First robot build - Trident (FW) Need help plz

[Doodle2411]

Hi
So, I'm new to this robot building thing, but have been a big fan of the sport for almost 12 years. So me and some friends have decided to build a robot.

We wanted it to be a featherweight to lower cost as we have little money, I am patient to wait to build it, but don't want it to become a forgotten project.

We all wanted a flipping robot with 2 wheels, I added to this by saying make the flipper have 3 spikes, the idea is that the robot has 3 spikes, 2 that go up and one that goes down, this design is similar to the way Malestrom's flippers work if you have ever seen it in action.

The dimensions are
Height: 15cm
Length: 35cm without weapon: 50cm with weapon
Width:25cm

Our shopping list so far goes as follows
2x Bosch 18v Cordless NiCd drill
2x Colson Performa flat tred grey 6 inches
And 3mm aluminium

I don't know what speed controllers, transmitter, reciver to use so plz comment if you can help me build this robot and tell me what I'm doing wrong and what I'm missing

Your support is appreciated
Many thanks
Doodle

[Eventorizon]

Welcome to the Forum guys!

First off, I strongly recommend going and reading several of the threads in the Build Diary section of the Forum. Everything you just asked is in that area and has been covered by pretty much everyone; you will learn a lot more reading it for yourself than us just giving you the answers.

If you read up on all the info and still have questions then that's not a problem.

I will give you a starting point for some of the items, but I won't tell you what they do so you will have to work that out for yourselves, but its pretty easy. Some are things you will need, others are commonly used items, and some are other items you will need to charge/maintain the robot...

DX6i - TZ85A - Orange R615X - 10mm HDPE - Barrel Nuts - Turnigy Nano-Tech - Accucel 6 - 31A power Cable

... good luck!

[mrsam]

Welcome to the Forum!

I agree completely with Alex, have a good read through the build threads before you start anything and familiarize yourself with the do's and don'ts and see how other builders have done it.

Most newcomers tend to go for basic pushy bricks so kudos for deciding on an active weapon, not entirely sure from you description what you mean so i'll be interested to see how it works.

In terms of the actual robot, will it be for full combat? i.e spinners, or is it just for the non spinner events. The reason i ask is this will dramatically change how you need to construct the robot and how well to armour it. If it's the latter you can get away with 10-15mm hdpe with barrel nuts and it will last as long as you need it to providing you build it well, for full combat you really want to aim for 15mm minimum, my robot this year was all 20mm hdpe and although it now looks a bit torn up it hasn't taken any damage that would mean i have to rebuild it. You'll notice that me an Alex both suggested barrel nuts, they are the best way IMO of joining plastics together and make a very strong join that will survive most spinner impacts.

Have a look around, ask as many questions as you can and i look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[Doodle2411]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, and if you were wondering Mrsam, this what I have in mind for the weapon so there are 3 spikes as I have mentioned, as I activate the weapon 2 of the spikes go up and the other goes down, this would be effective on most robots such as Wedges, axes and flippers as it does both damage and aggression to the robot on the receiving end. If the Robot is flipped, then the robot is invertible, meaning we wouldn't have to waste Co2 to self right, instead the weapon would be opposite, so 1goes up whereas 2 go down, this particular way would be most effective against spinners with flywheels, as it could get underneath it. The 2 biggest concerns for us is if the armour would be strong enough to withstand the force of the impact, particularly at the front if a robot gets wedged in between the spikes, and 2 would be Drum robots, as they do a lot of damage very quickly and are almost impossible to flip and out maneuver, plus can break weapons, armour and electrics quickly, so what we want is to have 3 strong spikes and armour that can take repeating hits whilst still being light.

