[TC11] The Blacksmith

[Marxpek]

Hello everyone.

I recently found some youtube video's of some awesome lego battle bots, looking further into that i found this contest, about a week before the closing date, so i rushed in.

So i started designing and building eagerly, later to find out i had to create a topic with some pictures explaining the build.

So excuses me that this is a bit of a reversed engineering photoshoot and im not known with the forum use yet, so i hope i can post everything correctly

 

Here is what i set myself as goals:

- fast

- nimble

- hard hitting

- driveable on both sides.

- simple (with little to no exposed moving parts)

I think my design has it all.

What i came up with is this:

A powerfull hammer robot, powered by 2 L-motors, 1 sbrick and a large batterybox.

The batterybox acts as a counterweight and the wheel axles as a pivot point, smashing the hammers when reversing the motors

The idea is simple but execution was harder, i had to find the correct balance and get the room in the design so it could spin around the wheelaxles hitting nothing in the front and smashing the hammers. i could only make it work using the 42054 wheels.

The design is fully flippable.

I will edit this post more today with some pictures of it opened up.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Marxpek
added better picture for size comparison

[Marxpek]

here some pictures of its workings and insides.

The pictures show a simple solid frame, protecting the s-brick that exactly fits between these panels like this if you only use 2 ports.

The design has 2 weak points; the electric wire and switch is exposed and the wheels can come off, both have been countered.

- since rubber bands are allowed, i have fed a rubber band through the wheel hubs making them grip a lot more on the axles, its now more likely to remove the tire of the rim then to remove the wheel off the axle, the axles are the 5,5L axles  with the little edge on them and they are held in place by the frame, the wheels will NOT come off now.

- another few rubber bands hold the wire connection on the battery box down, should it get hit, it is now less likely to get loose (an actual string would be better) but i doubt anyone will try to get in my destruction zone, so you could consider it a lure to my weapon.

The s-brick control consist out of 5 seqence buttons and a joystick

2 sequences for full speed forward and backward

2 sequences for spinning left and right

1 sequence for the "Hammer Slammer" function

1 joystick with motors output at 50% making it more controllable.

Why all the sequences? well controlling it with buttons or sliders just isnt accurate enough, hit one 0.1 second earlier then the other button and you are steering in stead of driving forward. also the sliders in the sbrick app never provide the full power to the motors, the buttons and sequences do.

The Hammer Slammer sequence is set to reverse the output of the motors every 0.4 seconds, making it slam the hammers every 0.8 seconds at the front and the rear of the robot.

I will try to make a short video today off it destroying my floor, my wife hated this thing from the moment it switched on ;D

Edited April 18, 2017 by Marxpek
update

[Leonardo da Bricki]

This is an cool idea. Destroying floors = good power.  You could also ram another bot with those hammers, and that you have two makes it twice as good.

[Marxpek]

Thanks, it works quite well as well, the video is up in the entry section.

sadly i only just found out about the competition about a week ago, i actually created my account here today for this event :) i would have improved the design for a 1 hammer design, giving it more impact.

I tried a single hammer setup but with 2 hammers the driving and stability improves, making the attacks more accurate aswell.

And.. should one get destroyed by battle.... i have a spare..

[agrof]

Welcome here, great and effective idea! Also cool adds on the use of the sequencer functions.  

You have a link to general discussion topic in the entry - it is not needed, just the one which redirects here.

[Marxpek]

Thank you! nice community here! is there anything i should do on the forum as a new member? i just rushed into this competition..

This design really requires an s-brick, the flipping makes the ir-receivers go out of line of sight, and the sequences prevent unwanted steering by not having to simultaneously press buttons or sliders in stead.

And yes, a well deserved add for our friends from s-brick!

Thanks for the tip about the link, i was a bit confused by the description so i posted them both.

 

I just tried to remove the general discussion topic from the entry, but i don't see how to remove it.

i know i'm a noob on the forum here... but i can't seem to just select and delete it when i edit the post.

i don't suppose having the extra link matters much, but might be good to know for future posts.

[aeh5040]

I'm really enjoying the elegant simplicity of the design (and the name is a perfect fit!).  It might not be the most elaborate, but I'm guessing it would win most fights!  Looking froward to seeing video.  I'm curious whether it is in danger of shaking itself to pieces, in spite of the reinforcements.  I'm also curious whether the hammer action can be satisfactorily controlled by just a standard PF remote.

