Great stuff as usual! I was thinking it would be really cool if you made a video on how you design a combat robot, specifically how you arrive at a particular design from the very start and maybe even talk about how to design robot frames with the least amount of weight while keeping the bot rigid and strong. Also maybe even talk about the science of the materials used in your robots and how you arrived at those materials in the final stage of design.
@@troy4393 I hope I didn't come off like that. I meant if he were to talk about the very beginning stages of designing a robot. Kind of like what things he is thinking of as he sketches out ideas on paper etc
@@troy4393 NVM, must have missed the video, but Robert did make a resource guide video with useful links to what I was asking about: ua-cam.com/video/jZZfU_wlvYo/v-deo.html
Feels like Psychotic Break could easily be converted into a thwack spinner like Thagomizer or Minimizer by replacing the blade with a smaller asymmetrical blade spun at a faster speed, and putting the saved weight in the front as a plow. Just in case you wanted to keep putting your well machined pieces to good use!
That butt seems like a prime target. On impact, you might spin around and expose that vulnerable switch area, or that's at least what I'd be hoping for if I fought against you. Those aluminum frames though... Yum! They look as indestructable as they are pretty! Also there's a nice mix of minimalist and innovative design in your builds. I always enjoy these overviews.
A vertical spinner to the rear would be the main concern for me. Especially so since the main robot power wire sandwiched just on the other side of the back of the body shell. However, I would hope that if Physcodic Break gets spun around by a weapon impact, it also gets thrown backward. In that case, it would probably have enough time to turn back around to a favorable angle. But I agree that it is probably dead if someone manages to get a big hit on the back.
@@wtfpercussion Nope! I did this on purpose, I would rather the plastic get hit than the metal. The plastic can give way pretty easily, but the metal could get bent, which would compromise the weapon. In the end, don't get hit in the butt.
I asked this question in an older video but being an older video the question was probably easily overlooked so I will ask again and hope you forgive my repetitiveness. If one were to grind the weapon blade in such a way as to make a pseudo propeller, could the weapon provide additional down force for the robot? I understand that in this particular bot it would probably be harmful to performance as it would take down force away from the wheels (like putting a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car), but could it work in a bot where the blade is closer to the bot's centre of gravity?
It COULD, but it would increase the current draw (which is OK), and wouldn't provide as much downforce as you would want. The RPM range needs to be MUCH higher to generate any substantial amount of downforce. So you might get a pound or less of downforce, which could help in driving, but once you get hit, it would do very little, and would burn up a good amount of energy in the process.
That looks really nice and aesthetic , has a feel of something that BMW would make. Have you ever thought of setting up that tormach and churning out some better designed wheel hubs in titanium? Nylon G sounds interesting, have you tried laying down some cable runs in the body designs.
I need to find a better wheel solution, I really don't like the fingertech wheels or hubs. I didn't have any issues with them this time around, but I think the hubs were just slipping the whole time.
@@RobertCowanDIY a white out pen and some index marking would confirm that. But with your skills some cnc hubs a sacrificial 3D mould and some silicone I bet you could make some killer wheels. How about a rotary broach and some hex shafts ?
At first I thought, "Ooh, shiny!" And then I thought, "Ooh, Fluffy!" And then I prepared myself for the deluge of disbelief, derision and hatred from the Tombstone fan club.
Isn't it a little risky having the wheel escs so exposed? Looks like they may be better off mounted forward next to the weapon motor. Much more inboard and protected.
@@themuffinman4044 I see your point but you could be up against a similar bot. I don't see the harm in having it inboard vs mounted on external plastic panels.
It really depends. It will cost as much as you want to spend. ;-) It also depends on what work you want to do yourself. My whole frame costs about $30-$40, but that's because I machine the whole thing. It would be several hundred (or more) if I paid someone else to machine it. Long story short, your question is impossible to answer.