As for how the weapon would work watch this video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ISrRSv0tfrM
More specifically, watch from 18:48 to the end of the battle (maelstrom the one with 2 flippers)

Finally, this particular robot will go to 2 main live shows: Robot wars and Robo Challenge, we are most excited to fight if we ever get the chance; beauty 2 & 8, Predator, Drumroll 2 and hatchet ;- ) (mrsam)

Thanks for the support
Many thanks
Doodle

[Doodle2411]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, and if you were wondering Mrsam, this what I have in mind for the weapon so there are 3 spikes as I have mentioned, as I activate the weapon 2 of the spikes go up and the other goes down, this would be effective on most robots such as Wedges, axes and flippers as it does both damage and aggression to the robot on the receiving end. If the Robot is flipped, then the robot is invertible, meaning we wouldn't have to waste Co2 to self right, instead the weapon would be opposite, so 1goes up whereas 2 go down, this particular way would be most effective against spinners with flywheels, as it could get underneath it. The 2 biggest concerns for us is if the armour would be strong enough to withstand the force of the impact, particularly at the front if a robot gets wedged in between the spikes, and 2 would be Drum robots, as they do a lot of damage very quickly and are almost impossible to flip and out maneuver, plus can break weapons, armour and electrics quickly, so what we want is to have 3 strong spikes and armour that can take repeating hits whilst still being light.

As for how the weapon would work watch this videohttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ISrRSv0tfrM
More specifically, watch from 18:48 to the end of the battle (maelstrom the one with 2 flippers)

Thanks for the support
Many thanks
Doodle

[Doodle2411]

It is amazing what people put on the Internet, I was browsing around yesterday for a spiked flipper weapon and found this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QygEvvASx4c
This was just what we needed for our robot, and it can be scaled up, the only problem is getting the right parts, especially the springs, if they are too small or too large then the entire weapon could break, plus we need to fit 3 of them in, angle all of them correctly, add the speed controllers then finally code it to a specific button or switch. I'm currently making a cardboard model to the exact size (resistant Materials really pays off) from our sketches, then finally make a CAD design and get too work.

Thanks for the support
Many thanks
Doodle

[Ellis]

You have discovered Dale Heatherington's channel. His robot-related website is: http://www.wa4dsy.com/robot/home

Fantastic resource, I'd say he has lead the way in designing and building various exotic weapon types.

[Doodle2411]

So I just wanted to clarify a few things for Trident.

First: someone suggested to me that we use a 12V drill innstead of a 18V drill, I don't know how or why this would be a good idea, so were stuck between a hard place and the Rock on what to use, if anyone out there would like to tell me what to go for, that would be superb.

Second: We don't know what we should use to power our weapons, we have chosen 3 options: Springs, Co2 and batterries, all of them have their advantages and disadvantages, but, what is the best?

Third: We don't know if we could make the weapons interchangeable for certain times and needs or to just keep the 1 set and change them when they are damaged, if anyone can tell us what the best waay to go, we would thank you.

Finally: We don't know if our robot would be large enough to fit everything in, we want to be able to flip the house robots Oll-E and Matilda and have the capability with 3 spikes sharing the weight, but the big problem is space, we don't want it to be too large but not to be too small, my cardboard model didn't work out as I planned as I don't know the relevant dimensions for anything apart from the body, so if anyone could give me the max height length and width a fetherweight could be, would be superb.

Thanks for the support
Many thanks
Doodle

[Flag Captured]

If you're looking for cheap, from what I recall 12V drills will be the way to go - the cheap brand ones are mostly 12V-ers I think. I'm sure other people will be able to offer advice too, but I'd say to go with whatever voltage your weapon system uses if possible, makes things a lot simpler if you have a single battery.

Second question, what do you mean by 'best'? It depends on your skill level, if you're not fully clued up on pneumatics I'd not jump straight in with those. Not entirely sure about springs still, but would be an interesting one if it worked well scaled up... A lifter wouldn't be too difficult and would work nicely for a first machine, if you wanted to go the linear actuator route. Weapons can be interchangeable too, I suppose you could make several lifting arms or what have you and swap those out as needed, one with spikes and then another with a bulldozer scoop, then maybe one with just a large spike - that sort of thing

Featherweights come in all sizes too:


These are both featherweights but Tormenta 2 looks absolutely giant compared to Hardwired 2. What size is your model so far? I'm not sure what a 'typical' lifter/flipper type robot is (they're usually a tad bigger than others) but Hardwired 2 is about 300x400x50(80 if you include wheels) from what I remember so as long as it's bigger than that I'd imagine you're on the right track haha.

