Parts fresh from Team Whyachi.com
and ready for assembly.
Power switch design used
in Kobalos at Motorama
2011.
Once the side rails are
attached, the front wedge
is bolted on. With 3/32”
thick 4130 steel for the
wedge, it is a major
structural component of the
robot and a decent portion
of its overall weight.
The next portion of the
build was designing a
custom power switch for
Kobalos. More often than
not, the power switch in the insect
classes is nothing more than a
jumper that is plugged in and
shoved into an open hole on the
robot’s armor. I set out to design a
better, safer power switch. The end
result was a very small, very
expensive switch weighing less than
four grams and costing far too much
to produce commercially. The switch
worked as designed and has yet to
be turned off unintentionally.
The wiring and building of
Kobalos took less than half a day due
to the simple nature of the robot and
the use of waterjet
cutting for the
majority of the chassis
components. Four
small neodymium
magnets were added
to take advantage of
the steel floored
arena at Motorama
2011. There are a
few minor bugs to
be worked out, but
overall, Kobalos
performed very well
at Motorama. SV
Kobalos after two fights and a rumble at Motorama 2011.
PARTS IS PARTS:
Holmes H bby
TorqueMaster BR-XL
Speed Controller
When designing the latest versions of my 12 lb wedge
and 30 lb bar spinner, I decided to
look for an alternative to my
relatively large and heavy Victor 883
speed controllers. While searching, I
came across the Holmes Hobby
TorqueMaster BR-XL and was
impressed by the listed
specifications. The controller was
● by Mike Jeffries
listed as handling 80A
continuous on up to a 6s
lipoly pack, while only
weighing 38 grams. I
decided to take a shot and
ordered a set to test with.
The original test set was
placed in my second
generation bar spinner, Mr.
Self Destruct. During initial
BR-XL controller freshly
removed from packaging and
ready for installation.
SERVO 05.2011 27
