Author Topic: Team FarSide  (Read 33615 times)

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #160 on: December 26, 2015, 07:43:43 PM »

Meet the bare electrical guts of Obsidian. I might gut Hyper Speeder for a pair of escs to get this one going.

And of course, my battery is wrong(3S when I needed 4S), so now I have a spare three cell lipo I don't know what to do with.

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #161 on: February 29, 2016, 04:34:49 AM »
Right now I'm designing Obsidian. I'm considering either a VS or a HS. Right now, the designs look like this:

I'm leaning more to the HS, but seeing how well the VS did at Moto in all weight classes, I'm thinking about going VS to counter wedges better.

Both designs share the same parts(Except the weapon belt), as it stands, the list looks like:

I'm also considering converting the Spark motors to brushless(Using 12mm inrunners and Afro escs), I'm just not sure how the gearbox will handle the extra RPM, if anybody has made the conversion and can give me some pointers, that would be appreciated.

Oh and uh, happy leap year.

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #162 on: June 25, 2016, 08:46:51 PM »
Lessons learned:
Anti-Spinner plows are god-sends

Tiny wheels with aluminum hubs are curses in disguise

Front hinge lifters are surprisingly effective

Battles can be won or lost with just one screw

QD CONNECTORS ARE THE FU**ING WORST

Offline Natef

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #163 on: June 25, 2016, 09:08:46 PM »
How'd your bots do?

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #164 on: June 25, 2016, 09:23:08 PM »
How'd your bots do?
Speeder went 0-2, Inch-Up went 2-2+rumble.

Offline Natef

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #165 on: June 25, 2016, 09:40:31 PM »
Not bad! What event are you shooting for next?

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #166 on: June 25, 2016, 09:43:12 PM »
Not bad! What event are you shooting for next?
Not sure, I'm going to start college in fall and its going to eat a ton of my time. I'm going to see if I can swing some of the Seattle events if I can.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2016, 10:55:32 PM by R1885 »

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #167 on: June 27, 2016, 05:33:58 AM »
Now that I'm back to being a functional human being, I can finally give my thoughts on how things went down in COB.
I was intending to run a dumb fairy weight, named butt(lack of capitalization intentional), but I lost my 1.5mm drill bit last minute and decided it wasn't worth repeating Gatestop.


Hyper Speeder was rebuilt a month prior to the event. I wasn't happy with it, so using some spare green garolite from Inch-up, I made a new frame that was wider and longer than the original. I also scrapped the tall hinged flat panel wedge to a low static anti spinner plow, out of the same tough steel I've been using from day one. The result was one of the lowest, toughest bots among the ants, with what I thought the only downside being not being invertable. Oh how wrong I was.

The big weak point in the design were the hubs. On big, chunky foam wheels, the hubs are nearly untouchable on anything not spinning vertically. On a 1.5" diameter wheel, however, they became a massive liability, as they took the hits, and not the expendable foam. This became an immediate problem against Banana Splitter(On top of them starting the match upside down, rendering my strongest advantage moot), as the first hit pretty much busted the gearbox(As well as breaking the C-clip and turning the hub washer into a Pringle). After replacing the gearbox and hub, I went up against The Cuban. While things did start out in my favor, controlling him with the plow, he soon knocked the wheel off the shaft. Then he came in and struck the other wheel, and again busted the gearbox(As well as really turning the hub washer into a potato chip, though the new C-clip held on).

Status: Back to fully functional, but in limbo. I'm not sure how much I can do to fix the problem, other than adding wheel guards or making my own hubs, but that doesn't fix the crippling flaw of not being able to drive while inverted(Which, in a weight class dominated by drums, is a problem). I'm thinking of reusing the electronics as the foundation of a spinner, or to have it as a quick and easy backup bot to take the place of and/or cannibalize for parts if I decide to make Inch-Up my full time ant.



As Inch-Up entered competition as it is currently pictured, I'll just get into the one issue the thing had, the little things. The only bit of damage its first ever match it received was one screw coming loose and falling out. And yet that one screw was a critical deciding factor. In its final match, two wires came loose, and again, were the critical deciding factor.

The first fight Inch-Up had was last years third place winner and consistent Robogames podium finisher, EXP. As it turns out, EXP and Inch-Up are shaped just so, that any head on collision we had just ended up with both bots locked together, with Inch-Up oddly enough being able to match EXP in pushing power despite running a third less voltage and with half the motors available. So it became a game of who could get around who, with both being pretty much even. BUT, remember that screw I was talking about earlier? Well, that came out of my bearing block, and was preventing the bearing block from twisting under the torque of the motor. When it came loose and fell out, it meant that the bearing block could wiggle around more than it was supposed to, and that led one of the wheels getting stuck against the frame. That one screw coming out meant the battle went from "evenly matched" to "Skewed in EXP's favor". After that, Inch-Up tried to recover, but it was clear that EXP had the upper hand, and took the win.


The next match was against Passive Aggressive, an undercutter. Despite how scary it looked, their battery couldn't supply the juice the spinner motor needed and never spun up well. They were also running micro gear motors you would normally find in fairy weights. The small motors combined with a weapon that didn't work meant that Inch-Up pretty much bullied PA the entire match for the win.


Getting over the shock that I had finally had a machine with a win at this point, I was up against Original Robot do not Steel(Pun intended), a viper spinner kit. Anyone who has seen these in person knows that they are brutally powerful, but notoriously unreliable. They were running the original blade hub, which had already come off in their match prior(And in fact cost them), so Inch-Up's goal was clear. I didn't even bother using the lifter, just throwing my self into him until his spinner came off, and like clock-work, the hub came flying off(But not after breaking the linkage from my servo to my lifter, disabling my weapon). At that point, it was the same as the last match, and Inch-Up took another win(To be fair, ORDNS is a good bot, they just need to fix the hub coming off and I led them to the new spinner hubs. They also sliced a good quarter inch into the lifter arm and made me have to rebuild the lifter linkage, which I really shouldn't have even bother fixing).


