X

X is our award-winning middleweight robot that features a spinning steel blade. X was first developed in 2003, but several minor changes over the past 3 years have turned this robot into a vicious technological wonder.

 

The Frame:

The framework of X is made from aluminum extrusions, the same material that frames of most metal doors are made of. These were provided by a local metal manufacturer Kawneer . Each of the aluminum extrusions were cut to size, then pockets and other holes necessary for the drive were machined on the mill. The individual extrusions were then assembled by the use of aluminum corner caps that secure each side together like a picture frame. We have used these extrusions for 3 years continually and never had the chassis of X bent or twisted!

 

 

The Drive:

X uses 4 Milwaukee 18-volt drill motors for its drive. Each one is geared down using sprockets and chain and power is delivered to the arena floor via 3" Colson drive wheels.

 

 

 

The Weapon System:

In 2004, Power to X's first steel blade (which only weighed 13lbs) was powered by 4 EV-Warrior motors at 24 volts. The EV's worked great and awarded X "The Most Aggressive BattleBot" award at the BBIQ competition in 2003. 2005, we used 4 Milwaukee drill motors geared down significantly at 24 volts. These also worked well, but after several times starting up and stopping during a match, the motors eventually burned out. For 2006 we plan on using 2 Mini-Mag motors each at 24 volts. This will hopefully get our 24lb blade up to speed in seconds and allow it to inflict some serious damage to its opponents.

 

 

 

 

 

The Blade:

X's blades are made of hardened S7 tool steel. The first blade we made weighed in at about 13lbs. Then we made several more blades that weighed 16 and 18lbs. These blades all featured bevel sharpened ends and weight reducing pocketing. For last season, we created a 24lb blade. This blade featured sharpened ends, but no pocketing. This blade had no problem slicing through nearly every robot we went up against!

 

 

Armor:

1/8" thick titanium armor covers nearly every square inch of X. It also features a titanium wedge to help bring lower robots up into our blade. Our titanium is drawn out on flat sheets of titanium and then cut by a local metal fabricator Commercial Stainless .