dr3 First Build

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PudseyBear
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed May 09, 2018 9:34 am

dr3 First Build

Post by PudseyBear »

So we finally got round to putting something together. This ant was meant to be a test bot really so my son and I could get used to the build process and driving before making a named battle bot. However i'm quite pleased with the aesthetics of the ant and it works pretty well. Its a little overweight but we can trim the flipper down a bit and drill a few holes if need be.

The ant drives around pretty well but is quite tricky to control. I think we just need a bit of practise as its very responsive. We used 500rpm motors so might look at getting some slightly slower ones to make it less twitchy? Flips ok and self rights which we were pleased with

The chassis and flipper is made of 1.5mm polycarb cut on a scroll saw and then bent into shape, which was harder than I expected! The top is 1mm polyc to save on weight. A few slight miscuts and measurements meant the bottom bowed a bit when putting together, so we had to bolt the top and chassis together at the front which isnt ideal. Something we can look into for the next one.

Other problems: the screws and nuts are fiddly little things aren't they. No matter how much we tighten them though we seem to have a few come loose after a little bit of driving and messing around. What do people do about this? I'm thinking a touch of hot glue will seal the nut but not sure?

The flipper arm has the same problem as this is attached to the servo and flipper with a nut and bolt currently. Maybe a wire loop would be a better idea?

The bot seems to sit quite high on its wheels. I may have to raise the motors somehow but will look into whats best. Need to add a switch also but thats more weight we don't need!

Not sure if the photos are going to work but here we go:

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PudseyBear
Paulmchurd
Posts: 227
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:39 pm

Re: dr3 First Build

Post by Paulmchurd »

Looks good. I like the rugged effect of shaping polycarbonate. It really isn’t that easy.

You could add a trim/skirt around the bottom instead of lifting the height of the motors.

With practice you will mostly be able to keep the front of the robot pointing at the target and it won’t be needed.
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