Battlebot Finished!

It's finished! Despite the slow speed, motor breaking drivetrain, and oh so weak flipper, the robot is done. Probably going to loose the fight, but it will be fun.

Battlebot Pneumatic Setup

Finally got the regulator in the other day. Tested it with the solenoid and actuating cylinder, everything is working great! Now to figure out how to shove it in the small chassis.

Battlebot Redesign

After going to the NERC competition at the Franklin institute in Philly I discovered my current design might get disqualified for running an unregulated pneumatic setup. So I added a regulator and now I'm over the weight limit. So I redesigned the frame and made everything more compact.

Battlebot Updates

Finalizing the bot design and figuring out if the pneumatic system will really work. However after doing all of this I figured out it would cost around $450 on top of the $50+ I have already spent. Not sure if I'm ready to commit to that. I fear the robot is to fragile and some 10 yr old with a steel spiny disk bot would trash my bot in a matter of minutes.

Beetleweight battlebot design

Newest project is going to be a beetleweight(3lb) combat robot. Like you see in battlebots but only smaller. Designing everything in 123d designer because its free! As you can see from the pics its a wedge design with a pneumatic flipper, struggling to keep everything under the weight limit right now.

Integrated the electronics panel with the brew cart

For the most part the pi and the electronics are now working with the screen and switches. So I installed the panel in the brew rig and got it setup on the parents WiFi. Slow progress but at least it's progress!

New flight controller

After shelving the quad for a few months due to a faulty kk2.1 flight controller, I'm upgrading that Shit so it will fly again! I bought a Naza M Lite, this is now my second Naza flight controller.... The first one was smashed in pieces when it went out of range with the old FM transmitter build. Didn't really want to buy another since the board is not made that well(trashed after 1 crash), but it mildly affordable and the best flying controller I can find. Going to take her out for a spin tomorrow!

New Landing Gear

After breaking all the legs with the last cheap set of landing gear. Upgraded to this more sturdy set. Looking good

Consolidating the homebrew electronics

About half way through the process of combining all 3 electronics boxes into one panel. Also adding WiFi and a webserver for remote temperature monitoring!

First brew of the year

The weather was so nice I just had to make a beer! This is a pale ale made with the last pickings of last year's hops, which was about a 2-3oz combination of cascade, nugget, and brewers gold whole leaf hops. Combined this with 6 lbs light malt and an American ale yeast. Gonna be delish...

Chopped the brewstand

The brew rig was getting to be over 7 ft tall, a bit hard to use. So I chopped the bottom shelf off. Overall it looks better and it will be easier to use. Success

Quad Maiden Flight

Took the quad to the park after repeatedly running the quad into my walls. The first flight went great, flew in a few circles, kept it in the air for 3-4 minutes then landed smoothly with just a few bounces on the legs. After the first success I pushed the quad higher and that's when everything went downhill. The quad went out of range and I lost control, then a wind gust pushed it even further away from me. Not really sure why the next thing happened but after a few mins the quad lost control and crashed onto the only asphalt in sight, and of course landed upside down on the most expensive component, the flight controller...

Adding lights to the quad

Added red and blue leds to the legs of the quadcopter. Time for some night flying!

Quadcopter Build

Starting a low budget quadcopter build. Trying to keep this close to $100 total, but that might easily double. Bought a kit on eBay for 79.99, this came with the frame, escs, motors, props, and misc hardware. Then I bought a kk v5.5 flight controller for $10. Pics below....