Gearing up for Moto

Figured that I would start a thread dedicated to Moto, which is happening in just over 1 month

Sting

Needless to say, some new drums are in order

May make a non-defective alu one, but the big plan is a smaller faster spinning S7 solid drum

also, in reviewing some of the video, I will be making some changes that should really help to launch opponents.

SOT

Also. some keep the wedge down mods are in order...while SOT can handle flying, I'd rather NOT...if it can be helped

12 pound vapor bots...

will be starting on them soon.....

Honestly, your robot is its own worst enemy. I am confident that the other beetles will not be able to penetrate that thick armor on the outside. In reality, the only way you were defeated was because, well... your robot hit too hard (and damaged itself)!

Not saying that you go easier on anyone, but I think all you need to do is work on the longevity of those drums. the solid s7 one looks like a winner if you ask me. Just harden appropriately.

Trust me I am working on it...lol

I will be redoing the alu drum, but with the correct wall thickness ...just as an option also, I bit more aero built in.....the R &D must continue.

The S7 drum is part of a front end do over...making the bot symetrical ...so..it will be ANOTHER untested mod and like you noticed..It'll probably blow it self up AGAIN....I wish that GCRS had no oob, then things might be easier for this bot....plus sot could still be fighting....lol

At the moment, I have a lot going on...

I found a possible solution to stopping rall our bots (especialy the little ones) from being so squirelly, while retaining the curent speed and torque levels.

The vapor bots are mostly on hold until these areas are addressed and solved...the vapor drum is waiting to see how Sing's S7 and aero alu drums work out....

One nice or not so nice thing about clones is that the latest ones have more tweaks and as time permits, the older ones get upgraded...if needed.

All of MLEC's drums will probably eventualy be S7 solids.

vapor bots ho!

Josh Raichel wrote:

vapor bots ho!

roll'em ....roll'em.... sting'em....keep those doggies rollin...

rollin rollin rollin rawhide....yee haw..

the vapors are getting tie-rodded gearboxes, with quick change motor option

Started on Ti parts ......yee haw vapor bots ho.....!!!

the s7 is geting closer as well ...may arrive today (some of it)....

Ill be happy with a TI pushy bot. Hahaha. Before we battle we should shout "vapor bots ho!"

Josh Raichel wrote:

Ill be happy with a TI pushy bot. Hahaha. Before we battle we should shout "vapor bots ho!"

Let's Do it

Vapor Bots Ho !!!

2 rear Ti pieces done and 4 gboxes d&Tapped for tie rods....yo....ho...

BIG Priority...let's have some fun !!! win or lose....it should be totally action packed...

a couple more ti pieces done and the small drum S7 has arrived!!!

Vapor bots...Ho....

edit: working on some Ti side pieces......the vapor bots are slowly condensing into tangibles.....

I hope to get a lot done this weekend.....

the inner frames for the 2 vapors are done....

outer Ti sides almost done

next week, the students will be making ...axles, braces, covers, wheels, pullies...yada yada yada, a lot of alu parts for these, the 15's and possibly the 120....

vapor bots ho ????........

1-10-2010

Vapor drum bot needs to lose some weight.....might have to do a gearbox re-design...ti shafts, etc. darn....

vapor bots ho?

VOTS HAPOR BO!!



wait...

Ok...CDoS.....

Similar to the 3 pounders, the 36mm bb gboxes are getting a total redesign.

The front shaft housing will be partially sunk into the frame rails , freeing up a bit room inside the bot.

Mostly this is to lose some weight, in that we will be running heavier motors than the 540's that come with the gb's and they will be tie-rodded all the way, thru the frame rail to the back of the motor. 4 10-32 button head screws weigh almost 10 grams!!!! So by tie-rodding thru the frame, they will be eliminated. he new housing should save another 15 to 20 grams and we will be using larger bearings and ti shafts.

Shafts will only be 8mm, but will not have the neck down to 6mm thru the bearings ..as is the case with the oem shafts ...this is a weak ppoint, mostly if the shafts see acton.

