Building A Robot

How do I get into roboteering?

Well, you've made a good start by coming here! Keep surfing the web finding out all the advice you can possibly get. Ask people in the know. Go to the Fighting Robot Association discussion forum and ask for help, info and advice from people on that. Watch other robots by going to live events and seeing how they do it. Learn from all the good examples out there and how you could apply some of that knowledge to your design but don't copy another robot's design, come up with your own ideas, just learn from others. Learn form the mistakes other people make so you don't make the same mistake. If you can't build a heavyweight, start off with one of the tiny antweights which are cheap to build. You could try converting one of the robot pullback toys into a radio controlled fighting machine!

Building your perfect fighting machine

So, you are going to build a robot. This page will give you some advice on how to go about it. I hope this information gives you a good start.

Engineering and electronics skills are essential. If you don't know much, find out as much you can and from a team with people who know their stuff. One very good design tip is to build the perfect weapon first. Build the weapon, then go about in motorising it and making it move as well as the armour for the robot.

Some useful tools to have in your workshop for starting this project are:

Please note that some of the above tools are not essential to have and it is quite possible to build a robot without using some of the tools mentioned above.

Here are some more advice, hints and tips for building your robot:

1. Choose the body, the shape of it. The body is where everything will be attached. You need to build a chassis where everything will fit on to.

2. The locomotion which could be wheels or tracks to make the robot move. Other types of wheel and track are stronger than others. Don't forget that you can also have a walker robot with legs.

3. The power source which will power everything such as powering the drive which will make the locomotion move. Power sources could be engines or batteries. Decide whether you want your robot to be powered by petrol (like a lawn mower engine) or by electricity (using batteries like a wheel chair motor). There are advantages and disadvantages with both. Petrol driven engines are fairly heavy and can stall but so provide strong power output while batteries are lighter but do wear out with prolonged use and often provide less power than engines do.

4. Now pick the drive which takes power from the power source and turns the locomotion which makes the robot move. If you have an engine power source, get a differential motor which drives the wheels. If you have batteries, then get electric motors to turn the wheels.

5. This is probably the best bit - your weaponry. Get one which you think is best for you and which isn't too heavy but is very powerful and one which can cause lots of damage to your opponent. Weapons take different forms such as circular or chain saws, cutters, flippers, axes, lawn mower blades, spinning discs and there are so much you can get. Also get a SRIMECH (self-righting mechanism) which will allow you to flip yourself back the right way up incase you get flipped. These are now essential. If you don't have a SRIMECH then you need a robot which is able to work both ways up, e.g. Tornado and Pussycat.

6. Once your weaponry is done, choose your armour. Each one has their own advantages and disadvantages so look carefully. Look at all the different types of armour you can have such as aluminium, iron, steel, wood (not recommended), polycarbonate, titanium and all sorts. Don't forget that each metal has their own stengths and weaknesses and some of them are heavy and others quite light.

7. Now give it some colour (or not) and extras like flags and any decorations to make your robot stand out from the rest.

8. Don't forget the aerial and to sort out all the radio controlling equipment so you can control the robot via your radio control handset.

Design the robot before you begin to build and thoroughly test it after building has been completed. Practice, practice and keep practicing driving the robot. People say that often a good robot driven badly loses but a bad robot driven well wins. Make sure you have tested your robot and know how to control/handle and drive it properly. Another thing about building a robot is that it does take up a lot of time and a lot of money so think about that before you begin. Get as much advice as you possibly can before you start to build it. Also, build the robot under strict safety regulations, the robot must be SAFE and building it must be done in a SAFE environment.

It can be a dangerous procedure building a robot so get all the advice you need before you begin.  It can be quite expensive but some can be made from second hand material which reduces the cost. It is also very time consuming!

Before building a robot, check the rules.