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Jolt & friends - Team Overkill - NSW
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Nick
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


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The new electronics is all assembled and fitted. I was worried that the weapon motor wiring wouldn't fit under electronics but there is just enough space - that's a major to-do item ticked off the list:



The old mill has gone high-tech to help make the new pulleys:



The 3D taster and Mitee-Bite vice jaws are probably wasted on this old piece of junk but it sure makes lining up and cutting the pulley quick & easy!



First pulley is milled and back in the lathe to have the grooves cut. I have a premonition that both the upcoming events are going to be brutal, high attrition affairs so I will try to get spare pulleys cut if there is enough time.
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Post Sun Aug 13, 2017 8:38 pm 
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Rotwang
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Joined: 15 Jun 2004
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With something like 11 vertical and 5 horizontal KE spinners I think you could be right. Shocked
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Post Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:25 pm 
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Nick
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Almost ready:

Mr Mangle is fully running and just needs some Loktite & tape to be ready. Mr Mangle 2 still has a few things to finish off but its all minor stuff. The wiring loom is ready for testing:



Its only 180 mm from end to end and a little lighter than before. While the bot gets finished off, here are the upgrades over the original version:

* Micro-V weapon belt and pulleys - more grip, less melting in long matches and a little lighter.

* Larger weapon motor - almost twice as much power for a fast spin up.

* Heavier beater - Its only slightly heavier but also larger diameter so the kinetic energy will definitely increase,

* Stronger weapon bearings - the old ones lasted quite well and these new bearings have a far higher load rating.

* Better electronics shock mounting - more flex in less space & weight.

* Spark suppressor power link - I finally installed an XT90 connector with spark suppression.

* Double thickness front forks - now 13.4 mm thick titanium to weather any beating from other spinners.

* Double thickness weapon supports - all that extra power needs extra support.

* Self-leveling wheels (maybe) - the wheels can compensate for uneven floors and their extra grip will improve steering and pushing power.

* Magnetic hold-down - if the new wheels don't work out, I still have a set of magnets ready to screw on to the underside of the bot.

* lower & wider self-righting hoops - they self-right faster and are less likely to catch on the arena.

So, eleven upgrades - they may not all work as well as I hope but Mangle V2 is definitely a better bot.
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Post Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:19 pm 
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Nick
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Robowars day one report:

It was as very quiet day For Mr Mangle on day one; I had a bye for round 1 and then in round 2 had was matched up with Weasel, driven by Miles. Weasel is a 2WD full body lifter with a steel frame. I started off with a frontal charge but Weasel's sloped front deflected Mangle's weapon. After some circling and pushing, I caught one of weasel's partly exposed wheels and ripped the tread off - after that the fight was definitely going my way. After a couple of flips and disabling Weasel's lifter mech, Mangle eventually immobilized Weasel for a KO.

Mr Mangle drove reasonably well but had way more gyro dancing than I'd like, its going to be a real handicap against the fast steering horizontal spinners. Mangle's round 3 match tomorrow is against Bender 4, new horizontal spinner driven by Gary that has won its last match against a vertical spinner without getting a scratch. If I win that match, Mangle faces Glen's Obliterator, the most destructive spinner in the comp by far.

Mr Mangle 2:

Oh dear, not happy at all! The weapon ESC mysteriously died - no smoke, no bangs, just no spin-up after the first successful weapon test. Lots of parts substitution testing shows the problem is the ESC, but I still have no idea why it failed. I already ordered several replacements so that may last me for the UK Robochallenge event. I also tested the 3D printed self-leveling wheels and while they worked better than Colsons, it wasn't by much at all and much less than I hoped Sad.
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Post Sat Aug 19, 2017 11:34 pm 
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Nick
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Robowars day two report:

Day two was a total disaster! This the swanky venue that Steve organised:



Mr Mangle's round 3 fight was with Gary's Bender 4, a new bot that combines a decade of experience and Gary's impeccable welding to make a very tough horizontal spinner.



After chasing each other around the arena and inflicting minor damage on each other, Mangle took a large hit that seized up a poorly assembled P60 gearbox, which made and ESC catch fire, winning the match for Garry.

Over too the loser's bracket for Mr Mangle; in round three, he fought a new bot called Poorly designed. The bot a actually very well constructed but only has a low speed vertical drum. I turned up my weapon speed and managed to out drive Poorly Designed and get in some good hits before stacking it in a corner of the arena for a win - more weapon speed is clearly better Smile.

