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Fryddog's Ant weights - ARC - SA
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Fryddog



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 75
Location: Adelaide


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Awww shit! Thanks for the pics Steve!

Shrapnel performed pretty well last night. But as mentioned earlier, time to get back to the design phase. I've gotta shed about 15g from the chassis to fit a larger weapon bar and battery.
I need a new battery coz we did a few calculations on my brushless weapon motor versus the battery I was using. We determined that I'm pulling around 7A with everything running on Shrapnel and the battery can only put out a maximum of 3A (120mAh capacity x 25C discharge rate). This explained why the weapon seemed to decelerate within seconds of running up.
So if I can make these changes, Shrapnel should do pretty well next month!

On the other hand, Screw It didn't do so well in his first match. Part underweight on the nose, part not enough speed when spinning and part not quite used to driving this new bot.
So before next month's match, I gotta rebuild the chassis to fit everything in better and loose a little weight in the back, which I can then relocate to the nose.

Busy month ahead! Woo!

Post Mon May 16, 2016 12:16 am 
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Knightrous
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Joined: 15 Jun 2004
Posts: 8511
Location: NSW


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I highly recommend ditching the belt drive and mounting the weapon directly to the motor. It will reduce your robot size (saving weight) and/or allow a bigger weapon. My antweight spinner Scarlet ran at 110mm disc directly on the brushless motor and it survived quite a lot of punishment. To solve your battery issue, consider using a Turnigy Nanotech 180mAh pack. They have a high peak current rating, can take a lot of abuse and are only $5-6ea (last time I checked)
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Post Mon May 16, 2016 8:15 am 
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Fryddog



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 75
Location: Adelaide


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Thanks for the suggestions!
I'm definitely gonna try designing a version without the pulley system.
I've already ordered some 260mAh batteries which should do the job too. Only about 2g heavier than the 180's and should give me the extra juice I need!

Post Mon May 16, 2016 10:00 am 
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Fryddog



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 75
Location: Adelaide


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Got the 3D print of Shrapnel the third today! Thanks James2!

Was very surprised and so happy to find out it was exactly the 30g weight I wanted!
Now to make a weapon bar and give him a cool paint job...

Post Mon May 23, 2016 12:37 pm 
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Fryddog



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 75
Location: Adelaide


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So this is my latest version of Shrapnel. As you can see, I went with the direct drive for the weapon bar. I was also able to get it underweight for a change, 144 grams!

However this isn't without problems. During the first few test runs, I found that Shrapnel shook badly all over the place, so much so that some wires wiggled out and got damaged and one support column broke. (see the ARC facebook group for a video)
To fix all this I've just finished another version of Shrapnel with a few minor changes.
- I've added extra supports to the columns.
- I've added a securing point at the back to hold the top and bottom sections better.
- I've added a point to add a screw on the front underside of the bot for it to scrape on. This will make sure Shrapnel only has 3 points of contact at all times for better control.
- Plus a little tidying up on around the motor mounts to help shit fit better. Very Happy

I also still gotta make a new blade, which has to be as precise and balanced as possible. I'm think of perhaps sweet talking a fabricator into helping me...

Post Thu Jun 02, 2016 9:15 pm 
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evil_steve



Joined: 06 Sep 2015
Posts: 304
Location: Adelaide, SA


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Wow, that looks awesome! I'd offer my help balancing the blade ... but my track record isn't great with that sort of thing Very Happy

Post Thu Jun 02, 2016 9:19 pm 
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Fryddog



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 75
Location: Adelaide


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Build update!

Been pretty busy recently!

- Still ongoing with Shrapnel. I've got the new chassis now and I've successful recruited some tool maker help at work to make me the perfect weapon bar. Should have it in a day or two.

- Screw It version 2 is complete. It doesn't look too different aside from a nicer paint job, but I basically shed weight in the back so that I now have 35 odd grams of chassis and screws in the front now. Plus I added some fast 10:1 microgear motors instead of the 30:1's that I usually use. Very surprisingly, he is more controllable than I expected!

