Starting Early (For Once)

It’s June, which means the main school year is almost over. Even with summer school teaching positions, it’s a lot less stress and a lot more free time to design, build, test, and practice.

Carve will return for the newly rescheduled NHRL tournament coming up in September. When it was scheduled for mid-August, I was concerned, as I mainly survive off of savings in the summer before the consistent pay cycle starts up again. But in September? Oh, that I can swing for sure.

So what will change?

First, the wheels are moving inside the body. You can see the cast shadow in the thumbnail. That’s where the wheels will go. I might upgrade to a larger diameter for more stability, though I think the external casters are still a solid plan for improved balance.

Second, the frame is wider and shorter this time. Again, more stability. It’s a wider mass to make contact with at the bottom, but that also means the weapon arms do not need to be as long and potentially breakable to reach an opponent.

Third, I remembered to actually make a mark on the original solid frame so I can line the robot up with screw holes and everything.

Fourth, he has a new face. Adorable.

I’ll be printing the frame in a PETG-CF hybrid filament that adds a bit more impact resistance from the Carbon Fiber to the strength and durability of the PETG.

I still need to design supports for motors, batteries, boards, etc in the base. The weapon system base (the lid of the pumpkin) is ready to go. I just want to essentially add in bolted slots for the different arm configurations on top. I can just scale the height back on the weapon arms to fit the squatter pumpkin frame.

I’m excited for this. I should have a prototype build by the end of the month and a working model to run by the start of registration for the tournament.