Team Kaizen Build Diary

[Ocracoke]

Sorry to hear you missed out on the event.

Aye, there'll be other events. Just a case of bad timing and missing parts. I've got Azriel running and will update tonight on that.

The 2 motor/1 wheel thing does look a bit awkward. What's the alternative? 4wd? Or bigger motors?

4WD isn't possible with the tooling I have here (I lack heavy duty stuff to cut through the steel efficiently) and the lack of wheels and drive gears. Kaizen used a independent 4WD setup which wad dead simple but the space requirements means Jibril would need a belt or chain drive to the wheels, none of which I have the equipment for.

I considered getting a pair of Ampflow motors but that means more expense and a new set of drive gears. I could theoretically go brushless with this but for the moment, the 2x motors I do have and can fit should be enough (they are nominally rated for 330W but 500W a side should be enough, Kaizen was 800W at best). I think I might fit some small fixed castors at the bottom to over come the drag. Just got a lot on before RL Burgess Hill at the end of March.

I still think, with a bit of ingenuity, it will be possible to fit in the second set of motors.

[Ocracoke]

Update time!

Azriel
So the bodywork is kind of together and the wiring loom is in. It all works! However, once again, it's too heavy by 100mm. Ultimately, it's the polycarbonate causing the problems here. A 300mm square sheet is ~200g and the bolts and all that used to hold it all together are just too big. So while I've got it working, it needs to be smaller still. I'll be ordering some new 3mm Polycarbonate and probably going to something like 150mm square instead.

Jibril
I've ordered a set of U bolts to hold down the front motors and will hopefully have them tomorrow. I'll steal the wiring loom out of Kaizen and see how it works but I am relatively confident it will work. I think I'll get some front fixed castors for the front to help it move but all being well... we'll see. I still want to go for the 2:1 drive system and I think I can do that if I raise the motor up a little onto a elevated position, causing the motor to move forwards on the drive gear so I can get the bolts down to the base.

[Ocracoke]

Another one of those pesky updates.

Jibril
The motor U bolts went in over this week and I've been drilling the drive gears to attach the wheels onto. After destroying the clutch on one drill, I ended up with a B&Q £15 drill to go through solid steel with. A small hint, they are not beefy enough (smoke was pouring out of the drill) but eventually, got the gears drilled, the U bolts in and amazingly, through some kind of accident, it works.

DSCF6722.JPG

I say works, there is still a lot to do. In no particular order:

• The batteries need securing down
• The wiring loom needs a bit of a tidy up and extending for the axe
• The axe drive gear needs drilling for the axe arm
• The axe arm and head needs building
• The axe ESC needs putting in
• The steel box section need painting
• The top panel needs a hole for the removable link, power lights and the locking mechanism for the axe.
• Fixed front castors need installing.

Much to do, not a lot of time to do it in. Eeek :P

[McMullet]

Hooray! It works. That is indeed a reasonably long list, but getting it moving must feel like getting over a big hump.

All sounds like it's running smoothly so you must have everything lined up nicely.

[Ocracoke]

It does sound very nice and indeed, a big hurdle. Even if I don't get the axe fitted, I can run it as a rambot at RL Burgess Hill. I definitely haven't got everything lined up arrow straight but hey, whatever works.

It looks as if the MW championship is in November this year. I am fairly sure I can rebuild Kaizen for then as well. I am simply out of room to store it assembled at the moment but it'd be nice to have two running this year. Need to start thinking about rebuilding The Honey Badger as well though that'll take a few days at most.

[Outlaw]

Well it'd be nice to see HB running again after it's "detonation" at Manchester. :P

[Ocracoke]

Hahahahaa, we'll see. Time constraints and all, must just end up re-building it at Burgess Hill. :P

[Ocracoke]

Another one of those very original update posts.

Jibril
Following on from the successful test drive (if you want to call it that), the uprights have gone back in and the top panels refitted with power lights and a removable link slot. That means, technically, it is capable of entering the arena. I also fitted a front roller on the robot to help it move and that has helped dramatically but I really need to take it somewhere to run it up to full speed, my office floor just is not big enough.

The next thing to work on is the axe. I've got a motor mount cut out for the 2.3HP motor and will be getting that screwed down tonight and have already marked out a centre line for the axe to be aligned with. The 600mm shaft has also arrived so plenty of drilling action to do and some serious cutting on the front polycarbonate.

