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Un Autre Monde
Vapourbot Admin

Avenging Angel

Haardvark - bringing joy and forks to the world since 1998

Posts: 343

N³ (HW) Mar 26, 2008 17:23:28 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Un Autre Monde on Mar 26, 2008 17:23:28 GMT -5

Nidhogg
^{active until May 2008}

WEIGHT: 100kgs
DIMENSIONS: 100 x 70 x 37 (47 inc weapon) cm
SHAPE: Kind of like Lightning, only with a narrower front bit.
COLOUR: Dark green and brownish roughly chevron patterning, fading to blood red towards the front. Weapons are gold coloured with flame red spines on the arm.
DRIVE: 2 C40-300 Magmotors run at 24v from 3 NiCd packs driving 2 wheels with Vulkalon treads, with a ball caster just behind the forks in the nose.
SPEED: 14mph average, 20mph max
GROUND CLEARANCE: 0 at front due to forks, rising to 10mm at rear
ARMOUR: 4mm Hardox (7mm in key areas) on front, side and rear panels, 3mm aluminium baseplate
WEAPONS: Hydraulic crushing arm (constructed of hardened steel and aluminium alloy) at front driven from a Vivoil pump at 3000psi, giving 9 tonnes of force at the ram and 4.5 tonnes of force at the tip. Also has Haardvark-style lifting forks at the very front run from an S28-150 Magmotor and a lead screw capable of lifting 200kgs, generally used to hold opponents in place for the crusher to do damage.
SRIMECH: Via the weapon, which has decorative spines to assist in self righting. Spikes at the rear prevent the robot getting stranded.
NOTES: Components and armour shock mounted for protection against large scary spinny things. Cutout eyes in side of robot serve as targeting lasers (they don't actually target, they just look really cool)
STRENGTHS: Can cause a lot of damage
WEAKNESSES: Slow at self righting

Joey's notes: None yet - check back soon!

Last Edit: Jan 16, 2011 7:39:24 GMT -5 by Un Autre Monde

Un Autre Monde
Vapourbot Admin

Avenging Angel

Haardvark - bringing joy and forks to the world since 1998

Posts: 343

N³ (HW) May 3, 2008 4:43:29 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Un Autre Monde on May 3, 2008 4:43:29 GMT -5

Nidhogg Evo
^{active fram May 2008 to February 2009}

WEIGHT: 100kgs
DIMENSIONS: 110 x 80 x 30 (with arm raised, 50) cm
SHAPE: The front of the robot is almost the same as the S7 Lightning, with the rear being more rounded
COLOUR: Dark (almost black) red and green with one darkish gold chevron on the front
DRIVE: 2 LEM-130 motors run at 36v from 10kg worth of NiCad batteries, driving two inner Vulkalon tyred wheels located just in front of the robot's centre. This means it turns around its front, rather than other 2wd robots that have the wheels at the back, and makes it easier to point the front (and therefore weapons) where I want them to go. A ball transfer unit in the rear makes maneuvering easier.
SPEED: 15mph average, 20mph max
GROUND CLEARANCE: 0 at the front due to the weapons, varying from 0-10mm elsewhere
ARMOUR: Mostly 3.2mm Hardox, which at the rear is formed into a continuous quarter sphere and used as part of the chassis. The front ramp is 4mm Hardox, along with the weaponry, and the base is 6mm polycarbonate with 2mm grade 5
titanium additional protection in key areas.
WEAPONS: 1) Inside the front ramp (up to about halfway) is a hydraulically powered rear hinged lifting device, which can lift
about a tonne and raises fully in about two seconds.
2) Sticking out of the front wedge is a hydraulically powered crushing arm, which has rounded yet sharp spines on it, tipped
with a hardened tool steel point, running from a hydraulic ram located behind it similar to Executioner, giving about 15 tonnes
of force at the tip of the arm.
The hydraulics are driven from a Vivoil pump running off a S28-400 Magmotor producing 3000psi of pressure.
Also, either side of the front lifter there are Hardox spike/wedges for getting underneath or ramming opponents.
SRIMECH: The top of the robot and the top of the crushing arm have a rollover shape (think M2/Mega Morg) that should
allow it to roll over onto its wheels if it gets tipped over. If for any reason the rolling over doesn't work, like it getting up
against a wall, moving the crushing arm should change the balance enough to allow it to self right.
NOTES: Internals are shockproofed to withstand hits from spinners, as most of my robots are. Keeps the LED eyes from the
previous version, but this time mounted through holes in the armour.
STRENGTHS: Good maneuvrability and weapons synergy, original srimech problem sorted
WEAKNESSES: One in seventeen billion chance of the robot spontaneously combusting just before a fight

Joey's notes: None yet - check back soon!

