Bot: Boomerang
Status: Retired
Weight: 180 lbs
Builder: Eric Pond

eric@killerbotics.com
Boomerang, Builder: Eric Pond

The Building of Boomerang
Initial Design | Construction | Completion | 

Construction

Boomerang was developed on plywood first, unfortunately I don't have many pictures of it. This was my original prototype and you'll notice all the crazy wires! I had to redesign it because the steering radius was not acceptable.

You can see the motor mounts a bit better. Also notice the two IFI controllers - these rock! In the final phase of construction all the parts you see here will be made out of steel, and all electronics will be installed on a much smaller area also.

The EV motors and mounts, just sitting on a shelf waiting for use! To the right are some loose wires, to the left, my older 12 volt charger.


Onto the second plywood frame with the proto-wheels attached. This worked very good, got some attention from my neighbors and also laid down some real nice black marks on my driveway!



For speed controllers I used IFI Robotics 24 volt Victor 883. These are great for a 24 volt bot that draws less than 30 amps! They are very helpful people, and the controllers are housed in a pretty descent plastic box with a cooling fan a LED to show you what is going on.


Here are some of the parts cut for the final steel body of Boomerang. These were cut at AP Laser, about 1/8 inch thick.


I then did a quick check to see the relation of the batteries ( 4 - 12 AMP hour SLA running at 24 volts) to run the very AMP drawing motors for the estimated 6 minutes of runtime. Batteries were from www.batteryweb.com.


Now it is time to weld, my weld master Dick does some fine work as you can see a close up of a weld of the axle assembly.



Some of the bottom frame components are installed. Some of the tabs are for the wheels and axle assembly, others are for the motor mounts. This is a friction based drive system, nothing too fancy - just like a boomerang, it is very K.I.S.S!


The welding continues and you can see the base starting to take shape
.


The base completed and the wheels attached - now it looks kind of a like a skateboard from Hell!

Battery placement, these are the four 12 AMP hour SLA batteries that will be used to power Boomerang for roughly 6 minutes. This will also be used for the various weapon systems.

The sides and top are tack welded on, ready to put down the finishing bead. I am getting excited now, the bot is finally coming together. This is where all the CAD work and the laser cutting really pays off, everything fit just fine!

 

Of course, here I am right after work ready to build!!
 


And the final weld, by our weld master Dick (owner and builder of New Cruelty)



The Building of Boomerang
Initial Design | Construction | Completion | 

 
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