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Ok my question for this thread is : How big should your armour be in the heavy weight class? what grade steel how thick? Any smart materials such as D30 for vital components?
What do you suggest for a combat robot to survive a fight without ending up in pieces in the pit?
I'm going all in and want to do some arc welding on this project so what sheet metal would stand upto the abuse from a arena full of robots?
Wear-plate steels, such as Hardox, are standard practice. There once was a source of 3.2mm thick Hardox but I believe that is rapidly drying up, if not already gone. 4mm is quite easy to source, though. I'm not a heavy builder, but it seems the standard method is to design a heavy, get the armour and chassis parts watercut by a company of your choice, then weld them all together.
There are other wear steels, but I'll let others comment about those, if there are any Hardox competitors.
Given you have 3 posts... Welcome to the Forum!
Can I ask, is this your first machine and do you have any prior experience building machines similar to a heavyweight?
If Yes then go for it!
If No then we have a lot to fill you in on...
Combat Robots yes this is my first time, and I'm filling in as much as possible.
About me:
I am a 15 year old Roboticist. I have been building robots since the age of 12 and am currently studying my GCSE's. As a Future career I have targeted my Learning towards Robotic Engineering. As a prerequisite to many careers in robotic engineering Welding knowledge shows up quite often. I have therefore decided the best way to gain welding knowledge is include the skill into another project of mine.
I have built many systems from Remote surveillance robots with Live video feed to 3d surround glasses to a Custom Liquid Cooled Computer with Automated Thermal Control including 17 thermocouple's to monitor system temperatures.
All projects require research and I can assure you I do my fair bit for each Project. Right now I am creating 3d Concepts for the Heavyweight robot and am researching into parts materials. Like most people I unfortunately don't have £1000 to spend on replacement motors therefore I aim to do things right the first time round so the second doesn't exist.
I am currently using this wonderful site as a "Kick-starter" for my research to point me in the direction I need to continue before I finalise any design plans.
And Thank you for the Welcome it is greatly appreciated.
I wouldn't bother specializing too quickly in life. Best advice I was ever given. Went and studied mechanical engineering, now work in the oil field. Make profit, build bots in spare time.
You may struggle to get a job with security in robotics.
Yes I understand and respect your judgment. I am not focusing on what job I want because when I start looking for jobs in the future many things would have changed. I am looking as far as university and am keeping all career paths open. I am sure you are aware that university and education is changing rapidly and becoming more and more competitive in todays world, Therefore I need to gain as much experience and knowledge in a specific sector rather than spreading weakly over various subjects.
I may seem and appear to be aiming too high and be dismissed quickly and I completely understand reasoning for that, however I will still have fun even if I do fail in the process.
Welcome to the forums mate.
You have a decent technology background but I'm afraid those aspects in this hobby are rather strait forward. Backgrounds in mechanical engineering and fabrication is usually needed to jump straight into heavyweight building.
Not saying you can't do it but you should start smaller then move up. Heavyweight mistakes are very expensive
Suggestion: build a feather. At your first competition eye up the heavy s and talk to people.
That would help you loads
Most people who start with robot combat in "our format" do that by building one of the lighter classes. Those are a tad lighter on the wallet. But it's not up to me to decide that.
For armor. Most used atm is wear resistant steel, like Hardox. And simular kinds from other steel manufactorers. Search on names like RAEX , XAR or Creusabro. A tad more expensive than normal steel, but a lot cheaper than anything else for the same value of protection and "ease" of working with it.
The really high end grades of ali can do the job on the same level, but that you'll feel in the wallet. 7075T6 springs to mind.
Some plastics have , if used well, a reasonable result. In the past, polycarbonate -brand names like Lexan of Macrolon- was popular, but is getting replaced in most cases with the lighter, toughter cheaper, but softer HDPE.
On the other side, we have seen robots made from mild steel, ali checkerplate or low end stainless steel performing very well in the arena, and machines armored with hugely expensive stuff fail miserably. It's all how you use it.
And remember. Air is good armor, but armoring air is rather futile.
Thank you for the most helpful post I have read yet Maddox. I'm looking to use a sheet metal to form a pyramid (Triangles are strong) and angle the metal to increase the thickness without adding more weight (Same concept used on tanks). I will do some research but right now I believe for yours and Ellis posts wear resistant steel is my best option mounted onto a internal box metal frame.
Once again thank you for your advice and I understand I am choosing to ignore some of your suggestions but I will keep posted with my progress.
Thank you for your assistance. (Thread not closed keep talking its really helpful)
One last question What are the Average Dimensions / Size Rules for Heavyweight robots. I understand 55KG - 100KG but in terms of size W x H x D?