Team Kaizen Build Diary

[Ocracoke]

Ikari
So Ikari 2.0 is probably best known for dying due to spinners. At both Ant Freeze 6 and BotFest 2, the robot has come apart in fashion due to horizontal spinners and I've been trying to figure out how to prevent this again for Ikari 3.0. First things first, 3.0 is going to be a horizontal spinner itself, 1.0 was a horizontal itself, 2.0 was me trying something new.

For 3.0, I think what I'll do is get some 15mm HDPE and cut out a ring chassis by hand with a Dremel and a Jigsaw (I have plenty from the original Kaizen build) and then get some 1mm polycarbonate to sandwich top and bottom to make a shell, likely hollowing the ring chassis out with drill holes where I can to save weight. This is how I built Kaizen and Jibril and whilst not always the most effective robots overall, they are at least durable. Ikari will feature a 70W brushless motor which I already have and a proper bar this time.

Jibril
I've soldered up a EC8 connector and put the original front lid on with the original axe drive gear on to see how well the Ampflow works with the Axe ESC. Suffice to say, it works very well, seems to be less twitchy with the Ampflow than the CIM. What I will do though is put the Axe on its own controller as so to eliminate any potential issues with the controller interfering.

If all else fails, I'll put a wedge on the front and call it a spinner. :P The noise from the gearing is most impressive. Next thing to do is get the gear and the axe shaft drilled. Might outsource this on the grounds of expediency to a machine shop so at least it is done. The Scythe Axe head I need to speak to a metal cutter about - would anyone be able to draw me up a CAD drawing based on a diagram I give them?

EXR Portsmouth is next but I've also signed up for the Shrewsbury event in May with Shu! and Azriel, neither of which are built yet so they'll be the main focus of my attention for this month. All the electrical components for Shu! are still around and working, Azriel needs a weapon and both need shells. Fun month ahead. :P

[Ocracoke]

The Honey Badger
I mooted a while ago about making The Honey Badger a Beetleweight. Annoyingly, the other Beetleweights I had planned won't be ready in time to go to Shrewsbury so I've decided to go flip around a few things. The Honey Badger 4.0 will now be a Beetleweight and I'll move Azriel to the Featherweight category. Shu! will remain a Beetleweight but as I say, the rebuild of that robot is very unlikely to make it in time for the event though I'll try.

Anyway, I always liked the 2.0 variant of The Honey Badger (the one that got blown apart at EXR Manchester 201 so 4.0 is build to more or less the same design. Unlike the predecessor, this one will have a functioning weapon in the form of a lifting arm. If all else fails, self righting mechanism. :P The base is already rolling at 480g with a pair of 30:1 motors running on 4S LiPo which makes it quite rapid. The shell is currently being built and then I'll fit the weapon but if I keep at it, no reason why it couldn't be finished this week.

[Ocracoke]

Update time yet again!

The Honey Badger
The robot is now ready to go to Shrewsbury! It has taken longer than I would have liked owing to delays in real life but here it is. Like 2.0, it is a fairly typical wedge design but 4.0 has a couple of improvements over 2.0 with wedge hooks and a polycarbonate scraper which 2.0 didn't have. Armour is 4mm polycarbonate and HDPE.

I still intend to fit a self righting mechanism to this but I've yet to weigh it, probably 1.3kg. Even if I don't get time to fit it, I'll run it like this.

Azriel
So with The Honey Badger 4.0 now a Beetleweight, I've moved Azriel to the Featherweight class. I've got a rolling base with a couple of old Gimson 13.7:1 motors from Kaizen. The next thing to do there is build a body and fit a weapon onto it. I had ummed and ahhed about taking it to RoboDojo but I am unlikely to make it. Still, got time before EXR Portsmouth or Guildford.

Jibril
The axe gear and shaft have been drilled so they'll be refitted over the rest of the week. I am also expecting a pickaxe head to come so I'll cut that down to size and then fit that for Portsmouth while I figure out how to CAD up a Scythe axe head. I have one done but I am not sure if it is any good.

[Ocracoke]

Jibril
The past week or so has been getting the robot ready for EXR Portsmouth. The pickaxe head has arrived and with any luck should be going to the engineers to have the head shortened a little so it isn't dragging on the floor. The side armour is now on as well so it looks a bit more in keeping with what Kaizen looked like, though this time the armour is well and truly bolted on, not hung on so it might last a bit longer this time.

I probably will made an adjustment to the front beam so the axe can go lower (might just get that done at Portsmouth if anyone is bringing a grinder) but as far as remaining jobs go, it is get the axehead on, tether fitted, locking pin guides in and paint.

[Scarrosaki]

Looking good, been nice reading back through the diary of Jibril coming along after seeing it at BotFest!

Hopefully get to fight it some day

[McMullet]

Looks fab!

Sorry you won't be making it to Robodojo with Azriel. Any plans for what sort of weapon you'll put on it?

[Ocracoke]

Looking good, been nice reading back through the diary of Jibril coming along after seeing it at BotFest!

Hopefully get to fight it some day

Many thanks! It still isn't "done" but it'll get there.

Looks fab!

Sorry you won't be making it to Robodojo with Azriel. Any plans for what sort of weapon you'll put on it?

Azriel will also be an axebot. I have the original axe mechanism from Kaizen which will be suitable. That being said, I may still make it to RoboDojo with Jibril for testing so you might see it up close. If I can get the parts together, I might have Azriel built during the day. Apart from chassis parts, I have all the parts here.

