Hi all,

This is my first post here, so be gentle :-)

I was at the leicester space center on the weekend and had the fortune to see a combat robot demonstration. This has kind of re-ignited my interest in the whole robot wars thing. My son is now at an age where he can join in and is also interested - with my son on side, I finally have an excuse to build my first combat robot.

I intend to build a fairly simple ram bot for the feather weight class, but would like to get some opinions before I start buying bits and putting the thing together. It would be made from steel tubing and armour, using aluminium internally where possible for other things like motor mounts etc. to keep the weight down.

Anyway - here are my questions

Motors and gears
obviously, rambots rely on speed so the right combination of motors and gearbox/transmission is important. What sort of motors should I aim for? I see drill motors touted around the forums as a cheap way to move a robot, but would they be any good in a rambot? Also - Gearboxs / transmission. Should I be aiming for motors with gearboxs, building my gearbox or would a simple chain drive be the best option?


Speed controller

Advice please - which make to go for..?

Radio Gear

27mhz or 40mhz 2 or 4 channel?

Rambots and anti-shock/vibration

If the mechanics are sufficiently secured, is this nessasary - are the magnets in
the motor likely to fall out? How are the electronics affected.

I want to build a robot that is competitive, so any advice would be appreciated.