All Hardware Came In: Time To Start The Final Build Before R&F

Yesterday evening the Blue Loctite, vice grips and brightly colored duct tape to mark my vice girps came in the mail. This morning I made my way over to Kleindorfer's hardware. They have consistently been a great help to help me find the hardware that I need, with fast and professional customer service. They helped me locate replacement screws for a few different applications around the bot which include...

• Wheel set screws - will lock
• Drive motor mount screws - will lock
• Shaft collar screws - will not be locked
• Weapon motor mount set screw - will lock

I was able to get most of them in a higher grade than what came with the parts originally to hopefully, when paired with Loctite, hold up better to repeated screwing.

Today I was also able to print out the outline for the new wedge, the new angle of the wedge even on paper is looking a lot better than what it used to and I will hopefully have it all cut out and ground down by Sunday.

Event and Rebuild Update

Events

Officially signed up for R&F Robot Fight 2019 (9/14/19) and Hill City Robot Combat 2019 (11/9/19). Was unable to sign up for NERC Franklin Institute 2019.

Rebuild

Currently: The bot is completely rebuilt, have run a weapon and drive test and everything seems to be working. Updated the circuit to allow myself to more easily turn off and on the bot (and make it compliant with safety protocol.

To Do: Cut and grind new wedge and backup wedge, buy stainless steel replacement screws for all set screws and shaft collars, buy loctite and apply to appropriate areas.

Inside Thoughts: Driving, Design, Competition Updates and More

While flying home, I had a lot of time to review a lot of the film more closely, and reflect more on things that went right and wrong in and out of the box at the last competition. I'll be splitting up the list by rough groupings of what the note has to do with.

Driving Technique and Bot Configurations:

• For the first couple matches I had the control toggle on on the controller, this toggle is designed to give finer movement and control of RC devices. As I quickly found out I was one of the quicker bots in the arena and should be leveraging that to my fullest advantage instead of trying to focus on the finer movement.
• Use speed to more effectively get around to other bots sides.
• Remove wedge for large vertical spinners with a wedge.

Weapon Management and Battery:

• From what I can tell the battery is over specd and is capable of running multiple matches without needing to be recharged/replaced. However this is only speculative and is based on 2 relatively short matches. Maybe cut back to a 750mah or 850mah to help cut weight and size. Will need to do actual math for this, ugh.
• Rev to higher rpm, with 4 weapon teeth I can afford it. Didn't seem to have any termal or reliability issues after removing that one tooth. Also didn't cog as much (only during a new dig match) as it did during pre-competition testing.
• Weapon reliably started up and reved quickly. Considering changing weapon gear to 18 or 22 teeth so that I can get a better ratio to hopefully solve any cogging that is still existent.

Things to Change/Improve/Redesign:

• Loctite, almost lost semi-finals to a lose drive motor, luckily it didn't come lose till the tail-end of the fight. Wheel set screws, weapon set screw, drive motor mount screws.
• Even out the grind on the drive motors key slot.
• Prep all my motors leading up to next event (luckily at this last event I didn't have any motors burn out) so that if one breaks I can actually change it.
• Lower wedge angle, and grind it more flush with the floor.
• Make sure wedge is actually touching the floor.

Things to buy:

• LOCTITE on drive motor mounts. All 6-32 screws seem to stay tight and probably don't need it. Maybe on set screw for wheel and weapon mount?
• Belt Sander to grind wedge better, (brownsville???) if not go to grainger or other tool supply store
• 3/16 steel setscrews for weapon hub.
• possibly new sized banebot hub?
• Switch out screws on shaft collars to stainless steel ones from the stripped crap screws that are on them now.

Event Update

Events that I am attempting to attend in the next couple of months leading into the new year are...

• R&F Robot Fight 2019 9-14-19
• NERC Franklin Institute 2019 10-5-19
• Hill City Robot Combat 2019 11-9-19

This may change based on class/project/test schedule this coming semester. Each event is about a month apart so that I have a break between tournaments to reprint, fix, and update design between events. Currently, I am registered for R&F and HCR, and will be attempting signup on Friday at 8PM est for the NERC event. I have been warned that the event will be very hard to get into and that the signup will fill up extremely fast, so I plan on being online and on top of it that day.

Design Improvement Ideas and Rough Thoughts

After this weekend and getting my first real driving practice with the bot with the weapon in full swing I have a lot of personal notes for ideas on how to improve the design before the next tournament in September (hopefully). First things first I want to cover pros and cons of the design that I saw this weekend.

Pros:

• reliable/rugged
• high potential damage
• very fast, seemed to be one of the top 2 fastest bots there in the weight division which has potential for a lot of out driving these drive motors are very well rounded and are probably actually over-sized for this weight division.
• lots of torque, won a few pushing matches 
• invertable, can drive upside down
• after reducing the weapon teeth from 5 to 4, I had a lot higher weapon reliability.

