Wedge of Deception (formerly Slap Happy)
Face Lift
Team Crunch
  
FACE LIFT

Click for larger image [12/02/2004]
I have done just about as much as I can do before the battle on Sunday. I'm out of time. I have to take care of some personal business, errands, and other homework...and there is only one more day before the weekend, and three more days before the battle.
I went to Santa Rosa yesterday, but didn't get as much done as I had hoped. However, I got one major part done that I wanted: I added a piece of Titanium to the front wedge. Man, that stuff is hard to work with. Well, I mean it takes a long time. Slow and steady wins the race. The stuff is very hard, so drilling takes forever. The quickest part was cutting it, which my friend Ed did with his plasma torch. ZZZZZIP! The rest was up to me.

Click for larger image The new piece of Titanium can be seen, clearly, in these images. I just need to make a couple adjustments - I need to widen one hole and round off the front corners on the grinder, then cover it with Con-tact paper (i.e. put the marble finish on it). This was a smaller piece that I thought I would add, but it is all I need. The extra top piece I had made is not big enough, now, and would have only been held on by two bolts, so now I will simply cut the original face plate to fit. This will give the top piece four bolts to secure it (thus only four bolts to remove to access the batteries), and the piece is already bent and drilled...so all I have to do it stick it in the shear and cut it to size. I'll do that on Sunday morning before the battle. I didn't put any Titanium on the rear wedge, thinking that if I get hit back there, it's my own fault.
I didn't address the wheel height issue, which concerns me a bit, but that will have to wait until the last minute. I suppose I could drive it around at home to get some practice with it, but I don't know when I'll find the time to do that. I really didn't want to be right up to the last minute with this robot, but I don't have much of a choice. There are some things on the checklist of remaining tasks that requires tools I don't have and won't have access to until I can get into the shop on Sunday morning. I also don't have an official weight on the robot, yet, and I think it may be closer to 13 pounds now. I added some pieces to give all the armor bolts something to screw into so there is no real chance of them stripping out, now, during a fight.

Here's what's left on the to-do list:
  • Give the robot a new name!
  • Secure the motor mounts at the correct height [20-25 minutes]
  • Condition the wheels for better traction (may affect height a tiny, tiny bit) [10 minutes]
  • Trim rear armor plate for proper clearance [5 minutes]
  • Widen power switch access hole in Titanium plate [10 minutes]
  • Grind front corners of Titanium plate to make them round [10 minutes]
  • Grind sides of Titanium plate to reduce lip overhang (optional) [15 minutes]
  • Cut original face plate to fit in with new Titanium plate [5-10 minutes]
  • File/sand/grind front edge of top plate to eliminate lip where butted to Titanium plate [10 minutes]
  • Shape rearward sides of top plate to align with rear plate (optional)
  • Shape edges of top and rear armor plates to reduce lip overhang (optional)
  • Apply marble con-tact paper to face and top plates [15 minutes]
  • Paint heads of armor plate bolts white [5 minutes]
  • Add connectors to backup batteries. (before Sunday) [60-90 minutes]
So, on Sunday, I have about two hours of work to do before the rumble begins, and a three-hour time window to do it in. I also need to help my friend Ed with his power switch and may need to help Lloyd with his robot if he is going to bring it. So.......it is going to be REALLY tight!!!

The list of potential names for my robot continues to grow. Here are some new considerations:
  • Rampoline
  • Happy Ramper
  • Wedge of Your Seat
  • Atomic Wedgie (another robot already has this name)
  • Don't Take Me For Granite (or Mistaken for Granite)
  • Wedge ya Lookinat? (or Wedge-U-Go?)
  • Stony Lonesome
  • Leverage This
  • Stone Hemorrhage
  • No WMD
  • Political Campaign
  • I Rock
  • Chip Off the Block
  • Iceberg (as in "hit me and you're goin' down!")
  • Rocky Rage (descendant of Road Rage?)
  • Rocky Horror
  • Wedge Perception
  • Slippery Slopes
  • Stony Weather
  • Leading Wedge
  • Face Lift
I'm going to choose a name. Soon. Within the next day or two. Really. I promise! But what I don't know for sure is if it will be one from the many I have written down thus far. Time will tell.

[UPDATE]
I decided to try to do some more work on this at home. I was able to knock off a couple items off the to-do list. I drilled the hole out wider in the Titanium that needed to be drilled out wider. I used my Dremel tool to round off the front corners of the Titanium. I marked where the top and rear panels need to be cut/trimmed. And I decided I needed some driving practice, so I took the thing out for another "test" drive.

The test drive revealed two serious problems. One problem was a problem that I saw earlier: the right wheel spun off its hub. I thought this was because I didn't tighten it down the first time, but now I see that this is a real problem. I guess I need to cut a key way into these wheels. Even though the split hub design squeezes against the wheel, it can still slip on the hub (there are no splines and there is no key to prevent this). So there goes another 45 minutes of time that I *really* don't have at this point. It looks like I am going to have to elicit some assistance.

The other serious problem is also a repeat problem: radio reception. In certain orientations, the robot does not respond to signals. I really do not want to place my antenna externally, but I may have no other choice. I may run down to the hobby shop and see if I can get an external antenna like they have for cars...but not before I try another internal orientation.

I hate bad news this late in the game.

  Running Naked - Return to the Running Naked page
New Name - Proceed to the New Name page
Development - Return to the Wedge of Deception Developmental History page