Getting Started

[R9000]

I don't know about a complete guide per se, but there are plenty of threads about building parts of a robot, asking questions, etc. There are probably more resources on feathers here because they're generally simpler, but a lot of skills and knowledge carries over. For example, you can use the same kind of control method for pretty much all robots, that being an RC Transmitter and Receiver, controlling ESCs (electronic speed controllers) to power the motors. There isn't usually much in the way of control software unless you're modifying your ESC firmware or you have some autonomous function on your robot (which not many people do to my knowledge). Like I said before, many here will recommend you get your feet wet with a featherweight first, since if you have no experience, you'll make mistakes and they're a lot more costly in a heavyweight machine than a feather. That and, from what I've heard, just the time and cost of building a heavy can go much above what you originally expected. Ultimately it's up to you, but I'd recommend a featherweight to give you some experience first, unless you have ample time and resources. As far as I know for a controller, most people buy the Spektrum DX6i, which you can get reasonably with a receiver on eBay. You can pretty much use this on all your bots, unless you need a whole bunch of extra channels for whatever reason. If you want to start creating a digital model of your design, I'd recommend Sketchup, as it's what I use and it's free, but if you have experience with CAD programs like Autodesk or Solidworks, they're probably a lot more powerful.