SO, YOU'RE A HUGE ROBOTIC COMBAT FAN AND YOU WANT TO BUILD A BOT TO GO AND SMASH UP. THIS PAGE IS DESIGNED TO HOPEFULLY AID YOU IN CREATING AN AWESOME 'BOT.
1)STEP #1, READ THE RULES FOR WHATEVER TOURNAMENT YOU ARE PLANNING TO ENTER. IF YOU DON'T, YOU'LL END UP WASTEING A TON OF TIME AND MONEY, WHICH YOU PROBABLY WON'T HAVE MUCH OF ANYWAY.
2)NEXT YOU NEED TO LOOK AT 'BOT DESIGNS THAT YOU LIKE AND USE THESE COMBINED WITH YOUR BUDGET TO GET AN IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO BUILD. IT IS A VERY GOOD IDEA TO DRAW YOUR DESIGN OUT ON PAPER.
3)NOW THAT YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO BUILD, IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO GET A TEAM TOGETHER. HAVING MORE THAN ONE MIND WORKING ON A BOT WILL PROBABLY CHANGE YOUR ORIGINAL DESIGN, BUT HAVING PEOPLE TO SPIT THE COST WITH IS WORTH IT. IF YOU'D RATHER WORK ALONE AND YOU AREN'T RELATED TO BILL GATES, YOU WILL PROBABLY WANT TO GET A SPONSOR.
4) YOU NEED 4 THINGS TO GET YOUR BOT MOVING. THESE ARE
MOTORS: AT LEAST 2, MORE DEPENDING ON HOW BIG YOUR BOT IS. THE BEST KIND OF MOTORS FOR A COMBAT 'BOT ARE DC PERMANENT MAGNET MOTORS THAT RUN AT 12 OR 24 VOLTS.
BATTERIES: THESE WILL PROBABLY BE THE HEAVIEST THING IN YOUR 'BOT. FOR A GOOD COMBAT ROBOT YOU WILL PROBABLY NEED 2 12 VOLT SEALED LEAD-ACID RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES. SOME 'BOTS USE NI-CADS OR OTHER TYPES OF BATTERIES, BUT SEALED LEAD-ACID ARE EASY TO GET AND ONLY RUN ABOUT $20.
SPEED CONTROLERS: THESE LITTLE THINGS CONTROL YOUR MOTORS, ALLOWING THEM TO MOVE FORWARD, BACK, OR NOT MOVE AT ALL. WE USE THE VICTOR 883 SPEED CONTROLERS FROM IFI ROBOTICS. VANTEC ALSO MAKES GOOD QUALITY SPEED CONTROLERS.
RECIEVER: SOME PEOPLE WILL BUY THEIR RECIEVER (THE PEICE INSIDE THE BOT) AND RADIO (THE PEICE THAT YOU HOLD TO CONTROL THE BOT) SEPERATLY, BUT WE USE THE IFI ROBOTICS SET THAT CONTAINS BOTH. THIS MAKES IT VERY EASY TO CONTROL THE BOT, SAVES TIME SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN FROM STORE TO STORE, AND ALLOWS YOU TO KNOW AHEAD OF TIME THAT THE PEICES WILL WORK TOGETHER.
5)IT WOULD TAKE A VERY LONG TIME TO EXPLANE HOW TO HOOK EVERYTHING UP, SO I'LL JUST GIVE YOU A LINK TO THE COOL ROBOTS WEB SITE AND YOU CAN READ THEIR SUPPLY LIST (WHICH IS VERY CLOSE TO OURS) AND SEE HOW THEY HOOK EVERYTHING UP.
6)
NOW YOU NEED TO GET SOME METAL TUBING AND USE IT TO BUILD A FRAME. HOW YOU BUILD THIS DEPENDS ON YOUR DESIGN, SO THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE YOU ON THIS IS THESE 2 THINGS A)MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE. AND B)THE FRAME IS YOUR ROBOTS SKELETON, IF IT'S WEAK, THAN YOUR BOT'S DOOMED.
7) NOW ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS PUT YOUR COMPONENTS INSIDE OF THE FRAME, GET SOME ARMOR AND WHEELS, AND GET A WEAPON. THIS PART IS UP TO YOUR IMAGINATION. BELOW ARE SOME DESIGN IDEAS FOR SOME PARTS OF YOUR BOT.
FOR MORE INFO ON BUILDING A BOT CHECK OUT TEAM COOL ROBOT'S SITE.
SAFEY FIRST
