Spyk's World
The History of Spyk

April 12, 2003

Spyk is the original concept of Anthony with the assistance of his friend Kurt. Engineering by Keith Dickson.

The original idea for Spyk was formed in 2001. With much hard work by everyone, Spyk is taking shape and should be fully functional by the fall of 2003. We will keep you posted on Spyk's progress on this page.

April 16, 2004

One year later and a number of drive system redesigns later Spyk is once again almost ready to hit the road. Seems that the original RAE motors we were using can't take more than their rated current before the soft plastic brush holders melt into a gooey lump. Back to the drawing board and an investment in 2 Black Max motors from NPC robotics. (nice people to talk to on the phone). Our first run with the new motors did a fine job of stripping the teeth off  the main drive sprockets! The axles being used for the gears were apparently too soft and bent enough to cause the drive chain to slip.

We seem to be suffering from a high grinder mortality rate. We are on our fourth disk grinder !

Our team just returned form a scouting mission to San Francisco. The RoboOlympics were held there in March. Much thanks to David Calkins and his staff for an exciting event. David's friendly personal attention to visitors and questions was much appreciated.