www.robowars.org

RoboWars Australia Forum Index -> Builders Reports

Jolt & friends - Team Overkill - NSW
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 569, 570, 571, 572, 573  Next

Post new topic   Reply to topic
  Author    Thread
MoonSet416



Joined: 25 Sep 2016
Posts: 436
Location: Sydney


 Reply with quote  

Yeah having a thin frame definitely saves a whole lot of weight. Can't wait to see your new bot! Very Happy

Post Sun Sep 03, 2017 7:50 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Mr Mangle:

I weighed some alternate parts today; the smaller weapon motor is 120 grams lighter than the flame-out motor, while the 32mm wide self-levelling wheels are only 60 grams heavier than the Colsons. Swapping less fire for more traction is a definite win in my books! Smile

Boom Stick

The under-cutter spinner is taking shape but already has some weight issues. I am trying out a new Scorpion 2025 drive motor to help with that:



Its smaller & lighter than an NTM motor and rated for 6S so it should run cooler than a 4S rated NTM. Build quality is fantastic and the cost is mid way between an NTM and the sensored out-runners I was using in Mr Mangle. these Scorpions came from New Zealand, with the lowest on-line price in the world Cool.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:24 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Boom Stick:

A huge 50 x 500mm round of titanium arrived last week and now its being turned into new shafts for the weapon motor and bearing block. Parting off the Ti was a nightmare; it had extreme chatter despite using the lathe's lowest speed, the fixed steady support and a live centre:



The chatter was so bad it looked like I was knurling rather than parting:



Once the short off-cut was back in the lathe it was a different story; the Ti cuts very smoothly with a great finish. That's lucky because the 50mm stock has to be turned down to a much smaller diameter for most of it's length. In the photo below, the flange is 38mm and everything else is 19mm or less.

Here is the interior of the Neu 8019 motor:



The original shaft will be changed to extend at the front of the motor and end at the flange. That let's the motor drive the weapon shaft from underneath the bot, very much like Neon. It saves a ton of weight & space by reducing the hight of the frame by 20mm.

Once the motor shaft is complete, I want to make a test-bed for the weapon; with so much power on tap, its risky to just design something without knowing how it will perform (or if it will just destroy ESCs).
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Mon Sep 11, 2017 6:17 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
shakesc



Joined: 14 May 2012
Posts: 62
Location: UK


 Reply with quote  

Nick

I ha a local machine shop make my Neumotor shafts the other way around.
Neumotor can supply them ready made but the output was a bit short for the pinion

Havent decided whether to epoxy the magnets or not. They seem held in ok but strange things happen in combat. Were you epoxying?

Post Tue Sep 12, 2017 3:11 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Thanks for the info, how are your motors working out for heavyweight drive? I need quite a long shaft with a keyway and I definitely need to save weight so the Ti shaft is a must. The magnets and the motor back shell are well made but as you said, odd things can happen so more epoxy can't hurt. Will definitely be doing my magnets.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Tue Sep 12, 2017 6:51 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

The motor shaft is working out really well so far; all the turning is done and now its off to the mill for a key way and a bolt circle. I don't have the right cutter for the key yet, so that's a job for next week.



The weight saving with the Ti shaft is substantial; with a thicker flange and no bolt holes or key way, its still 68 grams lighter. Very Happy
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Tue Sep 12, 2017 9:58 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

I added some storage for the lathe, it gets tons of stuff off the bench and keeps it handy:



I'm pissed with Hare & Forbes though; the pegboard at the back of the draws didn't come with any tool hangers, even though they were shown in the catalogue.

Its time to put most of the bot projects away and get cracking on the CNC mill(s). The enclosure became a storage shelf while I worked on bots for the last two events:



That needs cleaning up so the remaining panels can be installed. After the panels are in and painted, I can move the old manual mill in and get a few parts completed. The CNC mill still needs much work and its going to be a top priority once I have a bit more space in the shed.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Thu Sep 14, 2017 10:35 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Boom Stick

The weapon testing set-up is getting closer; I tried out laser-cut part to check that everything fits:



Now that checks out, its time for a new output shaft and some pulleys. With the movable bearing block, I can try out different pulley ratios to get the current draw and speed right.

CNC

I put in some work on the gantry router; the router is mounted, the electronics is about 2/3rds finished and there is a new Ikea cabinet hacked into a workstation:



The back of the control box houses the PC and PSUs, while the front has the breakout board and stepper controllers:



The router fits on top of the cabinet with enough room for a monitor & keyboard:



And there is just enough room inside for a dust collection system:


_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Mon Sep 18, 2017 11:12 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

CNC mill:

The mill took a small step forwards with some parts for a power draw bar (PDB). I bought an almost new 'air over oil' cylinder off Glen that turns 90 PSI air into 3,500 Kg (7,716 Lbs) of force Shocked.



