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 Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition

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kmcghee




People Skills : 4595
Registration date : 2011-09-04

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PostSubject: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeSun Sep 04, 2011 1:09 am

I am a high school shop teacher, I have been building sumo bots with my students for a couple of years now at a junior level, nothing fancy, modified bots in the sense that they are not automatic they are controlled by tethered remote, which the students build. These students are now seniors and want to build battle bots and fight each other. I am interested depending on the cost and need some help in order to start, any help, advice will be gladly taken, specifically I am looking for:

1.) Are there different classes of battlebots and if so what class should I focus on, ie What size should the robots be, what is too small or too big.
2.) What kind of motors should I use to move the bot(this is the major cost factor for the program, I don't know if it is possible to keep the cost around 20 bucks a motor)
3.) What RPM should the drive motors spin at to move the robot ( I have heard 20RPM is ideal, is this true, I want a zippy robot but one that is still controllable)
4.) To make it clear these will still have to be tethered, if I can prove it to be a viable option I might get funding for remotes in the future.
5.) What kind of motor should be used to drive weapons if applicable.

Any suggestions and help would be appreciated.

Also, I certainly have to build my own to battle the kids, what design do you suggest to build that would be unbeatable Laughing
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Evan Steeves
great contributor
great contributor



People Skills : 5090
Registration date : 2011-02-05
Age : 33
Location : towson md

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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeSun Sep 04, 2011 8:42 pm

a tethered battlebot seems highly unsafe in so many ways. unless its a wedge then you are back to sumo, pick up some spektrum dx4's at your local hobbyshop buy 4 or more for a teacher discount through horizon hobby and decide what budget you have per bot then figure out what weight class you want to be fight in. i recommend antweight=1 pound or beetleweight=3 pound. bigger robots cost a bunch of money look to fingertechrobotics.com if you plan on building an antweight. good luck
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kmcghee




People Skills : 4595
Registration date : 2011-09-04

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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeMon Sep 05, 2011 12:08 am

I actually didn't realize how cheap control units were so I am now thinking I need to purchase two controllers and let them share. So for my understanding of research in to remote controls and robots I would need the following to make a robot, lets say a wedge style only:

two drive motors minimum.
Radio receiver
Radio controller 2 channel (3 or more for weapons)
Speed control unit.

From my understanding when I want the robot to go forwards, I push the sticks on controller forward, the controller sends a signal to a receiver which in turn tells the speed control unit how much voltage in the correct polarity to the motors which in turn make it move forward at the speed I want? or at this level if it just one speed? and therefore the speed controller not needed?
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Evan Steeves
great contributor
great contributor



People Skills : 5090
Registration date : 2011-02-05
Age : 33
Location : towson md

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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeMon Sep 05, 2011 1:50 am

kmcghee wrote:
I actually didn't realize how cheap control units were so I am now thinking I need to purchase two controllers and let them share. So for my understanding of research in to remote controls and robots I would need the following to make a robot, lets say a wedge style only:

two drive motors minimum.
Radio receiver
Radio controller 2 channel (3 or more for weapons)
Speed control unit.

From my understanding when I want the robot to go forwards, I push the sticks on controller forward, the controller sends a signal to a receiver which in turn tells the speed control unit how much voltage in the correct polarity to the motors which in turn make it move forward at the speed I want? or at this level if it just one speed? and therefore the speed controller not needed?


for a simple two wheel drive wedge you will need a receiver a v tail mixer and two speed controllers the v tail mixer mixes up the speed controllers so you can use one stick on the transmitter to control all the left right forward reverse movements if you dont use a vtail mixer you will have to use both sticks of the transmitter for drive, either way works but mixing one stick is prefered by most drivers and some are now adopting rc car surface pistol grip radio systems to drive wedges with personally either works but if its just a wedge robot a v tail mixed pistol grip system is the best you can get such as a dx3c by spektrum
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kmcghee




People Skills : 4595
Registration date : 2011-09-04

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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeMon Sep 05, 2011 10:07 am

Good idea about the mixer, thanks.

So I am thinking Beetleweight would be the class for me, can anyone suggest a good gear motor specfication, ie, RPM, voltage etc. and a ESC unit to accompany it.
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Koensig




People Skills : 4875
Registration date : 2011-02-25
Age : 29
Location : Terre Haute, Indiana

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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeMon Sep 05, 2011 11:27 am

I have a list of parts and prices that I put together for the engineering club at my school to build a 4WD beetleweight wedge. Unfortunately, I don't know how to post a spreadsheet on this site can anyone help me?
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kmcghee




People Skills : 4595
Registration date : 2011-09-04

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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeMon Sep 05, 2011 12:08 pm

Koensig wrote:
I have a list of parts and prices that I put together for the engineering club at my school to build a 4WD beetleweight wedge. Unfortunately, I don't know how to post a spreadsheet on this site can anyone help me?

How about just putting it in mediafire and giving a download link?
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Koensig




People Skills : 4875
Registration date : 2011-02-25
Age : 29
Location : Terre Haute, Indiana

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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeMon Sep 05, 2011 2:00 pm

ok here we go
Beetleweight:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12644868/Scott%27s%20stuff/highline/Engineering/3lb%20Battlebot%20Cost.xls
Antweight Wedge:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12644868/Scott%27s%20stuff/highline/Engineering/1lb%20battlebot.xls
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gtPR

gtPR


People Skills : 4898
Registration date : 2010-12-14
Location : San Juan, Puerto Rico

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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitimeWed Sep 07, 2011 7:20 am

Just in case anyone is interested, I sell the same motors that Kitbot has, The "1000 rpm gearmotor". They work great for 3lb beetle weights!
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PostSubject: Re: Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition   Help a teacher who wants to start a battle bot competition I_icon_minitime

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