Team Kaizen Build Diary

[Redirect Left]

The capacitor is a 63V 2200uF version (CD11X). Luckily, Cytron (the maker of the ESCs) stock all these parts separately so I believe it is one of these: https://www.cytron.io/c-electrolytic...gory.discovery

This is what I love about Cytron, they sell the individual parts to fix things at decent prices.
Once you've removed the other capacitor, i'd test it when possible just to see if it is in working order, always good to have spares if alive instead of binning things i find.

[Ocracoke]

I don't plan on binning this, I need it for a rebuild of Kaizen later on this year. Just the timing of it all meant I had to get a new ESC entirely for Jibril.

[Ocracoke]

Jibril
The replacement ESC has arrived. Installed that and now the robot now moves. I say "moves", "hops" might be a better descriptor. The whole being catapulted into the ceiling thing has bent the driveshafts. It'll go into the arena but... yeeeaaahhh. If I get time over the week, I'll get the shafts out and put them in a vice to straighten them. Hardened steel shafts are on order.

Also on order is the parts for a two stage gearbox for the Scythe, upping the ratio from 4.5:1 to 15.75:1. It might actually be able to actually cause damage now. Oh, at the Scythe head is now pink as well. :P

Azriel
The chassis parts are finally on order! Once they are on the robot, actually finishing it will be fairly simple as lots of parts are scavenged from Kaizen. The axe mechanism will remain the same but I'll be fashioning a new axe for it. I must confess, the drive motors are smelling... pretty awful. Kaizen had a very unhealthy habit of making 775 motors explode and these smell burnt.

[McMullet]

...the Scythe head is now pink as well. :P

I feel this merits a photo!

Sounds like good progress, though the bent driveshafts are annoying...

[Ocracoke]

The bent driveshafts... probably a design flaw. They are only 10mm wide. A refit of Jibril will make them 12mm hardened steel but I might get away with 10mm hardened steel. Doesn't help they are longer than is required as well.

A picture! There are still a few bits I need to tidy up.

20190604_133350.jpg

The parts for the two stage box won't be here until the 12th so 10 days to get it built before RL Grantham, which I am doing both days at.

[team death]

Hi Lucy
I think the 10 mm driveshaft are far too lightweight in a middleweight especially when your in the arena
against heavyweights, I use 22 mm over 6 inch length in Mean Machine and seriously worry about them getting bent.

Glad to hear you might get to Grantham it means I might get a win against at least one Robot -only kidding .

[Ocracoke]

Hi Colin,

I think the 10 mm driveshaft are far too lightweight in a middleweight especially when your in the arena
against heavyweights, I use 22 mm over 6 inch length in Mean Machine and seriously worry about them getting bent.

I know why I went for 10mm, it was the biggest HSS drill bit I had at the time and it allowed me to align everything nice and neatly. After EXR Bolton, I might ditch doing a rebuild of Kaizen to refit Jibril with gripper wheels and get some more space inside the robot. However, the bending, as I say, is likely also down to the fact they are quite long for what they are and so there is more to bend as it isn't supported by anything.

I guess it comes down to how supported they are. Even as silver steel as they are, they might have been OK if they had been cut to length. Lessons learnt.

Glad to hear you might get to Grantham it means I might get a win against at least one Robot -only kidding .

Hahahaha, it would be good to fight Mean Machine. RL Grantham is my anniversary event, second full year back into this so we'll have to see if we can get a whiteboard organised to make this happen.

[Ocracoke]

Jibril
I've tested the rebuilt axe mechanism and it's... fine... for now. It really will be better on the two stage gearbox as at the moment, it is a little "undertorqued" but then again, the high gearing would have suggested that. No idea what amperage the Ampflow is pulling to move it. It does move as well so in theory, with a improvised bump stop, it'll go and happily fight in the arena again.

