7th August 2003: Mk III

This version of Electra has a logo, a better made sliding rail, a metal mount for the servos, a lighter on/off switch at the back and most importantly Lithium Polymer batteries, with a voltage regulator to convert 7.4v to 5v, after I melted one of my servos at 7.4v. This regulator gives off a bit of heat, so it's bolted to the metal servo mount. Otherwise it would shut down when it gets to 60 degrees.

This version of Electra competed at the Featherweight Smash at Redditch Town Hall on August 8th. We didn't do too well in the competition, the problem being a faulty servo, the flipper not going low enough and a really bad driver (me). We had lots more fun in the "friendly" battles after the competition, especially up against Peter Waller's spinners, which Electra really stood well against. In retrospect, it was mainly designed to battle against just this kind of robot.

The next stage is to fix the servo, perhaps make the weapon servo run faster, shorten the body slightly to let the flipper grow a little longer (and lower), rewire so the battery doesn't run down when turned off, and perhaps add some wheel guards.