Cons:

• relatively high wedge clearance, wasn't winning wedge on wedge fights
• steep wedge, couldn't get people up the wedge due to the aggressive 45 degree angel
• difficult to open and close top of robot quickly
• need a main power switch that powers and unpowers the whole bot, opposed to the janky 5v eliminator workaround I had

Ideas for redesign:

1. Less steep wedge to allow bots to actually drive up it and into the weapon, lower the grade of the wedge by 33% and bring it down to 30 degrees instead of 45.
2. Better ground wedge, have it have a lot tighter ground clearance to allow me to win more of the battles for the low ground.
3. Possibly change wedge material to aluminum sheet? (not sure if weight will allow)
4. Redesign backplate of the robot since I abandoned the side armor in favor of a front wedge.
5. Use loctite to connect the drive motors with their mounting hubs, they tended to unscrew themselves after rougher matches and when the weapon was running for a long time, this connection should be almost permanent except for when a drive motor burns out. Actually had a drive motor twist its leads to crap after it came unscrewed during a match.
6. Add tolerances to the mounting holes in the backplate so that I don't have to sand it for 50 minutes every time I print a new one.
7. Possibly add a well for the nuts that attach the top and bottom plates to the frame, to hopefully decrease time it takes to remove and attach it.
8. Look into why the nut in the middle of the top plate keeps getting stripped and messed up. I've had to dremmel off the screw 3 times now. :( not fun.

Ohio State Fair Video

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Ohio State Fair Competition Recap

Yesterday, marked the completion of the first ever tournament Honeycomb has been a part of. We finished a proud 2nd place, and lost a hard fought match in the finals. Video to be edited and uploaded within the week so stay posted!!! Below are a few pics and our schedule from the day.

4:15AM

We had an early start to our day. We spent the morning getting ready for the day, grabbing breakfast, double checking that everything was packed away and that we weren't forgetting any important items that would be needed during the day.

5:15AM

We hit the road for our three and a half hour drive up to Columbus, Ohio.

9:00AM

We arrive at the Ohio State Fair, we get the bin unloaded from the car and meet up with Tad Douce, to receive further information and our entry passes upon arrival.

9:15AM

We make it to our pit area and start to unload and prepare the table for the day ahead.

Our table setup.

The battle box that we would be competing in for the day.

10:00AM

We go to safety inspection and initial weigh in. We pass safety inspection and, weigh in at 2lbs 15oz. We are good to go for the day.

Us after passing safety inspection. 😎

11:00AM

Driver meeting to review rules, regulations, and format. The format is set up so that we alternate between ant-weight (1 lbs bots) bracket, and beetleweight bracket (our division). During a match if 2 bots become immobilized at the same time by getting stuck on each other time will be paused and they will be unstuck from each other and the match will continue, there is a pit that opens on the far side of the arena partway through the match that gets announced 30 seconds before it gets opened. Double elimination bracket setup. Matches start for the day.

11:30AM

Our first match is against Sean V2. A wedge bot. We had a hard fight, but we ended up losing to them after they push us out of the ring after the pit door opens up. We are now in the losers bracket.

Sean V2

1:00PM

Due to technical difficulties from Wee Dotty-M, the other team, they were given till after lunch to repair their bot. We get in the box, and since they didn't have a wedge I quickly got underneath them and flipped them over. They then got counted out for an immobilization count. That's one win in the losers bracket!!!

1:15PM

Since we had a delayed match from before lunch played at 1:00PM, we ended up going straight into our next match at 1:15PM. We were against A new DIG. This bot has a 3" circle saw mounted to a brushless motor on the front of it and uses it to cut into other bots. We have some back and forth until I get a big hit and and flip him over. A new DIG is then counted out for immobilization count. That's 2 wins in the losers bracket!!!

  1:45 PM

Our next match is against Rebecca, a giant pan robot (image unavailable on buildersDB). On the front of Rebecca is a giant aluminum scoop, that is used to deflect blows, and other bots around. I quickly noticed that whenever he accelerated forward there was a small window of when his wedged popped up off the ground, and I was able to exploit that and continually get underneath his wedge for the rest of the match. I end up removing some pieces from him and win in a knockout. That is 3 wins in the losers bracket!!! Since we won the entire losers bracket, we are now entering into semi-finals with a rematch against Sean V2.

2:00PM

Semi-finals match, we are now in a rematch against Sean V2. For the first match I left the control switch on, a switch designed for model planes to allow for slower more precise movement, but for this one I knew that I had to be as fast as I could possibly be so I drove without for the duration of the match. There was a lot of back and forth during this match and he almost pushed me into the pit again, but with the increased speed I was consistantly getting around to his sides and biting his wheels up. The match went the full 3 minutes and under judges decision it went to me!!! We are now 4-1 on the day, going into finals, to contend for first place!!!

2:30PM

Finals match is upon us. We are fighting against H5N1, a vertical bar spinner. During the match for the first part of the match he gets a lot of large hits in on me and eventually rips off my wedge. After the wedge gets ripped off I get a large hit back on him flipping him over. However, he is still able to drive slowly upside down and is not counted out. I have to go back in for another hit because I am currently losing the match and my only hope is to hit him again. I hit him again, and he gets re-righted and continues to pummel me. I eventually get to a point where my entire back plate was destroyed, and I was missing a wheel on my left side. I decide to throw in the towel and tap out so that I can salvage my motors and escs for a rebuild. Congrats to H5N1 on the win!!!

3:00PM

Everything is all said and done, we finished in 2nd place!!! Super proud of how well we did, and I'm super excited to compete at more events in the future. 

Damage that we took from last fight...

• Lost front wedge
• Bent weapon axle
• Left wheel destroyed and removed
• Back plate destroyed
• Mid plate cracked
• Chain has a couple compromised links

All the electronics appear to be working correctly and at worst might need to be rewired. Overall this was an awesome day!!!