Hello all. I just built a vert called dill with it, and it is good, but I want more roof shots. The disc is only about 35mm diameter I think and the tip speed was about 170. This lead to some nice controlled shots and precise hits but it just wasn’t as exciting as I hoped. Also, in ORCS you’re allowed to enter 2 full combat robots right? Right now, I only have one. (Unless I want to sacrifice NBD).
Anyway enough of my yapping, here is my progress so far (made in about 6h).
So yeah looking pretty good. I’m not too concerned about weight this time as due to the relitavely small size and light weapon disc it should be under 150. Speaking of weapon discs I want to try and grab a 60mm weapon disc from team croc: Antweight discs for sale! 80/60/30mm . If not I will just buy one off the monsoon shop.
My two main worries are:
The electronics will be really cramped to the point where I might not even be able to fit it all in the bot…
There is nothing stopping the weapon from smacking the ground and going flying the moment it hits the floor. The GRoCS arena pit has been quite welcoming to out of control spinners recently…
Any advice would be appreciated.
Oh also, the fork things will be tpu and everything else will be overture super pla plus. (Will have to find somewhere to buy more as I heard there temporarily discontinued)
I have essentially put a roll cage sort of thing above the spinner to prevent it from whacking the ground every time it gets flipped over. It will be attached to the lid, so will be super pla plus. I’m fairly sure it will be safe from any damage (except maybe hammersaws).
But, now I’m worried if it will even be able to get back on its wheels if in this position. Hopefully it will just roll back over but I don’t know for sure…
Well, hopefully either the roll cage thing would roll me either onto the spinning (less fast disc as I have more time to react) or back onto the wheels then I would just drive backwards.
I am going on holiday from this Thursday to next Saturday so won’t really be able to do any testing till I get back.
I have done some calculations and I think the weight will be around 147g
Since the wheels are exposed at the back and at least one of them should be touching the ground at all times (unless the weapon is down and it’s doing The Thing), you might find that with the right geometry and some driving practice you can get it to pop back onto its wheels by driving backwards and then forwards. The weight distribution is pretty far forwards of the axles, so it shouldn’t take much momentum to get it past the tipping point and back onto its wheels.
I like the disc guard, it might be a bit risky as with some damage or flex it could jam the disc, but if pays off it’s an interesting way to avoid the big vert self roof shot!
BTW, not sure if it’s particularly important, but there’s already another ant called Eclipse that just recently moved here (along with its owner) from the US. It mangled Birdemic’s weapon arm at Ant Freeze…
Thanks for the info. I think the disc guard is a risk that I will take. I hope it will reduce the crazyness of an inverted vertical spinner but without getting in the way. It shouldn’t really be exposed to a lot of damage, from common weapon types at least.
Oh? I’d never heard of it before. I don’t really live anywhere near ant freeze and don’t really plan on going there any time soon. So as long as that eclipse stays local it should be fine? If we do ever get in the same event I’m sure I could do a quick rename just for that event.
I’m hoping if it lands on the front the weapon motor will either be spinning already or it will have enough torque to roll the bot back over
Torque reaction from spinning up the relatively large disk should pop you back on your wheels quite easily, I’m all to familiar with the force lol. Will we be seeing this next GROCS?
EDIT;
I would use a different material than tpu for your stability forks, as they will just bend when you try and hit something, rolling you head over heels and forcing your weapon forward into the floor and making it careen around the arena without doing significant damage to the opponent
I also wouldnt worry about the electronics not fitting in the space, you seem to have plenty, it’s just take some fiddling to get the wire lengths right
I will hopefully test it in a few whiteboards at bbb June, if it performs, I may enter it into GRoCS. It will definitely come, just tournament or whiteboards is the question. Do you have any suggestions for alternative fork materials? I mainly picked tpu because it’s the most impact resistant.
Assuming you are only using printables, specifically the PLA-ST forks I have used on Vanquish for a few events have held spectacularly, with only a few small burs taken out of them. Your standard 95a TPU will not break, but it will not brace either, which is the point of those long side forks. 6mm thick 100% wall 64d tpu forks have been printed for Vanquish and they seem like they will take major horizontal punishment while still handling reaction forces, but they are rather heavy and not been fully battle tested, although I am quite confident that they will work well.
Im struggling to find any PLA-ST filament to buy so for now i might just use the overture super pla plus or high wall loop 95a tpu that i have. If anyone could give me a link to some PLA-ST that i could buy that would be highly appreciated. Thanks for your suggestions dylan.
I tested it and there was something that was a bit weird. When spinning up the weapon, sometimes it just spun down by itself. Then I lower the throttle, it resets, and I can spin it up again. Also, sometimes when I spin it up and do a 360, the weapon spins down. There is nothing chassis wise that is getting in the way of the weapon, the battery is charged, it’s weird. Also, it vibrates a lot and in doing so makes a lot of noise.
hi. im pretty sure the battery must’ve been around 90% charged, I used the same battery I used on my other vert, which worked fine. pretty sure the solder joints where fine, I will double check later today. I have now noticed where I bought the discs it did say it would be slightly unbalanced and would balance out after a few hits. Also tested it in the middle of my relatively big garden on a 8mm thick bit of wood, whilst I stood inside.
I’m quite certain in saying you have a cold power joint from the esc to the malenki, I’ve had similar in Vanquish at ORCS 12 during pre fight testing and that was the cause. Great to see it, hope to see you on the 20th
