Team Kaizen Build Diary

[Ocracoke]

I will try to get another ant together before then, as I enjoyed BotFest 1 all the way back in [date here], hopefully I can arrive with something more better than the aptly named 'Send Help!'.

I had to look back for the date but it was the 29th of July 2018, which feels like an age ago now! Looking forwards to seeing what you bring to the next one

Nice video! Jibril is looking awesome, really compact and mean-looking. One question though, could you possibly include a few more different types of fastener on the base plate? I think you might have missed one or two!

They are somewhat unavoidable. One in the main central bulkhead is where the axe motor goes and the ones in the very corners of the baseplate were because of me and poor measuring. In all honesty, they won't matter as much since HDPE doesn't shatter like Polycarbonate does.

I'm really looking forward to making it to BotFest [some number]. Very happy to chip in a few quid to cover your costs!

We'll see how things pan out. Looking forwards to seeing you there

[Ocracoke]

First update of this diary for 2021!

Jibril
I've tidied up the wiring loom somewhat so that the drive ESC, the fuse and the removable link all sit on a HDPE board, which also forms the battery box. Had a moderately scary moment where, after doing this, the whole thing wouldn't power on but turned out to be a dodgy solder on my part.

wirng_tidy.jpg

The 10mm Polycarbonate for the lids arrived and will be drilling and affixing those fairly soon. The carrier for the axe has had some reinforcement but still needs a fair bit of work. Most notably, I still need to figure out a good way of holding the gear on the shaft. I have a Aldi special welder which I've never used, worth giving a go here?

The A28-400 motor still needs holding down with a U bolt. Problem is, the imperial size bolts on the face of the motor I can't adequately screw in where it is on the carrier to ensure proper alignment. Means I'll have to get a set of imperial size spanners. However, beyond this, there really isn't that much more to do aside from attach the panels and the Scythe-Axe when it finally comes.

[McMullet]

Looks very tidy Lucy. I would be interested to hear how you get on with the Aldi welder - I've been tempted to get one.

Happy new year!

[Ocracoke]

Happy new year to you too Sam!

As far as I understand it, its a Inverter Welder (ref: https://www.aldi.co.uk/workzone-inve...85506226214500) which having watched a few videos on it, seems reasonably easy to use though I might invest in some thick gloves and ear defenders. I find the hissing/sparking noise quite alarming.

[RogueTwoRobots]

Sounds like a cheap and cheerful welder. Mine is a second hand one from Gary, which cost him £50 from Makro about 12 years ago. Surprisingly still going strong, used it for all the welding on Coyote, Shunt and the majority of Dead Metal. Just set it to the desired current, attach the earth clamp and weld away.

If it's a one-off bit of welding, that supplied mask will be okay but if you see yourself doing more, I'd recommend getting an auto-darkening welding helmet on eBay. Can be got for £20-£30 with some stylish designs. It will free up your other hand and will let you see the workpiece as you go to strike it up. Arc welding gloves too, as you mentioned. Also a slag chipping hammer and wire brush are handy. I used to just use my claw hammer but the chipping hammer has some vibration protection and can get into more nooks and crannies.

[Ocracoke]

Yeah, wasn't immediately keen on the handheld face shield, much rather have something that allows me to handle the welder properly. Thanks for the heads up, will see if I am brave enough to give it a go when the weather clears up!

[Ocracoke]

Jibril
Work has happened. Very descriptive, I know :P The chassis has been modified a little to allow the axe motor and carrier to come out in one piece. The U bolt holding the back of the motor in has been installed and just needs cutting to size. Currently in the process of getting the lids bolted down.

I also adapted the carrier to bolt into the main chassis when installed so that it won't go anywhere. The rear armour plates have been test located and fit, just. I've also, finally, had news on the Scythe and the front wedge plate which *finally* means I can crack on and get this robot finished. The Scythe attachment is going to be a fiddly job, needing my first ever countersinking job and some stubby M10 bolts, preferably in Titanium. It'll make sense when you see it.

I am aiming to have this done by the end of March to give enough time for stress testing before events hopefully restart. Of course, video footage to come soon.

[Ocracoke]

Jibril
Some more work happened and... well... here it is.

jibril_2.0_wip.jpg

That is... wow for me. It obviously isn't quite finished yet but at the moment, minus the Scythe-Axe, it could go into the arena as is. I'd like to think it is much better engineered than the last version, time will tell if it is when it does eventually get into a fight. Weighing it all, it comes in at 38kg which is silly light. I might be able to fit thicker side arms and add some headweights to the axe for the lethal hit.

At the moment, the gearbox for the carrier has been disassembled as the Titanium shafts need keyways cutting and I'll sort out the drilling of the gears to attach the Scythe-Axe to the gear if only to get the experience of doing countersink drilling.

[McMullet]

Looks fantastic Lucy! Congrats on getting it finished, hope it gets to run very soon!

[team death]

Looking forward to fighting Jibril with my heavyweight

[Ocracoke]

Looks fantastic Lucy! Congrats on getting it finished, hope it gets to run very soon!

Its certainly pretty much all together now, just needs the machine work doing to the shafts and paint, obviously. :P

Looking forward to fighting Jibril with my heavyweight

Oh yes, I am looking forwards to fighting with your heavyweight too!

