Well better the testing happen now than at the nats when it counts.

Plenty of spares is good to see. Any ideas what was up with that battery? Just dud one or flat when you started?
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

The real question here is: what made you change from "SHINY 400" to "400 SHINY"?

The public wants to know!
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Online store - www.ranglebox.com
Pulsar and friends.

Definitely my mistake in using a flat battery and packing the charged ones up as spares
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

@ Ellis: Its brainfart day, remember? Actually, I made some up a few days ago and labelled them differently to the ones I did today; once the belts are marked, no amount of solvent will shift the marker pen.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Progress:

I mostly worked on the new charging station and unlike yesterday, nothing went wrong. While I was waiting for the paint to dry I knocked up these drill motor hubs for Andrew:





Colson wheels usually have big variations in their bore diameter so I made the hubs .2 mm oversize, then knurled them for extra grip and coated them in epoxy before pressing the hubs in. Just as well as two hubs were much easier to press in.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

You are the man. Thanks heaps, havnt had a chance to check measurements as I've been at work since 10.

I owe you beer or dinner or something at nationals
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Andrew Welch, Team Unconventional Robotics

Don't worry about the measurements, the wheels were so wide that I added extra thread so that any drill should fit.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Hammertone Happiness:

If its not already a thing, I'm inventing Paint Porn . The new charging station is almost finished and the blue hammertone paint really adds some bling:





The chargers will take up to four 7S batteries and charge them at up to 20A. Under the deck there is a 24V, 80A PSU to feed the chargers. The fan at the left has a huge flow rate and will blow some cooling air around the packs as they charge.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Holy shmolly, what a thread!

that looks epic Nick i like the fireproof battery sitting area …. and let me guess ….genuine pelican case to ?
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Miles Blow - Julie Pitts
www.mulesfilm.com.au
www.wombokforest.com.au

-Pickasso- Vivid Sportsman champion 2015

Yes, its a total waste of a good Pelican case. I bought it to be an indestructible carry-on case for holiday flights; the problem is that now airlines are weighing carry-on bags, the case weighs so much that I can't put much in it.

The case is just tall enough that it will close with all the battery leads and balancers still plugged in, so it is super quick to set up. The batteries I am using will charge at 8C, which works out at 34 amps , so the chargers will get to use their full 20 amp capacity without straining the packs.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Progress:

Perhaps the biggest job this week was welding Andrew's new version of Warning and fitting the new wedge. The wedge has massive rubber shock absorbers and was able to lift and push Mr Mangle with ease - Warning could easily get a 2nd badge on the trophy this year.

As my bots are mostly ready to pack, I am busy making spares and testing. The new charger is complete and the fan blows plenty of cooling air around the packs, can't wait to run a battery down so I can try charging it at 20 amps.

After the latest workshop session, I went to make a sandwich and found an unexpected guest also looking for a snack:



This blue tongue lizard is still young but put up quite a fight before I grabbed him and took him back outside - no way am I sharing my peanut butter sandwich!
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

'Straya
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Online store - www.ranglebox.com
Pulsar and friends.

And I live in the heart of suburbia; imaging what its like out in the actual bush.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Must be endemic to robot sheds, there's one about that size in Russell's shed too, called Larry
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Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets