06/02/02 - Mounting Ideas and Some CAD Stuff:

I know it was a little weird starting off with the engine as the first update in the build diary, but it will certainly be the most notable change in the robot from the previous versions. It is the change I am most excited about too!

I love knowing that there will be no pesky amp hungry monster to feed at the front of the robot. Using gas will make it so that I only have to feed the drive motors (EV Warriors), and that will be done with two 3.0aH BattlePacks.

As mentioned before, the saw I have chosen is the Husqvarna 350. Check their website for the vitals: http://www.usa.husqvarna.com/Folder_263/node533.asp?id=3

After speaking with Andy Miller (of Sunshine Lollibot fame) at length about ICE stuff, he gave me some VERY valuable pointers in setting up a gas engine for a robot.

For starters, I had removed nearly every removable piece of plastic I could from the engine. Andy pointed out that the side and top pieces of molded plastic direct the air flow across the fins on the engine block. So, if I don't want to have a meltdown, I need to get some of that plastic back on the engine! Andy also recommended using a special sparkplug to try and help cancel some of the RF noise that ICE are notorious for creating. Big thanks go out to Andy for these invaluable pointers, and I'm sure I will be picking his brian many more times before I finish the robot!

Click Thumbnail For Bigger Pic:

1) Adaptor I hope to have made to screw down on top of the ICE Shaft	2) The adaptor will screw onto the existing shaft, making a new 1" keyed shaft	3) While we are looking at a few CAD drawings, here is one of the new frame and blades	4) The new weapon will not be Saw Blades, instead 16" (to weapon tip) Al disc's will be used
5) For the most part the saw sits level on it's bottom, but you can see here that one of the corners is not supported	6) Time to make a fourth "leg" out of some scrap UHMW	7) UHMW in my CNC Handsaw Machine	8) Setup machine again and make another pass...
9) One last pass...	10) Almost done, it was a little bit too tall... My settings must have been a little off... :/	11) After much trial and error, looks like we have a fit!	12) Add a couple of screws and we have four feet :)
13) I had to remove this piece of plastic that protruded past the mounting surface	14) CUT!	15) Nubbinectomy complete!	16)Much better...
17) Mistakenly removing the spring behind the throttle arm, thinking it was what made IT spring... DOH!	18) The actual spring that makes the throttle arm ratchet is INSIDE the carburetor! So this didn't do anything...	19) I tore the carb down and FINALLY got that spring out of there. There are no pics of the inside of the carb, I was too afraid I would get sidetracked and mess something up. The procedure took much longer than I though it would though.	20)Throttle ready for a servo, ready to be mounted to bar bolts, fourth foot installed, and correct plastics on to keep it cool! This is very close to what the unit will weight without the shaft adaptor and go-kart clutch!