Viperr R/ C Combat Ro bot K it USER MANUAL FingerTechRobotics.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Table of ConTenTs Included In Your Kit 3 Safety 4 Before You Begin 6 Assembling The Viper 7 Binding Your Radio 18 Upgrades 19 Moving Forward 21 Troubleshooting 23 It is recommended to read through all of the instructions to familiarize yourself before starting.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Included In Your KIt 1 Anodized 6061 Aluminum Chassis 2 FingerTech “Silver Spark” 33.3:1 Gearmotors 2 FingerTech “tinyESC” Motor Controllers 2 FingerTech 2.25” Foam Rubber “Snap Wheels” 2 FingerTech “Snap Hubs” 1 Power Jack and Plug 1 7.4V lipoly battery 2 FingerTech Mini Terminal Blocks 2 Polycarbonate Armor (Top and Front) 4 2-56x1/8” screws 10 6-32x1/4" screws 1 0.05” hex wrench 1 5/64” hex wrench 1 Snap Ring Pliers Not Included: 1 2.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Safety Take every precaution when building your robots The Viper kit itself does not pose much hazard beyond pinched fingers. As you surely will be adding new parts and upgrades in the future, it is important to know how to safely handle them. Batteries, motors and electronics each have their own dangers.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Safety Make sure a responsible adult is present when building and operating your robot. Wear safety glasses, hearing protection, and a dust mask when necessary. Have the robot's wheels off the ground when turning it on. If settings are wrong the robot may drive right at you. Weapon testing should be done inside a heavy wooden box with a thick polycarbonate window to contain possible flying debris.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Assembling The Viper An important note about lithium polymer (lipoly) batteries! Lipoly batteries have an enormous energy density which makes them fantastic for this sport - where a lighter battery can mean stronger armor or weapons. But this battery chemistry must be treated properly or could become dangerous. If a lipoly pack is discharged below 3.3V per cell (6.6V for a 2S pack) then they will not be safe to recharge.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Before You Begin Make sure you have all of the kit contents plus a lipoly charger for your battery. Yo u r transmitter requires 8 AA batteries. If you plan to use it frequently, you may want to purchase a rechargeable 3S lipoly transmitter pack or AAsize NiMH rechargeable batteries. It is highly recommended to use a medium strength threadlock liquid on all screws and setscrews so they do not vibrate loose during combat.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Assembling The Viper 1. The tinyESCs in the Viper kit have special push connectors crimped onto the motor leads. 2. Connect the blue wire (labeled “M2”) of one tinyESC onto one motor’s red-dot terminal. Connect the purple wire (“M1”) to the motor’s second terminal. This will be the left motor. 3. Connect the purple wire (“M1”) of the other tinyESC to the right motor’s red-dot terminal. Connect the blue wire (“M2”) to the motor’s other terminal.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Assembling The Viper 4. The power switch comes with a female JST lipoly battery connector plus one red and one black wire. 5. The red/black wires are plugged into the red/black terminal blocks. Plug the red/ black wires from both tinyESCs into these terminal blocks too. Note: This switch is wired so that rechargeable batteries can be charged through it (see page 19).
