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High School Combat Robot Club
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dyrodium
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High School Combat Robot Club

Ohai guys,
I've been approached by my old high school to manage a combat robot club next year. They've gone mad with clubs according to my sister (in yr 12) and apparently a few kids are keen. The fact they asked must mean there is some interest. Problem is they've let me down more than I can count, both when I was a student there *useless DT workshop forcing me to do a website for a major design project* and after *asking me to do a 5minute track for a video then stretching the track to 7minutes using video software >_>*

Thus, i'm really keen to do it but not getting my hopes too high yet. In any case, what are people thoughts on the kind of robots best suited to high school kids? Teenagers, and the club would be running all semester and there's 4 per year. Antweights are the cheapest option but stringing them out for that long would be a nightmare. I'm currently leaning towards beetleweights, offering a bit more flexibility and ease of construction for newbs with soldering irons. Either they'd have to make an arena, use ours if it gets built, or run no weapons?

If it DOES get off the ground, should be a real shot in the arm for the sport in NSW. Very Happy
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Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:15 pm 
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Nick
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Agreed, Beetleweights are a good starting point. They don't look dangerous enough to alarm the teachers an complex enough to keep students interested. Great news and I hope it works out!

Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 5:03 pm 
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dyrodium
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For sure! Did a bit of a shopping list... Looks pretty hopeful.

2 x 1000rpm gearmotors = $25

2 x Banebots 3-9a = $65

4ch hobbyking radio = $37

800mah 3S 20C lipo = $9

Total = $136

Everything above includes the shipping individually, so if I bought the parts in bulk or at the same time it'd be even cheaper. Wheels I didn't include but could simply be foam hobby city ones, they don't need anything fancy. Even liteflites are only $2.50 a pair. I'm told they have a lasercutter now, but i'm not getting my hopes up about that either ... Laughing
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Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 6:27 pm 
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Jaemus
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Joined: 01 Apr 2009
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awesome dude

you'll soon be the beetle workshop guy to the antweight workshop's marto

Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 6:43 pm 
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marto
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FYI 4ch is exactly the same price as 6ch and mixing is handy to have. Just need one cable which can hang around the club. Also postage on them is pretty hefty. Might be a bit less now with dollar but I would be budgeting ~$50 per Tx. They are also cheapest to buy in lots of 5. (As of about 2 months ago)

I would also expect 1/10 to have a broken antenna still functional but cosmetically damaged which you can't really sell to club members if they are paying for it.
( Included in $50)

I would not completely rule out the ants as its much easier to make flippers with servos in the ant class so if you want to stay away from the spinners then that might be worth remembering. That being said you probably only want one class and if you are trying to include them in your NSW comp beetles would be better for that.

Also odds are 75% of the kids you get are going to have absolutely no idea and are just there because it sounds cool. So if stuff doesn't just work you are going to run into issues.

Edit: Out of curiosity just checked and its $41 for Radio posted airmail. $47 for EMS. I also do EMS for everything these days as I had a few delays with plain airmail.
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Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:04 pm 
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Jaemus
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Location: NSW


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quote:
Originally posted by marto:
FYI 4ch is exactly the same price as 6ch and mixing is handy to have.


This man speaks the truth. If you're using Banebots ESC's you'll need a mixer or the 6ch radio. I use the 6ch radio (once i figured out the software which was appaling to say the least) and it works a treat! This also saves weight and complexity obviously.

Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:18 pm 
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marto
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The software which costs $2 is 100 times better. The $2 is so you can save and load setting so its not even essential to buy it.

Give it a go.
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Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 8:19 pm 
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dyrodium
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I'm just wary of any radio you need to plug into a pc to reverse a channel, but they are the same price.. Shocked I'm not sure how far along it'll be next year, but if i get my CNC *toy* up and running, it would be fairly easy to pump out some drive mounts and easy to use parts so the kids can get stuff up and running as you said, before they lose interest. Smile
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Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:09 pm 
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Nick
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What would you make the frame out of - can the school supply that? you might be limited by what tools you are allowed to use as well as the material properties.

Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:11 pm 
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dyrodium
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The material I've been playing around with a bit now is made by plaspanel in Melbourne. It's a recycled HDPE sheet and though likely not as good, it costs $97 for a full sheet in 6mm compared to $538 + GST I was quoted for same size in UHMW. It can't be lasercut, but cnc routs fantastically, and is easy to machine. I seem to remember they had scrollsaws, so it would be a good material for beetleweight frames/parts. I mashed the corner of the sample with a hammer, it's completely deformed but didn't crack or fracture... Smile

EDIT: Making connections at uni has started to pay off, I found about the material through one of my lecturers products, http://www.top3.com.au/categories/outdoor-and-pet/seating---outdoor/butter-stool/but-977 It's routed with a V cutter to 1.5mm thick live hinges, so it's tough stuff! Shocked
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Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:08 pm 
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Nick
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That looks like excellent material for a beetle - if you combined it with thin aluminium or polycarb for top & bottom panels, the frame would be pretty rigid as well. It would waterjet well for bulk production.

Post Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:24 pm 
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dyrodium
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As I mentioned elsewhere, a Thursday meeting later and the robot club is go for next year. Very Happy

A standard school term has about 8 usable weeks, so we decided first term should do 3.30-5pm after school one day a week, and 2nd term move the club to a lunchtime (when the kids will have things to actually compete with). The class we decided on is a spinner free beetleweight class, mostly for safety but the robots will still be battle worthy in the normal beetleweight competition.

Plan at the moment is, using the plaspanel material above, the kids will design bots with my help (wedges, lifters etc), and translate them to 1:1 scale grid paper. I'll then get these and put them into rhino and using the CNC router cut them out. I can't really get them to make the bots from scratch as there isn't facilities available Sad At least not straight away...

Just a quick question, anyone know where you can buy plastic screws? The kind you use to screw into thermoplastics without them developing shocking stresses. I know they exist somewhere... Confused Cheers =3
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Post Sat Nov 20, 2010 3:55 pm 
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Nick
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I don't knowwhere you would get them locally, but these Plastite screws are way better for plastic than ordinary sheet metal screws: http://www.taptite.net/taptite/plastite.asp

I could order them from McMaster if you can't find them elsewhere.

Post Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:09 pm 
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dyrodium
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Ahh, that's the ones... Very Happy Once again Australia fails, i'll try to find them locally for not obscene prices, i'm not sure how many I'd need, not if the benefit is worth the extra effort over the standard screws i've been using. Confused
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Post Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:21 pm 
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marto
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Just use bolts???

Is Rhino the best choice, I prefer solidworks or inventor. Also reliability is key.
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Steven Martin
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Post Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:33 pm 
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