First Time Bot Builder/Buyer

Hi, Im Tom.
Im looking to build or buy a combat style robot. i have never had a bot but i have always wanted one since watching the first series or robot wars, now i have a job and i can start saving. im looking to build/buy a simpleish bot with most likely a spinning weapon as i have herd thats the most simple weapon choice. anyone any ideas what sort or price i could pick one up for or would it be alot cheaper to build it myself? and is there any websites or forums that have used bots for sale. any weapon or no weapon would be ok its not that i prefere spinning weapons but it seem to be the easy option if i do end up having to build one.
i would buy one in need or repair or part built but i realy suck at electrical and radio stuff but id be ok with the chassis and body etc. it would be ideal to buy all the insides of a bot ready to go just wanting popping into a chassis but i know its very unlikely.
thanks for looking.

(kinda rushed this post so sorry if it dunt make much sence ill fix it later)

im looking to build/buy a simpleish bot
First you will have to decide what weightcalss your bot is going to be In , for you i would go for a 12kg featherweight , the only other popluar option is the 100kg heavyweight , but the cost alot of money.

with most likely a spinning weapon as i have herd thats the most simple weapon choice

A simple bot for you would be a rambot , a basic heavily armored bot with 2wd or 4wd. A spinning weapon is now way easy for a first time builder , they can be difficult to build and also very dangerous to operate !
And also due to recent rule changes it will be hard for you to find an arena to fight in with a spinning weapon . Its better to go simple with your first bot.

anyone any ideas what sort or price i could pick one up for or would it be alot cheaper to build it myself?

There are not many featherweights that go on sale , maybe rarely it happens. Some people on this forum have companies that will build you a robot ,
they are James Baker of X Bots and James Cooper of RoboChallenge , they can build a bot for you but no idea about the price .Building your own is the most popular option as it lets you design whatever you want and you gain experience while building that you can carry on to other robots

but i realy suck at electrical and radio stuff

I suck at that aswell so ill let more experienced roboteers talk about it :)

i started off from a zeobot kit, from technobots got me started, first off it was a ram bot then i put a lifter in to it

you could buy all the bits i think ewan does a nice package from gimson robotics, and then the chaepist armour would be wood,

check my website gives some more info about my expierence

http://www.psychoflingteam.co.ukwww.psychoflingteam.co.uk

hope this is of use
alex

by the way im not an expierenced roboteer but in 2 years of being in the sport ive built 3 feathers

Tom,

1) Start with a featherweight (12kg)
2) Go for a ram bot. This will allow you to understand the radio gear, the electronics, and the general principles of bot building.
3) As for the electronics, as long as you understand the difference between a parallel and a series circuit you should do ok!
4) ASK ASK ASK. There is a huge wealth of knowledge on this forum and you will save yourself a hell of a lot of hastle if you arent sure about something.
5) Most people have websites on their profiles detailing how they got started and the build etc afterwards. Read as many of these as you can.

Finally, welcome to the club and best of luck! :)

Tom - where are you based ?

Youre more than welcome to come along to one of our shows and catch up with whats going on and get up close with some of the machines.

Ed
http://www.extremefightingmachines.comhttp://www.extremefightingmachines.com

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum.

A lot of good advice has been given already, however if you want to buy a robot then http://www.ebay.co.ukeBay often has old robots on it.

--
Mike
http://www.bobblebot.co.ukhttp://www.bobblebot.co.uk
http://www.antweights.co.ukhttp://www.antweights.co.uk

Hi Tom,

Good to see another keen builder-to-be :)
Your best starting bet would be to go for the featherweight (12kg) class. Think of them as an affordable alternative to heavyweights but still perfectly able to pack a punch and feature all the range of weapons the heavyweight class has to offer. Its your choice whether to look out for old bots for sale, pay someone else to build one or to engineer a machine from scratch, Id say the latter is perhaps the more rewarding option, but best of luck with whatever you choose.

