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2001: Pneumatics at last!
Haardvark suffering from gas.
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Since we didn't enter Series 4 (we were going
to use the same robot as series 3), we decided it was time for another change.
This time we kept most of the chassis (but re-shaped it into a wedge), got
rid of the skirt at the rear of the robot, created new electronics, and
went from electric-powered weaponry to pneumatic. |
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The electronics are now PIC controlled (computer-programmable
chips) but in case that doesn't work, we've still got the old circuitry
which still works. We have got rid of the large heavy aluminium panel which
holds the electronics and sensibly put them in a die-cast box. |
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The new motors from series 3 are rated at 24 volts, so naturally
we're putting 36 volts through them. This means we need just the three 12v
7Ah batteries, and coincidentelly 36 volts is the power required for the
motor which drives the circular saw. |
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We obtained a circular friction saw, exactly the same type
as Dead Metal's - 400mm diameter and 5mm thick, itself weighing some 2.8
kg! When that thing gets going at 4000rpm, it can do some damage... |
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The cutting arm now doubles as the robot's self-righting mechanism ,
and it also has an attachment allowing it to be used as a flipper. A very
multi-functional weapon indeed! (It weighs in at 12 kg, and has yet to
be tried...) The piston driving the arm is big: 100mm in diameter. There
are also two side rams to help in the self-righting process. Unfortunately
the lifting forks have had to be removed to make way for such a monster
pneumatic piston. However this piston can be removed and the forks fitted,
just in case we feel like a change.
To obtain maximum performance, we are using CO2
to power the pneumatics, at the regulation maximum 10 bar (150psi), which
gives the piston a direct lifting force of 1800 lbs (830 kg). However
the arm has a 1:4 lever ratio between the piston and the lifting point,
which gives us a total lifting force of 450 lbs (207 kg), which is plenty
to turn over one of the house robots, but maybe not Sir Killalot.
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HaarderVark at the NIA
in Birmingham for the Live Event. |
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