[Marxpek]

@aeh5040Thanks, that was what i was going for, simple, hard to break, and hard hitting.

And i do think it would win most fights yes :) it does not shake itself apart, the hammers reinforcements are under some tension by putting some lego plates in between. And the wheels are fixed aswell, a rubber band through the hub prevents them from comming off.

The video is up in the entry section! but ill post it here aswell:

 

[Erik Leppen]

Pretty cool. I like the simplicity. I know such designs exist in real Battlebots, so it's certainly a valid strategy. I doubt about the force of each hit, but if hit count is of any relevance, you're going great. Also, nice how it's almost indestructible :)

[Marxpek]

Thanks! It hits pretty hard with a full speed swing, (sadly due to lack of time to shoot video its not in the video) to me they seem the hammers with the most force in the competition. The hammers are heavy and pointy and hit with a lot of force on a small area. I would not put my fingers in between ?

[PKW]

I really like this bot and how it is built, but i think that those photos don't show its actual size (especially for who doesn't have those wheels as reference). I think that being so big (i've built it) mean that its hits are quite powerful and can damage a good percentage of the other competitors, what i don't like is how pieces in the hammer are forcing and bending themselves, there is any way to build it in a more TLG approved way? also this thing is really fast, hard to control bot never performed well, but you have the theoretical advantage of sbrick and maybe a gamepad so you have jus to train your driving skill xD

[Marxpek]

This thing cannot be controlled with normal ir- receivers i think, the sequences are essential for good timing and thus the driving, steering and slamming, also the 50% output joystick is a must to steer 100% output is just to much, even when you touch the joystick lightly (i ordered a gamepad but its late in the mail sadly) 

And indeed i can imagine that people think this is smaller than it actually is becuase they don't own these wheels.

The hammers could use more attention yes, better would be to have a single hammer, i've tried to make them connect, but that gave me troubles steering (2 hammers provide balance aswell), i wont use it as an excuse (because im pretty happy about the result) but i found this contest just a week before closing, and with Easter obligations my time was limited to enter it, so i stuck to the working 2 hammer design.

In addition to the: this thing must be built with a s-brick arguement: it flips by design, loosing line of sight to the controllers would be bad...

Edited April 17, 2017 by Marxpek

[Marxpek]

@PKWMade the digital file for it, my first attempt at LDD so i hope it is all right.

would love some feedback on either the design or how i did the work in LDD

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Marxpek/moc/the_blacksmith.lxf

it's missing a few minor parts (switch lock, the tires, s-brick and extension wire) couldn't find the parts or couldnt make em work in LDD

The hammers as they are have some tension in them to make em more solid, not the Lego solution but better for battlebots, so they are built in 2 parts here, but they can easily be turned over for a true Lego connection with less tension.

[PKW]

47 minutes ago, Marxpek said:

@PKWMade the digital file for it, my first attempt at LDD so i hope it is all right.

would love some feedback on either the design or how i did the work in LDD

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Marxpek/moc/the_blacksmith.lxf

it's missing a few minor parts (switch lock, the tires, s-brick and extension wire) couldn't find the parts or couldnt make em work in LDD

The hammers as they are have some tension in them to make em more solid, not the Lego solution but better for battlebots, so they are built in 2 parts here, but they can easily be turned over for a true Lego connection with less tension.

Good! Tomorrow i'll be back to home and check if my replica was enough accurate, also planning to buy some of those big wheels because I found them unique and I may get the parts to build a complete replica

[Marxpek]

better wait with that, you might win them? ;D

[PKW]

18 hours ago, Marxpek said:

better wait with that, you might win them? ;D

mhh i don't know, my bot is powerful but i know most of this forum members vote on appearance

as for the file, it is ok just not being colored it was a bit painful to figure out where you used 3l connector and where 2l ones ahahah, for next time i suggest you to choose colors, on the bottom left, at the startt and then use C tool (it copies selection but is works exactly like the standard one that you can use with V) to copy already colored bricks so you have to change color only one time for each different type of brick. oh and my replica was quite accurate! i tested it with these wheels and was really fun to play with, but i also have a question, why you haven't used portal hubs (without gearing)?

[Marxpek]

@PKW well yes i started building in normal mode to find out i didn't have all the parts there, the I switched to extended mode and lost all colors somehow (everything was bright red before...). but thanks for the tips ill try em out later!

why didn't i use the hubs? i don't have them available, gotta work with what you got..