Robert Cowan Hmm. You seem like a very skilled builder. I don’t have thee equipment to to machine my own frame so a trussed bot frame would be easiest. Thanks for the advice
He's using a pair of Aerodrive SK3 2118 3100KV Brushless Outrunners mated with two Actobotics 22mm Planetary Gearboxes, taken off of the Actobotics Premium Planetary Gear Motors. More info can be found in Rob's "Beetleweight Brushless Drive Tutorial."
Do you think you can upload files of this bot to thingiverse? (probably not because these www.endbots.com/products/vector-beetleweight-kit are now out) I also hope you get to fight Debacle (Team Velocity). Actually, now that I think about it, I want to see Psychotic Break vs Vector or one of his eventual kit clones.
I've answered this in almost all the psychotic break videos, a couple different discontinued motors that have no substitute. I bought a few of them and they're no longer available.
Lots of places. Just have a google for Hardox. Its made by SSAB and is basically the same sort of thing as AR steel. (AR stands for Abrasion Resistant) I dont know where you live, but in the UK I buy from here: lakelandsteel.uk/
@@Anthony-we3ne My preference is the Frsky QX7. It's about $100-$130, but it will do everything you need and is very reliable. You can get cheaper radios, but this is my recommendation.
Add a spot welder to the front, weld your bot to the enemy in an unreachable position, activate EMP generator or pressured water nozzle to destroy electronics. You're welcome, I've just imagined your perfect bot.
Robert Cowan I want to use S7 on my beetleweight, but in my book it says that it must be hardened to 54RHC to be effective. Is it hardened before I buy it, or would I have to harden it to 54RHC on my own? If so, how would I do that?
@@robo9466 Yes, it needs to be hardened. I have a guy that hardens metal and I pay him. You can find people in your area just by looking on the internet. Look for heat treaters, or something like that. They usually harden parts for injection molds, knives, tooling, etc.
Im worried about the pressfit motors on a flexible shell... at high heat or at on a heavy impact i can see then being thrown out of position and possibly jammed. Robert, ive always wanted to throw this out there... LARGE SPINNING WEAPONS... knowing that weight being on the outside edge of a weapon to transfer said weight to cause the most damage is a know fact. but the disadvantage of that would be strain on the motors and also a longer spin up time. My query, is and really what ive wondered for a long time is why more bot builders arn't using shifting centrifugal spinners to get the best of both worlds?!?!. Please, message me or reply if you see this, i have some more specific ideas about how this could be achieved.
Could you specify what you mean by centrifugal spinners? The concept sounds interesting, but I would image you would need some mechanism to keep the moving parts in so that they didn't fly to the outside immediately on spin up.
@@johnathanclayton2887 Sure, so like I said to SHIFT weight to give the best of both worlds eg, better stability, spin up speed, less motor wear...ect yet still pack a real punch. Usually with spinners theres a trade off somewhere down the line (especially with full-body spinners). What I'm questioning is why more moving weight spinners aren't used. For example (and this is most primative version of my specific idea) if you had a bar with a hollowed out core and inserted a heavy metal ball into the middle that a spring holding it back from the edge that did the dammage dealing, When the ball is in its seated position and the forces are low the weight becomes a dead weight proving 'over the body weight improving traction... When the weapon. Is started the ball being in the center means that the motor has less offset weight to spin, meaning faster spin-up times and less motor wear, as the centrifugal forces get larger the ball would push back the spring until the weight would be shifted from center mass to the edges of the blade affording weight at the edge that did the dammage. That was only the first most simple idea's but I have others that involve more thought gone into them... I just wondered why we don't seam to see any spinners like this.
@@troy4393 I agree that you might compromise slight weapon failure if the design isn't correct or a massive hit is taken but it wouldn't be a huge failing point if the material was machined correctly.
Now you've got me interested. I was thinking you'd need something active like a pulley to pull out the weights, but a spring sounds much better. I would like to do some calculations on how much spend up time it would save, because you would be taking a weight and complexity loss by doing a system like that. Also, I'm a little Concerned about oscillations that might cause.