In no particular order:

• Axe shaft needs to be bolted to the axe gear
• Axe head needs to be fabricated
• Axe motor needs to be fitted
• Axe locking pin needs fitting
• Axe tether needs fitting.
• Side armour needs to be cut and fitted
• Batteries need to be held in place better (might need to consider bigger batteries overall here)

Lots to do before the 23rd of March. :P

[McMullet]

Sounds like you've got the awkward bits sorted though. I guess it's just plodding down the final straight to get everything done now?

[Ocracoke]

Kind of. Once the axe gear and motor is mounted in the robot with the ESC, I'll be happier with it. Still would really like to see it move more than a metre or so. :P

[Ocracoke]

#updates

Ikari
So after its encounter at Ant Freeze 6, the robot was in pieces. The tyre came off the wheel, one of the wires to the motor was ripped off and the side panel also came off. Ordered some new wheels and fixed the side panel. Went to the effort to try and reinforce it with Gorilla Glue on the inside, that stuff is good but horrible to work with, spilled out whilst drying over my servo wire.

The motor has been re-soldered but the other motor appears to be having difficulties spinning. Not checked it over properly yet but I suspect the ESC wiring is a bit borked. Will examine over the week. It is spinning with a bit of encouragement but very slowly.

Jibril
Lots happening here. Got the axe motor mounted and the axe drive gear mounted as well. It is at a bit of an angle but nothing you would notice and something that can be rectified at a later date. The next thing is, apart from a full test drive and a weigh in, is to get the axe shaft mounted on the gear, bump stops and a temporary axe head fitted with the ESC fitted as well. I also want to fit the 20mm HDPE side armour as well before Burgess Hill and have it painted.

I'll have to reduce my attendance to Burgess Hill to Saturday only as well, a fun 5 hour drive one way. :P Oh well, the things we do...

[Ocracoke]

Amai/Ikari/Osu
BotFest 2 is this weekend so I've been getting them prepped for the event. Amai has had shell reinforcement in the shape of Gorilla glue around the edges done and Osu just need a bit of melting to get it back to shape. This will be Osu's last event in this form, the robot is simply too iconic to risk in a combat arena these days. Osu 3.0 will be planned during the event.

Ikari has new, slightly larger wheels and, as noted in the last post, the shell rebuilt and reinforced. I checked the wiring and the slow wheel does appear to be a ESC issue. Sadly, I can't get a new ESC in time so it'll just have to go as is.

Jibril
So this robot hasn't gone at all to plan. Real life keeps on cropping up to conspire and rob me of any time I need to work on the robot. Put simply, the big axe will not be ready for Burgess Hill and it still hasn't been tested. However, the axe mechanism from Kaizen is modular, the original intention was that it'd be interchangeable. That means the whole thing, locking pin guides and all, are quite compact and fits onto a 300mm square polycarbonate sheet.

What I'll do is transfer the mechanism to a temporary 10mm thick sheet and have that on Jibril for Burgess Hill. Next event afterwards is EXR Portsmouth which I fully intend to get the big axe mechanism working and finished. For RL Burgess Hill, I will remake the axe arm though - the one on there now is originally from The Honey Badger 2.2 and is looking extremely worn.

So the list now for this one is:

- Transfer the mechanism over
- Fit the temporary top panel
- Wire in the axe motor to the ESC
- Remake and fit the axe arm
- Paint

[Ocracoke]

More of those wonderful updates.

Jibril
So from the last post, the new material came for the axe and I've cut that into a axe arm and head. Transferred the mechanism over and now, after a spell of ESC DIP switch mania, the axe is now working. I say working, it is kind of working. At lower voltages, the axe works fine but at full 8S LiFe, it gets the jitters. However, when it does work, it is substantially faster than the last implementation.

For this robot, which is going to be the signature robot for this team now, it is fitted with a Scythe head, should look very distinctive in the arena this year. This axe arm is a temporary one but when the full implementation goes in, it'll have a slightly larger head on it. For this one, I'll need to fit a metal end tip to it to cause any damage in the arena.

So basically, barring a locking pin, tether and battery box, Jibril 0.8 is ready to go though I really do need it painting before Burgess Hill.

[McMullet]

Hooray! Congrats on getting the axe installed.

What colour(s) are you going to paint Jibril?

[Ocracoke]

The same colour as Kaizen, flourscent pink Axe shaft will probably be silver.