24 SERVO 12.2014
locked together during assembly. After
a bit of sanding to get the fit just
right, the whole chassis was
completed.
The next step in the build was to
gut the old Nyx and transplant the
electrical system into the new frame
so the drive system could be tested.
All of the fasteners and zip ties were
removed from the old body and given
a quick check to make sure there was
no obvious damage. With the damage
check completed, the drive motors
and power switch were bolted to the
chassis.
At this point, the first issue of the
build appeared. With all of the parts
installed and the battery hooked up,
After testing various components, it
was determined that something on
the motor controller had failed. This
wasn’t a big surprise as the controller
has been in use for several years and
has taken a substantial amount of
abuse. A new Ragebridge ESC from
E0Designs.com was swapped in. Not
long after that, the bot was driving
around and working properly.
The platform build wasn’t quite
done yet. The final stage of the build
required the final location of the
battery housing to be set, the weapon
motor controller to be installed, and
both motor controllers to be firmly
attached to the chassis. The same
foam battery housing from Nyx was
used as it has proven to be a very
forgiving mounting solution.
A second Ragebridge was
installed and wired into the power
system for the weapon systems, and
both motor controllers were attached
to the baseplate with large Velcro™
patches. With everything in the robot,
several wire ties were added to keep
the wires that would not be regularly
interacted out of the way and routed
moderately neatly.
Part 3 will cover the fabrication
and assembly of the weapon modules,
and will include a link where you’ll be
able to download the complete 3D
CAD files, as well as the fabrication
drawings used to waterjet cut the
chassis components for Nyx. SV
The main chassis for Nyx.
The internals from the old Nyx after moving them
into the new chassis.
Nyx with the power lights on and a fully working drive system.
The completed drive platform for Nyx.