In loser's round 4, Mr Mangle went up against Mini Mower, One of Garry's older bots. I really don't remember much about this match; we didn't damage each other much and Mangle eventually won on points for flipping Mini Mower a couple of times.

In Loser's round 5 Mr Mangle took on Reboot 2, yet another Rotwang bot. Reboot was in a bad way after fighting Obliterator and it's drum wasn't working. I got in some good hits and pushed Reboot around until both drive ESCs suddenly died! Reboot wasn't attacking at the time and I still have no idea what happened to them.

That was it for Mangle, with a 2nd loss kicking him out of the competition Sad
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Post Fri Aug 25, 2017 4:58 am 
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Nick
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Mr Mangle 2 and Robo Challenge:

I barely had two days to get Mr Mangle 2 ready after getting home from the Aussie Nationals event. After breaking two drive motors and three Drive ESCs at the Nats event, I had to completely strip every other bot for parts and then assemble extra spares; losing so many parts makes me think spare parts will definitely be need to survive Robo Challenge.

MM2 weighed in at only 13.225 Kg so I added some last minute upgrades; a super bright power light with 72 LEDs, a sliding power link cover built into the top cover plate, Super heavy front forks that are 13.5mm thick and ground-scraping anti-wedge forks. I also made a proper weapon locking pin, which is literally a giant pin:



The last bit of work is to customise the replacement weapon controller; It was delivered direct to the NEC hotel and still needs connectors and the low-height heatsink:



Old & busted VS shiny newness; getting that customised heatsink moved across is going to be a challenge with the limited tools I could bring.
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Post Fri Aug 25, 2017 6:23 am 
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MoonSet416



Joined: 25 Sep 2016
Posts: 436
Location: Sydney


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Good luck at the Robo Challenge event! MM2 looks great.

Some side note: Poorly Designed's drum wasn't spinning up because they had problems with their "feet" beside their weapons and the drum was scraping the floor. (to the point that the front of the bot was bouncing up and down in an earlier fight.)

I wonder what you meant by poorly assembled P60... Were the screws too tight or loose?

Post Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:59 am 
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Nick
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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I wondered about Poorly Designed bouncing around like that - next time it will probably be much more of a threat. The P60 problem was more about the motor - the shaft slipped back so that the pinion came out of the planet gears and smashed the teeth together until they deformed and locked up - completely my fault, not the gearbox's.
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Post Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:47 pm 
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Nick
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Robo Challenge testing day:

As there were no actual battles today, this post is mainly a photo dump with some comments where I can remember details (I am still quite jet-lagged and brain fried)

Mr Mangle, all set up on his pit table:



MM2 weighed in at 13.5 Kg with the heaviest options, so the last minute upgrades added almost 300 grams - way more than expected. It easily passed tech-check and I had an extra test session to trim the steering and test the roll hoop against the pit button - it doesn't come close to fitting over Very Happy



Conker 3 is unchanged from last year and Alex & his dad spent most of the day building the new version of Binky; its looking good but they have a long night ahead of them. Alex also brought his 'all day drive' control bot:







Both versions of Explosion are here but only the new version is running, the original is just for spare parts.



Only Beauty 2 is here this year and I get the feeling it has some issues. It has been upgraded from Speed 900 drive motors to brushless drive with TZ85a controllers.

Speaking of brushless drives, NTM Propdrive motors are everywhere this year; every 3rd bot seems to have them. I have a pair as spare parts and will be watching other team's experiences with them closely.



Jamie is here with a rebuilt Drum Roll. It had a very successful test session but bent a weapon axle - perhaps out-lasting this bot is possible.

This is an interesting tracked lifter bot; it had an excellent demo battle and is getting extra steel welded on to reinforce the lifter arm:




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Post Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:59 am 
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Nick
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Mouldy is back with 722; its exactly the same as last year as it barely took a scratch at the last event:





This looks super annoying to fight:







Impact is a new CO2 flipper; its been having technical problems so I haven't seen it in action yet:



It looks quite well made


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Post Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:11 am 
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maddox



Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 786
Location: Belgium


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I recognize the 2 spoke 2 tooth disk on the vertical.
That is one of the 2002 8mm Hardox 650 prototypes cut by Christian.

Those seem to be ethernal.