The machining on this robot is even more stunning in person than it was in the videos. Great robot!
Thanks!
Wow, that looks a lot like Debacle. Even more excited for when they face each other, if hopefully at all.
that would be amazing!
I guess we'll find out whether weapon belt shielding is important in this category
The results were interesting. More on that next week.
@@RobertCowanDIY I'll be waiting :D
Getting to see you swap out the power switch was a fantastic example of your design being quick to open and reassemble.
I have had that power switch for many years, it finally decided it had passed enough current.
Great stuff as usual! I was thinking it would be really cool if you made a video on how you design a combat robot, specifically how you arrive at a particular design from the very start and maybe even talk about how to design robot frames with the least amount of weight while keeping the bot rigid and strong. Also maybe even talk about the science of the materials used in your robots and how you arrived at those materials in the final stage of design.
media.giphy.com/media/YtvCIwqNJhUmA/giphy.gif
@@troy4393 I hope I didn't come off like that. I meant if he were to talk about the very beginning stages of designing a robot. Kind of like what things he is thinking of as he sketches out ideas on paper etc
@@Brute4rce1111 You've almost exactly described the content of the build log series.
@@troy4393 NVM, must have missed the video, but Robert did make a resource guide video with useful links to what I was asking about: ua-cam.com/video/jZZfU_wlvYo/v-deo.html
absolutely brilliant design
Christ that's an elegant design.
Feels like Psychotic Break could easily be converted into a thwack spinner like Thagomizer or Minimizer by replacing the blade with a smaller asymmetrical blade spun at a faster speed, and putting the saved weight in the front as a plow. Just in case you wanted to keep putting your well machined pieces to good use!
That butt seems like a prime target. On impact, you might spin around and expose that vulnerable switch area, or that's at least what I'd be hoping for if I fought against you. Those aluminum frames though... Yum! They look as indestructable as they are pretty! Also there's a nice mix of minimalist and innovative design in your builds. I always enjoy these overviews.
A vertical spinner to the rear would be the main concern for me. Especially so since the main robot power wire sandwiched just on the other side of the back of the body shell. However, I would hope that if Physcodic Break gets spun around by a weapon impact, it also gets thrown backward. In that case, it would probably have enough time to turn back around to a favorable angle. But I agree that it is probably dead if someone manages to get a big hit on the back.
Maybe the aluminum skeleton should extend all the way back so a vertical spinner hits that instead of plastic
@@wtfpercussion Nope! I did this on purpose, I would rather the plastic get hit than the metal. The plastic can give way pretty easily, but the metal could get bent, which would compromise the weapon. In the end, don't get hit in the butt.
@@RobertCowanDIY Makes sense! Beautiful build man!
I asked this question in an older video but being an older video the question was probably easily overlooked so I will ask again and hope you forgive my repetitiveness. If one were to grind the weapon blade in such a way as to make a pseudo propeller, could the weapon provide additional down force for the robot? I understand that in this particular bot it would probably be harmful to performance as it would take down force away from the wheels (like putting a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car), but could it work in a bot where the blade is closer to the bot's centre of gravity?
It COULD, but it would increase the current draw (which is OK), and wouldn't provide as much downforce as you would want. The RPM range needs to be MUCH higher to generate any substantial amount of downforce. So you might get a pound or less of downforce, which could help in driving, but once you get hit, it would do very little, and would burn up a good amount of energy in the process.
FOIlLED! did it with 3D printed disc spokes
That looks really nice and aesthetic , has a feel of something that BMW would make. Have you ever thought of setting up that tormach and churning out some better designed wheel hubs in titanium? Nylon G sounds interesting, have you tried laying down some cable runs in the body designs.
I need to find a better wheel solution, I really don't like the fingertech wheels or hubs. I didn't have any issues with them this time around, but I think the hubs were just slipping the whole time.