That is more than enough to compress a spring made of a stack of six Belleville washers on the draw bar and release the TTS tools. I turned a new top sor the Seig Draw bar with a guide to keep the washers aligned:



One thing I like about this set-up is the solenoid valve that lets the PDB be remotely operated by a foot switch. Having both hands free to take out one tool and put the next one straight in is a real bonus.

Air blow-off gun:

This new air gun is the best I have ever used; apart from being built to take years of abuse, it's best feature is that the trigger is gradual, not just on & off. You can control the air flow from a light breeze to gale-force and that makes the air gun way more versatile.



An unusual feature is the nozzle; instead of a single hole at the end. it has many small holes in a ring:


_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:16 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

CNC mill:

I reassembled the spindle in the head and lined up the PDB cylinder to get an idea of how to mount it:



The cylinder adds 460mm to the top of the mill - that's just ridiculous! The cylinder mounts are M12 to take all the force it can generate but the top of the mill is fairly thin and only held on with M5 screws, which won't last long.

Taking the top cover off and installing M12 stand-offs directly on to the head is much stronger. While I'm at it, the splined top of the spindle isn't necessary any more, so that can be cut off to just above the pulley to save 50mm of hight.



Another cheap 'n easy mod is to increase the size of the motor pulley; the ratio is currently 2:1. Lowering that to 1.5 to 1 will get more spindle speed to run the smaller sized end mills this machine is likely to run.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Sun Sep 24, 2017 7:31 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

CNC mill:

The mount for the PDB cylinder is two thirds done, the sides are attached and now the top plate has to be cut to fit:



The top plate is rebated into the sides for extra strength and there are eight M8 Screws holding the sides to the mill head; that should keep the ram in place while its compressing the Belleville washers!

Something that is NOT going so smoothly is assembling the Z axis. The dovetailed carriage is tightened up with a tapered gib and its only fitting in half way for some reason Mad. All the other parts appear to be in their correct positions so its a mystery why the gib isn't fitting - perhaps it just wants to taunt me.



I will loosen all the screws holding the carriage parts together and if that doesn't work, there is always the sledgehammer.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Fri Sep 29, 2017 8:35 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
Valen
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 4436
Location: Sydney


 Reply with quote  

Not something simple like the gib should go in the other end or something?
_________________
Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets

Post Sat Sep 30, 2017 5:06 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger ICQ Number
Philip
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 18 Jun 2004
Posts: 3842
Location: Queensland near Brisbane


 Reply with quote  

Nick, what do you use as a mat in this picture?
Thanks.

quote:
Originally posted by Nick:


_________________
So even the rain that falls isn't actually going to fill our dams and our river systems

Post Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:21 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Its a cutting board from an art store. It is labelled 'Art Mat' and is about 3mm thick. They come in a number of sizes from A4 to A2 and maybe even larger.
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:29 am 
 View user's profile Send private message
Nick
Experienced Roboteer


Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


 Reply with quote  

Time to build more bots:

Just in case anyone still watches this build thread, here is the latest. I was a bit disappointed in missing registration for Robogames but as I have all the major parts for the lightweight, it might as well get finished. The first version had weapon pulleys cut for two A sized V belts - I hate those things, so the first job is to convert to micro-V belts:



The 10 groove belt is exactly the same width as the double A belts and should be stronger, plus it will run cooler. The smaller micro V belt in Mr Mangle has been flawless for the last 2 years so this one will work just as well.

The LW frame is a real mess. The pro welder did a totally shit job and didn't use nearly enough gas coverage. Fortunately, he forgot to do the critical welds on the rear wedge, so I can do them properly and beef up the dodgy welds in other places:



Grinding off all that oxide will take ages but has to be done.

The internal parts are better news; all the major items fit well and the wiring is fairly neat:



The electronics module is only an MDF prototype, will get upgrades to carbon fibre now I know it fits, The drive motors are controlled by a pair of Brushless ragebridges - can't wait to see how they run! The only major internal part missing is the power switch. I was going to make a custom removable link but since this bot will never get to the UK, I can use a spare Whyachi switch I have lurking somewhere.

This is how it looks when assembled, something about it looks familiar Laughing



_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Post Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:29 pm 
 View user's profile Send private message
  Display posts from previous:      

Forum Jump:
Jump to:  

Post new topic   Reply to topic
Page 570 of 573

Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 569, 570, 571, 572, 573  Next

Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 

Last Thread | Next Thread  >
Powered by phpBB: © 2001 phpBB Group
millenniumFalcon Template By Vereor.