or as a participant — the next all
weight class combat event will be at
RoboGames, scheduled for April 23-
25 at the San Mateo County Expo
Center. For further details, go to
www.robogames.net. SV
Photos were taken and provided by Team
Toad: Michael “Fuzzy” Mauldin, Kelsey Ross,
and Sharon O’Mara. Title photo is courtesy of
Sam Coniglio.
Z IDBERG:
Thinking Outside the Box
Project Zoidberg was conceived when a motor delivery for one
of our other robots arrived at my
teammate’s house, containing a
surprising ‘extra’ component. The
sender had accidentally packed a
pair of Team Delta18V Dewalt
‘power drive’ gear motors. These
powerful, drill-based units looked
too nice to send back, so a deal was
arranged. Not wanting to build
another boring armored box, the
seeds of new 30 lb robot were
sewn.
Function
When designing the Zoidberg
robot, it was immediately apparent
that this was potentially the most
capable drive system used in any of
our featherweight robots. Looking
at the technical specifications for the
motors, it was calculated that a
single pack of high capacity NiCad
‘C’ cells would suit the current
requirements. A 40 Mhz radio
system is used to control the robot
● by James Baker
(as we have a few spare), and the
obligatory activation light and
removable link were added to
conform to UK rules. The electrical
power system uses black and red
high temperature silicon wire
throughout.
A wooden base was made to
test the power drives — directly
driving 80 mm scooter wheels using
custom-made hubs. These hubs were
machined from high-grade aircraft
aluminium, and bonded to the
wheels with a special resin. From
these first tests, it was decided that
even though many people run these
gear motors on 24V we would run
the robot at 18V, as the
performance was still very good
compared to the majority of
machines in the UK at the moment.
The lower voltage also offered
improved reliability and longevity
while we got used to using the
robot.
The controller chosen was the
Robot Power Sidewinder. This is an
over-specification solution, and
allows us the option of increasing to
24V in the future without
compromising reliability. We also
have Sidewinders in several other
robots, so spares are available if we
have failures at events. The initial
tests with the drive system showed a
surprising amount of grip was
available from the scooter wheels,
so although a four wheel drive
solution was investigated, it was not
considered necessary (especially
when the incredible agility of the
two wheeled chassis impressed us
during these first tests).
Form and function illustrated.
The internals are logically
and tightly packed.
34 SERVO 03.2010