We’ve spent a bit of time building some antweights over the summer. We’ve decided to name them all after horses and Luke even built one for Sandra (his gran)
First up we have Mustang
Mustang
Next we have Stallion Read the rest of this entry »
New Antweights
September 26th, 2010Items For Sale
August 9th, 2010We have for sale a number of items:
250mm stroke, 80mm bore pneumatic cylinder
Victor Regulator
2no. 32mm diameter hydraulic ram with 300 stroke
New Axe Head Has Arrived
March 12th, 2010Having had a good look round Hydra we decided that the spike wasn’t working particularly well because it didn’t have the reach it needed to have a serious impact on abything (most hits were with the arm rather than the axe head).
We decided to go for a new longer hammer rather than a spike. It’s made from tool steel and it’s just going off for a nitride coating so it’ll be fun to see the results (unless you’re the one getting hit!)
Hydra's New Axe Head
Roaming Robots Barnsley - Heavyweights
March 10th, 2010
The Roaming Robots Barnsley event was the first event of the year and the start of the 2010 UK championships. We went to the event with neither Hydra or Dantomkia finished in the hope that we would be able to pick up a few points. We didn’t think any of the robots there could particularly damage us so we decided to risk putting in two unfinished robots.
Battleratz at Roaming Robots Barnsley
March 10th, 2010Well this was the first time out for the battleratz at the Roaming Robots Barnsley event. It was a bit hectic for us because Paul and Colin weren’t there so it was hard to fit in but we thoroughly enjoyed it.
First up was the assault course which Luke decided to try something different. We noticed that there was not enough ground clearance at the front so Luke decided to drive up it backwards and then turn round. Bad idea as it turn out. The best way seems to be to fire the flipper as you get to it and then drive straight over.
New Rams Have Arrived!
February 20th, 2010After a bit of a wait, we’ve finally got the new rams for Dantomkia and Hydra. The rams are both rated at full pressure and both are full aluminium construction to save weight.
Dantomkia’s is a direct replacement for the original ram which has bent over time and is not returning properly.
Hydra’s is part of the major upgrade Hydra is currently having to raise the pressure in the gas system. We’d like it to be running at full pressure but to save on gas we’ll be running at 30bar. This will increase the speed and force in the flipper considerably to a point where we may even be able to some ootas with a bit of effort. The main improvement will be the axe. The axe is an accelerator mechanism which relies on a heavy axe head delivered at speed to deliver the energy at the end of the stroke. The increase to 30 bar should make this about three times faster considerably increasing the energy delivered!
Cyanide
January 23rd, 2010We’ve finally finished our new Battle Rat ‘Cyanide’. We’re really looking forward to fighting it at the Roaming Robots events, hope to see you there.
Happy New Year!!
January 1st, 2010Well here it is 2010 and what a year it’s going to be!!
We’ve been working hard since Wigan at the beginning of December and Wheely Big Cheese and Dantomkia are progressing well. We’re hoping everything will be ready for Barnsley at the beginning of February and yes we are hoping to be running Wheely Big Cheese.
We’re just about to start Hydra’s upgrades for the new season which we really want to be finished before Barnsley (and not still being built like it was at Maidstone).
2010 is shaping up to be an exciting year with a new heavyweight, the battleratz and a few new antweights. We’re looking to surprise a few people.
Wishing you all a very happy new year.
Team Hydra
Merry Christmas!!!
December 25th, 2009Well here it is at last!!
Merry Christmas everybody!!
Well, what a year it’s been. This year been a bit of a mixed bag for us with Hydra starting off the year with major technical problems but managing to finish a very respectable 16th in the UK beating Envy along the way. SMIDSY saw it’s first run out at Guildford and managed to win its first fight at Maidstone placing it 24th with just three fights. Had we managed to be at every event who knows where we would be.
After a lot of discussion we’ve decided that SMIDSY will be retired from competition for the 2010 season. This is mainly due to the lightweight chasis it has which needs replacing to make it competetive. It will still run in the occassional whiteboard fight but will mainly be at events for display purposes.
That’s probably a good time to make an anouncement on the worst kept secret ever which is that next year we will be running two competition heavy weights. Obviously one will be Hydra and the other will be Dantomkia who we have bought off John Bell and Team Batter. After many years with the robot John has decided to concentrate on Scorpion. We just hope that we can make Dantomkia as good as its potential. It has never seemed to be the dominating force it could have been. First thing we will be doing is replacing that link!!!
Hydra will be seeing some major upgrades for 2010 and we will be getting Wheely Big Cheese running during 2010 (hopefully Barnsley) so it should be a good year.
Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas.
Team Hydra
Interview With Roger Plant
December 12th, 2009We’ve been out and about today (Yeovil to be precise) to pick up the pneumatic system for Wheely Big Cheese. This has saved us an awful lot of time in putting the machine together as it’ll all just bolt in.
Whilst we were there Luke took the opportunity to have a chat with Roger Plant……….