Servo for flipper / Spinner and which motor?

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Reala
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:25 am

Servo for flipper / Spinner and which motor?

Post by Reala »

Hi everyone =)

OK, so I've ordered most of my parts now and have three questions left!

I'm not sure whether to go for a spinner or a flipper robot yet.

If I go for a flipper robot, does anyone have a recommendation for a servo that will be powerful enough to self right and toss an ant weight? :D

The two spinner options I've seen recommended are as follows. Are there any benefits of one over the other?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... arch=C2024
http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/st ... Search=dys

In terms of motors, I'm going to order from the UK as I'd like to get started :) I'm probably going to go with a Pololu motor. I've seen some people recommend 30:1 and others 50:1 (I presume it depends on the robot). Based on whether I go for a spinner or flipper, is there anything I need to take into consideration when choosing?
Occashokka
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Re: Servo for flipper / Spinner and which motor?

Post by Occashokka »

I would strongly dissuade a spinner if you are new because not only is it difficult to make it decent and safe but it is also nigh on impossible to use for practising your driving. Servo wise it depends on your budget, for £2 you can get something just about capable of a lift,for about £5 you can get a faster lift that can tilt them onto their back, and for about £20 you can get a proper good toss
Team Badger
Has a 3d printer now yay
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-not yet built nasty mean spinnt thingy

I'm gonna build something huge and stupid, try and stop me :P
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Shakey
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Re: Servo for flipper / Spinner and which motor?

Post by Shakey »

I'd recommend a flipper to start. They're a much easier to get a good amount of practice in and really lets you build your driving skills whereas spinners aren't so good for this. Plus a flipper is more reliable which I think is a big plus for a starting robot.

I use this servo in all my flippers: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... c_21g.html
It's very powerful and fast and is probably one of the best choices right now without breaking the budget.

On the pololu motors you want 50:1 if they are the actual pololu ones or 30:1 otherwise.
Nuts And Bots - For all your components and ready built antweights!

Alex Shakespeare - Team Shakey / Nuts And Bots / Team Nuts:
AWS 44, 45, 49, 51 & 55 Winner - Far too many robots!
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BeligerAnt
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Re: Servo for flipper / Spinner and which motor?

Post by BeligerAnt »

I'd really suggest starting with a flipper for your first robot, for a whole host of reasons.
Obviously they're a lot safer and less scary! Reliable flippers are a lot easier to build than reliable spinners. Non-spinners are much better to learn to drive, generally more controllable in the arena.

As for motors, the gear ratio defines the tradeoff between speed and torque. Torque is not usually an issue, ants very rarely stall their drive motors. The speed you need depends on how fast you want the robot to be, and how big you want the wheels to be. If you want to use very small wheels (say 15-20mm) you will need faster motors (30:1 or lower). If you want bigger wheels on an invertible chassis (say 40-50mm) you will want slower motors (50:1 or higher) - but also heed Alex's advice above.

For flipper servos, search the forum as several recommendations have been posted recently. Go for metal gears and a fast (less than 0.1s/60deg) servo with plenty of torque. So-called "digital" servos work well for flippers. Look for servos in to 10-20g weight bracket, but check the spped and torque as not all servos are created equal!
Gary, Team BeligerAnt
Reala
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:25 am

Re: Servo for flipper / Spinner and which motor?

Post by Reala »

You've persuaded me! I'll build a flipper and go for the servo that Alex recommended :-)

Motors I'll get 2 x 50:1 pololu.

Thank you all :D
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