Author Topic: Twilight Foundry Robotics II  (Read 15169 times)

Offline RFS

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Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« on: July 16, 2010, 01:37:30 PM »
OP PENDING REWRITE


I haven't participated in robot combat events since 2004, but during this whole time I've held onto my parts and decided that since they are virtually worthless these days since the sport of robot combat is pretty much dead and stagnant that I should at least put them to good use. I've always had a knack for animatronics and have used my RC parts for other projects, sculptures, and puppetry throughout the years, but until recently they were mostly untouched for about half a decade. I went down to the workshop where it's all stored and relocated it all, and while some of it had corroded or gone bad I still had some stuff in working condition.

I no longer work on BattleBots of any size/variety, but since my younger brother had purchased one of those expensive Wheely King RC trucks I thought it would be fun if I assembled a truck from scrap to race against him and do freestyle jumps with, so I put together "Twilight Foundry SuperTruck", the first radio controlled thing I've built in a long time. I haven't built much these days, not sure what else I'll put together, but if time allows maybe something else cool. Who knows.

Twilight Foundry Robotics was one of the first names I used in robot combat, named after the video game satire group I belonged to at the time. The group disbanded in 2004 but has somewhat reassembled as of 2008 as "Twilight Foundry Films", so I think it's only appropriate I assume Twilight Foundry Robotics II as a "team name" again. :P

------------------------------
Twilight Foundry SuperTruck

Pictured above in its "second beta" stage.

Weight: About 4 pounds.
Type: Freestyle stunt truck, hobby project.
Chassis: 2001 Nikko-model Chevy Avalanche
Motor: 12V Johnson Cordless Drill Motor (running at 9.6V)
Special: Self-righting rollcage mechanism mounted in the truck bed (incomplete, not pictured)

TF SuperTruck is an ongoing project of mine that is still largely incomplete. It is plagued with faulty electronics, currently being controlled by a Scorpion ESC from 2004 that was a total piece of crap. It simply shuts off after a few seconds of "moderate to intense" throttling and won't come back on for a few minutes, meaning that it's not very good as a stunt truck. Currently I am experimenting with the Barello Ant150 I have laying around but the ESC keeps wanting to mix the sticks, which of course is making the forward/reverse stick control both the drive motor and the steering, and I am having difficulties getting it to stop doing that. The truck does not experience any "overheat" with the Ant150 being used.

SuperTruck's main feature is its speed which unfortunately is only experienced in short bursts thanks to crap parts (I believe the Scorpion ESC was always a piece of trash because we had similar problems with it in 2004 running nothing more than a couple of tiny micro motors), and in its "beta" state is missing a lot of the cool flair that will eventually make it a cool project. They are not visible in the picture, but the truck has holes drilled for 14 LED lights to act as headlights, tail lights, bedliners, and one light in the windshield to act as the "remote safety device" seen in real monster trucks. Because I am using a 3 channel system and only 2 channels are being used (drive and steering) I have been exploring possible options for the 3rd channel, and I've thought of everything from an articulated snowplow to a spinning disc underneath the truck to act as a balancer for stunts and jumps. I've eventually settled on using one of my high-torque servos to mobilize a steel rollcage (not pictured) to act as a srimech in the event that SuperTruck bails on a jump.

You can see a video of SuperTruck doing some stunts here:
« Last Edit: July 01, 2015, 12:31:47 AM by RFS »
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Offline Serge

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2010, 01:49:27 PM »
Change the chassis to a NES case.

...oh wait
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Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2010, 01:53:13 PM »
Change the chassis to a NES case.

...oh wait

I don't even know where that robot is anymore. The workshop where I keep my parts and other tools was broken into last year and a lot of stuff was stolen. It may very well have been stolen because the burglars thought it was a real NES.
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Offline Serge

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2010, 01:59:05 PM »
Oh crap. RIPTFC.
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Offline Sparkey98

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2010, 02:00:38 PM »
Ahhhh that sucks. I had some stuff stolen from my parents store once, hundreds of dollars of hardware.

Well, glad to see you're still around, and I would'nt really say robot combat is dead, at all..........

Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2010, 02:01:45 PM »
Oh crap. RIPTFC.

Yeah, I lost a lot of various things, mostly stuff belonging to the set of a former webseries of mine called Godmode: On. All in all about $1,300 worth of my own personal things were lost, but a lot of it I can live without so rather than rebuy all of the stuff that was stolen I bought only what I NEEDED and put the rest of the insurance settlement towards other stuff. None of my robot parts were stolen, though, likely because a fishing box full of motors, batteries, and "computer parts" looks like anything valuable. There are still some odds and ends unaccounted for, but I think I just misplaced them.
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Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2010, 02:06:10 PM »
Ahhhh that sucks. I had some stuff stolen from my parents store once, hundreds of dollars of hardware.

Well, glad to see you're still around, and I would'nt really say robot combat is dead, at all..........

