Ratbite - The road to battle

[Afjell (Andreas Fjell)]

Hello everyone

I am Andreas and I am from Norway.

This is my journey to the Antweight World Series 78 in Gröningen in July!

My original idea was of a wide belt driven drum spinner, with a pla+ inner core and a steel outer shell cut from a curtain rod for an extra layer of armor and coolness factor. But I had a difficult time sourcing ideal options for belts, so I went for the outrunner option instead.
I decided to put the wheels in the middle, so I can do odd maneuvers and flop about to confuse the opponents and myself. The battery ended up in the back, but then I only have to avoid being hit from behind.

I have begun to learn proper CAD tools, but for this one I used 3DS Max, as it is a program I am familiar with because of my background in visual effects and 3D/game development.

It looked promising, but.

The prototype was fun to drive, but hopelessly unbalanced. Also, this particular make and brand of motor went out of stock, so when it breaks there is no replacement.

In its place I bought a few 1806 motors, but I had to redesign everything and forego the curtain rod, as the motor diameter is too big.

The Malenki is just brilliant.

It is ending up as a weird, tiny, cube shaped Minotaur.

3mm hardox. Designed them myself in Solid Edge and had it cut by Scandcut over in Sweden. I also designed and ordered some forks and blades for future projects down the line.

I was planning to use 3 discs, but I had to invest weight elsewhere.

I needed some type of skis for running about without having the teeth making impact with the floor, so this is what I came up with. The wheels are made with bathroom sealant, crude but cheap and feels grippy enough!

Well, that is it for now. I am not sure where I wanted to go with the design really, it took shape along the way as I aimed at making something slightly different, not quite meta, but fun to drive and a viable contender still.

[Afjell (Andreas Fjell)]

Back from Antweight World Series 78 in the Netherlands

A trophy/memorabilia I got from one of the organizers. I didnt fight this bot in particular(Raspberry), but they decided to give me something to remember the event by, thanks

Though I only won one match, I’d still call it a success as everything worked as it should without gremlins and tech issues through four challenging 1v1s, one boss fight and the final gladiator match. And I am pleasantly surprised my soldering held up against some really gnarly hits.

My first match was against Stewie, the flipper bot from Team Hell, which I chewed up a little but ultimately lost to by a JD. Second was a win against a control bot from Team 13 Black who I got some good hits in on, before accedentally pitting himself. Third, a spectacular loss against Buzzkill where I got collected and smashed up good against the wall. The forth fight was against 13 Black again(Speed demon?) where i flop about like a fish and helped drive myself into the pit.

This picture is of the primary bot after the first 3 fights

The whole side armor package came loose in the impact from Buzzkill, partially exposing the battery. They demonstrated good sportmanship and held a distance as I was kinda immobilized anyway and tapped out. I used locktite glue to hold the side armor in place, but it does not fuse the PLA+ together at all, causing it to come loose instantly.

This is the spare bot after the last fight+boss+gladiator fight.

I learned that PLA+ and locktite superglue are sub-par components for a drum at events like these It held up to vertical impacts(for a while) until I made repeated contact with the arena and driving at full speed into the beetleweight a few times, causing the hardox ring on the right side of the bot to come loose, impeding the motor and likely causing some overheat issues. But even if I had used a proper glue, the plastic component would just not be strong enough for horizontal hits anyway I think. The final blow happened in the gladiator fight where I drove into the Italian thagomizer, jamming the drum completely! Luckily the esc or malenki shut down immediately before it caused an overload/burnout.

The hardox ring caused some wear and tear to the motor as it spun loosely, but it seems to only be superficial. The only casualty over 6 fights was one n20 motor, so I count myself lucky !

I will look into other options for chassis materials going forward, but keep much of the layout and geometry as is. Maybe I’ll resort to giant foam wheels for even more madness.

Advice and feedback on how to improve the drum is very much appreciated! I wish I had had more time to socialize with everyone there and talk shop, but time went by so fast! I cant remember your name right now but you guys on Team Hell had a drum spinner(Baphomet?) with a really nice weapon assembly! I dont mean to copy you but would like to know more how you put something like that together.

Sum total, AWS 78 was a fun experience, well organized, good sportmanship all around and a lot of lessons learned.

[TeamChiffChaffs7 (Edwin Hicks)]

Can confirm, the Team Hell drum is named Baphomet.

The next step is likely to build a wedge for all those pesky horizontals.