[TC11] Devil's Tongue

[AVCampos]

Hi all! Yesterday at 2 AM (technically it was today already) I finished my entry for the Battle Bots contest.

My creation is Devil's Tongue, a wheeled vehicle with a flipper arm. Initially I intended to have spinning drums in the front for the flipping function, hence the name, inspired from Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun:

I don't have the demonstration video yet (I hope I'm still on schedule by making it today when I get back from work). Anyway, I can present two WIP videos and a photo of the final product.

It's a four-wheel drive vehicle, capable of driving inverted. I wanted to use PP wheels for their grip and weight to make it hard to push and flip, plus their diameter to make more room to fit stuff while keeping the inverted drive ability. However, I found out they're too heavy and grippy for the XL motors (one per pair of wheels) to drive and steer, so I had to resort to Unimog wheels. Here's the test I made with the PP wheels:

I wanted to have a fast-acting flipper instead of a slow lifter, so I decided to have it spring-loaded. It uses four of the hardest short springs. To pull the arm down, I built a mechanism that winds a winch when its motor turns in one direction, and disengages it when it turns in the other. Here's a test of the flipper attached to the winch mechanism:

 

After including the armour to avoid being stuck if flipped onto its side, it reaches exactly 45 studs in width and a little less in length. Also, as I have both my SBricks occupied in other MOCs, as well for symmetry, I used two PF IR receivers. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and to ensure line-of-sight reception, the receivers and the battery box are exposed on the rear. I guess it's a matter of never turning my back to the adversary!

Here's the photo of the finished product. Astronaut not part of the crew, present for scale only.

Later today I intend to make a video and take better pictures. I'm not sure about its performance and battle-worthiness, but at least (IMHO) it looks cool and functional! Whaddayathink?

[AVCampos]

As promised, here are some photos of the finalised model. Indeed the spring-loaded flipper arm is too weak, I'd be better off with a slow, linear actuator-powered lifter arm...

 

And here's a video of it in action:

 

More photos here: http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/438490

[Aventador2004]

keep seeing so many great battle bots that make mine weak in comparison. your only problem, like other spring flippers is its slow reload.