Build Diary
- 21/01/09 - Finished off wiring the valves and started planning the pneumatics. Also ordered some fittings and fixings.
- 17/01/09 - Finished off the wheels, hubs and gears at work in the afternoon, just the GB plates and spacers to do now.
- 16/01/09 - Setup the valves for the new ram position. Really need to get the gearboxes finished now so I can plan the pneumatics a bit better.
I also did some more wiring of the valves to the control box.
- 12/01/09 - Got the necessary M3 and M4 fixings from work to continue the electronics, mounted up some of the connectors, but had to stop as I need a 1mm drill from
work tomorrow.
- 11/01/09 - Modified the bottle mounts and started makeing the wheel hubs, also drilled and tapped the holes in the bulkheads for the base plate fixings.
- 10/01/09 - Made the base plate from 3mm steel today, also made a gear plate for 360. Spent the evening planning the wiring, did get very far though.
- 03/01/09 - Finished off both of the bulkheads all but the armour mounting holes which have yet to be designed in. Also
finished the axles.
- 02/01/09 - Started work on the second bulkhead today, hopefully get both of them 80% finished tomorrow.
- 30/12/08 - Work on the new Apocalypse has begun, the gears have been part machined along with the axles and a spare. One of the bulkheads has been 70% finished.
And the ram has been stripped down ready to be cleaned and have a new seal. All in all a very busy weekend, which will probably continue throught January
to be ready for the start of Feb. Luckily I am keeping the same electrical and pnuematic systems for now, maybe one or two improvements so most of the internals
will not really need to be remade, some are being modified though.
- 28/12/08 - Shock I am actually updating the diary only been 5 months. Ok so having had a chance to drive Apoc for 6 or so months some the design
flaws have become apparent, after all it was designed in a week. This time is different, I have been redesigning for the last month and a half. There are several
reasons, 1, to make it within the weight limit with 3 battery packs. With the third pack added recently it took the weight up to 106Kgs but it has much more
potential with the higher current capacity. 2, to make it easier to maintain in the field. 3, Improve the weight distribution, too much weight at the back currently means
the robot jumps too much and pulls up under acceleration. 4, much better armour, fighting Thz twice at Huddersfield messed the armour up badly, although no damage to the
internals was done, it made things much harder to maintain with the shape of the armour. 5, change the way the armour is mounted, the lower steel armour
weighs in at around 30kgs, which is far too much also it is difficult to get the bulkhead assembly our of it.
So the new design is much smaller, the only sacrafice is to reduce the volume of the buffer a bit. The huge wheels have been replaced with ones half the
size of the current ones, so the gearbox is smaller and lighter. I have improved the bottle mounts so they are lighter and should be quicker to refil the
bottles. Batteries have moved to the front and the bottles are angled to help prevent liquid getting to the valves. The ram has been moved back slightly
although probably won't make too much difference as the overall length is reduced. Each bulkhead will weigh 3 Kgs less than the current ones.
- 14/07/08 - Got back from the UK champs last night, got to the quarters so not too disapointed. See the event report for more details
and photos.
- 13/07/08 - UK Champs
- 12/07/08 - UK Champs
- 11/07/08 - Took a last minute day off work to finish off bits on Apocalypse, retested the speed this time with charged batteries and
it worked well. Finished all the last checks and fitted the gas bottles and finished the new hinges for the gas bottle extraction flaps. Then packed
the car and set off for the event, stopping at work on the way to pick up some more bolts. Thanks to the gaffer for the help.
- 10/07/08 - Finished most of the assembly and tested the robot for the first time. The speedo kept cutting out, probably flat batteries,
although I did charge them last night will recharge tomorrow and test again. Also tested for leaks, there were two. Fixed the major one and the other
isn't really anything at all. Started work on the hinges at the back also.
- 29/06/08 - Spent all say at work, straightening and rewelding the bent armour. Also filled in the gaps in the base
plate with something a bit lighter. Lightened some of the pneumatic fittings and one of the bulkheads. Also repaired some
damage to the flipper arm. Then got home and painted the lower chassis and flipper arm.
- 28/06/08 - Had a bit of a day off today, went clothes shopping. Also did an oil change on the motor.
- 27/06/08 - Cut out damaged sections of the lower armour and also cut out bits of the bsae plate to lighten it.
Also started to polish up the titanium armour.
- 26/06/08 - Hopefully I will have time to keep up a bit more of a build diary now, maybe not, but here goes. With Apoc' striped
last week, the rebuild for the 08 Uk champs is underway. Made new wheel spacers, relaced the bearings also so far its
lost nearly 2Kgs, I think I still need to loose one more. New gas bottles arrived yesterday, with the repaired Wotty
arriving today. An RS order also arrived yesterday with brgs, pneumatic fittings and most importantly gaffer tape. Still
need a few more bits an pieces. New bolts should arrive at work tomorrow.
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