of heavies use and appears to basically be bullet proof, although getting to silly expensive.

Have you considered joining the brushless revolution? More bang for your buck and you can then modify speed controllers.

Or, if you really want quality (although it's huge and £400) - the Roboteq series are well known and reliable. Here's one that does 150A per channel.

[Ocracoke]

Have you considered joining the brushless revolution? More bang for your buck and you can then modify speed controllers.

Hmm... why not? :P I understand brushless motors can be fiddly though although I guess that comes down the choice of speed controller? The change in brushing will mean a change in motors mind... will need to go on the hunt for something suitable that I can work with though I have something in mind that'll work with the design of Kaizen.

[Ocracoke]

So it's been quiet on the Kaizen front with Shu! being built over Christmas and repair work to The Honey Badger but I did make a bit of progress. I've settled for a pair of 500W scooter motors with planetary gearboxes for v1.0 and although they can be driven by the TZ85As that The Honey Badger uses, I am not happy with running those in there so what I am going to do is mod a set of 100A Red Brick ESCs and see how they run (noting that, of course, these could very well blow up in my face).

I may very well end up putting the two ESCs in a box and have air cooling on them via a PC fan or similar because I can imagine these running hot. Brushless tech is, at the moment, a nice to have but until I've really tried them, I don't want to commit in the deep end straight away. The Honey Badger 3.0 may get brushless motors.

DSCF6004.JPG

Test running the motors using the TZ85A speed controller, seems... OK but they are 24v and the batteries in the Badger are 13.2v. Higher voltage batteries are on their way. Next thing to do is find some suitably sized wheels to fit onto the shaft of these motors and assemble onto a chassis plate. If it comes together, I am aiming to debut this at Robots Live! Grantham 2018, one year on since my first proper foray into fighting robots.

[Ocracoke]

A bit of a controversial topic I know but I went with the Cytron dual 60A speed controller on the notion that it can be retrofitted with passive cooling rather than active cooling. Definitely looks as if it can, the fans sit on their own platform which can be disassembled so I'll be getting some thermal paste and chipset passive coolers to add onto the controller.

I had a chance yesterday to roughly position where the drive system stuff is going to go on the 10mm polycarbonate board I got a few weeks ago. I had also bought a set of Nylon 6 HS crossmembers for The Honey Badger ages ago but decided to hold it off for this. Certainly feels like a Heavyweight at the moment. :P About 800mm wide by 430mm long at the moment.

DSCF6127.JPG

The big issue I have at the moment is finding wheels that attach onto the motors. I am sure there are some out there that fit onto these MY1020 (or MY1016, not sure) threads but I can't seem to locate any. Anyone know of any? I think the threaded part of the shaft is 9 or 10mm wide.

[Triceratop]

Hi Michael, what wattage are the motors? the MY1020 is normally fitted with a 25h sprocket (although can be found with a timing belt pulley) which has a 'D' central hole to suit the shaft. The threaded size of the shaft is normally M8. I would suggest a rubber coupling (CV) between the motor and the wheel. This will help with vibration / shock and any misalignment. Details of these motors can be easily found on the web, just type in the motor ID (MY1020) and go to images, some will have dimensional details for you.
Hope this helps.

[Ocracoke]

When I bought the motors, it wasn't clear to me as to which one it was (MY1016 or MY1020 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/500W-24vE...item283be947b1).

The sprockets on them are 9 teeth. I would agree with a Polyurathene coupling.

[Triceratop]

OK, I now see the difference between mine and yours - you've gone for a planetary gearbox. Interesting thought, mine are 500w MY1020 without gearbox, they are rated at 28.5amps, the spec on yours shows 20amps. They do look interesting, and might bear them in mind for future.

[Ocracoke]

Mine are possibly the 1016 variant then. Speed controllers should be OK with these motors (and much more besides by the looks of it). I might possibly need another set of batteries though, the 3S1P batteries are up to 19.8v nominal at the moment but the motors are 24v. Another 3S1P battery will bring it to 29.7v nominal but I want to see what the performance is on this pair first.

[katch]

You can relax I tested my cytron with 2x 24v my1020 on sunday worked a treat as my back up plan for 2nd bot I did run them on 36v without issue too.

[Ocracoke]

I am not worried about the voltage through the controller but it will mean extra voltage for the motor and again, I just want to see how it does "as-is". Still need some wheels first though...

[katch]

I have a few spare

[Ocracoke]

To fit the shaft of my motors? I'd be most interested.