Project Squirrel

[Outlaw]

Well, managed to get more cut out, got all the panels cut, and the side panels drilled and attached, with a hole on the back to access the links too. Just need to bend the sides back into shape because the radiator the HDPE stood next to heated it up, and I never realised it until I tried to bolt it together, so more than likely, I'm going to try and bend it a little more haha. BUT progress has been made!

[Outlaw]

Right half of the robot all bolted up, just need to do the left half, then vacuum it all out from the top, remount it all, solder the lights and motor, reattach the weapon and then a test drive. I don't think I'll be able to get a skidplate on unless someone jerry rigs me one on the day, but that's about it.

Also, thanks to my mom, I may only be able to attend one day of the event only... unless I can convince her that someone can take me from Sheffield to Manchester... though knowing her, I highly doubt it...

[Ocracoke]

I don't think I'll be able to get a skidplate on unless someone jerry rigs me one on the day

I have some offcuts of Aluminium treadplate that should suffice. I can adapt it on the day.

[Outlaw]

Well, due to my own incompetence in verbal communication, I won't be making it Saturday... BUT Sunday is a definite shout... if John allows me to join in on that day haha....

All that needs to be done now is soldering and that's IT. And maybe a little decoration...

EDIT: Yep, got confirmation of being able to join in on Sunday, so hopefully I'll see y'all in Manchester then.

[Ocracoke]

Awesome-sauce, see you tomorrow.

[Outlaw]

Well, insert long explicitives here...

despite 4 straight days of work, and a lot of pain in my body, I'm not going to be able to join in on the fun in Manchester...

But it gives me time to recover and improve on ol' Ratatoskr a little.

[Maxamuslead]

What the problems ? As we could be able to fix it at Manchester

[Outlaw]

Everything was misaligned. The front plates and the side plates were fighting for the same space, the bolts wouldn't go in straight and it all felt like a bodge job. Just wouldn't survive in the arena.

But I guess all is not lost, as I can just take my time for another event, and make sure everything's properly in place, easy to get on and easy to take off too, without destroying myself.

[Outlaw]

Okay so I guess I should do an update seeming as I've not done that in a while, haha.

So, the general consensus me and my friend is going at here, is that we're going to make Ratatoskr a little bigger. Which means redoing all of the HDPE... And although that's not the end of the world, it could be a lot better.

And we're going to go with rounded numbers, so to speak... so lengthwise, it's going to be 60 cm long, widthwise'll be 50 cm wide, and heightwise'll be 40 cm tall. Not only will that be much better to try and organise, I can also try to get it cut out by the people of DirectPlastics... if I contact them, considering it all haha. They don't do complex shapes, but if I just ask them to do the rectangular shapes, and I cut out the necessary angles out, then it'll be all hunky dory.

As for what's going to happen with the other pieces? Weeeeell, they're more than likely going to be reused for other projects. And the baseplate can be used as a testing bench, so to speak.

And now I have a working area outside too! Which means Ratatoskr's been moved into that space... which is all the way down the other end of the sodding garden haha. Oh well, least I have the space to work indoors now... as long as I don't get HDPE dust in my mom's dying equipment.

[Ocracoke]

If I may ask, why the size change? Seems to be a lot of effort down the drain.

[adamclark]

If you are getting HPDE to cut by DirectPlastics, or to supply cut pieces make sure you take into account that they can be 3-5mm tolerances (normally under). I managed to get a replacement piece the first time, but after consulting their cutting operator they've said they cant guarantee anything exact.

[Outlaw]

@Ocracoke Because, genuinely, things didn't really sit right with me...
ratatoskr_robot.jpg
Had to pull this from my facebook, but you can already see the problems. If not, I'll go through them all, haha. And if the pic's too small, here's the facebook post.

First off, the front panels. The side's only held on one bolt, which is a complete health hazard. Not only that, I was having to pull and push the panels into place, otherwise they would've been jockeying for the same space, and had I cut the particular piece out, theeeen things wouldn't fit anymore. And if I did make the front panels again, I'd have to use a heat gun to attempt to bend the piece properly, that way I won't end up having arguments with said panels.

Secondly, the front top panels. Same kind of problem with the front panels, having to pull and push it all around. Not only that, but a big blunder on my part forgot to put in some holes for a safety bar to slide through for the axe mechanism, and when I had designed the top piece to be swiveled around to access all the electrics and motors and such, I kiiinda forgot about the bar. Not purposefully, don't get me wrong, it was just a simple oversight.

