Reddit reviews Kickin' Bot: An Illustrated Guide to Building Combat Robots (ExtremeTech)

We found 1 Reddit comments about Kickin' Bot: An Illustrated Guide to Building Combat Robots (ExtremeTech). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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1 Reddit comment about Kickin' Bot: An Illustrated Guide to Building Combat Robots (ExtremeTech):

u/personizzle · 10 pointsr/battlebots

The name of the game in combat robots is robustness and reliability. The forces that even very small robots undergo are mind-boggling, and any weak links can kill a robot.
Work on skills like soldering, crimping, and so on. A loose wire connection can be just as devastating as a catastrophic structural failure.
The link that Charles posted is very good. Here's another piece of great reading, for robots of all sizes. While some elements are very out of date, and the focus is quite a bit more big-bot, Grant's book still holds up as well, particularly the sections on fabrication skills if you're inexperienced in these areas.
Study other robots. Learn "standards" for material thickness and such for a given weight class. Use the cubic scaling rule to convert elements from other classes. Try to intuit how their structural elements react against each other to build up strength. Take these lessons, and apply it to your own designs. Don't be afraid to generously borrow ideas. Ideas are fun but easy, it's quality and tiny details that make or break a robot.
If you haven't already, pick up a CAD package and learn it. Autodesk Inventor and Solidworks are industry standard and free for students. If this doesn't apply to you, Autodesk Fusion is free to everybody, and is also a good choice. Learn how to use the material properties features to estimate weight. Not a necessity by any means, but it enhances the experience a ton, and in quite a few ways you wouldn't expect. Easier than you might expect as well.
Speaking of which, pick up a good scale that works in fine increments. Check parts and the bot as a whole regularly. Unexpected things like wire weight will surprise you.
Pick standard sizes for hardware and stick to them. You'll thank yourself later.
Websites to familiarize yourself with: www.robotmarketplace.com, specific to robot combat. Lots of great parts for every aspect of a robot, you can basically get everything except raw building material from there. www.hobbyking.com, great source for lipo batteries, brushless motors and escs, and other miscellaneous electronic components. Some of their parts have a very real "china factor" associated with them, but there's a lot of good stuff as well. www.mcmaster.com, general purpose industrial supplier with amazing stock and shipping speed. Pretty much everything you'd ever want to build or make things can be found there, albeit often at a bit of a price premium. www.fingertechrobotics.com, a whole lot of components purpose-built for insect class combat.
If you choose one component to splurge on, make it the radio. It can be shared by every bot you make, and a good radio with great reliability and extra features is useful at every level. My personal pick is the Frsky Taranis, but Spektrum and others make good stuff as well. Ditch the receiver that comes with it and pick up a compatible micro-receiver.
Related, ditch any conceptions you may have about neat, nicely laid out, easy to work on electrical systems. That doesn't happen in combat robots.
Some ballpark components to get you started for a (US) Antweight: 2x or 4x fingertech geared motors (silver spark, not gold). Fingertech TinyESC, or modified Vex Motor Controller 29. 2S or 3S LiPo battery, 250+ mAh. Fingertech hubs and foam wheels. Aim for ~8fps for a wedge, slower for a weaponed bot. UHMW or Polycarbonate for thick frame elements, Aluminum or titanium for armor plate.
For testing, chuck the robot against a concrete wall, repeatedly. Don't be afraid to break it. Breaking it is how you learn to improve it.
Bring spare parts to your competition, and design to make repairs as easy as possible.
Finally, if you haven't already, I suggest joining here. Pretty much every serious builder in the sport hangs out there, and it's far and away the best place on the internet for in-depth technical discussion of combat robots.