It's dead where I am, and I personally believe as a whole the sport took a turn south when things like VDD kits were mass produced and chassis became machined out of 1 solid piece of metal (effectively making "parts go flying" a misnomer). Antweights are boring these days and unfortunately are the mainstream because they are affordable, people only build the same 3 or 4 designs with minimal changes, it seems. The "sport" these days is mostly only kept alive by people who fawn over reruns and old memories, because there hasn't been much in the way of new stuff. I feel bad for the BattleBots company, really, because their CBS special was canceled because they couldn't sell the advertising space for the commercials. 8 years ago people would be at each other's throats to have commercial space during BattleBots, and now they can't even sell it. It's sad, really. :(

I'm just glad I had fun when I did, and even though I was never really able to finish that Heavyweight of mine years and years ago at least I got to experience something. :P
The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Offline Sparkey98

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #7 on: July 16, 2010, 02:36:47 PM »
You live in Texas, right? yeah, it's dead there.

But, the Uk, Twin citys, Colarodo, Ohio, ect. ect. still are popular.

Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #8 on: July 16, 2010, 02:50:34 PM »
I'm from Texas, yea. :) I assumed it was still a popular sport in the UK, and at least California and/or Florida (where a lot of BattleBots' contenders came from) but hearing about Colorado and Ohio seems a little out of left field, especially for robot combat. It's alright, though. I couldn't really afford to keep up with the advancement of the sport - if it ever becomes mainstream again maybe I'll try my luck but I'm having fun as a writer these days. :P
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Offline Sparkey98

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2010, 02:58:03 PM »
Being a writer is FUN, especially when you have a whole........Internetz to entertain. (For me it's the school)

Oh, and if you're gonna add a snowplow, it could be "fully articulated plows revenge" XD
« Last Edit: July 16, 2010, 05:43:54 PM by Sparkey98 »

Offline SKBT

Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2010, 08:21:21 PM »
Robot Combat is pretty big in the North East. Last event I fought in 113 bots attended.

Offline Trovaner

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2010, 10:00:57 PM »
Even if its still a work in progress, the TF SuperTruck is pretty cool... I might be a little skewed, though, because your track and video were truly awesome.

Unfortunately, Robot Combat isn't what it used to be. Overall, it has dropped in numbers but there are still people that participate enjoy participating in it.

Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2010, 05:13:03 PM »
Old picture of SuperTruck before I painted the windows and stuff, also shows the inside. :)

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Offline toAst

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #13 on: July 18, 2010, 07:32:16 PM »
Ahhhh that sucks. I had some stuff stolen from my parents store once, hundreds of dollars of hardware.

Well, glad to see you're still around, and I would'nt really say robot combat is dead, at all..........

It's dead where I am, and I personally believe as a whole the sport took a turn south when things like VDD kits were mass produced and chassis became machined out of 1 solid piece of metal (effectively making "parts go flying" a misnomer). Antweights are boring these days and unfortunately are the mainstream because they are affordable, people only build the same 3 or 4 designs with minimal changes, it seems. The "sport" these days is mostly only kept alive by people who fawn over reruns and old memories, because there hasn't been much in the way of new stuff. I feel bad for the BattleBots company, really, because their CBS special was canceled because they couldn't sell the advertising space for the commercials. 8 years ago people would be at each other's throats to have commercial space during BattleBots, and now they can't even sell it. It's sad, really. :(

I'm just glad I had fun when I did, and even though I was never really able to finish that Heavyweight of mine years and years ago at least I got to experience something. :P
WHAT?! ack!! i was excited about that! :(


so what is this project? is eventually supposed to compete in remote controlled car competition or something? metal virus or someone used to be really into that stuff. or is it just a fun bangaround project?


i need to start building crap again, but im perpetually broke


also, sup fag  :cool:
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Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #14 on: July 18, 2010, 07:43:01 PM »
Nah I'm just building it because I feel like it's better than letting the parts rot in a tackle box for a few decades. :P It's an in-between pet project for when I get tired of working on sculptures and mixed media crap to sell.

Also HAI FURFAG.  :laughing



:3
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Offline Clickbeetle

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #15 on: July 23, 2010, 01:06:45 AM »
You know, this thread made me realize how much real robot combat is like RA2.


- It's a lot smaller than it used to be.  Less events (in real life) and different forums (in RA2) and less players in both.


- Only the really dedicated, serious players still compete.


- Bots have evolved to a point where only a handful of similar-looking designs are effective, barring a few anomalies.  (This is especially apparent in the real life AW class, since there are a lot more bots there.)


- A good bot requires an airtight chassis, precision construction, and efficient components.


Now if only RA2 could become more like real life in turn.

To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child.
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #16 on: July 23, 2010, 01:13:50 PM »
- Bots have evolved to a point where only a handful of similar-looking designs are effective, barring a few anomalies.  (This is especially apparent in the real life AW class, since there are a lot more bots there.)

