Epic Robotics

[EpicentrE]

Scott, does Void actually NEED a flipper? I know you're famously hold backish with the weapon, and I think you used it once at the last AWS (not including self righting). I know its a nice feature to have, but could you not do something else with the weight?

I didn't use the lifters on Void 6 or 7 very much because they didn't work very well. On 6, IIRC the lifter didn't really go high enough and because of the scoop, opponents fell off it easily. On 7, I tried a different mechanism using a slider, and again, the lifter was quite slow and didn't really go up high enough. In the CAD designs they looked fine, but they didn't really work as expected.

I've always wanted a weapon on Void, but the last couple of designs just havn't worked out so I've ended up not using it much, as you said. With trying something different on Void 8, I'm hoping to actually get a proper flipper back (rather than just a lifter), and if everything goes to plan it will actually perform triple-duty as a lifter (something pneumatics or springs can't do) and a nomme...grabber.

The design ethos I'm following with Void at the moment is focused on control. I want great control of the robot through 4wd, good quality controllers and a gyro (possibly - still working out the details of that one), and I want to be able to control the opponent, whether it's flipping them over, carefully lifting them in a certain way in order to gain an advantage, or trapping them. Void's always been intended to be a great all-rounder, so this vision fits in quite well with that.

I'll be as interested as anyone else to see how well it actually all works in the end .

[EpicentrE]

So as has happened to me a few times in the past, I came back to build Void after a short period, looked at the design, and realised it was terrible. So I scrapped it and started again.

Going for a slightly different body shape this time, tracks made of lego pneumatic tubing (softened and roughed up), and a 3-part mechanism that lifts, grabs, and grabs & lifts (if that makes sense), all with one servo.

Just put the Shapeways bits together today, and it's coming together nicely. Will try to post some regular updates, as it may motivate me to not leave it until the last second before the AWS!


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[earthwormjim]

That looks amazing. Incredibly well thought out design.
I look forward to seeing it for real!

[haz]

looks like it needs joysticks
Very cool though, love it!

[EpicentrE]

So I played around with the Lego pneumatic tubing I had intended to make the tracks from, but it turned out it was more rigid than I had originally thought, and wouldn't wrap around the smaller pulleys without bowing out in a way that would've increased the ground clearance significantly. After panicking a bit, I managed to find some 4mm rubber thong (not what you're thinking - apparently it's used for making jewellery), which is much more pliable and, while still not able to perfectly wrap around the pulleys, it was much better.

I tested some different lengths of belt to see how much current the motor was drawing, and although i was able to get the belt almost completely wrapped around the pulleys, that setup was drawing almost an amp at 6v, and so I had to go to a slightly longer one, which is the one you see pictured. I also decided to drop the voltage down from my planned 3 cells to 2, as I'm a little concerned about the current draw, but I'll still get 1.3 m/s on 2 cells so it should be ok. It now draws 700-750ma on 8v, which is still high, but the motor doesn't go beyond warm even with constant running for a few minutes, so I'm hoping it'll be ok.


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[haz]

Ok that's... that's...words fail me
First class work, absolutely brilliant, it's just so clever!

[peterwaller]

Now that is thinking out of the box or should I say round the corner.
Can't wait to see it in action.

[earthwormjim]

Scott, , you are truly insane. (in an evil genius kind of way! )
Brilliant!

[Remote-Controlled Dave]

Its beautiful. *cries*

[EpicentrE]

You guys don't half exaggerate, but I appreciate the compliments nonetheless!

Got all the soldering/wiring done, and I've learned that soldering is even less fun when it's 30 degrees outside. Had a panic attack when one of the TinyESCs wouldn't pick the signal from the RX31, and it took me over an hour of resoldering and searching using a torch and magnifying glass to find one tiny tiny almost invisible strand of wire that had bridged between the signal and power pads on the ESC.

I think I need a smaller battery, though...


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