FIGURE 4. Everything is nearly mounted.
the finished mounts ready for use.
Finishing Touches
With the motor mounts complete and sides cut out, all I had left
to do on the base plate was to cut
out the holes for the wheels, which I
did using a plasma cutter. With each
subcomponent complete, it was time
to combine them. I decided to use
10-24 size screws to fasten it together. The motors were mounted, the
sides were attached to the base
plate, and the electronics shock
mounted. Shock mounting is always
critical for electrical components. As
you can see in Figure 6, the speed
controllers and relay board were
shock mounted to an 1/8” sheet of
polycarbonate, which was then shock
mounted to the frame. The batteries
must always be easily accessible; to
meet this requirement, I chose to use
Velcro straps to secure them.
At this point, as you can see in
Figure 4 the robot was missing the
front half. For this, I chose a wedge
to allow me to gain control of other
robots to help me use my hammer to
its full effect. After choosing an
angle, I made the wedge and
attached it using the same methods
as the rest of the frame. Figure 5
FIGURE 5. The wedge is completed
and attached.
shows the robot nearly done!
Everything was complete except
for the top armor, the hammer, and the
wiring. I made the top armor out of .09
inch carbon fiber sheet for its strength
and minimal weight. For this, I used a
diamond wet saw, the key word being
wet. Carbon fiber dust can be extremely harmful and should not be breathed
in under any circumstances.
Through a combination of having water constantly pumping onto
the cutting edge to eliminate dust
and a respirator, I was able to easily
and safely cut the top plate. The hammer was more fun, for this I found a
piece of 1/8” steel and used the
plasma cutter to create the hammer
shape I was looking for. To attach the
hammer to the drill, I took advantage
of the threaded shaft, clamping the
hammer arm between the shoulder
of the shaft and a tightened nut. The
nut and threaded shaft then had an
1/8” hole that a pin went into to
keep the nut from backing off. With
everything mounted and ready to go,
I wired the robot up using primarily
14 gauge wire. Figure 6 shows Gone
Postal at the event ready for battle.
Conclusion
Overall, Gone Postal has under-
FIGURE 6. Gone
Postal prepped and
ready for battle!
gone four iterations since it was first
built, gaining spring steel armor over
the side UHMW and a titanium
wedge and hammer arm. In each
iteration, it has become a little
smaller and a little tougher, but the
same core building techniques have
been used each time.
Figure 7 shows Gone Postal in its
prime. It is ranked historically in 30th
place out of over 250 robots, racking
up a 35 fight record and known to
many as the bot that just won’t die. It
has proved to be one of the most fun
bots I have built and competed with,
being cheap, effective, and different.
Further details on Gone Postal including photos and videos can be found
at www.robotic-hobbies.com. SV
FIGURE 7. Gone Postal
version four with its 1/2”
diameter titanium arm
and spring steel skin.
EVENTS
RESULTS — October 14 - November 13
House of NERC
2006 — This
event was held on
10/14/2006, in
Wichendon, MA. Results are as follows:
• Antweights — 1st: “Absolutely Naut VDD,” spinner,
Anarchy Robotics; 2nd: “Disctruction 2.0”; 3rd “Almost
SERVO 01.2007 29