Polachrome (plastic antweight combat robot)

Polachrome is a 2wd vertical spinner with heavy emphasis on armor and forks. It may be a good starting point for beginners who want to branch out from a kit. I hope this guide outlines everything you need to know to build one of your own.

SAFETY SPIEL:

• Even at 1lb the spinner moves fast enough to cause injury. Always use a weapon lock and keep the robot disabled when not in a safe testing/combat environment. 

• You are responsible for your own safety when building or driving any combat robot

Electronics:

• Drive motors: (2x)

• Spinner motor: It was designed with this in mind but the v3 might be a drop in replacement (you'll want at least 1800 KV)

• Drive ESC: (1x)

• Spinner ESC: (1x)

• Receiver: (1x)

• Power switch (1x)

• Battery: Comes in a 2 pack

Hardware:

• All bolts are m3 and range in length from 6mm to 35mm (I will put in a full breakdown soon)

• This robot uses custom cast urethane wheels: I use this

• You'll probably need some misc wires to connect the spinner ESC to the motor

• All nuts should be m3 nyloc nuts

• Bearing: (1x)

Other required parts:

• I use a flysky fs-ia6 transmitter for the remote you don't need to get one that comes with a transmitter

• You will also need a lipo charger

• I use wago connectors to distribute power from the switch. It would save a ton of space on the inside if you simply soldered them but wagos make repair much easier

Printing tips:

• All robot parts are printed out of overture Super PLA+

• The molds should be printed in tpu

• There should be enough weight headroom for the side forks to be printed solid (99+ walls)

• Weapon should be printed Solid

• Walls should be at least 6

• Brick layers are strongly recommended

• Printing the middle forks on a smooth build plate improves ground game though the same result can probably be gotten through sanding

• The middle forks should be printed with the smallest layer height possible

• The spinner support has a print in place bearing. you will need to put a pause in the print in the slicer, insert the bearing, and continue.

• Supports are recommended

Assembly:

• Mold release is strongly recommended but not required

• Be careful using the right screw lengths when screwing into the spinner motor, if it does not spin freely the bolts are too long

• The electronics are a bit of a squeeze so be patient

Trouble Shooting:

• Depending on how your motors are set up you may need to reverse certain channels on the transmitter for it to drive properly

• Make sure to solder the positive wire to the positive terminal on the motors 

• Due to being somewhat wide the robot turns very quickly. this can be turned down by adjusting the sensitivity on the remote if needed.

• You will need to bind the remote to the receiver. It's best to just look up a guide. There is a bind button on the receiver and remote

• If the spinner is spinning the wrong way just swap two of the wires going to the esc as that changes the direction