You shouldnt let the electronics put you off. Its simply a case of learning by example in most cases. Try to get to a featherweight event http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/discus/messages/10/10.html?1176477542(check the events list) and see what other people have done with their machines. Also dont hesitate to ask questions on the forum to help you on your way.

As Alex pointed out Ive got a starter package of featherweight components that might be just what youre after to get you on your way. Have peek at my website ~ http://www.gimsonrobotics.com/shop_robot-kits.htmlhttp://www.gimsonrobotics.com/shop_robot-kits.html

All the best, Ewan

what sort of price would i be able to pick up a used ready to go featherweight or heavyweight robot for? u know just so i can have a play about changin things befor i build one. that obsidian that sold look a nice piece of kit would have loved a shot at that. i have a subaru rc car ill hammer sum nails through it and see how that does me :p (only jokin).

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum!

To give you a rough idea:

Looking at my feather, if I was going to sell it (afraid it aint for sale! :)), I would be looking for around £250 without radio gear. Thats adding up the component and material costs, plus a little extra for the actual manufacture of it - and that would be for a four wheel cordless drill drive machine with nicad batteries and Electronize speed controllers. Compared to some machines, mine is on the lower end of the scale price-wise - if it had a working weapon it would no doubt cost more. (although this doesnt mean £250 is the least you could do if for - for example, finding cheap sources of materials or components can help lower the total cost)

As for heavies, I dont really know the going rate for them as such (dont have one myself), but the few that have popped up on eBay over the past few months seem to have been around the £500 mark if I remember rightly

(Message edited by K_C_R on April 14, 2007)

You can do bargains trough Ebay in that respect, but you can easely buy a piece of junk with all the parts we consider wrong now.
What I would do. Be sure you know what parts are approved.
Whatever weightclass you want to have (start feather, at least your back will be gratefull).

If youre dedicated to own a combat robot, no better way to ask on the forum. We have several people selling parts or even complete setups. With the experience added to flavor.

Be warned, once you have the roboteer virus, it can get expensive, as you want more dependability, power, coolness and want to participate in more and more events.


Obsidian is with Team RCC now. That was a fantasticaly cheap buy for a robot of that build quality.
Currently that team has following robots ready
Ant katyusha
Raptor Npow.
Feathers hannibalito I and II
Heavies, RCC2, Obsidian and the spanking object for testing, Drone.

Adrian Appleyard was selling a heavy not so long ago and from what I remember wasnt asking silly money. Might be worth you sending him an e to see if its still for sale.
areappleyard@msn.com

ok cheers for that anythings worth a go. might make a real small bot using normal rc car motors ill just strip down 2 rc cars and see what i can come up with. untill i can get a real machine anyways

i started stripping down an old rc car this afternoon to make a mini sized robot but if any of you guys come across any bigger bots for sale could you tell me, well if you dont want it for yourselfs anways. Cheers for all the help so far.

People who sell robots often put them on the for sale page on this forum ... so its handy to keep checking there

hi Tom.
Drop me an email
There is nothing I can do for you as far as new robot builds go, until May at the earliest, but after then I may be able to help.
I do sell robot components aswell as complete machines, just get in touch, and also check out http://www.technobots.co.ukwww.technobots.co.uk for the biggest choice of bits I know of.
I did have a ready to fight featherweight on ebay recently for £300, I still have it if you are interested?
cheers
James Baker
http://www.Xbotz.comwww.Xbotz.com

wots this bot like? got any info and pics of it?

james@xbotz.com
will send the info via email

Thank you for the help you have all given me already.
Right i have decided to try build a featherweight robot but i need some help selecting components. :p im trying to build it abit on the cheap side but not so cheap that its full of crappy components. would have loved to find eveything all ready to run all in one place and it just needs fixing into a chassis and connecting some radio gear but its impossible i looked everywhere. anyways here are a few things i need abit of help with.
what drive Motors and gearboxes are the best to use and whats the best way to go about having 4 drive wheels if i decide to do that?
what sort of speed controller would i need?
what is the best battery to go for if i do have it with 2 or 4 drive wheels?
I may also be going for a vertical spinning weapon approx 120 dia, so what kind of motor will i need for that?
then its just the radio gear. if i got a 4ch futaba kit that should do me just fine right?
if you guys have any links that my help or links to ebay where i can find the stuff i need that would be very helpful. can you think of anything else i might need?

