Team Shakey Build Diary

[DieGracefullyRobotics]

I watch the video of it whenever I need cheering up about robots

[AntRoboteer]

The self righting will still be using the disc, I'll just be taking what I learned from getting DHMIS to actually spinup and applying it to Test! Though the new frame would hopefully stop that being needed much anyway.

It's definitely the most reliable way. DHMIS is terrifying when it spins up. I'd love to fight it just for the specatacle (of course with a good 5mm of polycarbonate up front).

[Shakey]

Not a robot, but a new tool! LASER!

I like lasers and I like easily cutting out shapes for robots. So...




Bodged in air assist, running off a paintbrush compressor borrowed from my dad for now.


The first few cuts before the air assist was in. I can now neatly cut 1.5mm poly with minimal discolouration. I need to do the air assist properly to really get nice cuts but the bodge has given me an idea of what to aim for.


A standard K40 laser. Needs a fair bit of tweaking to get working fully, lots of parts on order to get it completed.

The upgrades I intend are:
Non bodge air assist with an all around nozzle.

New exhaust (Polycarb fumes are bad. That and just general smoke), Inline blower with 3" tubing straight out my house. Hopefully I can seal it enough to make enough negative pressure to eliminate all escaping fumes.

New bed to put material on, the current one is pretty bad.

New cooling system (Currently distilled water in a mixing bowl with a pond pump), I'm intending on what will essentially be a PC water cooling system with a hefty reservoir.

Interior Lighting, fairly self explanatory

New stand. So... I'm actually running out of places to put tools and robot stuff. I have a 2 bed flat, one bedroom is already a full robot room dedicated to fighting robots. My kitchen has CNC corner with the 2 printers and router. This is going to have to live sortof where my TV currently does so I need to make a stand to hold both... And I'm unwilling to move it to the garage.

[AntRoboteer]

Just what we needed, another way for you to make huge discs...

Looks incredible Alex; I know you'll have some big plans for it so excited to see the use it's put to.

[Shakey]

Unfortunately this won't be able to cut metal (I'd need to add about 2 zeros onto it's pricetag for that!), I've only cut them as they were the first DXF's I found in my mammoth CAD folder.

But it'll be pretty handy to check stuff like that before getting it done properly. Cut a FW out of MDF to check it all fits and works before getting it waterjetted from hardox and the like. Being more of a delicate machine than the router I can do some more detailed work with it and hopefully let me try some crazier designs with it.

[AntRoboteer]

Ah, I see, well that's pretty cool. Good luck with it!

[Shakey]

A bit late for it but throwing out a few pics of Bristol bot Builders 2.

This was one of the most fun events I've been to in a long time, I joined in the bodgebots with 'Pukka', a robot more bodge than any I could do while sober.


The addition of pipe cleaner decoration to help it out and a quick cut down of the lance to fit in the cube. It actually managed to win one fight! The next it just ended up driving into a pit.

Test and DHMIS got to have a run around aswell, test in the 1v1's and DHMIS in the 2v2's. Jack Tweedy being the man crazy enough to tag team with DHMIS to form team 'Best Chef's.




Finally a rumble was at the end including the awaited faceoff of DHMIS and Valkyrie, this redulted in some of the first actual combat damage DHMIS has received from another bot but it was definitely worth it.


It was a great laid back event and I'm looking forward to the next and seeing what other robots are cooked up over there, there were some really great robots that appeared at this one including a particularly viscious vert that bested Test at its own game!

Outside of events the laser cutter is coming along, upgrade parts are arriving and the rest on their way. I'm looking to switch PETG in for polycarb on a few robots (specifically the shop stuff) as it is much more agreeable to laser cutting and is almost the same properties but cheaper. Partly wondering how it would hold up as arena material (It's used for the same purpose as polycarb in industry, machine guarding) though will need some testing.