Velociti

Velociti
Year of Creation	2021-2022
Versions
Current Version	1.0
Update Year	2021-2022
Wins/Losses	0/3
Information and Statistics
Weight Class	BeetleWeight
Weapon Class	Horizontal Spinner
Combined Wins/Losses	0/3
Weapon Speed	? RPM

Velociti is a beetle weight horizontal spinner designed and manufactured in 2021-2022. Velociti's weapon is roughly S-shaped and the frame mostly follows standard horizontal spinner design considerations

Competitions

Motorama 2022

• Results: 0-3
  • Bracket Style: Double Elimination
    • [(https://youtu.be/vdd1TYPd-1U) Loss vs Melon Bot]
      • After clutching up the safety inspection, the bracket was reshuffled and Velociti went from having a by round to having the first match
      • For a thrilling start to Motorama 2022, Velociti's first opponent was a D2 kit bot wedge
      • After a few hits, the weapon refused to spin up, and wedge vs wedge combat began
      • Despite taking 2 wheels off Melon Bot and landing a pin, Melon Bot was granted a judge decision victory despite the lack of damage to any part of Velociti
      • It is uncertain as to if the weapon motor issue was due to an electrical problem or driver error
    • [(https://youtu.be/U4rhVIlsDw0) Loss vs Starchild]
      • Velociti's next opponent was a large wheeled bot with a controllable arm and a small sawblade at the end
      • Starchild's weapon immediately gave up, likely as a result of intimidation, and Velociti landed a few hits before the belt slipped upwards
      • For the next minute and a half Velociti continuously headbutted Starchild while being slapped by their noodle of an arm
      • Once again, despite taking no discernable damage whatsoever, Velociti lost due to judge decision
  • Grudge Matches
    • [(Video Link) Loss vs Mechanical Advantage]
      • To satiate Velociti's hunger for combat, a random grudge match proposal was accepted against a drum spinner
      • In a shocking turn of events, Velociti's left wheel was unable to spin, likely as a result of the hub being tightened too close to the chasis
      • Once the match began Velociti decided to psyche out the opponent with an advanced tactical maneuver and did an immediate 180
      • A brief moment of contact with the opponent's drum resulted in the instant removal of the back plate, left wheel armor, right wheel armor, and LiPo Battery
  • Robojacket Rumble
    • [(Video Link) Blood sacrifice to Chonkii]
      • As a grand finale, all of the 3lb robots were placed in a cage match against Chonkii and Crab King
      • 1 hit from Crab King and 2 more from Chonkii rendered Velociti completely disemboweled

Version

Velociti V1.0

Created by: Jacques Wang, Austin Graves, Evan Strakes, Divyam Kumar, Bryce Parsons, Hanran Wu, and Brian Yang

Drive Motors	Something
Drive Motor Controllers	Something
Weapon Motor	Propdrive v2 2836 2700KV Brushless Outrunner Motor
Weapon Motor Controllers	Hobbyking 60A (2~4s) ESC 4A SBEC
Receiver	Something
Remote Control	Something
Battery	The black ones

Design Summary

• Weapon
  • 3/8" steel weapon shaped like an integral with the intent to shrink the surface area of the weapon's point of impact
  • Holes later added to reduce its weight from ~14.5 oz to ~12.5 oz
  • Weapon Pulley mounted directly above weapon and bolted to the weapon, with two bearings allowing the weapon assembly to spin around the fixed shoulder bolt axle
  • HDPE tower of washers and HDPE guards later added to ensure the weapon and motor pulleys remained aligned and to prevent the belt from slipping

• Chasis
  • Relatively standard puzzle fit chassis for a horizontal spinner
    • Consists of an aluminum top plate, bottom plate, 2 side plates, and a non-loadbearing HDPE backplate
  • Main difference being the addition of extensions on the top and bottom plates to attach and guide wheel armor

• Drive
  • As with most horizontal spinners, the drive mechanism involves only 2 drive motors and the robot leans on its front
    • In our case, we used a cap nut at the end of our weapon's shoulder bolt to provide a smoother point of contact to lean on

Positives

• The bot operated normally; electronics never prevented the bot from working
• Very powerful weapon motor (too much to handle). Operated mainly at 30% spin-up
• Bot could successfully operate on both sides
• Weapon belt only slipped off weapon pulley. Belts commonly slip off motor pulley
• Interior space was adequate for electronics
• Tensioning slots on bottom plate allowed for easy tensioning adjustments
• Relatively easy to open and perform maintenance
• 13 weapon locks

Issues

• Initial design very overweight: Compromises needed to be made for weight Savings
  • Removed Components:
    • Side Amor Plating; however, with the removal of Side Armor, leftover tabs became easy targets
    • Crossbars on Top & Bottom Plates
  • Cut-down Components:
    • Holes added to weapon
• Belt slips upwards
  • *Attempted to remedy this by adding blockers above and below the pulley and adding additional spacers below the weapon for better pulley alignment
• Poor Matchups:
  • Vertical Weapons i.e. Hammer Bots
  • Low weapons i.e. Low Beaters or Wedges
• Wheels got stuck on the chassis due to friction
  • (a) Hub was too close to chassis
  • (b) Hub was not on straight (likely an issue with motor as multiple hubs were tried)
• Frequent short-circuiting and other electronics issues
• Defenses weak all over

Changes to make

• Make sure holes for motors align in side plates and bottom plate
• Have better defenses overall:
  • Thicker plates while ensuring the area where the motor connects to the wheel is thin enough
  • Thicker armor
  • Thicker screws
• Make deeper pockets in the side plates to bring wheels out further from the robot
• Align pulleys better, make sure pulleys are smooth and deep enough to hold belts steady
• Can save weight if needed by losing mass on weapon, specifically reducing the radius
• Only need 3-4 bolts on weapon to save weight
• Incorporated designated position for switch (Its cables are very stiff)

Gallery

Velociti vs Mechanical Advantage Album Cover

Velociti Post-Chonkii

Velociti With Side Armor

Weapon Close Up

Notes:

Naming Inspiration: sounded kinda cool

BattleBots' judging system is rigged