Cheers.

started making a test frame today to sit stuff in and check it works while im building my bot. made of 100% scrap metal of the best quality. i wanted it super light weight because it doesnt need to be strong as it will get scrapped soon as my new frame is built so i went abit crazy drilling 14mm and 18mm holes all over the frame. seems alot of time wasted for somthing that will get scpapped when i build my new frame. i dont know why i went with a wedge shape for this test frame tho :p took about a whole 1 hour to make omg drilling took 90% of that time up welded it up in about 2 mins, didnt even check 1 corner for square but its nearly square i cant believe it.
(my bots not called biohazard i took pics on my fone and the fones name is biohazard and it saves all my pics and vids with biohazard(number).)

BTW was there a bot called recycler or recyclers revenge? i was offered a bot years ago but i didnt have cash then but i cant remember the name of it.

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/8581/biohazard056ca6.jpghttp://img158.imageshack.us/img158/8...zard056ca6.jpg
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/5797/biohazard059or8.jpghttp://img74.imageshack.us/img74/579...zard059or8.jpg
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7279/biohazard058qt9.jpghttp://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7...zard058qt9.jpg

Looking good there Tom, looks like your a pretty competant fabricator if that only took you an hour and desnt look at all shabby!
If your looking for somewhere to get all your components to get your robot moving then contact James at Robo Challenge, he sells drill motors, motor mounts, wheels, batteries, speedo controllers and other bits you might need.
you can contact him by e-mail at james@robochallenge.co.uk

Good Luck

I think you mean the Series 1 Rex Garrod machine Recyclops.

Wat that angle predrilled? Or did you drill all those holes yourself?

what are the measurements for for you frame tom?

it looks very nice and stable! nice work:)

alex

yeah i drilled it all myself thats y the holes are abit wonch hole to the line after i drilled it and guessed the center on the angle. its only 25x25x3 angle and 25x3 flat so it took no time with a 6.5 drill then just went through with a rotor broach. the longest flats from back to front took only a few mins to drill. i didnt make it to a drawing i just used what ever length off cuts i could find in the scrap bin.i only had to cut 3 pieces to length and then just cut the angles at the front and top of the wedge thats it. could probs make one in about 4 hours if i did it properly and to a drawing but the off cuts were there and i had nothing else to do (appart from working)so i knocked it up. it looks better in the pics and it doesnt look too good in them :p its only small its about 400mm long bout 250mm wide bout 140mm high and the wedge is around 280mm long which leaves the top 140mm or so long. well about that its not having to hold a battery or wheels as its just my test frome i wanted it light as possible with the material i had. them sizes are rough as im at home now and the frame is at work but those sizes will be within 5mm of what i said. might eventually put an rc car inside it and cover it in some realy thin aluminium just so i can let sombody fight it against the one im building.

(Message edited by xtreme on April 25, 2007)

with this spinning weapon you are going for, will this be in this frame or a better one

my first bot was 540mm by 280mm wide, bit smaller than mine

no this just my test frame so i can check it all works befor i put it into the frame im building soon. im making it just a rectangle ram bot then hope to get a vertical spinning wheel on front. abit like tornado just not as good but ill probs go with aluminium for my armor to keep weight down on it cos i dont wanna drill a load of holes incase i put a spinning disk on it and it twists as soon as i hit somthing

Tom I would perhaps look at 4 or 5mm hdpe for armour. Light as anything and it deforms then returns to its original shape when hit. A very interesting material! Plus its cheaper than aluminium.

try this for HDPE sheets

http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/home.php?cat=4046http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/home.php?cat=4046

alex

can anyone give me a list of components i need and whats best to use with what. i need a list of everything to make a featherweight robot with a spinning weapon. id like a motor gearbox combo like the grimson robotics ones.

buy a pair of ten quid drills from focus, argos, or whereever (this means you must learn to modify and strip them, giving you important knowledge and experience)

Ewan sells suitable wheels.

