GeorgeR's robots

[T_Y]

Congratulations on your performance at AWS58! RBMK's journey to the top was spectacular to watch.

[GeorgeR]

That is a brilliant robot and probably the most original but not quite the first walker to win an AWS.
Mutant won in 2004 at AWS15 but there were far less robots to beat back then
http://www.antweight.co.uk/results/ws15/ws15.htm

I stand corrected, someone told me it was the first, but I guess they don't have quite your level of aws knowledge (I'm not sure anybody does to be fair)

[GeorgeR]

Quick pre-AWS update, and the main news is a new chassis for Vampire...



The old one was looking a bit worse for wear (I counted over 60 hits on the armour!), and there were a couple of issues I wanted to address. The new chassis is wider and lower, this allows it more space for a bigger battery, and extra clearance beneath the bar to stop it hitting the lid. At some point soon I hope to give it a new longer bar, but I'm waiting on some new smaller/lighter drive motors to arrive (goodbye N20s, hello N10s )

The rest of the team have been repaired but are basically unchanged, the previously mentioned new version of RBMK is currently on hold as I can hardly replace a reigning champion!

Looking forward to Sheffield, it should be great!

[EddieJ]

Nice neat name logo in the side Is it CNC milled in? A stencil? Transfer?
Looking awesome as always!

[GeorgeR]

Cheers, it's done as a toner transfer. You print the name (reversed) using a laser printer, then iron it on to the metal, and finally soak off the paper.

I originally learnt the technique as part of producing homemade pcbs, and realised the transfer part of the process (without any etching) would make a good way of labelling metal boxes (when not building robots I also make my own guitar effects pedals).

[GeorgeR]

A slightly late AWS 59 report! Well, I may no longer be reigning AWS champion, but I certainly had a good and successful time up in Sheffield.

RBMK managed a couple of wins, neither particularly impressive, but in an arena that was less kind to spinners than the Dunchurch one it was too easily bundled into the pit. I'm now planning an all new and improved version that hopefully should showcase what the design can do.
The revamped Vampire also picked up a couple of rather vicious wins (sorry Robbie!), and in addition to a number of fun whiteboards I was really happy with its performance; it hit hard, and didn't destroy itself, Yay!

The real stars were Zero and Valkyrie, with them both picking up a joint 5th spot. It's good to see Zero still working well and achieving its highest finish 3 years after is was built, and Valkyrie confirmed my suspicions that it's my best performing antweight (33:13 W:L ratio, 4 top-5 finishes in 8 competitions!)

I intend to be busy, and in addition to new RBMK I'm also planning on building "Nothing", a 4wd counterpart for Zero - it'll be nice to have another low maintenance ant, and it'll be good to get more experience driving to win without relying on the weapon to do the work for me.

[MarkR]

George, your robots rock!

Also, did you get any N10s? Are they any good? I see a few on Aliexpress etc.

[GeorgeR]

Cheers, I'm still waiting on the N10s right now. I'll make a post about them once they've arrived and I've had the chance to test them, watch this space!

[EddieJ]

Awesome idea with the toner transfer. Bot tattoos! I think you should produce tally markings and add a new tally for each bot you KO
Good luck with the upgrades

[GeorgeR]

N10 Gear Motors

As I mentioned in a previous post I've been looking at some alternative drive motors for my ants, and they've finally arrived.
Here's one next to an N20.....



The N10 has the same gearbox as our beloved N20, but is fitted with a shorter motor. I picked up some in the 30:1 and 50:1 ratio.
The spec indicated that for the same gear ratio they ran 40% faster than the N20 but with half the torque, so the 30:1 was rated at a free-run speed of 700rpm, the 50:1 at 420rpm (it's 500rpm and 300rpm respectively for the N20).

Now they've arrived I've done some tests and I'm pleased to say they look good.

Weight = 8.1g, vs 9.5g for an N20, saving 1.4g per motor.
Length = 3mm shorter than the N20, all other dimensions identical.
Stall current (6V) = 420mA, same as a standard N20.
Free-run current (6V) = 40-50mA, slightly higher than a standard N20 (25-30mA typically)
Speed (50:1) = 420rpm ±3% in both directions (spot on spec)
Speed (30:1) = 650rpm ±3% in both directions (slightly below spec, but consistent)

Overall I think these look like a great choice, I'm going to fit them to a couple of my ants and give them a run to see how they hold up.

If anybody else was interested I got them from here;
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3292382 ... 8ebc3h0f4s