[Doodle2411]

Thanks for the help matt,

We shall take the interchangeable weapons idea and make a couple of designs, but we don't know what voltage the weapon would be.

Our current dimensions are
Height: 15cm
Length without weapons: 35cm
Length with weapons: 50cm
Width: 25cm

We also want the robot to weigh about 10th without the weapons and 13kg with our traditional 3 spikes, this is so if we have interchangeable weapons, then we would have to make the weight of the weapon 2-3kg.

What I mean when I say best is what would be best to throw featherweights and if possible house robots mentioned in the previous post, but we want it to be powerful an fast to load and reload (possibly a 2 second window), we want our robot to be what Diotor was to heavyweights, to put on a good show, only without the fur and eyes.

As we don't know what voltage the weapon would be, we are still stuck as to what we should use. Weather an 12V or an 18v, as I said to the team "we want our robot to be cheap and be destroyed rather than be expensive and find it not work on the day.

If anyone else would like to make suggestions as to what we should use and what interchangeable weapons you would like to see, your support is always notified.

Thanks for the support
Many thanks
Doodle

[Doodle2411]

So, yeah...
One of our members left the team, so that is 4 of us left.
So for that person and other roboteers in the forums I'm going to say these 3 things.
1. Even though all of our work has been posted under my username, I Consider it to be a team forum poster, I'm just the person who posts it.
2. Any future robots we planned, will be shared, meaning we all build one robot, 1 ant (siren), 2 beetles (unnamed) and 1 feather (trident). The heavy (posiden) will be built later on once we have the money.
3. Even though people have different opinions about things, doesn't mean we will always go with your ideas and suggestions, sure it may have a fault on the first match but the whole process is trial and succeed.

Other than that, if anyone has any idea what weapon type (pneumatic, springer or batteries) would be best to flip all featherweights and if possible the house robots and if you have any ideas for the interchangeable weapons, please reply

Thanks for the support
Many thanks
Doodle
Team Aqua (temporary name)

[Flag Captured]

I'd imagine robots like Beauty could flip the house robots, I think it's just a matter of courtesy towards John that they don't flip them. I saw Matilda flipped in one of the DVDs RR used to sell and I can imagine it getting rather expensive and annoying for John if his house robots kept getting broken, especially with the new shell he made for Matilda. Perhaps someone more experienced can correct me if I'm wrong on that, this is just my best conjecture on the subject.

Tell that to OLL-E...

[Doodle2411]

Thanks for the suggestions guys,
Sorry I haven't been active recently, it's just been a hectic month for me so far.
So we originally liked the idea of having a springed flipper robot as it would be unique, because it is so unique however, the reason not many people use it is because it is complicated, so we kind of like the idea of lifters. I'll try to see if I can dig up some videos from the Internet. As our spring idea is out of the picture for the moment, we will try and Base our lifting mechanism around Richie as it is the only FW I know to use it (sorry if you feel like we are stealing your design, it is only for the mechanism, not the entire robot.)

As we have previously discussed, the robot will be a FW,
other future robots will be announced when they are being built, until then, our main focus is Trident.

I can understand why John would be annoyed at robots flipping matilda's, but since OLL-E is the new house robot, we feel like that would be a good target to entertain.

Remember to post what kind of interchangeable weapons you would like to see in competitions

Thanks for the support
Many thanks
Doodle
Team Aqua (temporary name)

[tweedermeister]

My feather also uses a similar mechanism, it uses a linear actuator directly linked to the lifting arm to power it, so it can lift a lot but isn't the fastest of things. If you want them I can get a few pictures of how it's attached inside the bot.

[Doodle2411]

Even though it is a good offer, I will have to refuse for 2 reasons.

1. The journey between us is too great and we don't plan on entering an arena or going to a live tour til the start of next year.

2. We really have no idea what motors we need to be able to lift a featherweight and if possible OLL-E, we want it to be light as well as small so we can fit it all in, so if anyone has any suggestions for 3 featherweight lifting mechanisms that are small, can lift about 40kg each and run on 12 volts, your support is appreciated.

If anyone also has any suggestions for any interchangeable weapons you would like to see, please reply.

Thanks for the support
Many thanks
Doodle