And then I had to fight the Cuban AGAIN. Despite how Speeder tried and failed miserably, Inch-Up at least put up a few more hits against Cuban, and this time the gear boxes didn't break, so it wasn't doing too badly. And then the QD connectors happened. You see, when I got my shiny new SERVO magazine kit, the Tiny ESCs had the QD connectors pre-instaled. I meant to solder the wires on, but I never got around to it. Well, after three matches lasting two minutes each, and after some big hits against the previous robot, NOW they decide to just fall off and leave the motor high and dry. After that, The Cuban pretty much had its way with me, and managed to break the lifter AGAIN, only they did it more thoroughly and knock the servo out of the robot this time. Time ended before they got the chance to bust the servo open, but it was clear that Inch-Up was out. And this is why when I get the next chance, the wires are going to be soldered, and all future wires will be soldered from this point on.


Inch-Up's last fight was the rumble, with Original, Passive Aggressive, and Chainsaw, all undercutters. The match was one hell of a blur, the two things I remember was making ORDNS weapon coming off again, and Chainsaw getting a good hit on me, which shattered the brass hinges holding the lexan down, while also busting his weapon off.

Status: Electrically still working, and awaiting a new shell and lifter mechanism. The main upgrade for the next version is to make the lifter lie flush to the wedge when not in use, and to improve the lifter mechanism durability over all. Beyond that, the next course of action is an all titanium wedge and brushless drive, but right now the lifter is the major priority.


Let this be a lesson for any new guys getting in, its not the bit spectacular damage that gets you, its small details you don't give much attention too that can make or break a match. And above all else, make sure all your connections are TIGHT.

Offline Somebody

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #168 on: July 11, 2016, 12:26:03 AM »
Sounds like a good tournament and lots of learning done!
I built that big robot on that TV show that time


Offline PixelCrunchRA2

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #169 on: July 13, 2016, 06:16:01 PM »
Some news, look what I got in the mail yesterday :gawe: :
https://gametechmods.com/uploads/images/47181PIC00037.PNG
(Would of made this post yesterday, but the Img loader was borked.)
Got a chance to play around with it, pretty fun to play with, don't know if I will mod it for combat.
Dude, where did you get one of those?! I saw one on amazon for $200! Where did you get it, how much did you get it for, and how can I get it?!  :rage
*opera* HURDE-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #170 on: July 13, 2016, 07:08:13 PM »
Some news, look what I got in the mail yesterday :gawe: :
https://gametechmods.com/uploads/images/47181PIC00037.PNG
(Would of made this post yesterday, but the Img loader was borked.)
Got a chance to play around with it, pretty fun to play with, don't know if I will mod it for combat.
Dude, where did you get one of those?! I saw one on amazon for $200! Where did you get it, how much did you get it for, and how can I get it?!  :rage

I got it in an eBay sale lot for about forty USD. They show up every so often over there, I'd recommend looking for a used one out the box(Unless you really want one in the box). Though, I would still recommend waiting for the new Battlebots toys on the horizon.

Fun fact, I still have the box that it came in.

Offline PixelCrunchRA2

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #171 on: July 15, 2016, 06:23:46 AM »
Yup, In the span of an hour or two, I managed to build this little guy.
(Image removed from quote.)
Under side:
(Image removed from quote.)
Built with four tools, a Buck Knife, a screw driver, a clamp, and my hands.
At this time being, it's not done yet, I need electronics and a radio.
Current progress was cutting the the base plate, mounting the motor, drilling some holes(Had to use my Buck knife, yuck  :dead: ), mounting the skid, and mounting the wheels. Not very professional, but it should work, once I get some electronics to get it to work.
Not sure what to call it, I was thinking of Anti-OxidANT, but it's a place holder so far.
What do you guys think of my shady job?
What is that chassis? Some sort of foam leftover box from a restaurant lid and bottom or something glued/screwed together? Please tell me!  :baffled:
Also, I noticed that your avatar kind of looks like an LBX from that 3DS LBX game, R1885.
*opera* HURDE-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #172 on: July 15, 2016, 03:57:49 PM »
Yup, In the span of an hour or two, I managed to build this little guy.
(Image removed from quote.)
Under side:
(Image removed from quote.)
Built with four tools, a Buck Knife, a screw driver, a clamp, and my hands.
At this time being, it's not done yet, I need electronics and a radio.
Current progress was cutting the the base plate, mounting the motor, drilling some holes(Had to use my Buck knife, yuck  :dead: ), mounting the skid, and mounting the wheels. Not very professional, but it should work, once I get some electronics to get it to work.
Not sure what to call it, I was thinking of Anti-OxidANT, but it's a place holder so far.
What do you guys think of my shady job?
What is that chassis? Some sort of foam leftover box from a restaurant lid and bottom or something glued/screwed together? Please tell me!  :baffled:
Also, I noticed that your avatar kind of looks like an LBX from that 3DS LBX game, R1885.

It was the bottom part of a dead DVD player I nicked from my Highschool. It was stupid soft and easily flexible(It really felt like plasticized construction paper), but it worked well for a first time test bed. I still have the gearbox, but I have no clue where the back plate went.

The mech in my avatar is Godmars from the anime of the same name. The particular image used is from Super Robot Wars 2.2 on the PSP.

Offline R1885

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Re: Team FarSide
« Reply #173 on: October 02, 2016, 01:26:17 AM »

Soon...