when under pressure during
an event.
I prefer each part to
have its own connectors so
that it can be quickly
unplugged and replaced. In
this bot, I used Deans type
connectors for the power
connections and 2 mm gold
for the connection to the
drive motors.
I modified the drive ESC
(I used Banebots 12-45s, in
this case) by removing the
heat shrink and unsoldering
the single motor leads, then
replaced them with two
smaller gauge wires on each
side. I recovered them with
new heat shrink tubing
(Figure 4). This makes it easy to
use one ESC to power both motors
on one side of the bot.
Make sure you connect the
right-hand ESC to the motors on
the right and the left-hand ESC to
the motors on the left. It’s easy to
plug them into the wrong motor
since all the leads can get mixed up
in the tight space between the
ends of the motors.
I'm using a new radio in this
bot: the HobbyKing HK6S (Figure
5). This is a simple entry-level 2. 4
GHz spread spectrum radio with
built-in mixing. It looks rather odd
since it has no external antenna,
but this is an advantage in my
application as the kids who will be
using the bots often end up
breaking them off!
The radio failsafes correctly for
combat use, and the channels are
easily reversed using the switches on
the front (Figure 6). If you use this
radio in a combat bot, reverse the
throttle channel or you will find the
throttle is full on in the down
position; most ESCs will not power
up this way. It uses eight AA
alkaline batteries (not included) and
is already bound to the supplied
receiver. Set up the switches on the
radio as shown in Figure 6.
The signal leads from the ESC
FIGURE 1.
Fully wired bot.
FIGURE 2.
Wiring diagram.
plug into RX Channels 1 and 2
which are Aileron and Elevator,
respectively (Figure 7). The black
wire in the signal leads goes to the
outside as shown.
Set the bot up on a block of
wood (or something similar) so that
its wheels cannot touch the ground.
Switch the transmitter on first, then
switch on the bot. When you push
the left lever on the radio forward,
the wheels should all turn in the
same direction that would make the
bot drive forward if it was on the
ground.
SERVO 04.2013 27
