For my antweight combat robot DetCord, I wanted a wheel that could improve upon the Banebots wheels that I used before. I wanted something shock absorbing, which would extend the life of my gearboxes. The tires need to be soft and have high traction. The wheel does not have to be very strong because the robot has thick armour to protect the wheels.
I ended up with a cool way to make a wheel that’s cleaner than the more popular methods I see on the internet! Continue reading
My 2018 competitor, with a titanium horizontal blade from FingerTech Robotics. I felt like rebuilding a drum spinner twice is too boring so gotta change up the weapon choice every year.
I was the winner of that fight because of the driving I did after my blade broke off. My radio is a FrSky Taranis Q X7 and it has adjustable curves for everything, so I actually had better driving control, better than most other competitors.
The steel shaft of the motor is the problem, apparently a hollow steel shaft isn’t hard enough to handle the impacts. The next video shows the second time the motor shaft broke. I did actually stick a #4-40 steel bolt into the hollow part, it may have made the problem worse, this time instead of just the shaft snapping, the entire plate holding the bearing shattered.
Just dumping media here
Major Components:
Designed as a replacement for Shrapnelly. Shrapnelly is almost impossible to repair, so Hells Bells is designed with a 3D printed nylon-CF body and totally off-the-shelf electronics. Currently a work-in-progress.
This is my first ever combat robot! 454 grams (1 lb American Antweight class). It has a spinning drum weapon.Body is made of Garolite, with titanium skirts mounted on hinges (parts are cut on my Nomad 883 Pro, and some 3D printing). The drum weapon is CNC lathed aluminum with a brushless motor inside. The electronics is all custom built, utilizing the 802.15.4 radio integrated in the ATmega256RFR2.
Want more details? Continue reading
I went to spectate RoboGames 2015. If you didn’t go, WHY THE HELL NOT?!
I live literally a 10 minute walk away so I went both Saturday and Sunday. Since I walked in, I accidentally walked through the back entrance, so I snuck into the pits without a badge 😀 but I did still pay for a ticket after. I got some pictures in the pits, not stuff I see every day.
I put together a highlights video. Actually probably only missed Friday, and missed 4 matches from Saturday and Sunday, I have about 20 GB of video… I’m putting a few up just as teasers but you should really come check out RoboGames next time or buy their DVD when they release it.
The combat is the only event where I could get good video without raising my arms. There were a ton of other competitions, like minisumo, line following, humanoids, soccer, hockey, etc. It really reminds me of the Canadian National Robot Games back in 2007, which I entered as a highschool student. The Canadian competition has long since been cancelled but it’s amazing how alive the Silicon Valley competition is.
Continue reading for more videos and pictures