battlebots!!! (highschool/college robotics)

[Recon by Fire]

This thread needs pics! Show us the war machines!

[WenULiVeUdiE]

This thread needs pics! Show us the war machines!

I have pictures of our 2004 and 2005 robot. However, they're not of the battlebot kind. Pictures to come soon.

[slade]

This thread needs pics! Show us the war machines!

i had a pic of last years bot, but it was just a cameraphone picture. ill post it if i can find it. i almost bought a picture at the competition of our bot flipping another bot, but it would have cost ~$10. this year ill have more pictures, i got a camera for christmas

[rkjunior303]

Colin, you know i love the photoshop. If you need a t-shirt, lemme know. I could design a logo for it.

[slade]

Colin, you know i love the photoshop. If you need a t-shirt, lemme know. I could design a logo for it.

hmm, sounds good. i didnt even think of that. i know youll be able to come up with a better design than we had last year, and put that time you have at work to use

[ScatterPlot]

Man stuff like this makes me wanna puke. There is VERY little chance of anythign like that going on at my college, I'd give my right arm to compete in stuff like this (Like I've always said, I'd give my right arm for a robotic right arm, but anywho). Any ideas on how to get started on stuff like this? My engineering program is pretty small (we just got accredited by ABEC, I think) and we only have a mechanical and computer engineering program, but I guess that's all you really need. So how might a very interested person get involved with all this stuff?

[slade]

Man stuff like this makes me wanna puke. There is VERY little chance of anythign like that going on at my college, I'd give my right arm to compete in stuff like this (Like I've always said, I'd give my right arm for a robotic right arm, but anywho). Any ideas on how to get started on stuff like this? My engineering program is pretty small (we just got accredited by ABEC, I think) and we only have a mechanical and computer engineering program, but I guess that's all you really need. So how might a very interested person get involved with all this stuff?

look into both first and battlebots IQ. battlebots has a college level too, i think its a 150 pound weight class. they havent announced a date yet but they should soon. im not sure what you have to do as far as your school. talk to some of the teachers involved in your engineering program or mechanical/computer engineering program. ask them if theyre interested in it, you will probably need a teacher as an advisor. Then you definately will need fundraisers or some form of sponsorship to be able to have a team. first try any local places that could sponsor you, anything at all relating to engineering. we found raytheon which specializes in defense systems and methods, a local machine shop, both in our town. a local place is much more likely to sponsor you. you could always looking into fundraisers, selling food or something... but engineering students arent usually that great at cooking . you will have to travel for the competitions and unless you can find a really nice sponsorship, you will most likely have to pay for it yourself, which would be a few hundred dollars. the competition is really worth it.

i hope to see any of you at this years competition.

[slade]

found the pic



thats the bot i designed last year. you can see our 15 pound bot in the background behind it... that one failed miserably.

i know there was a better picture, i wish i had it. we had a few pictures taken of the bots and the bots and team together for posters/printouts.

[sbpyro]

Man stuff like this makes me wanna puke. There is VERY little chance of anythign like that going on at my college, I'd give my right arm to compete in stuff like this (Like I've always said, I'd give my right arm for a robotic right arm, but anywho). Any ideas on how to get started on stuff like this? My engineering program is pretty small (we just got accredited by ABEC, I think) and we only have a mechanical and computer engineering program, but I guess that's all you really need. So how might a very interested person get involved with all this stuff?

You should ask, if not the engineering program try student activities. I knew a freshmen at my college started up the FIRST program there (Don't have many good memories of the school and refuse to promote them, but FIRST and Paintball were two of the 3 things I liked in the school). As for ABEC accreditation, when we were graduating the last couple of quarters we had to take these stupid questions as proof that the school deserved to stay accredited. First of all the questions were reviewed after we got our exams back and the solution (answer and how you got to the answer were reviewed). And you could have passed all of the tests and do all the necessary classwork but not pass the course if you could not get the questions (which were the most basic questions anyways). Then they repeated the same exact questions on the retake.

But back to the original topic, ask them about starting up such an extracircular activity or link it to one of the student groups (ASME etc) I think the only hard thing would be finding a faculty advisor for the group.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

2004:



2005:




The motor assembly that drives the arm up.

The 2004 Robot is currently without the ball grabber seen in the picture. It was removed to save weight and to reduce the risk of catostrophic failure during a match (i.e. another robot pulling on it and knocking us down) I can get many more pictures of it, as it is in my basement.

Our 2005 was one of the best engineered 'Bots I had seen; and I am not saying that because I built alot of it. It was a very solid design that was nearly indestructable. Nearly all of the problems we had with it was caused by user error. Generally, the repairs were done with 2 minutes before the match started.

[slade]

one thing i havent understood... from what ive heard, in FIRST you can only use the parts that they include, and they ship you a kit with all the parts. did it really have all those parts? what the vex kits have is just pathetic. did they have just blocks of aluminum for you to mill? i also saw a bot with omniwheels and from what i heard they made them, does that mean that they had to melt down rubber from other wheels and re-cast the wheels?

[WenULiVeUdiE]

one thing i havent understood... from what ive heard, in FIRST you can only use the parts that they include, and they ship you a kit with all the parts. did it really have all those parts? what the vex kits have is just pathetic. did they have just blocks of aluminum for you to mill? i also saw a bot with omniwheels and from what i heard they made them, does that mean that they had to melt down rubber from other wheels and re-cast the wheels?

Good question. The simple answer is no. FIRST provides us with the basic chassis, motors, pneumatics, controllers (i.e. large boards on the 'Bot) and some other things. Everythign else is provided by each team. They provide us with a basic building block with which we make what we want. We build around what they provide us with.

If you look at our 2005, you will see two frames. The bottom one was provided by FIRST. The top one we built using 1" square aluminum stock. Why we had to use that is a story upon itself.

Just for reference, and some bragging , the 2004 is worth about $13,000 and the 2005 is worth about the same.

[slade]

Good question. The simple answer is no. FIRST provides us with the basic chassis, motors, pneumatics, controllers (i.e. large boards on the 'Bot) and some other things. Everythign else is provided by each team. They provide us with a basic building block with which we make what we want. We build around what they provide us with.

If you look at our 2005, you will see two frames. The bottom one was provided by FIRST. The top one we built using 1" square aluminum stock. Why we had to use that is a story upon itself.

Just for reference, and some bragging , the 2004 is worth about $13,000 and the 2005 is worth about the same.

thanks. that was confusing me, because what i saw didnt seem to match up with what i heard. so what are the rules regarding what you can and cant use? do you have to use certain parts they provide? and there must be things they exclude.

post up pictures of this years bot later on, after the competition. ill do the same for our battlebots, after theyre completed... and after the competition, in case theres any lurkers

i dont know exactly how much our bots cost, but im pretty sure its around $3-4000 per, we had 2 bots... well, and the mini, but that was a $100 experiment that failed.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

I am not up to date on all the rules that we must follow concenring to parts kits. I know it is required for use to use some of the motors they provide us with. Also, if pneumatics are used, you must use the compressor supplied, which operates at 120 psi.

I will definately post pictures of the robot. I may do a weekly update thing, but I doubt enough are interested. On February 21st expect pictures from me.

[LudavicoSoldier]

I am one of the advisors for FIRST at one of my high schools. Unfortuantly I wont be able to make the big kickoff party at the end of this week... I'm contractually obligated to DJ on Thursday night...