Author Topic: Team Riptide (Read 10254 times)

Riptide · « **on:** June 17, 2015, 06:00:20 PM »

Welcome to Team Riptide, where we make robots that don't work.

Brief overview, I'm relatively new to the sport but been building for ~3 years now, competed for the first time in 2014 at the Featherweight champs.

Plagiarised this from my other build diary I have but it's to the point, don't break what isn't fixed or... something.

Current Machines

Hardwired 2 - Featherweight (30lb)

All hail the 7mm-ish hardox 450 brick. Never been a particularly successful machine, but I'll be damned if it isn't nearly indestructible. Keep throwing it in with spinners to try and break it but the shell's still intact after two years, though the fact that it's tiny with Speed 900-size motors that touch the lid and baseplate means it goes through everything else like there's no tomorrow. It's getting some unsensored outrunners and being resigned to non-competition fights to make way for the next generation Hardwired...

Main problems it had other than that was just generally being undriveable. It had very not grippy wheels, no mixing and no gyro for nice control - that mixed with being so much faster than it needed meant it was a struggle getting it to go where I wanted it to. Few plans to rectify that, mostly to add grippier wheels, mixing and a gyro, as well as probably a few magnets or something. Still not 100% sure.

Competition record (1st/2nd/3rd in 3 way fights): 1-1-2

Playlist:

Fhqwhgads - UK Beetleweight (1.5kg)

We don't do ratbots over here, but if we did, this would be one of them. Built in a couple of hours with stuff I found in my shed, and should not have done anywhere as well as it did. In that it lasted an entire event and took on 3 spinners* and beat** them all. It went out first in the competition it entered, but it was quite a fun one, even if it did once again drive about as well as a cruise liner on land, mostly because each gearbox was held in with a single bolt. I ran out...

Despite its apparent lack of quality though, I actually really enjoyed it and was told the crowd loved it too, so I'm in the process of upgrading it. the 2mm alu chassis is going to be 5mm hdpe probably, the front bit of wood maybe some 15-20mm hdpe and the motors are going to be 400w 32mm inrunners. Because sensible.

Competition record: 0-1

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL97Lksx8KkkFTs6L8REXl_mHW6-dGnScD

*only one properly spun
**most of them just stopped working

Inactive machines

Overdrive - Featherweight (30lb)

Overdrive was initially designed as Hardwired 2 with a disc, but eventually evolved into a more Federal/General looking design. The idea was to make it a brushless-driven rambot with a powerful spinning drum on the front, similar to General, K2, Rango and so on and the design came together quite nicely. Unfortunately, the flaw in the operation was that I was the one CAD-ing the thing up, and I -may- have forgotten to put bolts in the drum, and had most of the machine lasercut out of steel - when the parts arrived, they didn't fit with the drum on. Hooray, well done Matt. As a result, me and Haz, who made Massacre (mostly Haz) had to work to redesign and build the machine on the fly in 48 hours before the championships. Naturally, it had an absolute ton of problems, but the concept was there and it worked great considering the timeframe. The drum motor broke in fight 2, and I had no spare shafts with which to fix it... so instead I took the drum off and replaced it with a particularly deadly inflatable banana, creating its alter ego Banana Overdrive. It was great.

I'm currently working towards rebuilding it with the original lasercut panels I had, and just generally improving reliability as well as making it better on the whole. And maybe an axe.

Competition record (1st/2nd/3rd in 3-way fights): 0-2-2

Playlists:
Overdrive - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL97Lksx8KkkFDA8u_h_lZ7UnH9RQKWJVM
Banana Overdrive - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL97Lksx8KkkFxD9wEITn-faiG7NodP2s5

Riptide · « **Reply #1 on:** June 17, 2015, 06:44:56 PM »

Oh, and another thing I forgot to mention in the first post, I've (not so recently) purchased a Robot Wars veteran machine, which I'll soon be picking up if all goes to plan, so you'll probably see some updates on here when that happens. Heck of a drive to pick it up though, which is troublesome...

cephalopod · « **Reply #2 on:** June 18, 2015, 10:15:21 AM »

Good to see you here and posting! :)
I look forward to fighting fh... uh... the beetle sometime.
Also, Overdrive with axe excites me. :P

kill343gs · « **Reply #3 on:** June 18, 2015, 01:18:58 PM »

Gear that first bot wayyyy down and make it torquey and driveable

Riptide · « **Reply #4 on:** June 18, 2015, 02:36:02 PM »

Thanks! Been lurking for ages, thought I'd finally say hi hah.

