The concept for the heavy i'm working towards is to build an axebot into an HGV wheel rim trying to design/build for durability rather than out-and-out firepower. Lots of bots don't seem to finish fights so i'm hoping logic of 'to finish first one must first finish' would make me fairly competitive.

There is plenty of prior art out there, so I know it can be done.
The wheel rim is a significant weight penalty and a packaging nightmare, but hopefully it makes the robot chassis/armour a service item that can be replaced between matches if needed.

What I would like to explore with the feather is:
Getting used to building/working with that packaging constraint. I'll probably use a mini wheel or something as a body.
Getting used to working with HDPE. I havn't done much work with it before. It doesn't look too hard to work, but it's quite abrasion resistant which could be a problem and it isn't really on speaking terms with adhesives.
Finding out what breaks and why so I can design against it. I assume this is a big part of the sport, but that's kinda one of the reasons for being curious if someone had something suitable in their shed. The main thing I want to learn with the feather isn't actually the design/construction (a lot of which changes when I upscale it and add an axe anyhow) it's a much more detailed knowledge of what happens during matches and how to go about damage avoidance/limitation.

Books are on order - how did I miss the fact there was already a haynes manual!?! Of course there is, there is a haynes manual for everything!

Next stop ebay for some parts.