LINKS
Sewer Snake and Death and Taxes
fight videos
www.youtube.com/watch?v=
IUBBOPBbJpk&sns=em
Another camera view of the
fight and fire
www.youtube.com/watch?v=
amvqgyqtr74
RC Group’s complete guide to
Li-poly batteries
www.rcgroups.com/forums/show
thread.php?t=209187
LipoSack
www.liposack.com/products.htm
Fastrax LiPo Charge Bag. This bag is
made from Kevlar and Nomex
www.cmldistribution.co.uk/cml_
product.php?productId=0000004476
Ansul Lith-X
www.ansul.com/en/support/
search_combo.aspx?txt
SearchPhrase=lith-x
smoke contains several toxins. It is
recommended that protective
clothing and a full-face SCBA
breathing system be used by
anyone fighting this type of fire.
The smoke is one of the more
difficult issues to control and it’s a
good idea for event organizers to
provide a high flow ventilation
system for their arenas and
buildings. They should not allow
people to enter the arena until the
smoke has been cleared. Due to the
nature of this battery chemistry and
the volume of smoke produced, this
could take a long time. This is
definitely something to consider and
in some event venues, it may be
difficult to achieve.
At Combots, We had
a Simple Battery
Fire Plan
During the safety meeting, the
builders were told that they were
responsible for removing the robot
from the arena and the building
when it was judged safe to do so.
There was a clear path maintained
from the arena to the outside doors
of the building. The builders were
shown the path to the exit. The
builders were instructed to wear
leather welding gloves if they had to
handle the hot robot. Steel carts
were provided either by the builders
or the event to place robots on, so
they could be quickly wheeled
outside.
When possible, the event crew
would put out the open fire with
CO2.
The builder would then remove
the robot from the building, then
remove the batteries from the robot.
The Future
It should be noted that the use
of other cells like the Lithium-Ion
A123 brand have much less of a
chance of fire or this smoke hazard.
Of course, they are bulkier and a
little heavier than many of the Li-poly packs. They may prove to be a
better idea but not quite yet ... trial
and terror testing is still the nature
of the game.
As usual, combat robotics
consistently pushes available
technology to its limits and often
way beyond; this is the nature of
the sport. Hopefully, with a better
understanding of this impressive
and powerful battery technology,
better building practices, and
improved event safety measures
we can continue to provide a great
show and high standards of
performance in this dangerous and
yet safe sport. SV
Photo by Jon Swenson.
See more of Jon’s work at
www.sharkspage.com/?p=2668.
RioBotz Comb t Tutorial
Summarized – DC Motors
● Original Text by Professor Marco Antonio Meggiolaro; Summarized by Kevin M. Berry
Editor’s note: Professor Marco
Antonio Meggiolaro, of the
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil, has translated his
popular book, the RioBotz Combot
Tutorial, into English. In previous
editions of the Combat Zone, SERVO
has summarized many portions of
the tutorial. In this article, we
present a much simplified version of
the “Brushed DC Motors” section of
Chapter 5 — a major treatise on bot
motors. Marco’s book is available
free for download at
www.riobotz.com.br/en/tutorial.
html, and for hard copy purchase
(at no profit to Marco) on Amazon,
published by CreateSpace. All
information here is provided
courtesy of Professor Meggiolaro
and RioBotz. In reviewing this
article, Prof. Marco took the
opportunity to update some
information that is now obsolete in
the published version.
Brushed DC Motor
Overview
Motors are probably the
combat robot’s most important
component. They can be powered
electrically, pneumatically,
30 SERVO 01.2011