@@RobertCowanDIY a white out pen and some index marking would confirm that. But with your skills some cnc hubs a sacrificial 3D mould and some silicone I bet you could make some killer wheels. How about a rotary broach and some hex shafts ?
Beautiful robot
I believe the proper name for it is offset spinner, personally it's what I call these types of bots and sounds a little less abrasive than tombclone
and how about "spin-off" for short? :)
Tombclone sound poetic
Well, of course it's really Fluffy's American cousin. Tombstone? Who he? ;-)
can you do a video on BLHeli_32 settings for drive and the weapon?
Sure? it might be a few weeks, but the BLheli_32 stuff is pretty straightforward.
@@RobertCowanDIY i think It Will be interesting because few people talk about this for combat in vídeos
you need to fight debacle! (another tombclone beetle that is beautifully crafted)
Looks great!
This thing turned out sweet! Hope it kicked some butt!
Can’t wait to see the fight recap
Another awesome robot!
At first I thought, "Ooh, shiny!" And then I thought, "Ooh, Fluffy!" And then I prepared myself for the deluge of disbelief, derision and hatred from the Tombstone fan club.
Isn't it a little risky having the wheel escs so exposed? Looks like they may be better off mounted forward next to the weapon motor. Much more inboard and protected.
well, do you see tombstone or debacle have protected wheels? the giant spinning bar does all the protecting in horizontal spinners.
@@themuffinman4044 I see your point but you could be up against a similar bot. I don't see the harm in having it inboard vs mounted on external plastic panels.
Every decision is a compromise.
@@RobertCowanDIY what was the reason for the location? I assume you have a reason. Is it wiring simplicity/weight?
@@Golf_Cart_Customization Pretty much everything is wiring simplicity. If the ESCs get hit, it means that the wheels were hit as well.
Hey look, it’s debacle! Jokes aside, I am trying to build a beetleweight robot myself. How much do you think it would cost?
It really depends. It will cost as much as you want to spend. ;-) It also depends on what work you want to do yourself. My whole frame costs about $30-$40, but that's because I machine the whole thing. It would be several hundred (or more) if I paid someone else to machine it. Long story short, your question is impossible to answer.
Robert Cowan Hmm. You seem like a very skilled builder. I don’t have thee equipment to to machine my own frame so a trussed bot frame would be easiest. Thanks for the advice
Thanks RC.
Good luck it looks good
Looks great.
Are the drive esc's fwd/ reverse capable? I thought BLheli you could only dial in drag brake.
I am using them for drive, so yes.
I am making a similar feather weight bot please recommend a drive motor for it approx weight 28-30lb
That's going to eat d2 kits for breakfast!
less RPM more torque??? and what motors do you use at the wheels
He's using a pair of Aerodrive SK3 2118 3100KV Brushless Outrunners mated with two Actobotics 22mm Planetary Gearboxes, taken off of the Actobotics Premium Planetary Gear Motors. More info can be found in Rob's "Beetleweight Brushless Drive Tutorial."
Do you think you can upload files of this bot to thingiverse? (probably not because these www.endbots.com/products/vector-beetleweight-kit are now out) I also hope you get to fight Debacle (Team Velocity). Actually, now that I think about it, I want to see Psychotic Break vs Vector or one of his eventual kit clones.
What motor are you using for the weapon ?
I've answered this in almost all the psychotic break videos, a couple different discontinued motors that have no substitute. I bought a few of them and they're no longer available.
New cnc mill? What did you get?
Check out my other videos, I have a whole overview of the machine.
Ohh yeah! This is gonna kill some beetle bots!
Where do you buy ar500?
Lots of places. Just have a google for Hardox. Its made by SSAB and is basically the same sort of thing as AR steel. (AR stands for Abrasion Resistant) I dont know where you live, but in the UK I buy from here: lakelandsteel.uk/
It looks like AR500 is easy to buy in the US, it's even available on Amazon! :)
How do you find battle bot type competitions near you
I am interested in making a battle bot for the beetle weight or the 15 pound class. Do you know any competitions in or near MN
@@Anthony-we3ne Check out my getting started video, it tells you everything you need to know, and where to find competitions.
