Team Kaizen - Kaizen

[Ocracoke]

So a little change, I've gone back to the CIM motors I was originally planning to use for this and there'll be a little bit of adjustment in the sizes.

I'll be releasing a drawing of what it should end up looking like for Grantham and then onwards to Stevenage. Provided The Honey Badger doesn't get too bashed up at Manchester, I can see no reason why Kaizen could not be mobile and running before Grantham. It may end up being Tanto v6 sized though

[Ocracoke]

So The Honey Badger got trashed at Manchester but I am determined to get Kaizen mobile for Grantham. Polycarbonate base plate and HDPE bulkheads are on order and heading over to me tomorrow. I'll be outfitting this one with 6mm stainless steel all around (given how heavy Tango's lid was at Manchester, I don't think I'll have any trouble making the lower limit now :P).

I had bought a pair of CIM motors for this with the intention of getting either 4:1 or 12:1 gearboxes for those but thinking about it, I might go back to the 500W motors currently fitted given that during Manchester, I learned a technique for securing the hubs to wheels which I wasn't sure if it would work but seemed to quite nicely. Need to figure out a way to get the nut off the motor without a vice though :S

[Retroman]

Depending on if you can wait or not I can bring a vice to the social, it's not attached to anything at the moment so it's no trouble?

Edit: if you want to get cracked on, I swear by channel-lock type pliers (also called box joint or water pump pliers) they can hold anything that fits in the jaws. https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF...nel+lock+grips

[Ocracoke]

I have been using a pair of Water Pump Pliers + Mole grips already so yeah, bring your vice with you to the next one if you can. I can hold off until the next social, got plenty on with building the bodywork

[Retroman]

Ah ok, she's stubborn then? Vice will be thrown in box along with my other stuff.

Yeah man, the bodywork is both the fun and the infuriating, it's the cool looking Bit, but making it cool looking is the challenge ha

[Ocracoke]

I suspect it might be a nyloc nut.

The chassis panels/bulkheads arrived today and not going to lie, it is a squeeze, especially when you consider the polycarbonate base panel is 500mmx250mm big. The top panel covering the two bulkheads is 100mm wide for reference. There should be two outer panels at the edge of the base panel as well.

DSCF6339.JPG

You can see the two 500W scooter motors on there and one of the CIM motors on there along with a space as to how big I think the gearbox is. Definitely going to have to vertical mount the ESC, batteries and radio gear on the middle bulkhead. I could get some more space by moving the motors to the edge of the panel but it would only increase the centre space for the weapon and expose the gearboxes to the outside world which, obviously, is not good.

I'll be marking out where the cuts need to be made for the bulkhead grooves/motor mounts but I need to make a final decision on the motors. The CIM motors simply allow for more space but are smaller and should be less powerful as a result. Anyone well versed in these to qualify that thought?

The other thing to consider is that because the CIM motor, even with the gearbox attached, is smaller and lower to the base plate than the scooter motors, the wheel sizes change but because the shaft changes, I can work with the shafts from a Banebots CIM gearbox (https://www.robotshop.com/uk/banebot...gearbox-4.html or https://www.robotshop.com/uk/banebot...unt-12to1.html, likely the latter due to a similar output shaft RPM to the scooter motor). The scooter motor shafts will need a flat putting on them (which I know isn't ideal) so... choices.

[Retroman]

Nyloc? Noooooo! what a pig, difficult to deal with without ruining anything... we'll manage at the social though.

Those scooter motors look very hefty, personally I'd go for the power, but I can totally see the dilemma you have. Is the space in the bulkhead for weaponry? Will there be any 'dead space' you could sneak some componentry into? Just looking again, is there enough height to place to ESCs over the motors?

[Ocracoke]

That'd fall in favour of the scooter motors if power was the outright concern because the figures I ran suggest the CIM motors, with a 12.75:1 gearbox on them, are running close to their maximum. However, Track-tion used CIM motors as well (through a 17:1 gearbox) and whilst I wouldn't call that quick, obviously was able to move 95kg happily so perhaps my mathematics are off.