Amen to this. When I was at SWARC there was a team called Dark Forces that literally built the exact same design in the UK Ant, Ant, Beetle, Feather, and Lightweight classes. THE EXACT SAME DESIGN. What's the fun in that? (Hint: The answer is "none".) That's so boring, there's no appeal, no fun.

I remember in the "glory days" of robot combat anything went as far as designs. There were some decent designs out there (Backlash, Defiant, Biohazard, etc) but then there were those crazy ones that were sometimes just weird enough to work (Dr Inferno Jr, Tentomushi, Whyachi, etc). Back then there was a lot of variety, but I guess in the end "natural selection" just kind of weeded things out and there was more of an emphasis on just winning by any means rather than fun and creativity, and that made me upset and ultimately led me to retire from the sport in the end. :(

I hosted four tournaments in the South Texas area from 2000 - 2001 (Battle Clash aka Raptor Robotics -- coincidence to the "Team Raptor" similarity) and while it was mostly just dismantled RC cars from various middle school students, there was variety. There was fun. I brought a fully functional (albeit crappy) Dr Inferno replica called DCOI, a robot weilding a giant spinning disc (Terminal Impact), and a behemoth tank-like creation armed with spinning discs and spikes (Metalhead II). Some other favorites from the events included a dinosaur themed Biohazard (rEXIT), an ACTUAL Biohazard repica (Diablo), a Vlad The Impaler-ish robot that later became fused with another car and featured two vertical blades (The Impaler), and a gold-painted robot constructed to resemble medieval knight armor (Inferno). Was all really REALLY fun. Sure there were some boring entries here and there but for the most part there was a lot of creativity. I kept that notion of creativity and none of the designs I ended up bringing to SWARC in 2003 - 2004 were "stereotypical" designs. (You can see them all HERE.)

Some of the fondest memories I have of SWARC were battles that pitted me against other robots that had really creative and new designs. Robots like Terminal Malfunction, a robot built by a 6 year old and his dad made from an RC BattleBots toy that featured a bulldozer plow and some spikes. I also fondly remember fighting with DMB, a 3-pound robot that in one form featured a giant saw blade and had a crazy smoke-filled slam fest with my indestructible tank-treaded plow . And finally, Buzz - a robot that kind of resembled Afterthought - versus my . That was FUN, all of those designs and variety. I miss that. Eventually it seems that designs just became standardized, chassis became 1 piece, and parts became all alike and similar. Sure, you can still bring a mismatched frankenstein like I did that cost $100 to put together but thanks to the specialized parts the mainstream teams are bringing, there's little to no chance that "sparks will fly and bots will die". It'll just be a demo derby crossed with pinball.

edit: The forum kind messed up my URL tags. Sorry. :(
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Offline Sparkey98

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #17 on: July 23, 2010, 01:24:06 PM »
Yeah, I agree. Although, looking at bots from the last two robogames they seemed alot more creative then the generic brand VSs. Like there wer thwacks again, finally, as her Grouponden is active again.

Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #18 on: July 01, 2015, 12:37:15 AM »
Thread necro! :D

I did a thing! BattleBots' return got me all hot and bothered that I had to take something apart and make a robot right this very moment (last weekend). Behold, this unnamed abomination:





Its base is built from a remote controlled tank and its spinning weapon was made from a busted tape deck I bought on the cheap at Goodwill. I only had very limited parts and tools to work with, but I still managed to whip something up that I'd definitely like to work from in the future, now that I make enough money where a small robot such as this is not necessarily cost-prohibitive if I budget accordingly.

I really hope this newfound interest in the sport brings it back to Texas.
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Offline RFS

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Re: Twilight Foundry Robotics II
« Reply #19 on: July 05, 2015, 05:07:10 PM »
So, I have a general construction question. I understand most of the parts of assembling various kinds of weapons (except for pneumatics/hydraulics) but one thing that eludes me is how you put hubs and wheels and stuff onto driveshafts. I would imagine a press-fit would easily come apart, which makes set screws an obvious choice. But not every motor has a "D" head.

That leads me into my next question, how are the actual blades getting mounted on their weapon shafts? $50 follow-up, how are free-spinning axles built?

The "lower" tech the solution is, the better. I'd like to actually build a lightweight if the sport makes a comeback, but I'm not really keen on spending tons of cash on motors and batteries and all that. I take the Team K.I.S.S. approach to things and just pick parts from junk/scrap. That said, are Power Wheels batteries allowed? They are SLA's. (I'm terrified of batteries and working with electrical components, so having a robot that charges by literally plugging it into the wall is nice.)

edit: Let me clarify "low tech". The other day I was trying to take a motor and its belt/pulley assembly off of a clothes dryer that was being thrown out. (I stopped because I ended up slicing a finger open on part of the metal frame.) Being realistic here, what's the feasibility that the pulley assembly would have been of any use to me in making a spinner? I would assume the motor is a bust because it needs 110V or something, it was the pulleys I wanted.
The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.