[Ocracoke]

Jibril
So I went to RoboDojo this weekend with Jibril with mixed results.

On the plus side, the extra castor at the front does seem to help with driving, Ian commented that it seems to drive with relatively good precision and once the metal axe is on the robot, it'll help with the general traction issues I've been having with it.

However, the Scythe axe continues to be one disaster after another. The ESC for the axe has broke, looks like a capacitor or something has been sheared off. The ESC reports it is getting a signal but with no output to the motor and I am unable to get the robot out of the car now until Portsmouth (one disadvantage of having your workshop on the first floor). I've ordered a new ESC but that may not arrive in time so just feeling a bit peeved about that.

Still, let's see what happens. I traced the major wiring at RoboDojo and that seems to be OK so either there is a break somewhere I am missing perhaps a connection has fouled up.

[Roboteernat]

Will you still be comming to Portsmouth? Perhaps fix it during the first show ready for next?

[Ocracoke]

Yes, even if I wasn't competing, I am bringing another roboteer and his robot down for the day anyway. The replacement ESC has been shipped anyway so it might get here by Friday. Cue frantic wiring to get it all working again :P. I may have a chance on the Wednesday to see how the current ESC is and wherever I can fix it.

I might still run Jibril as a ram bot for EXR Portsmouth but I really do not want to, it just lacks something if it running without the Scythe.

[Ocracoke]

It's that time again!

Jibril
The replacement ESC has turned up earlier than expected so I plumbed that in and the Axe worked... briefly. To try and avoid a repeat of the situation at RoboDojo, I took the ESC off the standoff plate and shuffled it a little bit to avoid the same issue happening and for a few brief glorious moments, it did. It was putting big dents in the wooden trolley I am using to transport Jibril on and that was the plastic Scythe Axe seen at RL Burgess Hill which must weigh 500g tops.

However... the output gear then slipped on the shaft sidewards and the axe arm promptly KO'ed the second speed controller in exactly the same place as the first one. I wasn't pleased.

Anyway, today was a bit better as the Scythe Axe is back from the engineers and it is pretty mighty. 3.5kg total weight. I've wedged in some HDPE rod to act as a shock absorber. It just needs to be mounted to the robot, which I'll do at Portsmouth. I've also broken out the soldering iron and fixed the first ESC so now that works again. I've also put the Axe on its own receiver but coming from the same transmitter so with any luck, this will finally solve the jitteriness issue I keep on coming across.

The list of things to do (in no order):
1. Fit the tether to the axe head
2. Paint the axe
3. Fit nyloc nuts to the axe head
4. Get a slot cut into the front bar
5. Move the Axe ESC to be on top of the drive ESC.
Bring on EXR Portsmouth!

[McMullet]

Jibril
So I went to RoboDojo this weekend with Jibril with mixed results.

On the plus side, the extra castor at the front does seem to help with driving, Ian commented that it seems to drive with relatively good precision and once the metal axe is on the robot, it'll help with the general traction issues I've been having with it.

Ah I didn't realise you'd had it driving on Sunday! Sorry to have missed that. I was possibly at the cafe down down the road stuffing my face because I'd had no breakfast...

However... the output gear then slipped on the shaft sidewards and the axe arm promptly KO'ed the second speed controller in exactly the same place as the first one. I wasn't pleased.

Nooooooooooooo! I bet.

Anyway, today was a bit better as the Scythe Axe is back from the engineers and it is pretty mighty. 3.5kg total weight. I've wedged in some HDPE rod to act as a shock absorber. It just needs to be mounted to the robot, which I'll do at Portsmouth. I've also broken out the soldering iron and fixed the first ESC so now that works again. I've also put the Axe on its own receiver but coming from the same transmitter so with any luck, this will finally solve the jitteriness issue I keep on coming across.

The list of things to do (in no order):
1. Fit the tether to the axe head
2. Paint the axe
3. Fit nyloc nuts to the axe head
4. Get a slot cut into the front bar
5. Move the Axe ESC to be on top of the drive ESC.
Bring on EXR Portsmouth!

Hooray! That sounds pretty feasible. Good luck!

[Ocracoke]

Ah it's fine, you'll see it do its thing from a video at EXR Portsmouth no doubt. Just got to hope the axe motor is strong enough to actually fire this thing.

[Roboteernat]

Glad the ESC was repairable for the first one, do you know what went pop in the new one?

That's an interesting idea having the weapon just on its own receiver, potentially could solve some design niggles I had with mine. I've seen separate drive pods, but it never occurred to me to do that!
Look forward to seeing you at Portsmouth, Happy to assist if you need help with the axe

[Ocracoke]

The same thing as the first one. It wasn't so much pop as mechanical interference. Where the Axe ESC is, the motor and mechanism is right above it and it is only 100mm tall. When in place, the "680" small coil you see in the picture is directly underneath the axe arm and is knocked out of the seating position, breaking the solders. I knew it was in a bad place to begin with but given the robot has about 400mm squared internal space in it, I was struggling to find anywhere to get it to fit without having the axe mechanism on top of the robot, which I didn't like on Kaizen.

20190517_113325.jpg

I'll be repositioning the ESC again to sit on top of the drive ESC. Not ideal as that limits airflow but should still be ample. Thanks for the offer to help, I'll bear that in mind.