Horikawa Fighting Robot

[Bob B.]

Hi Everybody. I was hoping that somebody could answer some questions for me regarding the Horikawa Fighting Robot--the one with gears in its clear dome "hat," and the single swaying gun in its upper chest. First of all, regarding its actions, is the gun supposed to sway back and forth constantly, even when the robot is walking? However, when the robot stops walking, the gun blinks red and there is a "shooting" noise emitted. I thought that the gun was only supposed to sway back and forth when the robot stopped walking to shoot its gun. Second, my robot's butterfly shaped power switch (located in the middle bottom of its clear chest plate), is loose and sometimes loses contact due to excessive vertical movement, cased by what I believe is wear to the hole in the plastic switch that the metal mounting rod passes through. I have heard of this loose switch problem happening on other horikawa robots with the same type of power switch. Is this a common problem with these type of robots? The problem does not occur if I press the switch in a careful manner. Is there any way to fix this problem, or should I leave well enough alone? Maybe John Rigg or Robotnut could lend some light on this subject. As always, thanks so much for your great help--Bob B. :)

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

Greetings, Bob. B

My Fighting Robot does what you describe, the gun sways back and forth constantly. During both walking and fireing stages.

I now have a question for you. Does yours sweep the entire range of the oval opening in the clear plastic chest cover?

Mine does not. it only sweeps from the middle to the right. And since the mechanism that the gun is attached to is "loose" or "free floating" on mine, I have actually moved it over to the left during operation and it finds it's way back to the same"range" as before.

If this is a malfunction, or if this is normal, then I too would be apreaciative of a mechanical explanation from one of the members more experienced in this area.

[Robotnut]

Hello Bob, thanks for giving me an excuse to get the Fighting Robot off the shelf.

The gun on mine moves back and forth all the time and flashes red and clicks only

when the robot stops. The switch is tight, but I have a similar robot that had a

cracked switch and it acted like yours. The plastic rocker cracked in the middle but

still worked, I just had to move it carefully to make contact. The other thing I've

seen happen with this style of switch, is that stationary contact gets bent out of

alignment. If your robot works and the plastic rocker isn't cracked, I personally

would just leave it alone. If the stationary contact is bent, you can make a little hook

out of a paper clip and bend it back through the opening in the front. If there's

something cracked, it can be fixed, but you'll have to take the robot apart. As for

the swaying motion, mine moves both right and left...

www.robotnut.com

[robothut]

Yes the gun moves all the time. Broken switches are very common with this robot. I agree with robot nut, if you can reach in with a small tool and bend the contacts to make the switch work better then do it but other wise I would leave well enough alone.

[Bob B.]

Thanks so much Robotnut and John Rigg for your great info and advice. You are both a credit to this site. I will take your advice and leave well enough alone. Fineas, my robot's gun does indeed sweep the entire range of the oval opening in the clear plastic chest cover.--Bob B. :lol: