Keres is essentially done

Eventually I'll add a proper power switch, but for now, Keres is done:

Keres is (nearly) ready to go

Just need to get the bar recut (it drifted during waterjetting) and the bot will be done. Weight is 135g without the bar, aiming for 12.25g for the bar, which leaves 2.75g for a yet to be released power switch that I'm planning to add down the line.

Test drive video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq_jnrT-Juc

Mid November Progress

Motorama is only a few months away, the rooms are booked, the paperwork is signed and the check is ready to be mailed out. Last year, Near Chaos Robotics entered 5 robots across 4 classes, and this year, we'll at least match that total. With Moros, Kobalos and Motor City Massacre retired, that means there will be at least 3 robots going to Motorama for the first time.

Nyx: Ready to compete and currently being used for motor controller testing.

Apollyon: I haven't really done anything to it since last Moto and it's still in good shape.

Algos: Getting some new spare wheels made, but otherwise ready to go.

Klazo: Ready, as usual.

So, that's the fleet of currently built bots. What else is there?

Keres: 150g combat bot with a 5" titanium bar. All the parts are ordered and the chassis will be getting cut soon. It's also being used as a test platform for some new lightweight gearmotors.

Reptar: My teammates 1lb bot is getting rebuilt for improved durability. Last time, it was very improvised and made of whatever was laying around. It finished 1st and 2nd in its first two tournaments. Now, it'll be made of titanium.

 Here's a render of Keres:

Detailed Instructable on Algos

I put together an Instructable on my 1lb bot Algos. It covers the initial build, some redesign, shaft hardening and titanium anodizing. The Instructable also includes .slddrw and .dxf's of all of the waterjet cut components used. Check it out and vote for it in the Digital Fabrication Contest if you like it. http://www.instructables.com/id/One-Pound-Fighting-Robot-Algos/

Near Chaos Robotics at the Atlanta Mini Maker Faire

 Near Chaos Robotics was a part of the first Atlanta Robot Combat event at the Atlanta Mini Maker Faire yesterday. We brought three antweight robots and ended up with Klazo tied for 3rd, Reptar in 2nd and Algos in 1st.

The event ran a unique format, each robot participated in 4 2 vs. 2 qualification matches and at the end, the 4 top ranked robots faced off in a single elimination bracket for the championship.

Video from the Atlanta Mini Maker Faire has been uploaded to my YouTube channel and sorted into several convenient playlists.


Full Event

Beetleweights

Antweights

Victory shot

We brought 5 bots across 3 classes and took home 3 first place plaques. Not a bad weekend.

Dragon*Con 2012 Wrap-up

We took a total of 5 robots to Dragon*Con 2012. The antweights  were Algos, Klazo and Reptar. Apollyon was the 2011 12lb champion and returned to defend the title and Nyx was in its first Dragon*Con and second competitive event.

Algos placed 3rd losing to Segs from Found Objects Robotics in the semi-final after performing perfectly in the first few matches. Algos finished with a 2-1 record.

Klazo fought Tigger, another Found Objects robot 3 times before falling out of the arena pushout while inverted and finished with a 0-1 record.

Reptar swept the bracket and won the 1lb class in it and the drivers first robot combat event. Reptar is currently undefeated with a 3-0 record.

Apollyon successfully defended the 12lb title and is the 2012 Dragon*Con Robot Battles 12lb champion with a 4-0 record.

Nyx nearly finished Dragon*Con 0-1 after facing Uberclocker Unicorn in the opening 30lb match, however after the first  round the 30lb weight class was switched to double elimination, which meant Nyx would be able to continue to fight. Nyx won 6 straight matches capturing the 30lb championship and finishing with a 6-1 record.

I have already uploaded all of my video from the event and sorted them into relatively convenient playlists which can be found at the following links:

1 and 3lb:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL381AC5277547FC6B&feature=view_all

12 and 30lb:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD9E62E0B9714FE3E&feature=view_all

Near Chaos Robotics:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCE1BDB41F8F284AE&feature=view_all

Dragon*Con 2012 is next weekend, and with that comes Dragon*Con Robot Battles, one of my favorite events each year.

In the 12 and 30lb class, there is no arena. Combat occurs on a 16x12ft platform with a sumo style format. Spinning weapons are limited to 20ft per second and there's a generic "bad idea" rule to cover dangerous things not specified in the rules.

In the 1 and 3lb class, it's full combat in an arena I've spent the last half dozen weekends helping build. The combat area is just short of 8x8ft with a single pushout and a centrally mounted hazard.

