Harry Makes Ants

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razerdave
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by razerdave »

Are you coming to the AWS with any of these? I noticed mini Hypno-Disc has one of those Allen key switches which won’t be allowed for an AWS.
haz
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by haz »

No, AWS is too far, too soon.

Its a Phillips head but same principal. Was the safest way for me to do it. Probably AWS legal if pick up a spinner, flip it over and unplug it though.
Having finally got around to reading the AW rules, where does it actually say I can't use a screw switch?

Ta
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GeorgeR
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by GeorgeR »

It's yet another rule that seems to be in place without being writen down, but you have to be able to switch off the robot without tools.
Team Zero - AWS 58 Champion!
Zero - rambot - - Axiom - axebot - - Valkyrie - drum spinner
Blueprint - rambot - - Vampire - horizontal spinner - - Particle - ???
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haz
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by haz »

If a rule isn't writ down is it actually a rule? No - EO discretion at least. If it gets added to the ruleset I'll change it, if not I'll double check with the person running the event before it gets signed up.

I'm not fussed either way if the rules get changed - should lower the amount of switches that can only be flicked off and on with a screwdriver too :)
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GeorgeR
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by GeorgeR »

I don't really understand it either, but there seem to be a number of unwritten rules that are widely accepted. Basically the rules need an update, but that hasn't happened yet.

Mini Hypno looks great btw, can't wait to see it in action.
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
Matt
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by Matt »

I think the rule is that if the power cord/ JST lead is easily accessible then it is allowed. To clarify would a lid of duct tape with the lead underneath be allowed?
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Spaceman
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by Spaceman »

haz wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:05 pm Thanks guys!

I'd been having some problems with stiff retracts. What used to be a snap shut was a slow pained series of events. Everything mechanically seemed free and the silicone bands still had spring. Ended up stripping and re greasing the ram and it seems much better since.
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^^ the setup out of the robot for anyone interested!

After a couple of attempts at armouring it was going to be way too flimsy for combat, even for a sacrificial first attempt. I ended up swapping out the 35ml tank for a 20ml one. I'll take the hit on flips for the benefit of actual armour not just pish and hope - also lets me chop the frame by 20mm! An updated one is printing as I type :)

The smaller tanks are ones I had ordered for my second go at pneumatics so it is maybe a good thing to trial them in this bot. I have also found a much nicer servo to actuate the valve, physically smaller and with metal gears. Bonus!
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haha Voorsk, then I feel I must apologise to your son for my naff performance! If you're interested files to make your own Hobgoblin can be found here
What is the green bit in the pneumatic set up in this picture? how does the exhaust of gas from the cylinder work?

Thanks
Team 1202

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Crabulon (Walker)
haz
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by haz »

Hi,

The green part is the fill valve. The gas vents through the main valve when it stops being depressed by the servo, then the silicone bands pull the ram down.


Quick test of the hypnodisc disc (disc) I'm quite impressed with the balance of it - plus it sounds jolly cool too :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7rssb0 ... e=youtu.be
haz
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by haz »

A bad idea got rather out of hand and now my hypnodisc-alike is yellow with tracks and wings. Because of course it is.

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Now it drives a lot nicer and its much more stable. The stickiness of the tracks counteracts the torque reaction of the disc. It does look a bit oddball however, but then again so do I.
haz
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Re: Harry Makes Ants

Post by haz »

Thread necromancy alert.

Been fairly productive though.

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This was the first version of a tracked lifter idea I had. The tracks are the staple of antweights, Tamiya but these have foam strips painstakingly glued on for traction. The idler and drive wheel are 3d printed also, I just borrowed the existing geometry from the Tamiya parts as I wanted them it to sit over the gearbox of an N20.

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The lifter geometry for the front hinge was pretty poor and I wasn't able to get the speed or travel I wanted out of the servo I was using. Plus robots tended to just get fed right into the tracks and shot off the top of the robot - key design flaw here. Because I really liked the chassis shape I kept that and just tried to go for a more traditional lifter

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This worked a lot better But I wasn't too happy with the look so I chopped and changed the arm with the aim of making it more a bulldozer bucket style. Main inspiration were the heavyweights Ripper and Behemoth and Oliver Steeple's antweights Private Iron and General Mayhem.

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Going back to the old faithful method of a bit of cereal box I made myself a card prototemplate for a polycarbonate version which was skinned with some 0.5mm titanium

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I am quite happy with the look of it, my first bit of metal bending in a few years. I thought I might get away with forming it all cold as the angles were fairly shallow and I almost got away with it. There is the beginning of a fracture in one of the corners of the longest bend which is a pain. I think I'll try and get it through a competition and then change it. It is backed by 0.75mm polycarbonate too but I'm pretty sure that's not really strong enough for modern ants.

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The linkage isn't great still but it has decent throw and will nicely flip another antweight from the tip of the blade. I am currently waiting on some 150mah cells to make up a better shaped battery for it, and then I will be putting the remaining weight into side armour and a switch and lid. I think I have about 30 grams to play with.


Also on the slab is another pneumatic effort using basically the same components as my previous attempts in a less bulbous form. I also wanted to try and have my cake and eat it - with electronics being smaller and cheaper its now really easy to have cool features and strong drive alongside a weapon too.

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My first version was like this, this was a super rough draft that was more just a way to test the drive before I started fitting the pneumatic side of things in and getting the geometry not to suck. It runs lego tires which are actually fairly grippy when you have six of them. The gears are all printed and run on small ball bearings (which I ended up buying a big greasy sack off from china for remarkably little money)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXuS3i393fs

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It worked pretty well too so I splashed out on a Malenki Nano from the BBB store which works with my years old Turnigy i6 and weighs absolutely nothing. Three connections later and I'm driving around - great stuff.

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I also neatened up the cells I was using as solid 2s pack so they sat better in the little slot cut out for them in the chassis. Because I don't really have the space or weight for a regulator and the ESC/RX combo runs on full bore 7.4v I just decided to make my life easier and picked up a high voltage micro servo from component shop. Generally I'd do an aliexpress special for half the price but I just wanted to get it flipping under power and it turned up the very next day for a tenner. I can swallow that massive expenditure I'm sure.

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It mounts deep in the guts, and the Malenki sits on top of it with all of the pneumatic components basically on top of them. Now it was in more of a working state began checking how I am on weight and seeing where I could claw some back. The first place I looked was the wheels. Sad as I am to see the lego tires go 3 grams is unacceptable!

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Also I felt they were fractionally too large so the robot stood too high off the ground. I had some of the foam strip left over from improving the Tamiya tracks and it was a fairly perfect fit. I carefully glued these round the hubs and meticulously glued the whole assembly to my fingertips. It wasn't a great experience but it saved me a respectable chunk of weight, but lost me a respectable chunk of skin.

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The grip is excellent too, for foam. I may brush on some latex or cut a pattern into the tread (or both!) to increase traction, but that's not a priority for now.

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And I got to keep the 6wd! Very happy and it drives much nicer with the smaller wheels. I think having softer more compliant tires means that its less sensitive to one wheel being fractionally higher or lower and its all a lot smoother.

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Here it is as it stands! without the armour and with the lightening it stands around the 136g mark. Might be just enough to wrap something thin around the vitals!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf7iqor_G2s

^^ self righting test

Till next time friends!
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