This page describes Team Toad's Super-Heavyweight, IceBerg, as we prepare it for BattleBots 2002. IceBerg is the #14th seeded Superheavy.
(28-Sep-2002) In episode 6 of season 5.0, we saw Phrizbee Ultimate survive Toro Toro, setting up a match between IceBerg and the dreaded Phrizbee Ultimate...
Watch Comedy Central on Saturday, October 12th at 8pm EDT to see whether Phrizbee Ultimate can melt the IceBerg!
(16-May-2002)
IceBerg has this habit of presenting us with last-minute problems. Last year it was a broken motor
mount requiring almost a complete tear-down and rebuild. This time, it was radio reception
problems. The fix was less drastic...we moved the receiver away from the Vantecs and moved the
antenna from between the rear wheels to the back of the bot.
That improved the reception quite a bit.
The other problem we had was that we were using 2 single Vantec RSFR48e's, one per side. We were doing the mixing in the radio. We had problems with getting the two sides to start moving at the same time at low speed. This meant it was hard to drive at slow speeds.
We decided to move back to dual Vantecs, so we have an RDFR47e running the front and
rear pairs of wheels, and an RDFR36e controlling the middle pair. The result was a
much more controllable bot at slow speeds.
So even though we spent was was supposed to be a "calm" day of packing little stuff into a "hair-pulling day of rewiring and fiddling", IceBerg seemed to work fine when it backed itself into the crate.
See you all at Treasure Island Sunday!
(11-May-2002)
Coming down to the wire...the crates ship in 40 hours. We finished IceBerg today, and breathed a huge
sigh of relief when the final weight came in at 339.0 pounds (without the nine 5/16" steel bolts that
hold the lid down).
The only major change is the use of a Vantec 23 to control the blade actuator, instead of an H-Bridge. We decided that the ability to move the blade quickly or slower would allow both fine adjustments while approaching our opponengt, and the speed to pick him up once we're under him.
The blade isn't nearly as fast without the pneumatics, but we think the fine control will be more useful.
Now as soon as it stops raining, we drive him into the crate.
(5-May-2002)
Seven days to go until C-day (crate day). We finished painting IceBerg...with so many people
using the NPC 64038/84038 motors, we wanted to make sure ours looked different, so we painted
them to match the side panels and lid.
Since IceBerg was already drive tested, it will probably be the last robot to be finished, because we know that the reassembly will work. For now, we're rushing to finish the untested drive train on FrostBite 4.0.
(4-May-2002)
With just 8 days to go until C-day (crate day), we switched gears and got the frame, floor, lid and
blade from IceBerg welded, drilled, mounted and ready to paint. The forecast for next week is solid
rain, so this weekend may be our last chance to paint.
The blade is 2" wider...a full 40" of 1/4" steel. It's been a year since we mounted a brand new blade...I'd forgotten how gorgeous they are before they get all scratched and bent.
Of course, to paint, we had to take all the parts off. To the right you see what 12 tires look like...it's a lot of rubber.
To the left you can see the frame with all the parts removed and primer applied.
We're going with an orange lid and floor, and black frame and blade. We'll be ready for
Halloween with this robot.
To the right, behind the frame, you can see two of our three crates. Debbie painted them orange, so we hope not to find our crate lid in the "plywood supply" area in the pits.
We're cutting it close, but all the welding, drilling and painting is done...just have to make a shock mount for the Vantecs and reassemble the whole thing. Testing will be tough...we hope the rain lets up long enough to drive the final bot before crating.
(17-Mar-2002)
We had our first driving test today...the new IceBerg is a lot faster. Since it started to rain,
we didn't get a chance to adjust the exponential setting on the steering, but it turns quickly on our gravel driveway.
Once the weather clears, we'll take some video.
After the drive test, we shovelled the gravel out of the bottom and set it on the scale: 304 pounds.
Of course, we still have to put on the rear side and front armor, but 36 pounds ought to leave us
with plenty of margin.
(15-Mar-2002)
Got a lot of building done on IceBerg this week. We got the basic steel tube frame welded, and it weighs
in at 30 pounds. Once we get closer to a final weight, we might beef it up in a few places, but the main
parts seem pretty strong. The photo to the right shows how the tubing branches out to carry the stress
from the actuator mount to the sides and rear of the frame.
For initial testing, we're using a 4" Motion Systems linear actuator to power the plow blade. We've got a couple of
new 1/4" steel blades on order from Quality Fabricating, but for now we're using IceBerg's old blade for sizing.
Although we do have lots of room for a pneumatic system, we might prefer the control of
the electric system. We had lots of problems adjusting the blade height at TI-2, and
it would be nice to be able to adjust the blade depending on how the fight is going.
We're using six 36 volt BattlePacks from Robotic Power Systems
for power. After consulting with Steve Hill, we decided to worry less about physical stresses to the
packs, and more about keeping the packs cool, so
we devised a battery mount out of aluminum angle and tubing that holds the packs by the edges and keeps
them 3/4" of an inch apart. The left photo shows the batteries sitting in the bottom frame. The
photo to the right shows the top plate which is held in place by two nylon straps.
The left photo shows what IceBerg will look like with the dual NPC 10" wheels and blade installed.
The cardboard box is the temporary Vantec mount. We'll build something out of aluminum angle and
Lexan to hold the Vantecs for the competition. About the only thing not shown in that photo is the top plate,
0.140" 6-4 Titanium, straight from Titanium Joe. The bottom is 0.100" 6-4 Titanium.
So far, our spreadsheet says we'll have 20-30 pounds left over for extra Lexan against hammer bots. We might use some of the extra weight to beef up the cross bracing internal to the frame.
(11-Feb-2002)
At TI-2, we proved that a powerful six-wheeled pusher/lifter was a successful design, but
we found that the 340 pounds of a superheavyweight is too much force for a widely overhung
steel tire attached to a rigidly mounted NPC 60522. We also wanted to increase the speed
so win a ramming match, so after our motor consultant, Mandy, gave the 64038 a thorough
inspection, we decided to go with them.
Using the new Millermatic Debbie gave Fuzzy for Christmas, we welded up two side
frames with matching bolt holes for the motors. Instead of the rigid Kubota mower
deck wheels, we switched to dual 10"x3.5" tires from NPC with the American Airless
foam filling. We hope these have a little more cushion than the Kubota steel wheels.
Like Ice Cube, we decided to go with dual tires for added traction, and just to intimidate our opponents.
The photo above shows our assistant welding crew with the weekend's work; we got
the wheel assemblies mounted to the motors and the frames, and attached the first
four of the many cross braces.
We'll be using the same 7.250" tall blade made of 1/4" steel, with reinforcing angle irons. At this point, we're debating the choice between a pnuematic cylinder or a linear actuator to power the lifting arm.