Here's a video of his construction. My first go at some time lapse filming. Very Happy

https://youtu.be/sDTWplzjdFc

Post Mon Jun 06, 2016 10:16 pm 
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Fryddog



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 75
Location: Adelaide


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All packed and ready for tomorrow!

In true running-shit-to-the-last-minute form this month, I just got Shrapnel ready and finished today!

Thanks to James2, I got the revised chassis pretty quickly and the only hold up was getting the new weapon bar. The new bar is nice and balanced and looks great! I got it made up by the tool makers at work, who are always helpful.

With the new bar in place the next challenge was to fit it all back together and wire it up.
First step; test the circuit. Not much luck. This time around, I wanted to control the weapon motor from the throttle stick on my Spectrum Aircraft Tx. For some reason that I still haven't figured out, the spectrum receiver won't put out a control signal from the throttle channel.

But that's future Chris's problem to figure out... right now I need a working bot!

Luckily, I had an Orange R415X Micro Receiver in my parts drawer (bought it on a whim months ago) and after finding some Micron connectors to plug into it, I was in business! Another happy accident, swapping out the receivers put me 2 grams underweight!
Unfortunately, Shrapnel still vibrates a bit when the motor gets up to those higher speeds. I will overcome this by finding the sweet spot on the throttle stick at the start of the match and then just use the throttle cut button to stop the motor when I need to. This way I don't accidentally go flat-chat with the motor in the heat of battle.

Now to see how he performs at tomorrow's ARC fight night...

Post Fri Jun 10, 2016 6:04 pm 
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evil_steve



Joined: 06 Sep 2015
Posts: 304
Location: Adelaide, SA


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Looks great, pity I won't be there tomorrow! Hope it runs well.

Post Fri Jun 10, 2016 10:15 pm 
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Fryddog



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 75
Location: Adelaide


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Recap from last weekend's meet!

My bots performed pretty well, albeit with a few hiccups:

- Screw It was loaned out this time round and was a LOT faster getting around the arena and when spinning. Unfortunately, because the driver wasn't too familiar with the bot, Screw It hit the wall a lot! One such hit and over use caused the power switch to deteriorate and fail at one point during the match. I'll have to replace it sometime before the next match.

- Roach was also loaned out and had a motor come apart, unfortunately causing the competitor to ultimately get eliminated from the tournament. Unsure why it did but I'll probably replace it just to be safe.

- Amber Ant hasn't seen a fight in a while and this month was no exception! I've been reluctant to put him out because his front scoop scrapes and catches on the arena's plywood fibres. If we eventually rebuild the arena out of MDF for a smoother fighting surface, he might get his come back!

- Green Devil, always my favourite. He performed pretty well this month. His only issue is the flipper doesn't scrape close enough to the arena floor. I reckon a touch up on a linisher will sort that out.

- Shrapnel was excellent in his exhibition match! Only a few small changes to the print design to strengthen this bot and he'll be good to go again!

Post Thu Jun 16, 2016 7:38 pm 
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Fryddog



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 75
Location: Adelaide


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Haven't posted in a long time, but with the popularity in Ants going up all over Australia, I thought I'd share what bots I am running in Adelaide.


My main bot, Shrapnel.



My second main bot, Green Devil. Hasn't really changed at in the last year or so.



My collection of loan bots, Rollcage. These bots add to our pool of loan bots, available for use at each of our events.



And lastly, a camera bot made to get awesome non official match footage, named Peep. He holds a GoPro Hero 3.


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Post Sun Mar 12, 2017 10:22 am 
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Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


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You must go through a lost of filament! The loaner bots look excellent and I really like the camera bot - I wonder if there is a 360 degree camera small enough to put on a small bot? If the camera was 360 degrees. the bot wouldn't need to turn to track the action, it would just have to dodge the other bots.
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Post Sun Mar 12, 2017 1:45 pm 
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miles&Jules
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 3973
Location: ipswich QLD


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Your anys are looking epic- wow that camera bot looks amazibg-so cool to see ants taken seriously again here in oz - cant wait to see footage from your upcoming event😎👍👍
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Post Sun Mar 12, 2017 3:13 pm 
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