Metal robot. Giant transformers made from scrap metal: unusual “exhibits” of a city dump. What can be taught thanks to this set?
Today we will tell you how to make a robot from available materials. The resulting “high-tech android,” although it will be small size and is unlikely to be able to help you with housework, but will certainly amuse both children and adults.
Necessary materials
In order to make a robot with your own hands, you do not need knowledge of nuclear physics. This can be done at home from ordinary materials that you always have on hand. So what we need:- 2 pieces of wire
- 1 motor
- 1 AA battery
- 3 push pins
- 2 pieces of foam board or similar material
- 2-3 heads of old toothbrushes or a few paper clips
1. Attach the battery to the motor
Using a glue gun, attach a piece of foam cardboard to the motor housing. Then we glue the battery to it.
Place a couple of drops of glue on the very end of the destabilizer, or attach some decorative element- this will add individuality to our creation and increase the amplitude of its movements.
3. Legs
Now you need to equip the robot with lower limbs. If you use toothbrush heads for this, glue them to the bottom of the motor. You can use the same foam board as a layer.
5. Battery connection
Using a heat gun, glue the wire to one end of the battery. You can choose any of the two wires and either side of the battery - the polarity is in in this case does not play a role. If you're good at soldering, you can also use soldering instead of glue for this step.
6. Eyes
A pair of beads, which we attach with hot glue to one end of the battery, are quite suitable as the robot’s eyes. At this step, you can show your imagination and come up with appearance eye at your discretion.
7. Launch
Now let's bring our homemade product to life. Take the free end of the wire and attach it to the unoccupied battery terminal using adhesive tape. You should not use hot glue for this step because it will prevent you from turning off the motor if necessary.For the first time, one of Russia’s largest robot fighting tournaments, “Armored Bot,” was held in St. Petersburg. In the Yubileiny arena, 100-kilogram robots beat each other with axes and hammers and tossed opponents into the air. European and world champions took part in the battles, but the St. Petersburg team took first place.
How did students assemble a robot capable of tossing a passenger car, why do the show participants believe that such battles develop Russian robotics, and why do certified engineers and physicists from all over the world take part in the competition? Teams from St. Petersburg, Moscow and London told "Paper", how they create their robots and why they participate in the show.
Robot Major Damage, known from the Robot Wars league. Takes part in exhibition battles of "Armored Boat"
The first robot battles in Russia took place in October 2015 at the Moscow Olympic Stadium. The organizers took the international show Battle Bots as a basis, in which radio-controlled robots fight in the ring. According to the creators of the Russian tournament, the project was created so that domestic developers could demonstrate their skills in robotics and engineering.
To get into the tournament, you need to provide a robot made of certain materials - often plastic or acrylic up to 5 mm thick - and with established parameters for weight, height, length and width. Robots can use, for example, throwing and cutting weapons, but firearms, flammable weapons, electric weapons and liquid weapons are prohibited.
The robot that was able to disable it during the tournament wins. large quantity opponents or inflict the maximum amount of damage on them. Judges can also add points to the robot whose behavior and strategy they find most entertaining.
The winning team Energy from St. Petersburg
In the photo: Karina Khatkevich, Petr Kravchenko and Alexander Orlov
"Barracuda"
Speed
25 km/h
100 kg
Pneumolift
Team captain Petr Kravchenko:
In 2015, I saw an advertisement on the Internet about the first “Armored Bot”. Everyone was encouraged to make robots and participate. And I decided: why not? For me it was an opportunity to show my skills.
I invited my friend to the team, with whom we tinkered in the garage as children - we repaired motorcycles and made all sorts of go-karts. My former classmate joined us. So we had enough hands and we started working on the robot.
We collected a small amount of money for parts, made something that looked like a robot, and went to the tournament. We arrived - there was a big stage, and on it several [radio-controlled] robots were hitting each other with axes, hammers, throwing each other up, turning each other over. It's not that we didn't expect it, but it was cool. It is clear that the robots have been worked on.
Of course, with our first version of the robot we quickly lost: we had the most common electronic problems in the field of such battles. But we managed to ride, fight and gain experience. This was very exciting, so we returned [to St. Petersburg] and immediately began making a new robot, taking into account the mistakes.
Since then, we have rethought a lot, attended several championships and radically changed the approach to building a robot. We have come to a simple truth: any combat robot is a huge number of exclusive parts that each team selects individually for itself, they need to be combined and achieve their result. Each team has its own unique robot, for which the design, equipment and weapons are developed. Tournaments like these are an opportunity to show off what you've collected.
If for the first time we saw the robot of the English team and could only catch up with him and hit him a little (and catch up only if they let us), now we can fight with them on equal terms. We've reached the point where our robot can throw a car. Sometimes there are shortcomings, but this is normal: we have been in this business for two years, and Western and European teams have been for ten years.
Now in Russia there is almost no such thing as a robot going on stage and just standing there: beginners listen to advice about motors and controllers and, as a result, develop faster. When we started, there was simply no exchange of experience in Russia: we were helped by foreign teams and some sites that in the 2000s had to be looked for on forums.
