jamesb
Joined: 05 Feb 2007
Posts: 3
Location: wales uk
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Hi guys, sorry to wake up such an old thread, but I spotted the WBC convo while trolling for WBC stuff on google.
Yes, I bougt Wheely Big Cheese from Roger Plant some years ago, it was a running robot, but everything is now replaced, I think the only thing still used from inside is the valve block. This version of WBC is the MK2, which was a reseign after mk1 lost to Tornado in robotwars series... um... 5? I think? The one where the wheel failed catistrophically.
The mk2 WBC is still doing public appearances in the UK, but is not currently running as I loaned it to a person I trusted, who left it out in the rain for several nights, dropped it breaking the wheel, and hammered the axle to get the broke wheel on, breaking the gearbox. Having promised to pay for any damage, he decided to deny all of the damage he'd done, so basically evreything needs replacing again, for either corrosion/water damage, or physical damage from the drop and hammer. It will be repaired, but not for a while as I've not got time/money/motivation right now.
WBC mk1, which was on sale on ebay as pointed out in this thread, was a bit of a surprise when I saw it, as I was told it had been scrapped. However, as I was using WBC for my (then much more high profile and regular) UK shows, I could not risk having a second WBC out there as it diluted my brand, if you follow what I mean. Plus, and accident or negative press would be directly transferable to me, as who is to know which WBC was which? There were people interested in WBC mk1, as an empty shell, and one in particular saw it as an excellent promotional tool for their own shows. I agree it would have been, but I wanted it more than them to protect my position, so I bought it off Roger and it was withdrawn early from ebay.
Some info on mk1 and mk2.
Mk1 differs from mk2 in many, many ways. They are slightly different in size and shape, so nothing can be used for the other version. Mk1 has different thickness top and bottom plates on the flipper, where mk2 is the same thickness top and bottom. The shapes are slightly different too. Mk2 is far more heavily built, and much stronger. The titanium alloys were changed for mk2, so the wheels are of softer grade, and so are not going to fracture welds in the way Mk1 did on the show. The body of Mk1 was welded also, and has failures in the welds, but Mk2 keeps the harder grade titanium on the body, and is fully bolted with M5 bolts, so no welds.
The gearboxes on Mk1 were almost standard from the Litton motors, but Mk2 had custom made cases with modified internals, and CIM4 motors. The motors in Mk2 had custom brushes to reduce their resistance, meaning they ate amps by the hundreds and produced near 9hp each. This was at 24v, not 36v as in many books and stats. I've not seen the Mk1 motors, so no comments there.
The axle shafts from Mk1 were titanium, but one had snapped, so for Mk2 they were much thicker.
I think that about covers the "2 wheely big cheeses?" question, hope it's of interest to someone.
currently, both versions are in storage.
Mk1 has been used as it was bought, to promote events, but I've since rebuilt it all, the only parts still original are the top and bottom flipper plates. It may compete again if TV comes back.
Mk 2 is knackered, never trust idiots with your robot, even if they swear to pay for damage. It is easy enough to get running again, but will cost about £2500 due to the extensive water damage to the pneumatics, electronics and physical damage to the gearbox/wheel. Maybe a redesign will be cheaper, but I cannot really be bothered to think too hard about it at the moment.
There is also a running featherweight version, used for private shows, and 2 antweight versions (one needs fixing) again for the shows.
That's abut it for Wheely Big Cheese info.
Other than that, the Mule (Rogers first robot wars bot) is here also, and is waiting for me to put drive and etc in it, but the frame, armour and pneumatics are all original.
The Big Cheese, as seen fighting Chaos2 in series..oh God, um... 3? was in the hands of Dave Maclachlan last I heard, he had rebuilt it around a fairly standard electric drive system and pneumatic flipper (it was originally hydraulic drive and lifter), it was then put for sale, but did not hit reserve. I believe he then stripped it and readvertised the shell alone, but I do not know what happened after this. Having been offered the BIg Cheese at the same time as WBC and the mule, I can tell you that it is the BIG cheese, it was huge!! Kevlar shell was really nicely made, but not sure how it would survive against modern heavies. To be honest, I'd love to have bought that too, but could not justify it (plus my car was too small)
If anyone has questions about WBC and the mule, just drop me an e-mail. Most of the info will likely end up on my site when it is remade to better represent my current activities in robotland, but until then I hope I've answered some questions here, and put some misinformation to bed.
Cheers
James
(wow, as random posts on dead threads go, this one was quite a biggy eh?)
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