Team Dudge build diaries.

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Derek Dudge
Posts: 135
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 9:32 pm

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by Derek Dudge »

Woo. Orders submitted at last for the rest of the parts for Manticore.

Pair of 30:1 motors for drive, a 50:1 motor for the weapon, vex controller for the weapon, various mounts and hubs for the various motors, a switch and a spool of wire all should be en route.

Happy chappy is I, been looking forward to finishing the project up. His empty chassis and armour been sat around for a couple weeks giving me the evil eye for not finishing him yet. Hopefully some pics soon!
My robots:

Third Law (antweight) - push/ram bot
Manticore (antweight) - hammer bot
Derek Dudge
Posts: 135
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 9:32 pm

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by Derek Dudge »

Finally some real update!

Manticore has mutated a bit more since my original ideas in that he's now a hammer bot and not an axe as originally planned for. Been working on him the past few days and through lots of trial, error, holes drilled in the wrong place and the occasional urge to give him a quick launch toward the wall, finally things are coming together a bit.

Still loads to do. I ordered some smaller wheels from Shakey so he sits at a less steep angle. Wiring it all up is gonna be more fiddly than Third Law was, extra ESC to account for this time and I gotta be careful no wiring hinders the weapon' s movement. There's space to work with behind the wheels though.

Gotta fiddle around at the back making a proper rest/brace/cushion type thing to keep the arm of the hammer where it won't hit any internals when it moves back.

The weapon itself - until it's all connected up I have no idea at all how effective it will be, or how stable it will be when firing, whether it will flop like a fish, who knows? I know it will make a bloody racket hitting wooden arena floors. It should work as a self righter. I hope.

The whole weapon arm, down to the mounting hub but not including the motor, is about 26 grams. Now the closest thing I've been using as a visual guide/comparison is George's Axiom but that is heavier on the weapon (40g or so iirc) but has two motors. If you reading this George, how you think that will do, 26g of hammer on 1 pololu 50:1?

My best estimate account for the bits I haven't actually done yet has it coming out a few grams overweight. So there'll be some more drilling and trimming in my future no doubt.

Coming along though! Pics below.

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My robots:

Third Law (antweight) - push/ram bot
Manticore (antweight) - hammer bot
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GeorgeR
Posts: 280
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:53 pm
Location: Bath, Somerset

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by GeorgeR »

That's looking good, nice to see another hammer/axe.

The hammer should be good and stable with those specs, and should have plenty of power to self right.

One motor will definitely be fine with a 26g weapon, Axiom's original 40g/10cm axe still worked on one motor in the latter fights of antfreeze 4, after one of the gearboxes died hitting Don't Hug Me's blade.
Team Zero - AWS 58 Champion!
Zero - rambot - - Axiom - axebot - - Valkyrie - drum spinner
Blueprint - rambot - - Vampire - horizontal spinner - - Particle - ???
RBMK - quad spinner gyro walker - - Duality - dual spinner gyro walker
Derek Dudge
Posts: 135
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 9:32 pm

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by Derek Dudge »

Update! Manticore is close to finished now. Thanks again for all the info, George, it's been a huge help! Owe you a beer one day.

The wiring is basically finished. My soldering is still childlike but progressing slowly perhaps haha. Drive works fine, although ooooof I have learned I definitely prefer the handling on Third Law with his 4wd to this twitchy little 2wd set up. Yet another new found respect for all you guys that make driving ants look easy.

That's all good though, I got time to practise.

And the weapon will work. The speed controllers work together fine and I've changed the radio to operate the weapon on rudder instead of throttle. However the only reason I know it will work is from subbing in a drive motor to check, as super annoyingly the one I bought for the weapon is broken. Double blow in that I bought it a couple weeks ago and the shop only takes damaged returns for 7 days from delivery. Lesson learned, will endeavour to test these things more promptly in the future.

New one is on order and should be here soon. I'm looking forward to finally testing the hammer properly. I think it will be a noisy little robot.

