I've taken my first step...

Well, it's official - I have taken my first real step into combat robotics.

With many thanks to John Findlay at Robot Wars for going out of his way to get a couple of Battle Antz kits to my wife and I in Canada, we have both built little flipper bots. Yes, they may be from a kit...yes, they might not be the right size for antweight competition...but they're ours, and we built them! And we came out of it with a basic understanding of how a robot goes together and works.

So, I can finally add a robot's name to my profile - "Pup," short for "Wolf Pup," and painted a look a bit like a wolf (my wife hasn't named or painted hers yet).

After so many years of just being a fan, it feels good...

Well done. Now you can practice driving together, that's great.
Then you start thinking of improvements, gather material, build another one, and you're hooked forever :-)

You may also wish to take your money, throw it down the toilet and flush it away to get used to the feeling, because once you're hooked, your bank balance will never be the same again :lol:

Congratulations though, nothing quite beats the joy of building and operating your first robot.