Last year, I brought Apollyon, Kobalos, and Motor City Massacre. Apollyon went undefeated in the 12lb class. This year, Apollyon is the only returning bot. New (to Dragon*Con) bots are Nyx(Feather), Algos and Klazo. (US Ants) I've also been working with a friend of mine on his first robot, which is yet to be named. The weapon on it is a front hinged servo powered flipper.

Here's a shot of this years robot fleet:

Left to right, top to bottom-
Nyx, Apollyon
Algos, Klazo, Unnamed

Upcoming Projects

Once the final details are addressed on Algos, the next major builds are planned to be a 150g and 3lb bot. While speaking with FingerTech Robotics about motor controllers that were capable of running a 3lb bot we realized that one of the more popular 3lb drive motors, the BXX series with KW motors, should be able to be run on one of the FingerTech TinyESC's.

Here's a test video from FingerTech with a TinyESC running a B62 motor on a 4s Lipo to stall several times without any controller issues:

Clash of the Bots 3

We're back from Clash of the Bots 3 with a bunch of still functional robots. Both new 1lb robots went 2-2 and have some room for design tweaks, but overall I'm very happy with their performance.

I've put together a YouTube playlist of all 34 matches I recorded and it is located at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF0ED34A7653A93CB&feature=view_all

In addition, I teamed up with MH Robotics and Team Ice to win the Robot Hockey tournament with Apollyon.

Both Algos and Klazo are going to get a few upgrades for Dragon*Con. Klazo is getting a better balanced drum. This will either be taking the current one and modifying it or outright making a new one. Algos is getting new central support rails after taking a few nasty hits at CotB3 and the cheap e-clip grooved steel shafts for the weapon motor are being replaced by O1 tool steel. As expected, the e-clip grooves provided a stress concentration point and were the location of every shaft failure. In addition, I am adding an outboard bearing to the shaft so it will be not only stronger, but in double shear. This should drastically increase reliability.

Introducing Algos

Algos is the second of two new 1lb robots. Algos has a high rpm (15,000 theoretical) 2" diameter single tooth disk. Drive system uses two 11:1 silver spark gearmotors with TinyESC's for motor control.

Introducing Klazo

Klazo is the newest antweight for Near Chaos Robotics. Klazo is a prototype for an upcoming Kitbots kit that uses the motor-in-drum weapon system and durable plastic chassis components.

Antweight Test Arena

I started on a test arena for the smaller robots quite a while back. Initially, it was an open platform with pushouts for Kobalos and Motor City Massacre, however with both new ants having high velocity spinning weapons, something a bit more substantial was in order. After some material scrounging and the purchase of enough lexan to allow for reasonable visibility, and a great deal of TIG welding, the new safety cage is done and installed.

The arena separates into two halves, both of which have casters mounted on one side for easy transport. The combat area is roughly 48x48x21 inches.

New armor for Nyx and two ants in progress

Nyx has new 1/16" titanium top armor. Switching from 1/8" aluminum to 1/16" titanium saves some weight while allowing better coverage and results in a reasonable strength increase.

I have also started on two robots for Clash of the Bots 3 at the Scheile Museum near Charlotte, NC. Klazo is a prototype kitbots drumbot kit and Algos is a titanium framed vertical spinner with a high rpm single tooth disk.

Nyx Weapon Modifications

At Motorama I was only able to use the grinding disk attachment on Nyx due to the shock loads the other attachments resulted in. I've added a torque limiter and Nyx now should be capable of using any of the attachments. Here's video of the first test using the new torque limiter

Near Chaos Robotics MicroSwitch Assembly

Here's the full process for assembling one of the tiny MicroSwitch's I've designed. Assembled with a few inches of wire on each side they weigh in at 6.7g. The main body is 1/4" thick (4 layers of 1/16" material) and 0.65 x 0.5875". I suggest a small flathead driver that fits snugly into the slot with an insulated handle for operation.

Here's the pile of parts you start with for two complete switches.

The contacts have been prepped with small solder bulges to improve contact.

Wires have been soldered to the output side. This is done prior to assembly to avoid melting the delrin housing.

The 2-56 screws are threaded through the bottom plate by at least 1/8" to allow the next two layers of delrin to slide into place. (the top and bottom layers have a smaller hole diameter and help keep the switch together prior to the addition of nuts or attachment to threaded holes in the robot.)

Layer two is added.

The output contacts are slid into place with the solder bumps facing up.

The 3rd layer of delrin is added.

The copper paddle switch is dropped in over the output contacts.

The last layer is added and the 2-56 screws are threaded completely through the body. At this point you add 4 2-56 nuts or screw the switch into pre-tapped holes in whatever mount solution you are using.

