simply add a second nut to the
screw (the counter nut) and
tighten it well on top of the other
one. The pressure between the
two nuts will help preventing the
screw from becoming unfastened.
• Threadlockers: These literally glue
the screw onto the nuts or tapped
holes. Loctite 242 (blue) has
medium strength and it holds very
well. It is enough to use a single
drop on the screw thread before
tightening it. There is also the
Loctite 222 (purple), which is
relatively weak for combat, and
Loctite 262 (red), with high
strength for a permanent bond.
High strength threadlockers could
be a problem if you need to disassemble the robot. You might need
to heat up the part and deliver a
great blow with a hammer to
break the Loctite 262 bond. It is a
good idea to clean up the screw
and the nut or threaded hole with
alcohol or acetone before using
the threadlocker to improve
bonding. Don’t use threadlockers
in Lexan because they react with
it and weaken the material.
Loctite is a form of “super glue”
which some people are allergic to.
Handle with care. SV
EVENTS
Completed and Upcoming Events
Completed Events for
Sep 15 to Oct 13, 2009
HORD Fall 2009 was held on September 19th in Strongsville,
OH.
Franklin Institute 2009 was held on October 3rd and 4th in
Philadelphia, PA.
RoboCore Eneca 2009 was held October 3-4, in Joinville, Brazil.
Robothon Robot Combat 2009 was held on October 11th in
Seattle, WA.
Upcoming Events for
Dec 2009 - Jan 2010
Combots Cup IV will be held in San Mateo, CA on December
19th and 20th. Go to www.
combots.net for more information.
Kilobots XVI at Spectrum 2010 will be presented by the
Saskatoon Combat Robotics Club in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada
on January
16th and
17th. Go to
www.kilo
bots.com
for more
information.
SV
EVENT REPORT:
Franklin Institute 2009
Rob t Conflict
The 2009 Franklin Institute Robot Conflict was held by NERC on
October 4th in Philadelphia, PA. This
was the third annual competition at
the institute, with numerous robots
competing in the one, three, 12, 30
lb, and Sportsman classes. The 15 lb
Battlebots IQ weight class was also
● by Thomas Kenney
open this year, but no robots in that
category attended.
The competition began with a
fierce round robin tournament
among the four antweights attending. The outrunner drum spinner
Poco Tambor eventually came out
on top, with the lifter Otis following
in a close second.
In the beetleweight round robin
tournament, horizontal spinner Maniac
Kathy maintained its winning streak
up until the very end, where it lost a
close decision to the drum spinner
Rolling Pin. The normally dominant
ramming brick Cloud of Suspicion lost
SERVO 12.2009 35