Last Edit: Jan 16, 2011 7:45:24 GMT -5 by Un Autre Monde

Un Autre Monde
Vapourbot Admin

Avenging Angel

Haardvark - bringing joy and forks to the world since 1998

Posts: 343

N³ (HW) Feb 12, 2009 7:02:32 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Un Autre Monde on Feb 12, 2009 7:02:32 GMT -5

N³
^{last updated March 2009}

WEIGHT: 100kgs
DIMENSIONS: 110 x 80 x 30 (50 with arm raised) cm
SHAPE: Same as the previous version; the front is a trapezoid wedge with sloping sides, similar to Lightning from series 7. The rear is one continuous quarter sphere.
COLOUR: Dark maroon and dark green chevrons, darker towards the front, and this time with (also rather dark) Mouser Mecha Catbot/Raizer Blade style cyborg artwork at various points.
DRIVE: The main drive comes from a hydrostatic system, powered by a 7.2hp 80cc Stihl disc cutter engine driving two separate hydraulic pumps, one of which runs at 1200psi and uses proportional valve gear to control speed and direction of the two hydrostatic drive motors, and the other running on a different gear reduction at 3000psi to power the weapon rams through standard hydraulic fittings.
There are many advantages to using this system; basically N³ not only has a considerable amount more torque and pushing ability than standard electrically powered robots, it can deliver that torque at both very low and very high speeds, plus all those in between, and still have extremely precise and easy control. To put this in real world terms, look at The Big Cheese, which I got a lot of details for this from; it could drive around hanging a robot from the end of the arm and have no loss of speed or control. Basically this isn't going to bog down when pushing or be outpushed most of the time by other machines; this is serious power.
The drive is through tank style steering and two wheels located just in front of the centre of the robot, as before, this means it turns around the front as oppposed to around the the rear and has two ball transfer units at the rear to maintain stability. The wheels have a layer of urethane rubber on for traction.
SPEED: Average 12mph, maximum is around 30mph. Control and power is constant at all speeds due to the hydrostatic drive.
GROUND CLEARANCE: 0 at front due to the forks, 0-10mm elsewhere
ARMOUR: 3mm (6mm on front wedge) titanium/10% vanadium alloy over a stainless steel box section frame, welded into a continuous shell save for the shock mounted front wedge so there are no individual panels to be ripped off, and 10mm polycarb used for both the menacing 'eyes' located in the sides and behind the main armour in places where vital components like the petrol tank and hydraulic cables need to be protected. The base is 5mm 2014 aluminium.
WEAPONS: 1) Inside the front wedge are a pair of hydraulic lifting forks, shaped somewhat like a cross between Panic Attack's and Haardvark's, these are constructed from hardened steel, stick out a bit beyond the front wedge and are capable of lifting around half a tonne easily. These are used to hold opponents on the front wedge for...
2) Sticking out of the front wedge is a hydraulically powered (via a 92mm bore/70mm piston dia ram) crushing arm, which has sharp spines on it, constructed from 5mm spaceframe Hardox with 1.5mm titanium/10% vanadium alloy sheet covering and tipped with a hardened tool steel point, running from a hydraulic ram located behind it similar to Executioner, giving about 8 tonnes of force at the tip of the arm.
The aim of the weapons is more to lift opponents (preventing them from getting any traction on the arena floor), clamping them, and taking them to be deposited in the Bank Of Pit, than for extreme crushing damage.
SRIMECH: The top of the robot and the top of the crushing arm have a rollover shape (think M2/Mega Morg) that should allow it to roll over onto its wheels if it gets tipped over. If for any reason the rolling over doesn't work, like it getting up against a wall, moving the crushing arm should change the balance enough to allow it to self right.
NOTES: Internals are shockproofed where possible to reduce shock damage from impacts and spinners.
STRENGTHS: Very powerful, hydrostatic drive gives torque head and shoulders above most other vapourbots. Decent armour, good weapons synergy, and generally a tough machine.
WEAKNESSES: Someone jamming a potato in the engine exhaust

Joey's notes: I had been having thoughts about using alternative motivations to electric for a while, ever since I had reread older 2004- and 5-era tournaments and seen things like chainsaw engines and hydraulic motors used effectively. The sudden availability of a lot of Robot Wars series 3 videos on the Youtube also helped, as I saw The Big Cheese in action for the first time in a while - it was fantastic, far ahead of other competitors in terms of power and the only robot I've seen to match Killalot in being able to pluck a robot into the air and place it in the pit.

With Nidhogg up for a redesign, and already having hydraulic weapons, it was going to be fairly easy and would benefit a lot to convert the design into one that used hydrostatic drive - like The Big Cheese - and so over the course of a few evenings I wrote out some stats, with Martijn Benschop doing a couple of ram calculations for me, and posted them. Owing to my total lack of knowledge about hydrostatics beyond what I'd seen on television though, the initial stats were a bit off, and I am indebted to Aaron Knight and Leo van Miert - many thanks guys

- for helping me realise where I went wrong and suggesting some more managable figures.
The robot, aside from the complete internal overhaul, did not change too much - it went back to the original concept of lifting forks rather than a wedge, and the armour was thinned to compensate for the heavier petrol engine and hydraulic/hydrostatic system, but still the same Nidhogg.

The reaction to this robot has surprised me massively - it won an entire annihilator in one of the Mechanical Maelstrom tournaments in one of its first proper outings, it was voted the Best Design in both the 2009 and 2010 Official Vapourbot Awards, Best Crusher in 2009 (vertical) and 2010, and as a crowning glory it was, along with The Crashing Bore, Darkestar and The Disc! - robots I have absolutely no business at all rubbing shoulders with - inducted in 2010 into the Vapourbot Hall Of Fame, which needless to say is a massive honour I am deeply undeserving of and many thanks to those who voted me in.

It's not bad for a two millennia-old mythical dragon ^_^

Last Edit: Jan 16, 2011 8:07:18 GMT -5 by Un Autre Monde