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the moth
Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 130
Location: Melbourne
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Vincent - Mothbots - Victoria
http://www.allsuburbs.com/robots/mothbots/vincent/vincent_inside.html
Robowars 2004 :
Vincent ran with 2x2.3ah batts driving bunnings 12v kk2 drills with a experimental relay controller and old car relays ( got to quarter finals in winners ) . The hurried design and build (1 week) showed up some limitatons in Vincent that will need to be fixed . The twin motors set closer to the front gave us limited traction as the weight balance was poor and he drove much better in reverse . Because room was very tight the batteries were "angled" under the radio and relay controllers and this made them hard to remove between rounds and everything else hard to fix . When weight was on the front ( another bot ) the wheels worked o.k. but the back edge of the tray scrapped on the floor and he still needed more traction . The 13cm high bunnings wheels would have given us more top ramming speed ( if we could get traction ) but at a cost of "pushing power" and increased the amps needed to push another bot . In an attempt to make the wheels stronger and easy to change , the wheel centers were large washers with nuts welded onto them and then pushed into the wheels whilst red hot . This "moulded" the centers to the wheels . The LH thread screw was used to lock the nut on the motor shaft , but as is often with wheels - it proved ineffective . Twice our wheels came loose and eventually we used superglue .The lift motor and screw setup worked well but the old 7.2 v ( running at 12v) lift motor let out magic smoke once when fully loaded .The radio ariel was a problem early , and we still spent 30% of our time in fail-safe . The experimental relay controller was "buggy" with its own issues . So there were problems that still begged to be fixed ...
2005 Victorian Championships Round 1:
Still tried to rebuild Vincent in a week ( when will I learn ) . Limited time saw Vincent still having wires soldered 1 hour from the event and no time for his "eyes" , "lift" limit switches or paint job . A single 2 meter drive test is all Vincent got before being put in the Van . Oh well its off to fight we go .. Vincent is still using the Mk1 relay controller ( buggy) as we havent had time to fix it , but now he has four motors / wheels . To fit the extra motors and wheels , we had to take out 2.5 kg of weight . The motors now sit at each end with the batteries and relays ( 8 drive relays ) , between the motors . Traction wasent a problem , but our radio stayed in failsafe most of the time and so Vincent took a lot of damage because he wasent moving . ( this teaches me to fix him before the fight ) . The body has been modified with wider side skirts fitted ( to defeat the "undercutters" ) and the front "ears" have been removed as we needed the weight . He now uses "red" wheels (x4) with cross cut tread for traction . the four kk2 drill motors give good power , but the battery life from the two "SLA's" may yet prove to be a problem .I recreated the wheel hubs for the red wheels and these proved strong enough and left enough room for lock nuts and the LH scew . The wheels centers are still heavy and I have a idea about how to make them lighter . With our radio problems , we limped around the arena like a wounded amimal and were promptly killed . But theres always next round .
Last edited by the moth on Sat Jul 09, 2005 3:26 am; edited 1 time in total
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Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:37 am |
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