Help with choosing parts for a first robot, please.

[Garfie489]

This is Utopia, everything was done with a sharp knife. I found the best way is to cut a sheet deliberately to big, then just trim it down with the knife.

Any bolt holes just put a compass through them, then cut the excess. Only thing its not great at is going round corners, and going over bumps.

Overall came out quite nicely i think

[dotDominic]

@Garfie489 Cool, thanks! Stickers it is, then!

@harry hills

Thanks, I'll try to hunt down some sort of hobby shop round here.

Also, yeah, these drills have easily been the biggest problem for me so far - particularly due to this damned torx screw. Despite being all the same model of drill, the drills all have slightly different plastic casings/labels and have several scuffs and dirt marks. One didn't even have the drill bit which is meant to be included. If I were wanting to use these as 'new condition' drills I'd be rather unimpressed! I'm just hoping the motors inside them are all the same.

[harry hills]

Take the assembly in to a shop, use screwdriver, put it back in packet and go home

If I had £1 for every time someone did this where I work I'd be rich enough not to work there.

Also good luck with the black and decker boxes. I have a set and don't like them much. They are a fair ways different to "normal" drills. Keep the reverse thread screws safe as they are not m5, they are reverse 10-32 I think.

[Garfie489]

Paint can't be applied, but stickers work fine.

Look at either Utopia Mk2 or Defector Mk2. The red, blue and white is entirely black HDPE covered in sticker

[dotDominic]

Right, I'll see what I can do. Thanks very much for your quick responses!

Also, this totally unrelated to the screwdriver issue, but I just wanted to ask can stickers or paint be applied to HDPE? Or do they just slide off?

[Garfie489]

Ah Yeh, that's occasionally a problem. Same thing sometimes happens in enclosed spaces (hence I also have a 90 degree one).

You'd probably need a special screwdriver just for that use then. Unless anyone else has ideas, either buy one or go down to a hobby ship and ask to borrow it for a one off thing (individual screwdrivers shouldn't even cosy you a pound though).

Just find a little handyman shop or hobby ship and you should be able to get the individual item and be able to test it.

[Niels - Team K.a.L.M.]

Perhaps a little strange, but... take the damn thing to the DIY store and find a decent fitting screwdriver.
Do pay for it though, you'll want to have it at home and not to visit the store each time it needs refastening.

[dotDominic]

Sorry, I've just edited that last post with a photo of the problem.
Thanks.

[Garfie489]

Is it the attachment which is to big to get in the hole, or the pole of the screwdriver which is to big to fit inside to unscrew?

[dotDominic]

Ok, so I'm just about to unscrew the reverse threaded screw in the chuck of this drill, but annoyingly the torx attachment for the screwdriver I've just bought is too chunky to fit in the drill! Does any one have any ideas on getting at the reverse thread screw or am I going to need to buy another screwdriver?
Thanks.

REALLY ANNOYING SCREWDRIVER!.jpg

[dotDominic]

Superb, thanks very much! I was very worried about having to hack ESCs on my own, so that's a huge relief!

Ah, ok. I understand now. Thanks for the explanation! Might be something to play around with when I'm a bit more experienced but for the time being I'll stick with the more tradition method of control. Thanks for your responses!

[Garfie489]

I believe that problem was on the V1s, the V2s i have dont seem to have the same problem.

Also that control type is tank steering effectively. its really hard to be accurate using that system. For example, if you want to go straight down a line, you need to accelerate both sticks at the same rate, and hold them both fully up.

Theres then an added problem of adding a weapon control which is why many use one stick. And also in order to drive that way you need to do the mixing yourself in your head, often itll lead to a very binary and inaccurate form of driving style. My using the mixing included in the transmitter, its just one less thing to think about whilst driving.

Its certainly doable, but its likely to cause more problems than it fixes. You could certainly try learning that way, but its less of a headache to not do it - the driving comes more naturally

[dotDominic]

Cool, thanks very much! Right now I'm not looking for any really fast charging, just something that works.

Also, just read this thread regarding mixing issues with DX6is and BotBitz ESCs. I imagine everyone on here has already read it, but here it is anyway: http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/thre...-spektrum-dx6i Not really convinced I'm up to the task of hacking these, particularly when I've never soldered any before. (Not comfortable thinking that one of the first things I try soldering on is an ESC worth £44...) So I'm thinking I might buy a cheaper transmitter which doesn't have this problem. (Or isn't as affected by it.)

But it just made me wonder why people don't control their robots like this, rather than using one control stick:
Dominic's Pretty Naff Diagram.jpg


I imagine this type of control has a name, but I've no idea what it is. I just would've thought that would stop that dead zone in the corners of the control as discussed in the above thread. But since I haven't heard of anyone using it (and that I'm a total newbie to this sort of thing), I'm guessing there is some major problem with trying to control a robot in this way?
Sorry about all these questions.

[Garfie489]

Ill admit with my experience of it, its not exactly high power. But as long as its got a decent mains supply i havent had any problems with it.

Just dont expect to put a high amps through it in order to get a quick charge. Balance charge every time, and give the batteries some respect and it shouldnt struggle.

[dotDominic]

@Garfie489
Thanks very much. I saw that one, but wasn't sure if it would do the job. (The reviews of it are hardly detailed...) Thanks!