December, 2001
12-03-2001: Because Discombotulator will now host over $1000 of elecronics, I decided that it would need to protect the electronics better. It will now have a frame of 5" tall 3/16" thick 6061 aluminum channel. This, with lexan skirts will be good protection to side attacks as well as hold up better to top attacks (the wood frame is wobbly and could break easily). In addition, an additional sheet of 3/8" lexan will be brought to the event. When Discombotulator faces hammery bots, it will have 2 sheets of 3/8" lexan on the top, but no skirts. for bots with side attacks, it will have skirts and 1 sheet of 3/8" lexan on top. This new setup will be good, but the extreme weight of the frame will cause cutbacks on the weapon (the frame will weigh 20 pounds).
12-02-2001: One of my victor speed controllers bit the dust, partially. It gives no proportional control forward and no response in reverse, so it will be used as a weapon controller. Due to this I will be placing an order from IFI next week for a replacement victor 883. While ordering that, I will bite through the bullet and order the ISAAC 16 control system. With these additions, the price of the bot will skyrocket to above the $3000 mark. I think I hear my wallet crying, see ya later.
November, 2001
11-21-2001: For the past month, I have not had too much time to work on Discombotulator. I have, however, driven it a few times, bought and installed chain tensioners, bought and installed ball transfers (basically a caster). I also replaced the jackshafts with longer axles. I finally got around to getting a picture, so here it is:
October, 2001
10-29-2001: ITS AlIVE! Actually last week, It kind of was alive, one wheel wasn't attached to the axle correctly, and when I fixed it, the reciever battery died. Yesterday, I ran it around for a while, and 2 of the 6 chains kept on coming loose, so I ordered some tensioners for them. Once I get them (tomorrow), I will nab some pictures of the bot and post them up here by the end of the week.
10-11-2001: We now have all motors mounted, connected together, hooked up to the batteries and speed controllers and to the radio! We got the chains to turn in the right direction and all, but we still need to attach the wheels. We have all of the parts except the batteries and weapon stuff.
September, 2001
9-30-2001: Lots of stuff has happened over the past 2 weeks. We now have all of the drive train components! We decided on a 10:1 chain reduction to give us about 8.5 mph and 450 pounds of pushing force! We have changed our weapon to a vertical impact weapon (nightmare, backlash, sparky). We did this because we did not have enough room to put in a lifting arm. We have our Victor speed controllers now, and our radio (Futaba 6 channel pcm 75 mhz) as well as out batteries (24v nicad battlepacks) are on the way! We have decided to remake the frame with wood 1/2 thick as the previous frame. We also decided to use 1/4 lexan bolted to the frame in addition to 1/4 lexan skirts! We also changed our dimensions from 20x24 to 24x24. We now have 16 theoretical pounds left over for the weapon. One final note: Discombotulator will not be attending Battlebots TI Fall 2001. We will go to youth tournament in the end of March, and most likely to the spring 2002 tournament (hoping for regionals).
9-16-2001: Our MW is now called DiscomBOTulator!!!!!!!! We got some help from a friend Friday, and built a 18 pound wood frame. This put us about 5 pounds over the weight limit (according to my calculations). I cut down on the thickness of our side skirts, and cut down the weapon motors, so now we have 10.56 pounds for the weapons (theoretical).
August, 2001
8-25-2001: Now have all of the parts needed for one side of the drive train. I hooked up the chain to the sprockets (with no tensioning device) and hooked it up to 12 volts, and the chain flew off the sprockets and into the air and landed 4 feet away.
8-12-2001: Ordered second motor, drive wheel, and rest of the sprockets and chains for one side of the 'bot.
8-10-2001: Figured out how to attach the motors to the bot. Also have switched around the plans a bunch. Now, I have decided to go with 4 motors moving 2 wheels. There will also be casters (wheels that are not powered by the motor, but simply support weight).
July, 2001
Recieved the sprockets, chains, and wheel. The sprockets are heavy and will need to be drilled to reduce weight for the competition. The wheel has roller bearings (whoops), so I have looked for and decided on a new set of wheels to try out.
Recieved the battery. Man, it packs a punch with the motor, and i'll even be doubling it!
Recieved first drive motor! This motor is a giant! (although it't not nearly as heavy or large as other stuff out there!) 3 more motors are going to be ordered in a couple of weeks.
Ordered 1 set of chains/sprockets
Ordered 1 of 2 drive batteries.
Ordered 1 of the 4 drive motors to make sure it is what I want.
Planning and Research Galore!