The field is developing very quickly. Over the past year, several new teams have appeared in our city. We are trying to organize arenas at our universities, develop the theme, attract new people, show how cool it is. But there is no large influx: many are afraid, hesitant, and cannot find funds.
I think anyone can create robots [for battle]. For example, we make them in our garage. Started from the very simple dialing: grinder, screwdriver and drill. Now, of course, we already need almost all the welding equipment. We don’t calculate everything, we experiment: sometimes we burn several engines in one show to understand what’s what. This is all the magic.
Before robot battles, we weren't directly involved in robotics. I am studying radio technology and electronics at the university, and my friend graduated from college with a degree in agricultural machinery. But in just two years we managed to go to the international championship in China and take third place there.
I think it’s like sports: you can’t start winning right away. The main thing is to train and gain experience. You won't win the first, third or fifth time, but in the future you will understand how it's done.
Although combat robots have little use, they teach how to work with electronics. Well, this is cool: everyone likes the grinding of metal, flying pieces of iron and drive. When you see how a 100-kilogram colossus flies up three meters and falls with a roar, the only feeling is “wow.”
Solarbot team from Moscow
In the photo: Boris Lonkin and Dmitry Melkin (third participant Pavel Lonkin behind the scenes)
Speed
30 km/h
100 kg
Pneumolift
Team member Boris Lonkin:
Our commander [Dmitry Melkin] went to the first show of combat robots in Russia in the fall of 2015 and announced that he could do better. And he applied.
It was especially funny when he decided to form a team: we have known each other for a long time, we studied together at Baumanka (Moscow State Technical University named after Bauman - approx. "Papers") at the Faculty of Robotics. And then, out of the blue, Dima writes in the chat: we will participate there and there in a year. And we were like: what? Where? We talked, he explained. There is nothing to do - they assembled a robot. Soon they took second place in this tournament. So we continue.
We have three people on the team: our captain is the handiest, he puts everything together, I am responsible for the equipment, the third member is for programming. All the roles were somehow randomly distributed.
For us, this is, of course, a hobby. We are all certified engineers, each of us has our own job. It’s just fun for us to get together in the garage in the evenings, invent and make something. And then see how something wins.
Preparing for the construction of a robot is quite simple: we draw a model by hand, calculate its parameters, model it to get to the weight. And then we throw everything away because something went wrong, and start collecting from scratch. On average, it takes six months to assemble and finalize a robot. Sometimes we take time off from work and spend days assembling, sometimes we work a shift in the morning, go to the garage to make a robot and sleep for two hours.
All this is far from a cheap pleasure. We collected the first robot at our own expense - we spent about 100 thousand rubles. But it’s impossible to recoup this with victories in competitions: the prize fund can only cover the cost, but not repairs and wasted time.
Now sponsors are reaching out to this area, everything more people ready to finance teams. But finding the right one is also difficult: last time we visited about 250 companies. And again, with the money received we only bought equipment and paid for half of the new robot. Since all spare parts are imported from abroad, robots for competitions now cost about 300 thousand.
Of course, no one is going to quit because of something like this. In any case, this is a cool workout for the brain: you simultaneously apply your knowledge in practice and lose your temper when your robot takes out everyone.
Transforming robots- legendary toys that more than one generation of boys have grown up with. Apparently, the years go by, but childhood affection remains in the hearts of men: otherwise how can one explain the fact that new sculptures of transformers appear in the world with enviable regularity? For example, “autorobot” figures made from scrap metal were recently presented in China.
IN last years The Chinese have already become famous for their love of transformers. Giant statues made from scrap metal can be seen in the sculpture, created by the master Zhu Kefeng, and as exhibits in numerous exhibitions of the sculptor. From now on, another master has appeared who specializes in such unusual processing of recyclable materials: 21-year-old student Li Hung, who works part-time at one of the landfills in the city of Jinan (Shandong Province). It was he who came up with the idea to create robots in the image and likeness of those that can be seen in the popular cartoon “Autorobot”.
The first futuristic sculpture assembled by Li Hung turned out to be so successful that the guy decided not to stop there. In four months, with a group of like-minded people, he built 40 original sculptures. Today, all of them are put on public display on one of the private farm plots not far from the city landfill (it is noteworthy that, in addition to people, the formidable transformers were also chosen by the pigs living on the farm).
Li Hung has no doubt that people will appreciate his creations, he strives to show how unnecessary garbage do spectacular things. Despite the fact that all the talented guy’s like-minded people are self-taught sculptors who deal exclusively agriculture, the team copes well with its tasks. The guys draw inspiration from the Internet, downloading all kinds of animated images: they choose the robot they like best and assemble its model. Each new sculpture turns out to be special and different from the previous ones.
In the collection of amateur sculptors you can see such robots as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron. The largest of the transformers weighs about 5 tons, all sculptures are made from scrap metal, in particular, from parts of old cars and motorcycles. Robots are even partially mechanized; their arms and legs can move back and forth. The authors note that they are ready to sell their “creations”; the price of one robot is approximately 100,000 yuan ($16,000).
