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[Real Robots] Lessons Learned - How not to build a combat robot.

By A Fat, Angry Serval

A bunch of not-tips and not-tricks for you to not do when you build your first real combat robot.

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Created by

A Fat, Angry Serval
Online

Category: Loot, Multiplayer

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

27 Jun, 2016 @ 1:14am

25 Feb, 2017 @ 3:07pm

280	Unique Visitors
4	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Part 1: Construction

Part 2: At the event

Part 3: Driving

Fin

Comments

Part 1: Construction

Never:

forget to use threadlocker. If you don't use threadlocker on metal-to-metal bolted joints, your screws WILL come loose.
use setscrews to hold a hub onto an axle if it will be spinning at very high RPMs or with very high torque. Setscrews just suck.
use non-deformable materials (i.e. Carbon Fiber, Plywood) as exposed structural components. You want these parts to deform on impact, not shatter.
use tape on anything heavier than a beetleweight. It won't hold and your robot will look like an easy opponent for the local spinner-obsessed madman.
use tape on external joints. Again, it won't hold.
use an exposed power switch. Your opponent will be able to hit it with ease.
underistimate the structural integrity of certain plastics. UHMW polyethylene is an incredibly strong material for its weight, due to its high tensile strength. You can build a pretty solid bot for its weight with this stuff and it's cheaper and easier to work with than metal.
overestimate the structural integrity of certain plastics. RIP Radioactive.
build "blind". The kinds of forces these robots are affected by are beyond the comprehension of the average person. Just because you can't bend mild steel with your hands doesn't mean that it will hold up in combat.
cheap out on components. Some people have had success using cheap chinese electronics or even cobbled-together Arduino setups, but that doesn't mean YOU will. When you budget out your build, pick the highest-quality equipment you can afford.
build a robot and think it will always be competetive. ALWAYS look for things to upgrade - just because your shiny new beetleweight drum spinner curbstomped the competition in its first event doesn't mean it will do it again. People WILL find ways to counter your robot. At the very least, even if you can't upgrade your robot you can still considder ways to improve your driving.

Part 2: At the event

Never:

assume that you will have an easy time against any opponent. The opponent you were least worried about may be the one to cut your championship run short.
assume that everything will go as planned. Murphy's Law kinda screwed me over at CoB 2016, as my robot's blade kept coming off. (didn't help that I was up against a spinner-killer in round 3 either)
assume that you will come out unscathed in a match. At CoB 2016, even though I lost and was eliminated in round 3, I still managed to irrepairably (as far as that one event was concerned) cripple my opponent's weapon.
forget key tools. I forgot my C-clip tool at home and as a result I couldn't get to the motor screws on Original Robot Do Not Steel to tighten them.
forget to check out the competition. This serves two purposes. First off, you can get a decent idea of how a robot will perform by looking at it. At Stuart Small Bots of Mass Destruction Fair Fights 2017, I was able to determine that it was safe to go weapon-to-weapon against both Samhain AND Milkshake simply because I saw that their weapon motors were smaller than Melanistic Leopard's. Second, it's a good idea to make friends in the pits, and talking with the other builders is a great way to learn more about the sport. Plus, if another builder or team is being a bunch of jerks, you can try and create an alliance to take them out early in the rumbles.
be a jerk. Not only is it just rude, but, well, look at what happened to Team Force in Robotica Season 1 - Team Juggerbot and Team Run Amok actually planned to tie their scores to force a 3-way fight to the finish at the end so that they could gang up on Ram Force, simply because Team Force wasn't being very sportsmanly.

Part 3: Driving

Never:

rush head-on at your opponent if you have a spinner. It will jam up your weapon.
do anything BUT rush head-on at your opponent if your opponent is a spinner. The quicker you can get that blade to stop spinning, the better.
stick to a rigid battle plan. Not even the best laid-out plans survive an encounter with the opposition.
let your opponent get behind you unless you have a weapon back there. Most robots are vulnerable from behind.
go weapon-to-weapon with a drum spinner unless you have a drum spinner as well AND your drum is faster. A drum's best strength is its weapon's high RPMs and fast spin-up times, meaning most of the time its weapon will hit first in a head-on impact.

Fin

Feel free to suggest additional entries.

7 Comments

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A Fat, Angry Serval [author] 25 Feb, 2017 @ 2:40pm

That doesn't work nearly as often as people think it does. It works against "copterbots" with anti-wedge skirts like Hazard and Project Terminus, since you can jam up the blade with the skirts, but it's hit-or-miss against front-mounted horizontal spinners like Last Rites or full-body spinners like Trilobiter and pointless against verticals like Nightmare and B.O.B. and drums like Samhain, Minotaur or my new bot, Melanistic Leopard.

Customer ******* Stole My Money! 23 Feb, 2017 @ 7:47pm

you should include the spatula/pancake flipper strategy for those spinners.

A Fat, Angry Serval [author] 7 Aug, 2016 @ 3:13am

Not if you're the one WITH the spinner.

CAPITAL LETTER MAN! 6 Aug, 2016 @ 3:39pm

So you're saying you should never GET IN THERE AND JAM HIM UP, CHRIS?

MysticMalevolence 27 Jun, 2016 @ 8:29pm

It has more to do with footprint than weight, to be honest.

A Fat, Angry Serval [author] 27 Jun, 2016 @ 2:23pm

A self-righting mechanism isn't 100% necessary. It really depends on your design. If your bot's invertable, a Srimech would just be added weight and complexity.

Lightstorm95 27 Jun, 2016 @ 2:10am

Never forget to install a self-righting mechanism, i dont care how heavy you think your bot is. YOU. WILL. FLIP.

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