Robert Cowan oh ok, thanks
Robert Cowan sorry for more bother, but what type of controller and radio do you recommend?
@@Anthony-we3ne My preference is the Frsky QX7. It's about $100-$130, but it will do everything you need and is very reliable. You can get cheaper radios, but this is my recommendation.
Add a spot welder to the front, weld your bot to the enemy in an unreachable position, activate EMP generator or pressured water nozzle to destroy electronics. You're welcome, I've just imagined your perfect bot.
wow.
What filament is that?
Check the video ;-)
In Europe everyone uses ar500 for weapons. They never break but they wear out over time.
Well, this will be my last time using AR500. It's cheap, but not nearly as durable as S7.
Robert Cowan I want to use S7 on my beetleweight, but in my book it says that it must be hardened to 54RHC to be effective. Is it hardened before I buy it, or would I have to harden it to 54RHC on my own? If so, how would I do that?
@@robo9466 Yes, it needs to be hardened. I have a guy that hardens metal and I pay him. You can find people in your area just by looking on the internet. Look for heat treaters, or something like that. They usually harden parts for injection molds, knives, tooling, etc.
It's hardox 500 to 650 we use, not AR - similar stuff but hardox seems to be a superior material in this application, is the general consensus.
@@TeamCroc Noted. I think I'll stick with S7. I think it's more appropriate for weapon material.
Im worried about the pressfit motors on a flexible shell... at high heat or at on a heavy impact i can see then being thrown out of position and possibly jammed. Robert, ive always wanted to throw this out there... LARGE SPINNING WEAPONS... knowing that weight being on the outside edge of a weapon to transfer said weight to cause the most damage is a know fact. but the disadvantage of that would be strain on the motors and also a longer spin up time. My query, is and really what ive wondered for a long time is why more bot builders arn't using shifting centrifugal spinners to get the best of both worlds?!?!. Please, message me or reply if you see this, i have some more specific ideas about how this could be achieved.
Could you specify what you mean by centrifugal spinners? The concept sounds interesting, but I would image you would need some mechanism to keep the moving parts in so that they didn't fly to the outside immediately on spin up.
Too many parts to fail. It's a lot easier to just cut some weight somewhere else and throw more motor power and magic pixies at it.
@@johnathanclayton2887 Sure, so like I said to SHIFT weight to give the best of both worlds eg, better stability, spin up speed, less motor wear...ect yet still pack a real punch. Usually with spinners theres a trade off somewhere down the line (especially with full-body spinners).
What I'm questioning is why more moving weight spinners aren't used.
For example (and this is most primative version of my specific idea) if you had a bar with a hollowed out core and inserted a heavy metal ball into the middle that a spring holding it back from the edge that did the dammage dealing,
When the ball is in its seated position and the forces are low the weight becomes a dead weight proving 'over the body weight improving traction... When the weapon. Is started the ball being in the center means that the motor has less offset weight to spin, meaning faster spin-up times and less motor wear, as the centrifugal forces get larger the ball would push back the spring until the weight would be shifted from center mass to the edges of the blade affording weight at the edge that did the dammage.
That was only the first most simple idea's but I have others that involve more thought gone into them... I just wondered why we don't seam to see any spinners like this.
@@troy4393 I agree that you might compromise slight weapon failure if the design isn't correct or a massive hit is taken but it wouldn't be a huge failing point if the material was machined correctly.
Now you've got me interested. I was thinking you'd need something active like a pulley to pull out the weights, but a spring sounds much better. I would like to do some calculations on how much spend up time it would save, because you would be taking a weight and complexity loss by doing a system like that. Also, I'm a little Concerned about oscillations that might cause.
Tomb clone. : )
Just because it's a horizontal doesn't necessarily mean it's a tombstone clone...