It's Fhqwhgads, say it with a flourish! :p (It's a reference that nobody usually gets :( )
Kinda scary now actually, I've put a pair of silly sized brushless motors in it and it's nuts. Probably ought to get some that are a lower KV so it's not able to break speed limits on the road!

And I did plan to gear Hardwired down, but it's so compact that I literally can't fit anything else into it, the gear ratio is about the best I can possibly manage. The pictures are quite deceptive, its absolutely tiny to the point that it's about the same size as my beetleweight... realistically it needs a rebuild, if anything.

Lemonism · « **Reply #5 on:** June 18, 2015, 02:48:44 PM »

Cool robots dude :)
So I'm assuming Hardwired was your first robot? Would you say featherweight was a good weightclass to start building at? I'm looking to get into the sport as soon as I can, and the featherweight fights I've seen always look like fun.

Riptide · « **Reply #6 on:** June 18, 2015, 03:05:11 PM »

Cheers!

And actually no, Hardwired 2 (the one that's there) is technically like my 3rd or something, but it's the first proper legit competition machine. My first one was Hardwired 1/Evolution which was just a big old aluminium box with drill motors (only video I have of it ) then I attempted to make a couple of beetleweights with scrap parts. None of them fought, but they served as nice test platforms.

Featherweights are pretty ideal to get into really, they can be mega cheap if you build smart (one machine this year was build for <£50) and everything's a rather nice size to work on. I would recommend starting out with a non full-combat featherweight to learn the ropes, then go for full combat. You learn so much from just going to events and just having a look at other machines, Overdrive as it was intended was head and shoulders above anything I'd designed previously and I put that all down to going to my first event!

Jarvis_Rapture · « **Reply #7 on:** June 19, 2015, 03:02:41 PM »

HI MATT
Someone give this guy a Roboteer tag

HereticBlue · « **Reply #8 on:** June 19, 2015, 03:06:28 PM »

Matt! Whey you finally joined up.

you brought beer?

Riptide · « **Reply #9 on:** June 19, 2015, 07:57:36 PM »

Alright guys!

Beer's not such a good idea Adam, my driving's bad enough as is hah ;)

I need to post updates here soon too, few new things happening but no photos yet unfortunately...

Riptide · « **Reply #10 on:** June 26, 2015, 09:59:37 AM »

Not so much an update, since I don't want to spoil the big reveal, but if anyone's going to the Barnsley Robot Wars event, you're in for a treat with my latest masterpiece. That's all I'm going to say...

Riptide · « **Reply #11 on:** August 11, 2015, 06:45:34 PM »

So, word's probably got around by now but I done got Eric (http://robotwars.wikia.com/wiki/Eric)

It's currently off with Dave Weston whilst it gets some FP pneumatics in, swapping out the hydraulics. Because hydraulics suck.

Philippa · « **Reply #12 on:** August 11, 2015, 07:19:41 PM »

I thought Tony still had that.

Riptide · « **Reply #13 on:** August 12, 2015, 06:02:49 PM »

Nope, bought it off Tony almost a year ago, just got round to picking it up this last weekend.

Somebody · « **Reply #14 on:** August 12, 2015, 07:15:32 PM »

That's badass!

Riptide · « **Reply #15 on:** August 13, 2015, 05:13:35 PM »

Cheers! Rather hoping I can do it some justice, it'll be at the Robot Wars World Champs but it's an old machine so I'm really quite nervous about it. If I get wailed on by Thor or Tib gets a good bite, I could be in a fair bit of trouble...

Somebody · « **Reply #16 on:** August 13, 2015, 05:26:52 PM »

Wish I could see it, I'm an American haha. Post videos though!

Philippa · « **Reply #17 on:** August 13, 2015, 06:05:25 PM »

Don't break it.

Riptide · « **Reply #18 on:** August 13, 2015, 07:13:49 PM »

Will get plenty of video, don't worry! Might have some testing videos up soonish depending on if I can get to help Dave out with some of the modifications.

And well it might break... it's a combat robot. That's kinda what they do from time to time!

cephalopod · « **Reply #19 on:** August 14, 2015, 07:15:24 AM »

Quote from: Kurt on August 13, 2015, 06:05:25 PM

Don't break it.

Because he's the one who chooses if it gets broken if Eric gets drawn against Thor, Tiberius, Gripper, Kan Opener at al.
Don't be an idiot.