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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Phoenix - 30 lb Combat Robot

Author:

I've always loved building stuff, since I was a little kid I loved legos. I later progressed onto wood and plastic working and now more recently metal working. I can't program worth anything, although I know a little Labview. I love dissecting old things to see how they work. I also build Combat Robots (Battlebots). I've built three, and two have been highly successful. I used to work for a company that rented out fighting robots for birthday parties, but sadly that ended and now I'm a professional dishwasher feeder. tl;dr I build stuff...

I've been involved in robot combat (BattleBots) for the past three years now. My first robot Shish-Kabot was extremely successful with one 2nd place and two 3rd place finishes but it had one weakness. Every time it fought a flipper robot called Upheaval, it would get tossed around and lose via knockout. (see 2nd image) After spending way too much time thinking about how to beat Upheaval with Shish-Kabot I decided to build a better flipper bot...

Phoenix Test Flip

Video Link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6zHVlxYQ3Y0

I'm 17 years old and just finishing out my Junior year... *obligatory mention of age for instructables robotics week competition*

Step 1Background

I guess I should probably explain a few things about what I'm talking about.

Robot Combat is an sport often referred to as BattleBots, but that term is trademarked so I'm probably not supposed to say it. But the basic idea is two robots fight to the death in an enclosed bullet proof glass box for 3 minutes or until one can't move anymore, when a knockout is declared. There are basically three groups all robots can be categorized into. Spinners are probably the most prevalent. They have some spinning mass (think exposed lawnmower blade) and try to slice or blunt force the other robot into submission. Pushy bots are the simplest to build. They often have a wedge to get under the opponent. They win by dominating the flow of the fight. The third group is flippers or lifters. They are designed to get under the other robot and flip them over or chuck them across the arena and hope something breaks on impact. This is often done using pneumatic rams. Flippers are not very common anymore because the introduction of cheap imported Chinese brushless motors and the difficulties associated with pneumatics.

The design goals/constraints for Phoenix were

1. Powerful flipper weapon

2. Entertaining

3. Cost must be under $700 (I'm a high school student without a high paying job)

4. Must be under 30lb weight limit

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Read More...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Phoenix-30-lb-Combat-Robot/

How to build a competitive battle robot

How to build a competitive battle robot - Hack a Day

Phoenix Test Flip - YouTube

Phoenix - 30 lb Combat Robot