This is the on position. (slot is inline with outputs)

This is the off position. (slot is at roughly 45deg angle from outputs)

Motorama 2012 Wrap-up

Quick update for now, video will appear at http://www.youtube.com/user/mikencr.

Motor City Massacre: 1-2, still working but probably getting a complete redesign/rebuild. Julie wants something more destructive, so this robot is likely to be retired.

Kobalos: 6-2, placed second. Looking pretty rough but still running. I'm also intending to build a new 1lb robot.

Moros: 0-2, two self induced knockouts. Was still working, then I did a demo with a printer and managed to eject my motor controllers. Gearbox seems a bit stiff too, so I'll be doing a bit of a teardown and some rewiring.

Nyx: 2-2, performed pretty well. One loss was due to the drive motor wires unsoldering themselves, the other was my opponent balancing me on the wall. Overall, it did great and will be getting a few upgrades before Dragon*Con

Apollyon: 4-0, 12lb champion. It worked perfectly all weekend.

I also snagged the "Best Driver" award.

Ready for Motorama 2012

The robots are all tested and ready to go. Nyx needs a torque limiter for the flipper, so for now it'll have the dual disks and ramming spike.

Nyx is done

Nyx has been completed. A detailed instructable can be found at http://www.instructables.com/id/30lb-Fighting-Robot/

Motorama Fleet as of 1/23

Only a bit left to do. Nyx still has top armor and a few alternate weapons to be handled, but otherwise is ready to go. Both ants, Apollyon and Moros are all ready and waiting for Moto.

Nyx is effectively done.

It LIVES!

Just needs top armor and the extra weapons, and maybe a bit of tweaking on the weapon so it doesn't shoot sparks everywhere when I reverse it quickly.

Nyx status update part 2

Another day, another good deal of work done on Nyx. It's almost mechanically done, just a few small details and the top armor to go. Weight's going to be close, but it shouldn't be too hard to get it under 30lbs even with a touch of paint.

Nyx status update

Most of the chassis has been assembled, using Nutstrip and standoffs for most of the connection points meant things flew together. I had to do a bit of drilling because the stock holes on the weapon sprocket weren't in agreement with the drawing, but that didn't eat much time. The weapon area's moving smoothly and it won't be too long until the mechanical assembly is complete. I'm expecting to have Nyx driving by the end of the month, if not a fair bit sooner.

Motorama 2012 Status Update

The chassis for my new NERC Sportsman/Robot Battles 30 arrived today. It came in looking about perfect and should be ready to go with plenty of time to spare.

Making Wheels Round

I've started throwing my lite flite wheels on a lathe after noticing that many of them are fairly badly out of round by the time they're able to be installed on a shaft. An added side bonus is more options for wheel diameter and width, as well as much more consistent driving performance.

There's still a visible indent in the wheel after taking a decent amount of material off of the tread.

After taking even more material the tread surface is uniform and concentric to the shaft.

Image showing the depth of cut to get a uniform tread. Wheels are standard 1.75" lite flites.

Side-by-side of the old and new wheels.

All four turned wheels for Motor City Massacre.

These wheels are for Kobalos, and  were the same part number. You can see the newer wheels are much thinner and barely reach both sides of the plastic hub.

I also take a file to both edges of the wheels to smooth out the corners, however it seemed unsafe to try to file a wheel down while it was spinning in the lathe while taking a picture and I didn't feel like tracking down a tripod.

Motorama 2012 Progress

Near Chaos Robotics has all 4 registered bots for Motorama ready to go. We're taking Kobalos, Motor City Massacre, Apollyon and Moros to Harrisburg, PA in February. We're also attempting to complete another 30lb robot for the Sportsman class that will go by Nyx.

Nyx is designed for high mobility and modular weapon systems. The majority of the chassis components are being waterjet cut by Westar Mfg.

The first attachment is a dual hinged flipping arm powered by an 18v dewalt in low gear. We're also working on several other attachment options including a rotary grinding disk and a traditional plow style weapon.

Beginners guide to robot combat

Check out the beginners guide to robot combat. The guide contains many useful links as well as a lot of information on techniques and systems used in robot combat.

Introduction

Near Chaos Robotics has been involved in robotics since 2001. Near Chaos Robotics concentrates on combat robots, but several members have been members of USFirst Team 675.

Near Chaos Robotics is sponsored by:

Pelican Products, manufacturers of cases that meet U.S. military, NATO, IEC, and ATA standards for waterproofing, stacking, impact and durability. Check them out.

Holmes Hobbies, Maker of the BR-XL speed controller and many other fine products. I've put the BR-XL through a lot of abuse and they've put up with everything short of extreme trauma.

Near Chaos Robotics would also like to thank Fingertech Robotics for their exemplary service and customer support.