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evil_steve
Joined: 06 Sep 2015
Posts: 304
Location: Adelaide, SA
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Ok, time for me to do another overly-wordy post-event write-up for Zenghiaro! I've also done one for Rusty in his thread (I know a lot of builders do combined threads but when I started out it was difficult/intimidating to read 500+ page build threads (I'm looking at you Nick ), so in case any future builders are crazy enough to read my threads I've decided to keep them separate). Nationals and Big Boys Toys was a blast, we all had a great time and despite the long drive over and back are keen to do it all again next year.
Overall I was very happy with how Zenghiaro went. It won 4 fights, lost 2 or 3 (honestly, I lost track, I thought it was 3 but only have footage/memory of 6 fights), and held it's own in the rumble despite a non-functional lifting mechanism. The cutting-board chassis once again held up very well, this time with some scratches and nicks (with a large one from Beserker to one of the wheel guards) but no more than superficial damage, and after I more carefully drilled it this time around the baseplate didn't crack from being thrown again by Citizen Flips in the final rumble. When the wheels weren't falling off the 4WD system worked well with plenty of pushing power and it was a blast to drive. The Botbitz ESCs worked flawlessly (although I'm tempted to buy and try out a Ragebridge anyway, probably in a new bot,
given the current sale).
Two things need rethinking/redesigning again though:
- The wheels. These were somewhat better (especially after I changed the washers around after the first fight with Warboy) and the wheels were lasting 2-4 fights (rather than 1-2 at Vivid) but they still were a pain. I'm still deciding whether I'll try Ondray's method of attaching them or try a different wheel completely (or, when I'm feeling completely mad, I consider making my own). I'm a bit stuck by wanting to keep it invertible (which was very handy in the rumble when the lifter wasn't working) and thus needing 125-130mm wheels, and by the decision to directly attach to the drill motor shafts with very little clearance (if I'm not careful they rub on some of the cutting board in spots, especially if I put one on backwards like I did towards the end of Sunday. It still drove fine in the rumble though). I did like the new reverse threaded screws I used this time instead of the crappy ones which came with the drills –
I bought them from here
for those I promised to link them to.
- The lifting mechanism. Again, an improvement from Vivid but not great. It had a bit more power (and was able to get a few good lifts in, especially to put Disassembler on it's side for it's first ever win) but still probably needed to be geared lower, and it was too easily disabled. I think the latter was a combination of a few issues – the set screw on the weapon shaft sprocket kept slipping back despite copious loctite +/- a second set screw up it's ass, which allowed it to slip off the flat I'd ground on the shaft and the sprocket to rotate freely. On thinking about it post event I wonder if the lack of limit switches contributed – with the speed of the lifter it would thwack into the baseplate or drive pods at either end of travel and as the clamping hubs holding the arms to the shaft held tight the set screw on the sprocket was the weak point which gave. The bearings I was using (and the set screw hubs to hold them in) certainly didn't help – they kept sliding out of position and just sitting on the now-loose shaft. I'm playing with options for a new mechanism – I'm looking to keep the chain and sprocket but either drill a divot into the flat of the shaft (as suggested to me at the event) or try and find a proper d-shaft the right diameter/length. Not sure what motor I'll use, trying out a few and (foolishly) hoping to actually find time to test/adapt whatever I decide to run with. I'll probably ditch the bearings and either use bushings or even just plain holes in the cutting board supports (one of them had an extra support doing this and it was the one spot that didn't have issues). I'll almost certainly put in limit switches this time around (either doing the diode/switch thing or using
this ESC
), and tweak a few other things (I should really recut new lifting arms with better geometry for a live shaft, and I plan to thicken the bars between the arms slightly, as the front one especially was too easily bent).
I'm not sure if I'll be able to make the Sportsman's Cup later this year (will depend on dates and work) but the current plan is to bring Zenghiaro and a second sportsman entry to Vivid +/- Nationals next year.
Pictures:
Our pit table (early on, before it got messy) and experienced pit crew.
Zenghiaro ready for it's first fight.
Post the fight with Beserker, the most damage it took all event.
I'm slowly editing the video of the fights I have and putting them up on Youtube, however given the quality of the footage Chris is putting up it's really a token effort
Edit: meant to add a pic of Zenghiaro's lifting mechanism post event, showing the issues with the bearings.
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Sun Aug 28, 2016 10:12 pm |
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