I'm Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

[kevin]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

I plan to use an electric window actuator from a car as the flipper. How fast would it work with a 12kg robot on top of it?

[julian]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

Slow. It would be a lifter rather than a flipper. If its not gas or spring, I cant see anything being a flipper.

[kevin]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

Not even if I over-juice the electric actuator?

[julian]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

A CO2 flipper pops in a fraction of a second. An electric motor system will never manage that. If it did, no one would use CO2 for all the trouble it is.

Crank back a spring with an electric actuator and that is a different matter.

[storm]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

Storm II manages about 30ms for full stroke from down to up, and even thats not true flipper territory.

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

[kevin]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

I thought the electric actuator was a good idea. I didnt expect it to be fast, but reliable and guarentees flipping the other robot on its side/back.

The Co2 flipper is too costly and confusing for me, but then Im stupid compared to you.

[storm]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

Kevin, Storm II is an electric system rather than CO2 - and we chose it for all the reasons youve just stated, that and you dont run out of gas

Also, dont make assumptions youre stupid in comparison to people. Im the person who put my robot in the arena without screwing the bottom on, drive forward and the insides fell out !

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

[kevin]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

How does your electric system work? Could I make a smaller version of it work in my feather?

I consider myself such a newbie. I dont know how to build anything or wire anything together. Im good with making models.

[ewan]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

http://www.teamstorm.com/heavies/storm2/series7/weaparmour/armagain.gifhttp://www.teamstorm.com/heavies/sto...r/armagain.gif

Thats a pic of the insides of Eds lifter. Anyone could make one somewhat similar scaled down for a featherweight (the 1hp astro motors being a great alternative to the mini-mag used in storm II for the lifter, in featherweights) but the big issue is cost and required skills and time. Storm IIs lifter is incredibly simple in principle but it is made to the highest standards by the looks of it. Ok, your on a low budget so youll probably not be able to get your hands on some of the more exotic motors around.

One of the most promising systems to be used with an electric motor is a four bar lifter (as used in Storm II and Biohazard). With the right gearing and geometry of the four bars, an everyday cheap cordless drill motor could be used to turn over most featherweight machines. Ok, you wont be able to toss another feather into the air but if you put your mind to it Im sure you could come up with a cheap yet effective solution.

[kevin]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

A very interesting solution. I will seriously consider it. But is there a way to use a drill motor and the gears to power the flipper I was originally planning to use?

I like your idea and solution.

How fast can a two 12V drill motors push a 12kg featherweight?

[typhoon_driver]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

depends on how much the other feather is pushing back, how much friction each robot has on the ground etc

i think if u are looking a serious spinner, u really would have to go for 4 drills or at least 2 drills on 4wd.

[kevin]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

Wouldnt 4 drill motors suck the power from the battery faster?

How many batteries in the robot should I use?

[leorcc]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

They might draw more current. But that is by no means certain. it al depends on gearing and the type of drill motor you have. and wether youre tansmission system is aligned properly and so on. The less work a motor has to do, the less current it will draw.

The amount of batteries also depend on what type you use, how many amps/hour and so on.

[typhoon_driver]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

i can tell u from personnal experience that 2 of the batteries that come from the cordless drills can run 4 drill motors for 10minutes before becoming sluggish.

We used two drills for drive and two to spin a heavy disc in our lightweight typhoon robots and they could easily last a 5 minute battle.

Some people dont like the batteries and that is fair, they arent the best. But to be honest they come with the drill so you might aswell use them at least at first!

[kevin]

Im Thinking Of Building A Feather, And Need Some Advice

Which kind of battery is better, Ni-Cds or SLAs?

Would you connect the batteries to the motors or to the speed controllers?