Team Ignition

[BranYoung]

Looks like it came straight out of that new Mad Max movie

[RevRobots]

Hi Dylan,

What type of CAD software did you design your wedge in?  Is it easy to learn?  I would like to get started on being able to do CAD.

Adam
Revelation Robotics

[Lucas Grell]

Hi Dylan,

What type of CAD software did you design your wedge in?  Is it easy to learn?  I would like to get started on being able to do CAD.

Adam
Revelation Robotics

Adam, I don't know what he used, but I do know that you can get a free copy of solidworks, inventor, or, maybe the easiest of the three, OnShape, if you look on their websites. Solidworks I believe requires a student email address, but I prefer it over the other two. There may be others, but I've used those three before and they work well.

[Infernaltank]

Banebots wheels?

[Badnik96]

Hi Dylan,

What type of CAD software did you design your wedge in?  Is it easy to learn?  I would like to get started on being able to do CAD.

Adam
Revelation Robotics

I use Rhino, which isn't free, but it is fairly simple. I have yet to do very precise things in it, that was just to get the design on paper.

@Nate yep, banebots. Gonna run dualies I think.

[Badnik96]

Speaking of "very precise things in rhino"

First legit CAD design in this program. tracked ant drumbot i'll be making for a friend who might be going to bot blast. If he does of course. I've managed to scrounge enough parts out of my toolbox to make the final cost for it relatively cheap. In fact I've already started modding the vextrollers, I just need to solder some things.

Nocturne finally works as it was intended to. Maybe it'll finally be able to make some noise.

[Badnik96]

Today I soldered together Scarab's drive train, or would have if the dang thing would work. I plugged in the battery but no power is getting to the receiver. I assume it's because I'm still a noob at soldering and there's a bad joint somewhere. My dad's gonna bring home a multimeter from work tomorrow so hopefully that will isolate the problem.

In other news, I tested Nocturne's weapon on some leftover UHMW. Left some nice big scars. FireArrow, Landshark and half of Scarab's parts are being ordered tomorrow.

[Lucas Grell]

Can you take some pictures? There's a few weird things you might want to look out for, and if it stayed together, there isn't a (really) bad joint anywhere.

[Badnik96]

Can you take some pictures? There's a few weird things you might want to look out for, and if it stayed together, there isn't a (really) bad joint anywhere.

yeah sure, here you go:
http://imgur.com/a/YjskL#0

[Badnik96]

Figured out the issue. There's no power going to the receiver because we don't currently have a BEC hooked up to it, and the vex controllers don't have a power wire going to the receiver. Once the brushless controller I ordered comes in, we should have a BEC hooked up to it and it should work.

I did manage to kill Nocturne's lipo today however. Going to need to get a new one.


So yeah, if you're gonna run vextrollers without a bec, then you need a power wire going to the receiver.

[Lucas Grell]

Yeah, sorry I forgot to get back to you. I meant to ask for a picture of the harness as a whole. Those joints aren't very good for sure, but if you carefully reflow them with more solder, I think you can get them much better. The trick is to have a way of holding them together easily, with a large enough tip on your iron needle nose pliers work well, you hold both wires, crush, and heat, then let it cool before you let go.

No BEC would definitely do it, yeah

[Badnik96]

Work on the mantis begins...

[Badnik96]

Everything but the ebay gearboxes I ordered have come in. Can't wait to build everything

[zacodonnell]

I think a lot of people have trouble soldering when they first start out. I know I did, and it is an area that I have helped a lot of new builders with after they get their first couple of bots together. I think a big part of it is because the equipment their using isn't really made for doing large wires and connectors. Here are a few things that took me from "barely able to solder anything" to "no big deal as long as I don't have to worry about melting it". My hands are still as shaky as an alcoholic's and I don't do the little tiny joints very well but I find that splicing wires, soldering in connectors, and making batteries are all no big deal now:

• I switched to a big enough soldering iron. First choice was a 40w iron with a chisel tip. (I got it from mcmaster part #7662A696, even though it was a little expensive). I later bought the 80 watt version with the 3/8" chisel tip and use it all the time. I have made many A123 battery packs with it which as many will attest is no small feat.
• I got a pair of hemostats from All Electronics. I have one straight and one curved set. They're super cheap and work way better than needle nose if you are soldering alone
  
• Speaking of soldering alone, Helping Hands from Harbor Freight are a good $2.50 investment to give you an easy way to hold things in the right spot. They're not nearly as good as somebody actually helping you, or a prehensile tail, but they work in a pinch. I glued mine to a metal plate to give them a bit more heft as the stock base isn't very heavy
  
• I started cleaning the soldering iron tip before each joint by wiping it on a damp sponge. This makes a huge difference because the oxidation that forms on the tip of a soldering iron is a very good thermal insulator, making your joints crappy
  
• I like to protect the tip of the soldering iron from oxidation by melting some solder on it when I'm done and leaving it there. The first thing I do when I heat it back up later is to knock that solder off and expose the nice, shiny tip
  
• Melting a little solder on the tip of the soldering iron before trying to make the connection can really make a big difference in heat transfer with the part. Pressing the widest, flattest part of the soldering iron against the joint also helps with heat transfer. Faster heat transfer is generally better for the joints.
  

These are just a few things that have greatly improved my soldering. I primarily work with 18, 14, and 12 gauge wire and connectors but have found that if you aren't doing very fine circuit board stuff, a little extra beef in the soldering iron gets the heat where you want it faster and keeps it away from where you don't want it more.

-Zac

[Badnik96]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IqOioqVKzU

here's the first drive test of the new FireArrow's drive train. Zoom zoom.