The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

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Dazmund
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Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:38 pm
Location: Deptford, London
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The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by Dazmund »

As Mr. Garrison from South Park once said - there are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

As a long time Robot Wars fan and someone who was in a John Findlay cardboard antweight workshop, I had a bit of free time over the Christmas period to do a mock-up cardboard antweight flipper robot (within the 4-inch cube parameters). But then, after browsing the Nuts and Bots store this month and noticed the NanoTwo ESC & receiver were being sold, I ordered one along with 30mm wheels and motor mounts, there was no going back - I'm building an antweight robot for the first time, and one that is within the current rules and hopefully will be combat-ready.

Since then, I ordered a high-torque Turnigy servo, and 5 180mah LiPos with safety bag and balance charger from Hobby King, Tamiya on/off switches from Robot Shop, and a Devo 7e transmitter and two 6V 300rpm motors from eBay (the latter of which will take bloody ages to get here as its a cheap overseas order but I'm in no rush). I will also get numerous fixings from places like Leyland SDM, RS Components and Screwfix (the latter two being 5 minutes from where I live). Any other bits I need for things like soldering and cutting I can get from a friend or sort out in workshops or services in my area. The only thing I haven't got yet is chassis and armour material, though I am considering getting 1.5mm polycarbonate and some kind of metal. If push comes to shove, I may go the 3D printing route.

I've been taking advice from this forum, Alex and Rory's NanoTwo suggestions, and the antweight building video from Team Panoramic in terms of what to buy and how to put together stuff. All the internals will definitely fit in my flipper bot, which I intend to make it wedge-shaped along the lines of Eruption, Gravity, RONNY and some of the Oink bots. That said, here comes the questions...
  • My servo is the Turnigy S306G-HV, and I have no clue what to do in order to mount it to the body of the inside of a robot, nor how to attach the motor end to the flipper arm. What steps should I take in order the have it properly fastened?
  • I bought a few 3mm nuts, bolts and washers. Will they be useful in any way such as armour attachments or are they too thick? I know Alex has recommended 2mm bolts for antweights here though.
Any advice or feedback would be very welcome. When I get my bits together, I'll post a build diary and I am likely to ask more questions again!
DAZ DUZ BOTZ

Fili-PA (wedge flipper)
Watta Doze (tank tracked pusher)
Wolfhead (front wheel drive flipper)
2-2 Liftman (fork lifter)
The Ting Goes Grrrab (grabber/control)
Paulmchurd
Posts: 227
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:39 pm

Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by Paulmchurd »

Hello,

I made a polycarbonate clamp. Thin strip over the top of servo and a screw at either end of the servo into the base of the chassis.

I’ve also used a mix of 3mm and 2mm screws. I found 3mm a little bulky when fiddling around with the inside of the robot. They seemed to get in the way. Only a tiny bit bigger, but you notice it. On my next build I’ll definatly just go for 2mm bolts.

They also weigh a small amount more.

Check out my build page. I made a wedge flipper.

Paul
Dazmund
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:38 pm
Location: Deptford, London
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Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by Dazmund »

Thanks Paul. I just checked your build. One question that I was going to ask was how one would go about hinging the flipping arm onto the main body, and you used some kind of wire or rod to do so. What's it made of and where did you get it?
DAZ DUZ BOTZ

Fili-PA (wedge flipper)
Watta Doze (tank tracked pusher)
Wolfhead (front wheel drive flipper)
2-2 Liftman (fork lifter)
The Ting Goes Grrrab (grabber/control)
Paulmchurd
Posts: 227
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:39 pm

Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by Paulmchurd »

A few people just use a bolt at either end of the robot. I used a push rod. Recommended by Peter on this forum.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CARBON-FIBRE ... 2749.l2649

Really strong.
Dazmund
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:38 pm
Location: Deptford, London
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Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by Dazmund »

Here's my progress so far as detailed in my blog and Twitter video. Now to start thinking of body and internal construction...

https://itsaneverydaystory.wordpress.co ... ectikeant/

https://twitter.com/dazmundmonkey/statu ... 9714099200
DAZ DUZ BOTZ

Fili-PA (wedge flipper)
Watta Doze (tank tracked pusher)
Wolfhead (front wheel drive flipper)
2-2 Liftman (fork lifter)
The Ting Goes Grrrab (grabber/control)
Dazmund
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:38 pm
Location: Deptford, London
Contact:

Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by Dazmund »

After plenty of trail and error, I have managed to cut the pieces of my polycarbonate armour and plan to put them together using Araldite epoxy and joining with screws and 1mm polycarbonate pieces. I just wanted to ask out there how do you paint polycarbonate? Acrylic? Spray paint? Specialist paint? Do I scratch up the surfaces for a more durable coat?

The whole building process has been slow due to the weather preventing me from working outside (I don't have a shed or workshop or well ventilated place to work in) and I'm getting regular work, but once the body work is put together, expect another build diary... and a couple more questions too.
DAZ DUZ BOTZ

Fili-PA (wedge flipper)
Watta Doze (tank tracked pusher)
Wolfhead (front wheel drive flipper)
2-2 Liftman (fork lifter)
The Ting Goes Grrrab (grabber/control)
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MarkR
Posts: 375
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:46 pm
Location: Reading Hackspace
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Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by MarkR »

You can also bend PC quite easily at room temperature or with moderate heat (I think). I am currently trying with 1mm polystyrene (the non-expanded variety) which seems quite amenable to bending with a carefully constructed (timber) jig and hot air gun.

I also use 2mm bolts and nuts, they are fiddly but effective.

You might be able to weld some of these plastics using the pipe welding compound available from DIY and plumbing shops. That's normally used for (Polypropylene?) waste pipes. Pipe weld isn't kept on the shelves, but is generally an "under the counter" product which you have to ask for.
Robots: Betsie - RaspberryPi controlled flipper bot with gyro stablisation - too clever for her own good?
Stacie - tidy flipper; 4wd driven by hair bands
Dazmund
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:38 pm
Location: Deptford, London
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Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by Dazmund »

While I'm sticking with 2mm nuts and bolts to hold things together, as well as the epoxy bonding (along with super glue to temporarily hold things in place), is it possible to weld/melt polycarbonate together using a soldering iron? I just bought cone tips for mine for precise jobs.
DAZ DUZ BOTZ

Fili-PA (wedge flipper)
Watta Doze (tank tracked pusher)
Wolfhead (front wheel drive flipper)
2-2 Liftman (fork lifter)
The Ting Goes Grrrab (grabber/control)
User avatar
MarkR
Posts: 375
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:46 pm
Location: Reading Hackspace
Contact:

Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by MarkR »

I haven't tried a soldering iron. To be honest, I doubt it, soldering irons are too hot and too localised for that kind of thing... but if you manage, do please post the results.

More likely would be a "soldering rework station" hot air gun, which can apply extremely hot air to a very localised area. But it's very easy to get it wrong and turn the whole piece into a gooey mess.
Robots: Betsie - RaspberryPi controlled flipper bot with gyro stablisation - too clever for her own good?
Stacie - tidy flipper; 4wd driven by hair bands
Rapidrory
Posts: 1160
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2013 9:54 pm

Re: The adventures of an antweight robot building nerb

Post by Rapidrory »

Heating polycarb makes it quite brittle. I always just cold fold and bolt together chassis. Superglue works for a while, but eats the polycarb and it will fail after a few months.
Rory Mangles - Team Nuts

Robots: Nuts 2 and many more...

NanoTwo Motor Controllers: https://nutsandbots.co.uk/product/nanotwodualesc
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