 

[PKW]

That happens because extended mode allow all the color for all the parts and displaying them all will be too chaotic, so yo need to filter them by colors (and what happen is basically that you change colors for all the inventory bricks) 

@Marxpek about the hubs, i might give a try to see how they fit, it you have idea you can try it on the file and then i'll try to build it ;)

[Aventador2004]

i agree, work with what you have available. i don't always like to buy parts but rather buy sets for sometimes cheaper.

also many forum members go by appearance like pkw said, just because a bot is effective doesn't mean it is the best ;D 

Edited April 18, 2017 by Aventador2004

[Marxpek]

29 minutes ago, PKW said:

about the hubs, i might give a try to see how they fit, it you have idea you can try it on the file and then i'll try to build it ;)

@PKWBy the looks of it, it would become at least 5 studs wider than it is now, requiring more and longer braces making it weaker.

I think that my setup is actually more fitting to the situation, and with the rubber band in the hub you are way more likely to remove the tire off the hub then to remove the wheel off its axle, so i never thought about changing it, its allowed and its working fine.

But agreed that without the rubber band, the portal hubs would be very useful to the system.

@Aventador2004 I am big fan of Lego Technic for over 25 years now, sadly i sold most stuff from my youth but started to re buy a lot and now have a decent collection again, but not a room full or something... but i never buy parts, only sets, or whatever i can get used for a nice price. Sadly my budget will never allow me to compete with some others who seem to have way more parts to their disposal, but i see this as a challenge, it makes you think out of the box, find new, but also very often old and somewhat lost techniques to the same problem. And that's what i love about Lego Technic, thinking out of the box, finding solutions to problems (that we create ourselves ;D) and improving on that!

[Aventador2004]

1 hour ago, Marxpek said:

 

@Aventador2004 I am big fan of Lego Technic for over 25 years now, sadly i sold most stuff from my youth but started to re buy a lot and now have a decent collection again, but not a room full or something... but i never buy parts, only sets, or whatever i can get used for a nice price. Sadly my budget will never allow me to compete with some others who seem to have way more parts to their disposal, but i see this as a challenge, it makes you think out of the box, find new, but also very often old and somewhat lost techniques to the same problem. And that's what i love about Lego Technic, thinking out of the box, finding solutions to problems (that we create ourselves ;D) and improving on that!

exact same thing, if i get parts they are from sets. and the techniques you learn with limited supplies are sometimes very helpfull.

[PKW]

Sorry for bumping this topic but.... 

 

I can' t wait to fill blacksmith out of the arena!

 

(I'm not sure about image size, i'll check it when i'll be back at home)

 

Jokes aside, i'll be able to film fights this Christmas, and I can'tell fill you out of my new arena because wheeled scorpion will be driven by my cousin and i'll be driving blacksmith (I don't want the advantage of knowing how the bot should be driven) other than this I want to know if you run the bot on 9V or 7.2V, because i'm having some issues of the bot slamming its maces only when full breaking and not always....

[Marxpek]

Hey! fun to see you made it! looks great! did you build it with the wheel hubs like you suggested? or built it like i did?

I used the heavier alkaline batteries since it is used as a counterweight aswell, (heavier batteries make it slam easier) so that would be 9v. Are you using the sequence modus with the correct timing for the slamming function? you can also play with that timer maybe, It might help.

I will be looking forward to your video!

[PKW]

22 minutes ago, Marxpek said:

Hey! fun to see you made it! looks great! did you build it with the wheel hubs like you suggested? or built it like i did?

I used the heavier alkaline batteries since it is used as a counterweight aswell, (heavier batteries make it slam easier) so that would be 9v. Are you using the sequence modus with the correct timing for the slamming function? you can also play with that timer maybe, It might help.

I will be looking forward to your video!

I've built it 100% like the digital file,but i'll be driving it with a ps4 remote, so actually 100% speed control and 4 buttons for full forward full backward and a couple of sequences

For what I tried it is really fun to drive, but yes it have some "slamming" problem, but still scares my dog even if he is one room away ahahahha

Also due to the numerous fights on Christmas i'll be recording it will also fight some smashable (old technic beams and panels) bot so  I think it will shows its true power 

 

Hope for some teasers next days