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Assembling The Viper With all the wires plugged in, there will be one free spot in each terminal block for future upgrades. If you need to release a wire from the terminal block, push a flat tool into the slot above the wire and it will freely come out.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Assembling The Viper 6. Slide the left motor into the left motor mount hole, and the right motor into the right motor mount hole. 7. Tighten the motors into place with four 2-56x3/16” screws using the 0.050” (smaller) hex wrench. Have the motor wires angle towards the front of the robot.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Assembling The Viper 8. Tighten the power jack onto the baseplate using its finger-nut. Pliers can help get it tight. 9. Slide the Snap Hubs onto the motor shafts and tighten both setscrews. (Use threadlock.) 10. Push the tires over the hubs, then the washer. 11. Load a snap ring onto your Snap Ring Pliers. Squeeze and compress the tire and push the washer past the snap ring groove. Hold the washer in place with one hand and install the snap ring.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Assembling The Viper 12. Plug the right tinyESC into Channel 1 of the 2.4GHz receiver. *Make sure the ground wire (black or brown for all motor controllers and servos) is closest to the edge of the receiver. 13. Plug the left tinyESC into Channel 2 of the receiver. 14. Fix down your receiver. Electrical tape, doublesided foam tape, or adhesive-backed Velcro all work well.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Assembling The Viper 15. Time for a test! Make sure the power plug is inserted in the bottom of the robot (so the robot is off). Set the robot on something so that the wheels are off the ground. 16. Plug the lipoly battery into the connector tuck it one and behind of the motors.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Assembling The Viper 17. Remove the power plug to turn the robot on. When the robot is on, each motor controller’s LEDs blink to say different things: Slow blink (red) Rapid blink (green) Rapid blink (red) Solid on (green/red) No data coming from the radio. (Motor failsafes to off.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Assembling The Viper 18. Test the drive motors. The transmitter has been preprogrammed with Channels 1 and 2 mixed for single-stick driving. With the robot facing away from you, move the right stick up. Both motors should turn forward. Moving the stick to the right should reverse the right motor and vice versa for the left. If either motor turns the wrong way, see the troubleshooting section.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Assembling The Viper 20. Fasten the top and front armor on using ten 6-32 x 1/4” screws with the 5/64” hex wrench (the larger wrench). 21.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Binding Your radio This process is already done for you, but for future robots it is good to know how to bind your transmitter to more receivers. The 2.4GHz radio set included with your kit does not use crystals to pair the receiver to the transmitter like older radios. Instead they are “bound” together by programming. To bind, insert the included “bind plug” into the battery port (BAT) of the receiver. Power on the receiver by removing the robot’s power plug.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Upgrades Lithium Polymer Batteries Your kit comes with a 2-cell (2S, or 7.4V) lipoly battery. power and speed, For more it can be upgraded to a 3-cell (3S, or 11.1V) pack. If you are adding a servo or other electronics, make sure they can handle the higher voltage! (Most servos cannot.) Modifying a Power Plug for Recharging If you lose your Power/Charge Plug, here is how to solder a “Male JST connector” to a 3.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Upgrades Adding Active Devices Your radio transmitter has four channels besides the two for drive that you can use to control additional active devices. Some combat robot events have added “Sportsman” weight classes that require active weapons. This is defined as “a weapon or device intended for use in attacking the opponent, independent of the robot drive train.” These include (but are not limited to) lifters, hammers, clamps, flame weapons and spinning weapons.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper Moving Forward The SPARC Forum The SPARC forum is where builders from across the globe discuss robot designs, share progress reports, ask questions, and find out about combat robot events. The people there are very knowledgeable and helpful. http://sparc.tools/forum/ The COMBAT ROBOTICS Facebook Page A more public page to chat about robot designs and events. You will need to ask to join the group—it’s how they keep out spammers! https://www.facebook.
Viper | R/C Combat Robot Kit Moving Forward For More Information: Here is a list of some other online forums and websites dedicated to hobby robotics. SPARC.tools http://sparc.tools Society of Robots www.societyofrobots.com Lets Make Robots! http://letsmakerobots.com Trossen Community http://forums.trossenrobotics.com Parallax Forums http://forums.parallax.com/forums Robots.net http://robots.net Servo Magazine Forum http://forum.servomagazine.
R/C Combat Robot Kit | Viper TroubleshooTing Problem Solution Motor controller LED is blinking slowly. Check that your transmitter is on. Try re-binding the receiver to the transmitter. Motor turning the wrong direction. Re-solder the motor wires to the opposite motor leads. Motor spins slowly when not holding transmitter stick. Adjust the transmitter’s Trim lever for the corresponding channel. No Response with power switched on. Make sure the bind plug is out of the receiver.
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