[Ocracoke]

Things have been happening. They happen in the universe but specifically, things here :P

Jibril
I've test ran the robot with the side arms and yes, they do scrape but not enough for them to really be an issue. The robot moves happily with them on so I think leaving them "as-is" is the best way forwards for the moment. Really speaking, all the robot needs now is paint, final assembly and sorting out the Victor BB as it seems to not want to co-operate when powered on for the first time.

As far as the Scythe-Axe goes, I've had the parts machined now with a keyway (so many thanks Nat!) and they are on their way back to me as I write this. I need to order the key steel but I am finally looking forwards to having this robot done and tested. I do, however, need to get some headweights ordered for the Scythe, it isn't as heavy as I first imagined but that is definitely a "later" job.

The Honey Badger
I've been accepted into the Rapture event in July so this presents a big chance for me to do some work on this one. One of the biggest bugbears I have with the current 4.0 version is the lack of any active weaponry on it. I could fit an axe to the existing robot but at this weight class, an axe isn't very effective. I therefore elected to experiment a little with some left over 3mm PVC from Shu! 1.0, a test motor and some 4mm polycarbonate I had laying around to make this:

initial_arm_implementation.jpg

Despite it being somewhat hacked together (this was done in about in hour) it mechanically works and will form the basis of a front hinge arm on The Honey Badger 4.1.

I've ordered some new HDPE to rebuild the shell entirely and the arm is going to use the motor from Shu! 2.0 to power it since that is a straight swap and Shu 3.0 is probably moving to a different weight class. The MFA motors from the 4.0 version are going into the 4.1 version along with their speed controllers but a new wiring loom is needed, the one in there is fairly rotten and definitely needs replacing.

The whole machine is going to shrink slightly as it needs to fit within a 250mm square area. but honestly, with a bit of clever imagination as to placement of parts, it won't be an issue.

[Ocracoke]

Key steel has arrived today. Made a slight miscalculation in the sizes I ordered but I've got the right sizes as part of the order so in theory, there is very little stopping me rebuilding the gearbox now. I want to get the Scythe at least painted and fitted onto the gear before doing so though.

Countersinking bits and titanum M10 bolts are on order but I need to get a new pillar drill and corded drill as well so I don't expect anything to happen with Jibril until the end of the month at the earliest.

[Ocracoke]

The Honey Badger
After a few evenings and weekends working on this, I am happy to show off The Honey Badger 4.1.

thb_4.1.jpg.jpeg

Weighing in at 1.42kg with an electric front hinged flipping arm, I am quite pleased with how this has come out. Its relatively quick and should hold up to some pounding this time. Not that the last one didn't but this is a refinement of what was already there. A new wiring loom went in, the flipping arm mechanism is pretty neat (by my standards anyway) and it is nice just to have a robotics project finish and finish well on time for some testing before attending an event.

And yes, this one definitely self rights

The only couple of relatively minor things I want to get done on this now is some metal edging along the top and machining the front slightly to run flatter on the front.

Jibril
I'll save the big reveal for a couple of weeks time for this but I'll reveal that armour plating has been painted and the Scythe-Axe gearbox has been assembled. Barring a few little pieces needing finishing, this is also nearing completion.

[Ocracoke]

The Honey Badger - Rapture @ Chatham 2021
After a long drive down to Chatham on the Friday night (5.5 hours), I turned up to the event knowing full well who I was competing against, those being Super Snappy, K2 and Let the Good Times Roll. Suffice to say, I was definitely the underdog going into that. I rushed on a PTFE front scraper to get the front of the robot as low as possible in an attempt to get underneath the opponent, which ultimately didn't do very much.

The Honey Badger vs Super Snappy
Craig and Super Snappy are well known in the BW scene and this was definitely an interesting fight. During the fight, where we proceeded to dance for a bit before being pushed everywhere, I noticed the robot getting slower and slower. This turned out to be the battery having not been charged so I couldn't get a good speed up. Lost when a tyre came off a wheel on one side and the other was dangling over the pit.

The Honey Badger vs K2
Having already seen K2 in previous events, I knew how hard this was going to be. It was practically a blink and you'll miss it affair after K2 rammed my right wheel (the wheel guards were in the wrong position) so hard, that wheel stopped working. Then with a final hit to the rear, that disabled the Badger completely as the link was ripped out.

After that fight, it was discovered that one gearbox was poorly and the other was completely non-functional as a stage had fallen out of its mount. With some creative work, I managed to get it partially working in so much as it would reverse but not go forwards.

The Honey Badger vs Let the Good Times Roll
By this stage, having had about four hours of sleep prior to the event, I was worn out but I wasn't willing to simply call a forfeit on this. Ultimately, this fight was a walk in the park for Let the Good Times Roll but there were a few occasions where they very nearly went up the front of the robot. Even the flipping arm managed to see some good action however a flip from the drum spinner put the robot on its back panel and didn't have enough leverage against the arena wall to put it back on its wheels.

0-3 for The Honey Badger 4.1. I'll admit, a bit disheartening given that I spent a fair bit of time and effort putting this together but there are things that can be done to improve this so all isn't lost. Had I been in a different heat, I might have done better but that is how these things go. It'll be back as a 4.2.

I'll be working on a YT video over this week for this and then work on the BotFest arena.