Last but not least, the battery placement. I was never really a fan of the placement of my batteries with them being exposed, especially over all the mechanism stuff for the axe, and exposed LiPo's for me are a biiiig no no, but I had no other place for them to be able to go without shoehorning everything in. I would need to make a proper battery box out of some of the sheet steel I have.

@adamclark I know, don't worry. If anything, I'd give them measurements that'll allow them to have such tolerances haha. Oh and on an unrelated note, loved the HW 259.

[Ocracoke]

I can see why you might want to do this - undoubtedly will take a while though.

I made a bit of a boo-boo with Kaizen when I placed the drive motors too far forwards on the base plate and thus, the speed controller didn't fit. I ended up putting that in the space where the axe mechanism is and will put a layer of HDPE (and also protected by the polycarbonate shell as well) over it for protection. The axe mechanism would then need to be adjusted to be at 45 degrees when implemented so that everything fits and doesn't hit itself.

The alternative would have been to get new side and inner panels panels, probably a new base plate as well and move the motors back, redrill all the mounting holes and recut the inner panel grooves again.

[Outlaw]

So I've been figuring out how to go about this without spending a whole bunch of money, and I've got a couple of ideas.

1a; The battery placement. Which does mean I have to cut a large part of the left rib out, cover the hole that holds the base to the rib, but I can attempt to put more securing bolts into the back of the robot. So although it'll look... unwieldy at first, it's probably the best way to go.

1b; I can use some of the metal I was planning to use for a skidplate to make a battery box. My only problem is that I don't exactly have any welding equipment to get it all secured. And I'll have to prototype it all out. Once it's made, welded and able to be bolted down to the baseplate, I can probably "shockmount" it (by adding a couple of washers and a small piece of drilled HDPE block) underneath it and bolt it down, and cover the box itself in electrical tape, kinda mummify it and make sure that if it does come into contact with metal for whatever reason, it won't blow itself up. Just as a safety precaution more or less.

2a,b,c; Redesigning the front, top and side panels, which'll be split up into a,b and c respectively.

2a; The front panels in my thoughts have been the major problematic area for me, especially when I tried to rush it to get Ratatoskr to Manchester this year and ultimately failing to do so. So I thought "I'm going to redesign those three parts and I'm going to start off with the front." So, in order to do that, here's the major thought I'm putting into it... Wings... or rather, "Ears." They will be mounted first, and modified as needs be.

2b; The top panels I was alright with until I tried to start modifying them to get the front pieces in, now they just look a mess, so they're going to be redesigned so that when bolted on, they'll actually hold the front plate in, instead of just having one bolt holding which in my eyes is a big no-no.

2c; Same as the top panels, but this time, I'm going to shape them so that they will actually fit into the gap behind the front panel and between that, the top and the back panels, so those will be done last.

3; The weapon shape. I'm still wishing to go for the repeater axe, and I will get it done, mark my words- actually no, don't do that, because that's actually brought bad luck to me in the past. Anyway, as much as I love the weapon shape, I made it into more of a repeater "mace" by wrapping the chain that I was going to use to keep the axe connected to the bot around the head of the axe itself. Although it's not a bad idea, I'm wanting to use some of that chain for safety. I'm going to keep the chain around the head of the axe, but I'm still going to put the spike there as well, so that the chain can provide a little weight behind the entire thing.

4; Speaking of the axe, I may need to redo the longest part of the linkages because along the lines at some point, in a bit of a panic, I realised there wasn't any wiggle room, so to speak, so I tried doing it by hand, and instead of it going along a straight line, it went up and to the right. So that piece needs to be redone.

So my shopping list is surprisingly small, considering it all, just 2 more large pieces of HDPE (yes, I know, large and small, a bit contradictory), a lot of patience and a lot of sun cream, so I don't burn myself.

[Outlaw]

So me and my friend decided to head down to the shed that my robot now resides in, and surprise surprise, the dowel nuts may have the showings of rust. But that's to be expected when it's left in the shed for... well, a couple months whilst deciding what to do, especially when your friend was grounded (despite being older than me). Not only that, they're fairly cheap from Screwfix so not a huge problem. All the rest of it was still in good nick, so we're okay on that front.

ANYWAY, we removed the front panels and the top panels, and we discovered that the sidepanels aren't too bad. So if anything, we can trim them down a little and go from there.

Same goes with the left column, we can actually trim down a lot there, seeming as we're doing a slight rejigging with the position of the batteries. All we'd need to do is put the screw on the underside a little further forward so we still have it secured to the baseplate without worry.