And the picture below illustrates probably the best news of all - he's fitting under weight limit! I'd allowed what I had hoped was plenty for internal fixings and wires etc but still a relief when I plonked him on the scales.

Image
My robots:

Third Law (antweight) - push/ram bot
Manticore (antweight) - hammer bot
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DieGracefullyRobotics
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:39 am

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by DieGracefullyRobotics »

That's a cool looking robot, I love the hammer. My soldering is childlike and I've been doing it 15 years, so don't worry about that, ha.
What transmitter are you using? Might be able to do something to make it less twitchy for you in the settings unless it's just a basic model.
Dave
Die Gracefully Robotics - Barely Even a Proper Team.
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MarkR
Posts: 375
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:46 pm
Location: Reading Hackspace
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Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by MarkR »

That looks super awesome.

What is the armour / structure made of? What material?

Is it really strong enough to whack the hammer with only one side connected to the motor?

That metal piece with grub screw looks pretty solid.
Robots: Betsie - RaspberryPi controlled flipper bot with gyro stablisation - too clever for her own good?
Stacie - tidy flipper; 4wd driven by hair bands
AntRoboteer
Posts: 441
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 7:01 pm

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by AntRoboteer »

Looking awesome! :D

I can understand it being twitchy; in my experience, 2WD with wheels in the middle usually makes for a twitchy machine but still, the method has advantages. The twitchiness is one of the reasons I've gone with 6 and 8 wheel drive for my axe robots but you'll get used to it quickly, I'm sure. Looking forward to seeing it at the next AWS.
Derek Dudge
Posts: 135
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 9:32 pm

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by Derek Dudge »

I have the devo 6e radio. I think.. yeah probably the responsiveness for drive controls can be tinkered with. I'll look into that. To be honest I'm still learning how to use it. Good idea, cheers.

@ Mark- The armour is polycarbonate I just spray paint it all black because I prefer the look to transparent.

The hammer only getting powered/supported on one side was a worry of mine too. In terms of hitting power it will be okay, George put my mind at ease there and fiddling with the subbed in motor (different ratio) seemed like yeah power should be fine. Physical support and strain on a single motor shaft is still a slight concern but it feels pretty solid when all put together. I think I will at some point before it goes to an event grab a spare motor just in case.

The hammer won't be super effective at causing any real damage I suspect. It might get a lucky hit and shake something loose etc but I can't see it doing much against armour. Should be fun making a racket with it through.
My robots:

Third Law (antweight) - push/ram bot
Manticore (antweight) - hammer bot
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DieGracefullyRobotics
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:39 am

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by DieGracefullyRobotics »

Have a look in your transmitter menu for the rates. They're naturally set to 100% but you can turn them down for less speed/twitchiness for more control, or even whack them up to 150% for even more uncontrollability! Ha. Tailoring rates to specific ant profiles can give you an extra edge. Though simply practicing is much more fun.
Dave
Die Gracefully Robotics - Barely Even a Proper Team.
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GeorgeR
Posts: 280
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:53 pm
Location: Bath, Somerset

Re: Team Dudge build diaries.

Post by GeorgeR »

That looks great, and we'll done for getting it on weight first time, I wish I could do that.

While you'll never get it to drive as well as a 4wd bot, I find turning down the aileron rate helps a lot. Go into mixer, aileron, and adjust the "scale" down from 100. I find around 60 works, but obviously adjust it to taste. (this limits the steering travel, so it doesn't turn as fast, but that's rarely an issue)
Other than that get lots of driving practice, despite Zero being my worst handling robot I think it's the one I drive the best, simply because its the robot I've used the most.
Team Zero - AWS 58 Champion!
Zero - rambot - - Axiom - axebot - - Valkyrie - drum spinner
Blueprint - rambot - - Vampire - horizontal spinner - - Particle - ???
RBMK - quad spinner gyro walker - - Duality - dual spinner gyro walker
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