Get 2 good speed controllers, you cannot go wrong with robot power scorpion XL, supplied by me (and now in stock) or the electronize range from technobots. The 15A cpu version of the electronize is my suggestion if you do not want to invest in a scorpion.

batteries are a subject often discussed, but the basics are, drill batteries will do if you want something basic, but i suggest some nimh race packs as a huge improvement, either from me, technobots, or your local hobby shop (ebay?)

spinner....... build the robot first, fight it a few times, get a feel for the shows, then ask again. spinners are not for first time builders in my opinion, as they are as likely to write off your own machine as you opponents.

hope this helps.
http://www.xbotz.comwww.xbotz.com
visit my shop

see also
http://www.technobots.co.ukwww.technobots.co.uk

(Message edited by jamesb on April 25, 2007)

*gimson :)

Ill give it a shot:

Mechanical / structural
Robot chassis (depends upon weapon and design obviously, for a boxy design as you suggest maybe 4wd is best?)
Armour (or none :))
Drive motors
Gearboxes (of not already on motors as with drill motors)
Wheels
Drive motor and drive train (if 4wd with two motors for example) mounts
Weapon motor(s)
Weapon drive medium (belt/chain etc)
Weapon support
Weapon disc/bar etc
Other fixings and design features additional

Electronic
Drive speed controller(s)
Weapon controller (could be another speed controller or a relay switch for example)
RC Receiver (or Rx)
Main battery
Receiver power source (most speed controllers will take this from the main battery so you dont need a separate battery though)
Power connectors (battery connectors as well - you might want to take the battery out of the robot for charging)
Wiring (cables linking everything together)
Transmitter (or Tx)

Tools and other stuff


May have missed something out in my tiredness but thats a half decent brief summary

http://www.micro-maul.co.uk/vertigo/img_1397.jpghttp://www.micro-maul.co.uk/vertigo/img_1397.jpg

Thats what the insides of a spinner may look like before tidied :)

how much u think i could get everything i need for? minus the weapon components and chassis and armor.id need the wheels to be larger than the stuff inside so i could make a invertable rambot but still keeping it low and as slim as possible.

I still maintain that you can build a feather for under £100, ok this means making your own controllers (using microswitches and servos), scrounging a lot. Realistically £300 could make you a pretty good feather. DB5 is probably in the £500 region, the new scorpian probably over a grand - Geoff??

the weapon motor alone is £600+ Ed, a grand may be a low guess. :) Can you email your address to me Ed, Josh wants some titanium cncing (you are doing it i believe?), so i need to post it to you.

Drop me an email Tom, I have some second hand bits you can buy if you like. It may be monday/tuesday before i can reply properly though, as im busy until after the mold event.

id would use the cheapest speed controllers as they probably cost more than anything. may sound stupid this bit but if it was a 4wd rambot how many speed controllers would i need?

2 or 4, depends on the power requirements of your motors

Tom .....Youd need 2 speed controllers ...one for the right hand side and one for the left.
They are however often combined into ONE dual controller.
E.G. http://www.robotcombat.com/store_scorpionxl.htmlhttp://www.robotcombat.com/store_scorpionxl.html

(Message edited by woody on April 25, 2007)

You could get by with one. If you want to invest in the best quality speed controllers for bot-specific applications, most of these will have dual channels suitable for driving two or four motors (you can run four if you hook the motors in parallel).

James, just pass on the Ti at the weekend, will save you the postage. I wont be able to do it before next week anyway.