The Fly 3
Metal-Fly build report
Step 1, The Frame
This is the just frame and the mini-servo for the lifter. Sadly, I've had to drill some holes for weight, but I think there's a lot that will fail before the frame does.
Step 2, The Electronics and Motors
Here I've added the Sozbots speed controller (which has worked very well for me), the two Copal 60:1 drive motors with Sozbots Copal mounts and wheel mounts purchased from Lynxmotion. I don't have the ability to fabricate my own parts, so I use a lot of stock components. I completely rewired the robot from the last time I used the ESC because my soldering has improved and I needed the wires to be exactly the right length.
Step 3, Power
This was basically my 'bench test'. You can see the power light on right under the Servo. Everything is wired up and working right now, except the mini servo which still needs to be wired into the ESC for power. I'd like to claim that it worked perfectly first time, but it didn't. I had a small short on the ESC which I quickly found and repaired. No harm done.
Step 4, The wheels
When 50% of your robot's weight and 80% of its surface is the wheels, you have to spend some time with them. The mounts for lynxmotion were a huge find for me. I really was stuck on how to mount these wheels before I ran across those small aluminum hubs. Unfortunately, the output shaft of the Copal Mount is 3mm and the hub's bore is 4mm. It's not the end of things, but I'd prefer a perfect fit. I'll see about getting something better for next time. There's a lot of things to go wrong where the wheels connect to the motor, and if something fails on my bot, my money is on the drivetrain. Not really what you want, but I do think it'll be tougher than the average ant.
FINISHED!!!
I have the treads and the lifting arm mounted. The servo is all wired up properly and functions great. The treads are just hot-glued on and while I have received several suggestions on better ways to attach the treads, they've never shown signs of failing.
Motors - 60:1 Copals
Battery - 9V Alkaline (Subject to change)
Weapon - Hitec Miniservo lifting arm
Strategy - Lift, Push, Repeat...