Newbie

[Wilko9876]

Hi all, new to this and the site. So me and my son have decided we are going to build a battle robot. More for him obviously haha. So would appreciate any help, tips our know how's. First dilemma is I have numerous cordless drills, x2 electric mobility scooters and a kids ride on electric car. My question is which would be best to strip down and use parts from. My son has decided he wants a spinning weapon.

[maddox10]

Light and middleweights are rare in in the UK.
In Russia we have seen 3 middleweights, that's about it.

For a starter machine, using the batterydrills for a featherweight is a nicer solution than to go on with the mobilityscooter drives in a middleweight.

[R9000]

Interestingly, from my experience, those kids ride-on vehicles tend to contain what look like drill motors, geared down with a plastic gearbox. I took apart an electric ride-on 'motorbike' from when I was a kid, and that had two motors, run at 24v from two lead-acid batteries. Admittedly that'd be from about 15 years ago now, but I wouldn't have expected the design to change much. Whether they're drill motors just over-volted, or actually 24v motors, I don't know.

[Wilko9876]

Ok so I've decided to use x2 550 12v drill motors. But does this mean need X1 12v battery, x2 12v or X1 24v battery. Don't get electrical stuff haha thanks

[maddox10]

2 Drills in a middle or light. Poor drills.

[Shakey]

I really wouldn't rate the chances of a 550 drill surviving in anything above feather to be honest.

Also Lightweights and Middleweights as a weight class are dead in the UK.

[overkill]

Ok so I've decided to use x2 550 12v drill motors. But does this mean need X1 12v battery, x2 12v or X1 24v battery. Don't get electrical stuff haha thanks

That will need one 12V battery but as Mario said, the drills a totally not up to driving more than featherweights.

[Eventorizon]

1 Large 12V battery would suffice. Most robots today use LiPo batteries so you would want a 3S (3 Cell) battery with a capacity of ~3000mAh. If you don't like LiPo's, or don't feel comfortable with them yet then a standard 12V NiMH pack would do. they are very heavy compared to LiPo's but don't require specialist chargers and are generally safer than LiPo's.

To control the motors you will need a pair of speed controllers. Hacked TZ85A are all the rage right now and will last you several robots if you treat them right.

Side note - If you put the motors on 24V you would burn them out, which would be bad. Teams do occasionally 'Over Volt' their motors to get more power but by no more than 50% (unless you are feeling very brave). But there would be nothing stopping you from having lots of 12V batteries wired in parallel to make your robot drive for longer.

[Wilko9876]

My apologies just realised I have posted in wrong section we are building a feather weight. But thanks for the replies all