Cassowari

Cassowari
Year Of Creation	2017-2018
Versions
Current Version	1.0
Update Year	n/a
Information and Statistics
Weight Class	Lightweight
Weapon Class	Disk Spinner
Wins/Losses	1/2
("Temporary")	{"Temporary")
("Temporary")	("Temporary")

Competitions

RoboGames 2018

• Results
  • Loss by disqualification - lights were not functioning
  • Win vs. Deep 6
  • Loss vs. Wurst Nightmare

Versions

Cassowari (V1.0)

Created by Cory Stine, Trevor Kelly, and Wallace Gray

Drive Motors	Turnigy XK-4074 2000kV
Drive Motor Controllers	X-Car Beast 120A
Weapon Motor	Scorpion HKII-4525-520kV
Weapon Motor Controllers	Turnigy Monster 2000
Receiver	Hobbyking V2
Remote Control	Hobby King 2.4Ghz 6Ch Tx and Rx V2
Battery	Drive: ZIPPY Compact 3700mAh 5S 25C Weapon: ZIPPY Flightmax 2650mAh 6S 40C 2 in series
Armor	.75" HDPE Bar Stock

Good aspects

• High energy weapon
• Strong weapon assembly
• Fast ~15mph
• No significant damage to frame
• Very good looking robot

Problems

• Plugged in weapon motor backwards during first fight
  • Wires were color coded for future matches
• CG was too far forward due to the heavy weapon disk causing the wheels to spin
  • Too much friction on weapon disk
• Belt would slip causing the weapon to stop and start during fights
  • To try to avoid this, belt was tightened too much causing weapon ESC to blow
• Side armor screws sheared off when the armor was hit vertically
• No room for wires. They were all shoved in one corner
• LED connection to controller was unreliable
• LED placement caused them to interfere with batteries
• Machining tolerances were not good

Changes/Improvements

No Budget Improvement

If for some reason there is no money, manpower, or time to do an actual redesign of Cassowari of any kind, it is still a somewhat viable robot in its current state. The main problem was that the CG was too far forward so the wheels weren’t getting very good traction and would get stuck any time the robot stopped moving/the disk stopped spinning. It would be very fast and easy to move weight backwards to move the CG closer to the wheels.

• Remove some weight from the weapon (dependent on how much weight is added to back plate)
• Replace back plate with steel to move CG closer to wheels
• If we have no money. We have to run on a 6S battery and controller, allowing for more weight shifted back.

Minor Redesign

The most likely scenario that I see would be a small redesign. I think that this would entail a complete chassis redesign and rebuild, however we could reuse the whole weapon system.

• Increase diameter and thickness of drive wheels
  • 6”x2” Colson Performa (What Mandiii used)
• Move weapon disk back towards the drive wheels or move the drive wheels forward
• Decrease friction of weapon on ground
  • Potentially contact ground with 2-4 button head screws and distance them from the disk using hex standoffs.
• Consider rounded armor instead of chamfered
• New weapon ESC
  • Scorpion Tribunus 12-130A ESC SBEC
• Completely redesign LED system
  • The LEDs should be smaller and the controller needs to be located closer to the LEDs themselves and have a more robust connection. We also may want to look into a new way to power them.
• Make more room for wire routing
  • All wires had to go through one triangle cutout in the mid plate
• Use a double belt drive to transmit power from gearbox to weapon
  • Our weapon was working on and off during fights. I think this was due to the belt slipping. 2 belts would decrease the chance of slippage

Major Redesign

If there is money, manpower, and time we could try a more comprehensive redesign. This is very unlikely especially since we are trying to put money into “Battlebots Infrastructure”.

• Minor Redesign Improvements
• Consider using a normal back plate instead of a back shaft
• Decrease diameter of weapon shaft
• Use 2 weapon motors instead of the gearbox
• Beefier weapon motors
  • Scorpion HKIII-5035-380KV
• 6S drive battery
• Consider using ampflows and non-inline gearbox for drive