I got back into building my ant last week and have got it to a working prototype. No weapon but driving powered by bodged AAs. Now it’s working the biggest issue is weight. Removing the AAs and replacing it with the weight of a lipo gets me at around 103g.
This is well within weigh for an ant but this any is a vert spinner. The motor and esc weigh 28 and disk 22g. Add on 23g for the 3d printed supports and mounting hardware and you’ve got yourself a 176g ant. Meaning 26g to cut. The weight is concentrated in the printed parts 64g and the weapon parts 40g. I’m now really lost on where to cut. I cut it down from 200g after asking on here a while ago.
With cutting weight you need to play it pretty brutally and sensibly. Big sweeping changes to the heaviest parts are going to yield more than trying to shave a gram out of already lightened parts.
Have you already got your disc cut? If not straightaway I’d be cutting weight out of that. If you’re sensible with it you can cut weight and increase MOI.
Failing that, smallification! No empty space. Nil. You have a lot of space not being used in the model you have posted there. Shrink it right down. Less of an issue for you here but having the minimum chassis parts is a big deal - the less panels the less bolts or screws and so on.
Honestly the best and easiest way is to spend the £25 and snag a Malenki nano. You have a lot of wasted weight in that wiring and while you could get it close by removing all the plugs, removing the pins on the RX and hard wiring it - for the hassle and fiddling involved it’s worth just ponying up. I could see that being a 15-20g saving off the bat.
Thank you for the suggestions. Ive Had a little think and my new plan is that I’m going to take the parts from my prototype and add a servo implanting it into a new chassis. Some kind of lifter or grabber I haven’t decided yet. Taking this bot to the June ant event to see how it goes. After that I’ll get a malenki and some new parts and build my full combat vert with some new found experience. Any recommendations for a lipo for a lift bot as well as a charger that are in stock. Most of the ones on the BBB website are out off stock.
