Well with the need for a test mule for the 42MM gear motors, I decided to dig this old beast out from the rusting steel pile and resurrect it 

Having an indestructible shell that survived hard assed spinners like Jolt and Rapture with nothing more then paint scratches, coupled with a wedge that is so low it shaves mdf like a planer, it was really only ever let down by the drive system. So with these new gearmotors showing great promise, maybe this time we will see the full potential of Schmackhed.

The new drive will be some BotBitz 20V 42MM 14:1 gear motors on 22.2v (6S LiPol) with Colson 4″ x 2″ wheels.

I’m moving back to a tubular drive pod again, so I decided to give the motors the best chance of survival and add some support bearings at the face to help take the load.

Motors with the bearings fitted.

The hubs I mad for the wheels.

The 4X2″ colson wheels  being fitted with their hubs

The tube cut out of some scrap and the motors temporarily pushed in to work out the wheel base.

A quick dummy fit to see how it all lines up.

This tab will be welded to the wedge and will allow the motor wires to exit the pod.

The pod was then welded on.

Looking more like a robot again

I then started to mess around with ideas for fitting the electronics in differently, but I’m not sure if it will work the way I want.

I ended up going back to the old tray and rearranged the components to all fit.

The motor wires snake in along the back near the batteries.

The tab over handing from the drive pod actually locks the rear of the electronics bay in.

Butt shot.

Next up, some paint

Trying to be fancy here.

Some masking tape to make some GT racing stripes

Lol, that turned out… ok.

Probably should have sprayed the red further around on the tube. Oh well.

All together and looking spiffy

First box 98% done, just needs front thrust washer and circlip.

Made the second drive shaft for the next gearbox

Not much else to add currently

A quick update on the electronics for Schmackhed.
I shuffled all the components around have now got enough space for a weapon controller if I want.

Been meaning to build these for a while to alleviate the issue of my dewalts separating from the standard plastic drill boxes, but have only recently started them as preparation for BattleShed.  Basically an AndrewMOD built into a solid aluminium housing. Upgraded needle roller bearing and upgraded shafts (not pictured). The new shafts are 0.5″ chromed hydraulic shaft. A change of a motor face plate, should be able to swap in any RS550/Dewalt “New Style” motor for future bots I build.

A Dewalt motor fitted to an AndrewMOD inside a custom alloy housing I made.

I’ve learnt a lot from this first box, with roughly 10-12 hours of work having gone into it, a few things I’ve got to learn with my craftsmanship to try to increase accuracy but I’m happy with the results so far (Few holes out by 0.25mm – 0.5mm do make a mess at times).

Looking at making it all simpler for the next version of these will be a version what should only require a drill press to make (Although a lathe does save having to buy a few special drill sizes). Will follow the new idea up after BattleShed

With the new Lithium craze kicking in, I purchased myself some Dewalt batteries off ebay that have the A123 System cells. I also purchased these groovy ‘MEC’ solderless pack assembly kits that allow you to assemble the cells into batteries packs relatively fast.

The A123 cells come with a cardboard cover from Dewalt, it’s recommended to remove that and shrink wrap the cells to allow heat dissipate.

I don’t have a heat gun or a hair dryer… so…

Perfectly toasted!

6 cells are loaded into the ‘shotgun’ tubing

The end caps are them spread open and pressed on.

Connecting the two end caps with a pair of tensioning rods and a completed pack is made.

Because I don’t have enough time to learn the mystical art of urethane before RoboWars 5, here’s some I prepared earlier… (read: purchased)

I only had some cut down dewalt shafts, so I machined up some bigger ones and press the stubby shafts in.

Next up the shafts were machined to suit the bearings.

Time to prepare for the next RoboWars event!
Lets take one fire forged robot chassis.

Time to get rid of the rear drive pod.

Lets cut out this section since it is basically the thickest part (~6mm) and least likely to get hit. This is mainly for weight reduction.

Replacing it with a piece of 3mm Hardox 450, which is half the weight.

All welded in.

Another piece of Hardox 450 going on the rear. Future me is going to regret this choice…

All welded on.

And a sneak peak render of what’s to come…

From the ashes, a new bot will be born…

I ended up breaking one of the Anderson blue squidgy urethane wheels by tearing the hub out of it during testing, so I ended up having to make a few mods to fix it.

The original wheel.

How it failed

Looking to fix the issue by squishing the wheel between two plates.

And fitted back on the robot

 

I tidied up a couple of odds and sods and bolted the hoopty thing on and called it a day.