Ant parts help

thebeardedone · Post by **thebeardedone** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:07 pm

Ok, in a sudden change of heart (and some gentle persuasion), I'm going to go for the GM instead. It will give me some extra weight to play with as well so that was the selling point

I'm thinking about 56:1 as it will give a good combination of speed and torque. What do others use?

Also, I don't really fancy making a speed controller, so recommendations would be good

Regards,
Sam

bitternboy · Post by **bitternboy** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:21 pm

Even though I probably not the person you would ask
(o.k, definately

) but this one is good quality and light.

http://www.technobots.co.uk/acatalog/Sh ... C_531.html
It is out of stock though and the next shipment is in just over a week so I'm told.

thebeardedone · Post by **thebeardedone** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:34 pm

At that price I may invest some time into my own speed controller

Just kidding, it seems to be good quality, so that will definitely go down as an option.

Regards,
Sam

bitternboy · Post by **bitternboy** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:40 pm

I suppose the price is somewhat offputting. "Oh well" to be honest my experience in this area is dwarfed by that of others on this forum, so I should probably take a back seat

thebeardedone · Post by **thebeardedone** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:42 pm

bitternboy wrote:I suppose the price is somewhat offputting. "Oh well" to be honest my experience in this area is dwarfed by that of others on this forum, so I should probably take a back seat

To be honest, I think that your input has been very helpful when it has come to making decisions and I value your input as much as anybody elses here.

I have done some very quick research and it appears to be a popular choice 8)

peterwaller · Post by **peterwaller** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:48 pm

I would definitely prefer the 50:1 HP almost twice the speed and over twice the power. If you don't want too much speed then the 100:1 HP give about the same speed and 4 times the power.
Now this is not intended as a sales pitch but I have combined the R6M receiver that comes with the Planet 5 transmitter with one of my controller boards into a module that is smaller than the original receiver.
The original receiver is 50x21.5x11.5 mm and 6.6 gms and the module is 42x26x9 and 10.2 gms. It has two motor drive channels with mixing built in and the weapon channel comes out to a plug that is compatible with the standard servo socket.
They cost ?35 (?45 if I supply the receiver) plus ?2 p&p
http://www.antweightwars.co.uk/Controllers.htm

Andrew_Hibberd · Post by **Andrew_Hibberd** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:08 pm

Rrecently i have been making my own control boards using the baby-oranguatan AVR boards

http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1220

Petes boards offer a nice small unit which also reduces the ammount of soldering required. I use two of these in strafen so 3 channel mixing to control 4 motors. It all depends on how much you need the robot to do.

thebeardedone · Post by **thebeardedone** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:37 pm

Peter, I think I'll go for one of your speed controller boards. I will take the planet 5 board and I'll also take the receiver but I won't be able to do it until Feb-Mar time as I'm pretty stretched for cash this month.

So, here is my new (improved?) set up:
Planet 5 Tx
Peters Planet 5 receiver/controller module
2x 50:1 Pololu HP Gear Motors (Drive)
1x GWS HPX F (Weapon)
F3P 250mA 7.4v LiPo battery
2-3mm polycarbonate body
A choice out of the selection of wheels I am going to purchase from the robot market place
Fixings and securings

Total cost: ?152 approx. (minus postage)

Extras:
Graupner LiPo Charger 4
Spare parts for events

What do we think now? I'm pretty happy with my selection ...

Regards,
Sam

peterwaller · Post by **peterwaller** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 8:46 am

Thats fine when or if you want to order one just let me know with a PM. I try to keep the bits in stock and it usually only takes a couple of days to build and test one. The main advantage beside the size and weight is the reduced amount of wiring which improves reliability.

joey_picus · Post by **joey_picus** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 4:18 pm

Looks pretty good if you ask me

With regards to spare parts, it does depend mainly on how you go about constructing the robot itself as if you're bolting it together, spare bolts are a lot more useful than they would be if you're taping it together or making the robot out of one folded piece

I've found virtually everyone's willing to help out with bits and bobs should you need them, so you could potentially get away with not carrying spares, but having some spare bolts/fixings is always useful as is (design dependent) having some sort of adhesive, spare materials/armour/brackets, the odd wire or cable and various rolls of tape (both normal and double sided - the restorative power of double sided tape is legendary!).
Motors and speed controllers don't usually get badly damaged in battle unless they take a direct hit, which shouldn't happen if you're using 2-3mm polycarb and sensible design, so spares of those shouldn't be necessary - the same should apply for LiPos if protected well enough, but due to the dangers of accidentally short circuiting and the fact that they tend not to be repairable in the way that motors are I'd advise having a spare pack with you (I speak from experience here after nearly smoking Jigsaw's lipo at my first ever event!

) which also comes in handy for keeping things running smoothly cause you can have one pack on charge while fighting with another.

...sorry, that appears to have turned into a ramble

best of luck with the building and hope to see you sometime in the summer!