The ESC will fit vertically onto the bulkhead but the CIM motors will obviously provide more space, the batteries on the other side. The weapon motor will go underneath wherever the batteries are.

Yeah, the scooter motors are 6.5kg each and are big. 22.4x15x13cm big. I still have the original 600mmx300mm panel which I can still repurpose for this but mount the motors more inboard to prevent the gearboxes from becoming a prime target.

[Ocracoke]

So just tried with the 600x300mm polycarb base panel, The ESC fits "nice 'n' snug" horizontally on the panel now and the centre gap is about 50mm bigger to the point where it looks too big. However, I think if I want a no-nonsense weapon, the gap looks to be about right now because there needs to be room for the weapon mounts and so on. In other words, Kaizen just got wider by 100mm

With regards to these nuts on the shaft (the output shaft looks to be about 10mm or 12mm threaded), I had another go of getting the nut off and I just can't. Contrary to what I said a few posts ago, I had a think about it and I really want to crack on with this and if the weather is good, tomorrow will be when the bulkhead panels start going together. I've ordered myself a bench vice and hopefully will have them off by the end of next week otherwise a nut splitter might be needed.

[Ocracoke]

Good news, the vice isn't needed! I borrowed a whopping 30kg+ vice from my father in law and getting a 19mm socket on the end of my big torque wrench did the trick. My veneer gauge says the threaded part of the shaft is 9mm wide and the shaft itself appears to be 7mm. The bit of the shaft where the cog normally goes is 10mm at the flat edges.

[Ocracoke]

So getting the nuts off proved to be less of a challenge than I thought. Ultimately, it just required heavier grade tools. The ends are in threadlock. not nyloc as feared.

DSCF6378.JPG

I then invested in a jigsaw and cut out the HDPE internal structure panels. Can I cut in a straight line? Not really but its all in hand - I cut out a 10mm deep groove into the panels to allow the 10mm polycarbonate base to sit under and what I'll do is with some L brackets on both sides, clamp the panels onto the base. I'll need to do the same with the outer panels.

I also found some lawnmower wheels to put on the motor shafts (which is 10mm threaded wide) but to be honest, these will not last in the arena. I've found some replacements which again need boring out to 10mm wide completlely and then figure out a way to clamp it properly to the shaft but these wheels will do for simple mobility testing. Definitely needs some bicycle tyre treads on them.

Mock mounted the internal panels and the motors onto the panels for a sense of perspective tonight. Definitely looks more "robot" shaped these days. :P Next thing to do is cut the outer panels and get them clamped to the base panel. It currently weighs 21.3kg all in so far but obviously, there is a way to go yet. The steel will hopefully tip it into the right weight bracket.

DSCF6394.JPG

[Ocracoke]

So the wheel conundrum is solved, I think. I've ordered some 146mm sack barrow wheels but they have a 8mm bore on them, which I'll bore to 10mm. What I'll do then is melt the original motor nuts into the bore, glue that in, refit the nut back into the shaft with some threadlock. I'll also then get a plate of HDPE and bolt it through the wheel to act as a nut plate which hopefully will keep the wheel on the shaft.

Does that work/robust enough for robots of the Heavyweight category... or the Middleweight category?

[Theo]

... or the Middleweight category?

Probably my fault
Putting together a little revival later on in the year, trying to keep it under wraps though (and so y'all don't talk too much sense).

Really interesting to see, I'm really glad you're on board!

[Ocracoke]

Hahahaa, no worries. Now if only these wheels turned up, I might be able to crack on and have something moving. I have got the centre bulkheads tied together so I can mark and drill the centre brackets holes this weekend so the centre structure can be fitted. If the weather is up to scratch or I am feeling motivated enough to do it indoors, cut the outer panels to fit and get them fitted as well.

Once that is done, then it is onto the outer shell and then the weapon.

[team death]

Sack barrow wheels usually have quite thin metal stubs either side of the wheel
but some have a bearing inside and I assume that's the type your getting.
In which case you would have to remove the bearing and hold it securely
to avoid the whole thing spinning when boring it out.
They are quite robust though and I would use them in a heavy no problem.