Jerry Can - Featherweight 1st Build

[Diddlydodger]

Day 1: I've been thinking of doing this for months, I've got some bits already. My plan is to split a 20 Liter Steel Jerry Can and robotize it (of course) with 2 motors and tank tracks. Mr Manuva, creator and owner of Bread Dead Redemption, is my main source of motivation and expertise. Since I have been locked out of work I've no longer got any excuses. let the build commence.

Parts list: I have the motors, from Aldi 20 volt drills, yet to be disassembled. I have a Spektrum DX5 but no receiver as yet, and the Jerry Can. Also got a decent work-space and lots of nuts and bolts etc.

I need an ESC, wheels to get me started and progress to tank tracks when I've got it all working. I need the materials to mount all the gear to, as a base. I'm hoping for inspiration as I go along, with a degree of flexibility in the design along the way.

A push bot is what I want to start with, in the Featherweight class, maxing out on the weight hopefully.

If anyone wants to offer any suggestions for a total beginner, please feel free to let me know.

Cheers

Rog

[Ocracoke]

Hey there, welcome to the forum!

I need an ESC, wheels to get me started and progress to tank tracks when I've got it all working. I need the materials to mount all the gear to, as a base. I'm hoping for inspiration as I go along, with a degree of flexibility in the design along the way.

So if you wanted a ESC, I could recommend trying out a pair of BotBitz controllers (https://ranglebox.com/shop/product/b...a-brushed-esc/ for example) as they are pretty reliable in my experience and can handle the nominal voltage of the drills you mention. Base, can't go wrong with something like a 10mm HDPE base panel. Easy to machine and work on.

I like the idea of a Jerry Can, very mechanical feel to it. What I should note is that, like Bread Dead Redemption, the metal is going to be fairly thin and I guess would easily buckle under the inertia of some of the robots on the scene. You probably want to wall around the bottom bit with some more HDPE (15mm maybe) so the main can itself isn't reachable.

Tracks are rare in the FW class, Aegis is the only one that springs to my mind of being a tracked robot (and I not sure if that is correct either). I might suggest basing it on a chain with some low shore rubber treads for extra traction. It'll definitely be unique on the scene.

[Diddlydodger]

Hi, thanks for the welcome and the recommendations. I'll check out the link. HDPE is a sound idea to bolster up my tin, i think it's only 16 gauge but there's a bit of ribbing to give it structural integrity. I'm thinking of a chain based track, I've got some old bike chain and sprockets, and I can weld, which may prove useful. I definitely want to do something different.

[McMullet]

Sounds great! Is going to be very distinctive to look at but you've also got a nice big box shape to fit everything in. Look forward to seeing it take shape! Do you have any concept sketches?

[team death]

I also like this idea and as I said to Andrew during his Bread dead toaster build-More like this please!

I found myself eyeing up a exhaust silencer box a few weeks back with the intention of turning it into a

featherweight but I'm now busy with a heavyweight rebuild as a priority.

Hope your concept comes to fruition Roger as so many never do.

[Diddlydodger]

Hi Sam, we sat down and brainstormed last night, Andy has given me some good ideas and he listened to some of mine too. We have done a couple of sketches with biro but nothing too technical. I'll do some better ones and post them up. You're right, i have got a lot of space to work with

[Diddlydodger]

Hi Colin. The exhaust silencer sounds like a great idea When we were kids we used to put 'Cherry Bombs' on our Mini's, a robot themed one of those would look cool. I'm committed to doing Jerry Can, we spent a small fortune on bits last night, hopefully they'll start to appear over the next few days, CV permitting.

[Mr Manuva27]

Given that the virus has limited the supply of parts we need, it's probably worth a quick update. As Rog mentioned in his first post, I'm assisting him in this build (Don't worry, we aren't breaking any social distancing rules. We live in the same house).

Over the course of the last week or so, Rog has cut the subject Jerry Can in half.

Before:

IMG-20200403-WA0001.jpg

After:

IMG-20200403-WA0003.jpg


From what I understand, the plan is to have the main chassis of the robot made from 12mm plywood (as it's what we have available) on the inside, then sandwich the Jerry Can around it as armour. The top bottom plywood panels would then act as reinforcement for the metal, while providing a stable and easily worked base to mount the electrics and bulkheads for the tracks.

Bottom half with plywood base:

IMG_20200404_135359.jpg


Bulkheads are 2x12mm plywood panels glued together:

IMG_20200404_160140.jpg


Now for where I come in. Tank tracks. The initial idea that Rog came up with was to use two bike chains and sprockets to fashion them, which seemed the most likely if we couldn't get anything straight off the shelf. Out of curiosity I had a look on Thingiverse to see if anyone had 3D printed something of the scale we needed. Turns out we were in luck!

IMG_20200329_195344.jpg IMG_20200329_195329.jpg IMG_20200407_080818.jpg

Somebody had designed a 3 inch snow track for a RC snowmobile, which is perfect for what we need. Downside is that it takes 2.5 hours to print one link.... and we need 40. That's not including cogs and spacers. I think I'm seeing tank tracks in my sleep at this point. We've been printing throughout the last week and we have enough for one side, which is what we will be using to test before we print the rest.

Material is PLA+, which isn't the most ideal material, but it's what we have the capability to print and we have lots of it lying around. To add grip, we are looking at using decorators sealant/silicone in to the track grooves. If that doesn't work, then screwing bike tyre in to the links will be the next plan.


Checking the length of the tracks:

IMG_20200404_130851.jpg


So that's where we are at currently. We took apart my old Aldi drill motors to make sure they work, but it appears that they have a 2-stage gearbox, which is much more awkward to design around. We're looking at replacing them with the 18V Mylek drills from Ebay, but the seller is currently away.

Another issue we are considering is that we still haven't decided on a weapon. Perhaps bodging a wedge or a push-plate on one side may be the easiest option, but we are open to ideas!

[Shooty]

I have to say, this is a really creative build, and I love the military aesthetic with the tank treads. I'm not sure how deadly of a weapon you'd like, but in keeping with the tank theme you could have a mine flail style weapon at the front, similar to how Ben from Team Panic did with his Xbot conversion build? Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7r6eIBQtHI

[team death]

This Jerry can design is brilliant and it's going to be a tracked featherweight which is not

an easy build, well done so far Roger and Andrew-can't wait to bash it with Danger UXB.

I have a notion that Robots built out of original objects like jerry cans /vacuum cleaners/Gas cylinders

toasters and light fittings ect should have but not be confined to a special tournament-maybe

Sportsman+ because the really are in the retro style of the original Robot Wars Robots.