Azriel
The HDPE arrived for making the chassis with! I'll be marking and cutting this out after EXR Guildford with a view of getting it to EXR Bolton so someone from my family can have a go at roboteering for once. Wherever it actually goes to a competition (read: The FW championship) is up in the air at the moment given most of my energy is in the Middleweight class and running BotFest at the moment.

[McMullet]

The pink scythe looks suitably intimidating. Keep up the good work!

[Ocracoke]

Hahhaa, will do. I've been wavering about going to EXR Guildford, RL Grantham and EXR Bolton but I think I'll be able to. If Jibil's refit with the new gearbox doesn't take too long (I should have it ready by RL Grantham), I'll see about getting Azriel ready for EXR Bolton. Who knows, I might even get to RoboDojo with the pair.

After EXR Bolton, I need to get the BotFest arena rebuilt for September and a new Antweight built to replace Ikari. TBH, I have all the parts here for that, just needs a new body. The arena is going to be a bit more involved than the last one but shouldn't actually take that long to build. After that, its the MW championships at EXR Cheltenham.

[Scarrosaki]

Sounds good, hopefully Jibril will soon be fighting fit and gremlin-free.

if you need any help with publicising the next BotFest event on the various social medias etc let me know btw, would be happy to help out in whatever way I can

[Ocracoke]

if you need any help with publicising the next BotFest event on the various social medias etc let me know btw, would be happy to help out in whatever way I can

Oooh, I'll hold you to that one :P I know Luke (Bad Wolf on here) does do advertising for BotFest as well.

Sounds good, hopefully Jibril will soon be fighting fit and gremlin-free.

Hopefully. It'll run this Saturday come what may but for RL Grantham, it really does need some improving.

[James Williams]

After EXR Bolton, I need to get the BotFest arena rebuilt for September.

Sorry about your floor! Looking forward to the new one. Is the floor going to be all one piece this time?

[Ocracoke]

Yes, the new floor is going to be a one piece affair. Looking at 900mm squared 6mm polycarbonate at the moment, still not finalised the design just yet.

EXR Guilford 2019
So Jibril went to EXR Guildford. I had very little to do before the event started so I ended up drifting around the pits, chatting to new MW competitors in Jackpot mostly. Otherwise, with my batteries charged and Scythe ready, I was pretty ready as I'll ever be.

Prior to the first fight however, Jibril embarrassed itself by running into the side of the door frame into the arena and I distinctly remembering the announcers calling this out. This was quite embarrassing and threw me off. The fight itself was pretty dire from my perspective as well. Once again, the robot struggled for grip and then the U bolts for the motors caught on the floor, which meant Backflip could get in underneath and, for a first in my robotics career, threw me out of the arena.

The damage wasn't terrible but the axe shaft bent again. By this time, having been up since 4am, I was tired and hungry so getting it sorted was an absolute faff. The weight of the axe made this even more difficult but eventually, a new shaft went in the robot reassembled... only to find the ESC had once again failed. I am going to build a custom controller for this.

Anyway, with the axe reassembled, the robot went into the second MW melee of the day. This was even more brief than the first melee for me but for a brief moment, the robot found grip and charged at what looks like full power into the wall before being flipped up and eventually pitted.

I am going to be building the two stage box when they arrive but I also need to see if the ESC is salvageable. I also need to cut off the threads on the U bolts and add neoprene to the wheels to see if that can help. Also, the front fixed castors has buckled so they'll want replacing with perhaps some Oilon feet for slipperiness. I do have to say, Jibril is the most frustrating robot I've worked on. It has all the potential to be an excellent robot but it is just been one headache after another.

If I can find the time, I'll see about putting Azriel together as well for RL Grantham as well.

[McMullet]

Getting up at 4AM... I admire your dedication to the cause! I think I could manage staying up until 4AM.

Sounds like a bit of a frustrating day. Any idea why the ESC keeps konking out? Is it getting bashed during the fights or is the motor drawing too much juice? I guess the increased ratio might help if it's the latter, since the motor will get to spin up faster?