CycloneBot

[mikeyg]

Theres a new US heavyweight by the name of CycloneBot. Arguably the first melty-brain spinner. A titanium doughnut, it sits on the spot and is spun by its own wheels, yet has the ability to translate across the arena.

Theyre looking for new drive motors, and I suggested the LEM130s.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/THERFL/messages/?msg=653.1http://forums.delphiforums.com/THERF...ges/?msg=653.1

[pcbore]

CycloneBot

Arguably the first melty-brain spinner. A titanium doughnut, it sits on the spot and is spun by its own wheels, yet has the ability to translate across the arena.

...Like Y-Pout you mean?

[mikeyg]

CycloneBot

Y Pout has a tiny nav bot at the centre which aids the translational movmement, not to mention tilting wheels.

CycloneBot, on the other hand, actually has a whole in the middle, maximising the amount of weight towards the edges.

[fluppet]

CycloneBot

Cyclonebot doesnt have tilting wheels? Interesting. Various people suggested to me that trying to vary the wheel speed at any decent RPM wasnt viable (for very plausible reasons), so if this is being done - or if theres another method of locomotion which doesnt involve tilting the wheels (I guess you could rapidly inflate and deflate the tyres, but Im struggling for other mechanisms) - Im curious how it works.

As to the navbot, Ive suggested before that mounting a gyro on a counterrotating platform would mean less weight in the centre than a navbot (and its invertable), but Im interested in how to do this without anything central at all. (Maybe gyros can cope with the difference between 700rpm and 701rpm? I dont know enough about them.)

Sounds like an interesting machine. Id be interested to read more about it. For the record: as a lesson in mechanical techniques, not to clone it - spinners arent my thing. :-)

Itll also be interesting to know whether they can avoid the traditional Y-Pout/Why Not problems of wrecking their batteries as soon as they hit something. I maintain that the first battery manufacturer who comes up with something with enough internal bracing to cope with robotic combat is going to have a greedy market!

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Fluppet