“I would sculpt statues!”
Alexander was born in the Tambov region, then the family moved to Fatezh, where his grandparents lived. The Kurman’s childhood fell in the “dashing” 90s, which partly influenced today’s hobby.
“It was hard then: there was little money, we didn’t buy toys,” recalls Kochetov. – Like all the guys, I carved guns and automatic weapons from wood, and played war games. He was also good at sculpting from plasticine. In the sixth grade, the teachers noticed that I could do it, the director asked me to make a panorama of the battle of the Great Patriotic War from plasticine for Victory Day. They were excused from lessons and given 15–20 boxes of plasticine to work with. From school library I took books about the war to make everything based on the pictures. This is the Internet now, look what you want, but then it was just like that.
A Russian village appeared on the board, on its outskirts a fascist plane was burning out, soviet tanks knocked out German “Panthers” and “Tigers”, soldiers from the trenches went on the offensive...
“At school, of course, everyone was in shock. My grandfather, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, also saw the work. Patriotic War, he liked her too. And the grandmother then said, we still remember in the family: “Oh, grandson! I would study well, grow up, and sculpt statues!”
No sketches
Alexander did not connect his life with creativity, he went into technology: now he is engaged in repairing and restoring cars. However, this can also be called creativity in its own way, where an artistic eye is often required. Whenever he has a free moment while working, he tinkers with scrap metal for fun. Gives old car parts and abandoned pieces of iron a second life by making various things out of them decorative figures. Without preliminary sketches, by eye, according to circumstances. Uses welding, drill, grinder, the individual components are fastened with bolts and nuts. Then he primes and paints the item.
“It doesn’t matter to me what kind of piece of iron it is, I’ll make something out of it anyway,” the interlocutor smiles. – I take, for example, a piston, I already know what the head and facial expression of the robot will be like. I cut it out, and there the body already appears.
One of Alexander’s first jobs was a robotic machine gunner; a Kursk resident gave it to the local radio “Zhelezo FM” a year ago for its fifth anniversary. Symbolically: an iron gift for an “iron” radio. The cyborg turned out to be impudent, with a cigar, no worse than the robot Bender from the animated series “Futurama”. The master took a broken motor camshaft as a basis. Did everything in one evening. Friends and acquaintances liked the craft and advised Alexander not to give up his new business.
Now about a dozen of his works have been distributed throughout Zheleznogorsk. The latest robot guitarist is 35 centimeters tall and weighs just over one kilogram. There is a “brother” similar to it, but with a flamethrower: it was made to order for a Zheleznogorsk resident who deals gas equipment. I spent three days working on my creation, using an old motorcycle chain, a spring, a piece of pipe, a piston, bolts and nuts...
DIY "machine gun"
Alexander does not focus on just robots and futuristic plots; he creates not only single, but also multi-figure compositions. For example, in the master’s portfolio there is a sketch with two artillerymen preparing a 57-mm anti-tank gun for firing. Or, for example, a custom layout - vehicle, made in a single copy... He jokes about this work, which he considers the best: “I dream about this. So far I’ve collected it in miniature.” I gave approximately the same “iron horse” to a friend who was passionate about historical reconstruction. On a par with motorcycles are toy bugs. An equally interesting present is a model of a Degtyarev machine gun. You can't shoot with this one, it has only artistic value. It is made finely, without flaws, and cannot be distinguished from the real thing: in its original size, weight (12 kilos), with a wooden butt, the barrel is made of an ordinary 15 mm pipe. This year, on May 9, at the opening of the motorcycle season, “machine gun” could be seen on the “Ural” of Alexander, riding in an organized column. On Victory Day, local bikers visited a mass grave in the village of Staro-Androsovo.
“And for the 70th anniversary of the Victory, I prepared a larger-scale model: I made a cannon and attached it to my Ural, and drove it in a convoy,” recalls the Zheleznogorsk resident. – When I was just planning to do this, I shared the idea with a friend. So he doubted that I would be able to implement it. They even jokingly bet on a box of vodka. And I won the bet. I used a small-caliber gun as a basis and tried to make everything look natural. Of course, I contributed something in the work on the layout. Again, you can’t shoot this gun; it doesn’t pose a threat.
Among Alexander's works there are more mundane things - shelves for shoes, hangers for clothes. Despite the simplicity of the design, they look original, since the master added decorative flowers and leaves made of sheet iron.
Make a tracked vehicle
The Kursk resident has a lot of ideas for creativity, however, everyday life is busy, and it is not always possible to realize his plans. He does not exclude the possibility that he will switch from robots and automoto themes to popular stories. For example, he will make the monster Pyramid Head from the popular computer game"Silent Hill" This is a different level, there will be difficulties (for example, with the same triangular head of the hero), but they do not frighten Alexander Kochetov. In the meantime, he is working on cars and motorcycles, he is thinking about designing a tracked vehicle to “drive in the mud,” and recently sent some of his figures to a competition that will be held in Kursk at the end of December.
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