Post Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:55 am 
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MoonSet416



Joined: 25 Sep 2016
Posts: 436
Location: Sydney


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Very interesting to see that Conker is using the same blue (50 shore A) Banebots wheels as Contraption does... I wonder how do they deal with the wear issues on those tires. Mine were torn in like two matches.

Post Sat Aug 26, 2017 4:18 pm 
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Nick
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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I will ask. They had quite a few spares and some wheels looked very worn. Conker is also 4WD, so each wheel will only be getting half the wear.
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Post Sat Aug 26, 2017 4:20 pm 
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Nick
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Day 2, half time report:

Mr Mangle got quite a good draw, with only a few really tough bots. I round one, I had Drumroll and a new wedge bot called Bruiser 3. Everything went my way at the start, with some smaller hits on the other bots and taking little damage in return. I got in a huge hit on Drumroll, stopping it's weapon bending the weapon shaft and breaking some welds, then I got in a good hit on bruiser, slicing off a couple of chunks from the wedge:



After that, the weapon spun down and a few seconds later Mr MAngle caught fire in a major way: flames shooting out the wheel wells and smoke filling the arena Shocked. Everyone thought it was a Lipo fire but it was the weapon ESC.



The thing is just a block of charcoal now and the fire coated everything in sticky black tar:



That drive motor is still fine apart from the melted sensor lead; all the other wiring had silicone insulation and survived the flames.

After some testing, I have a new theory: The weapon motor has one phase with much lower resistance and it could have been that way for a long time, explaining why the other ESC broke. I swapped in a spare ESC and brand new motor and am waiting for a break to test it.

The next match is against Beauty 2 and a new wedge bot called Come here and say that. its mostly plastic and uses the drive from a heavyweight, but is having major electronics issues.
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Post Sun Aug 27, 2017 12:05 am 
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Nick
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Robo Challenge, end of day 2:

I managed to clean out all the melted plastic, solder blobs and some of the sticky tar. The Hobbyking weapon ESC was installed with the spare weapon motor and they seem to work although there was no chance to test in the arena. I used a special set-up for this match; the front forks were the thin & extra low beater clearance set and I turned the front roll hoop backwards to get better access to the backs of the tall bots I was up against - a risky move as it transpired.

The 2nd match of the day started out really well, Beauty 2 charged right for Mr Mangle as expected but I spun up quickly and dodged. Things got pretty wild after that with a 3-way tussle. I kept attacking Beauty two and got in some good hits - two on the back snapped off the rear spikes, put major cracks in the corner welds and caused a leak in the gas plumbing.



One of the hits also jammed the gas tank against The left wheel, disabling it and snapped a large weld on the front left corner:



Somewhere in the middle of that, Mangle smashed the pit button tyre and threw it out of the arena as revenge for past years and then got tipped onto it's front. The backwards facing hoop didn't hold the front of the bot off the floor so Mangle was resting on the tips of the forks and the beater each time it revolved.

If the beater stopped I would be permanently immobilised so there was no choice but to keep spinning. Mangle was caught between Beauty 2 and Come Over Here And Say That Again (COHASTA) and luckily self-righted. Shortly after that, a big hit threw Mangle into the narrow space between the pit and the arena wall. While trying to turn and exit, one of Mangle's wheels slipped over the edge of the pit and it was all over.

Beauty 2 was out of gas and running one one wheel. It had an extended pushing match with COHASTA and for some reason COHASTA had a wheel drop off, giving Beauty 2 a hard-won 3 points for the Judges decision.

While Mangle lost the match, I am fairly happy. The weapon motor problem is fixed; even with the face-planting incident, the motor and electronics only got mildly warm and the drive motors are still in top condition. I am declaring Mange to be better than new and now in BBQ flavour after it's fiery shakedown tests Laughing

tomorrow is more good news: in round 5, Mangle is up against two bots that are no-shows, giving it a bye and automatic 4 points. The 2nd match of the day is against An electric lifter and CO2 Flipper:





While both those bots have done quite well, they should be very susceptible to a vertical spinner and with nothing to lose, I plan to turn the weapon power up and take no prisoners. As long as I can survive them double-teaming me for a short time, I am fairly confident in a win. That would be a total of 10 points, which is usually enough to get through or at least into a play-off round.
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Post Sun Aug 27, 2017 5:42 am 
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