In that we are using dead axles , the shaft will only be driving a pair of pullies, so they will not see any battle related forces....

This will allow very easy replacement of motors and or gearbox parts should that be necessary.

The rear housing will allow the front openings of the motors to breathe...the motors will have mesh screens to prevent the strong magnets from attracting metal and jamming up as we kind of experienced with the smaller bots.

Should simply look like a bigger version of the 24mm boxes in another thread and nothing should come loose even when we hit the ceiling.. .

vapor bots ho!

Well today was spent assembling/setting up the NEW cnc mill at MLEC.....should be all running and fixtured for robot parts by tomorrow.... hopefully

Hurray.......so I won't have to make all of their parts...!!!!!

vapor bots ......hohoho...

So..the MLEC cnc mill is up and running....We made all of the robotics parts fixturing and clamping pieces, and they are ready to rumble....

Back to the vapor bots... frames are assembled and the NEW gearboxes are complete....the motors have mesh to keep the strong magnets from injesting any particles..

The gboxes are very nicely tie-rodded and the motors can breathe as well as if they were mounted to nothing....nice flow of air coming out of the front openings and they get warm, but not really hot

brushes are kind of broken in and they draw very low amperage...so far

ti shafts worked out great....bigger bearings, stronger mating to front gear carrier, no neck down to 6mm as per the oem bb's, so we shouldn't see nearly as much wear in that area as compard to stock units.

and the whole assembly weighs around 20 to 25 grams less than an oem box...!!!

I'm happy with the results, rigidity and totally billet alu housings..no more recycled coke can alu housings.

we are making some progress...

30 days to show time....!!!!!

Top and bottom Ti covers are done....

Backup motors for the little bots are refurbished.....I slapped a pair of oem bb motors back onto the 24mm gboxes and took sot for a spin.....baaaaaahwaaaah It's like having a supercharged Cobra and then the belt breaks...what a dog...

the little guys might be too fast with aftermarket motors, but with the oem motors, boy are they slow...it's our combo of gear ratio and small diameter wheels, I guess???

the cnc mill is backed up with alu, ti and s7 stock ....all ready to rumble....

Plus I just got very busy with regular work....so....

btw: Am I alone here?

anymore.... yes yes you are

Darn lurkers......

they should at least post a hurrumph once in a while.....

any ideas where i could get the money to build a beetle beater bot?! lol

why a beater and not a drum?

rjw wrote:

why a beater and not a drum?

easier to make in my opinion. Plus i just like them better. Big, chunky, and they get the job done.

easier and cheaper(probably make a cheap drum) to make. only other reason is because beaters havent taken over the beetle weights yet lol

I think that you can get and sustain more energy with a drum while drawing less amperage.

Biggest advantage of a beater is the ALL tool steel construction, plus the possibility of a very big hit on a rare occasion where a lot of the beater gets under a bot.

But I don't thinkthat you can get a beater up to as high a speed as a drum, so ina head to head battle.....who will get under the other more often????

just thinking out loud

an ALL tool steel one piece drum should be a reasonable answer to the riddle, but who can make one that can spin fast and be in balance, so the bot doesn't shake like a leaf?

Is this like a Ford/Chevy thing?

harrumph

Er, we are not going to Moto, with all eggs in the BBIQ-SF basket.

For now, the meetings are just lots of talk and SolidWorks, nothing building. It's agonizing--stress over potential costs of everything, lots of unknowns about how well something will work or how long it will take to build it, and frankly the students don't find designing in SW as engaging as putting a cutter to metal.

We have a deadline for parts lists next Thursday, after which we will have estimated costs, be able to order stuff and begin making parts.

I can't wait.

Beaters are also slightly more efficient at storing energy per lb (bigger OD for the same weight, which offsets the smaller overall moment of inertia for beaters & drums of equal sizes); they just seem to wear out a little quicker than drums.