Build Your Own Combat Robot

vibration and bounce around the inside the robot. The higher-strength aerospace”–quality
blind rivets also have this extra piece of pin that can cause trouble.
The best recommendation is to forget about pop and other types of blind rivets for
robot construction.
Standard Impact Rivets
Chapter 9: Robot Material and Construction Techniques 201
You’ve probably seen standard impact rivets on airplanes and tanks; these are even
harder to install than pop or blind rivets. They require a heavy “bucking” piece of
metal on one side of the rivet and a hammer to strike the other side. In WWII planes,
construction crews sometimes used a small person to climb inside the wing to hold
the piece of metal as the rivet was hammered flat. Bridge construction often used
hot rivets that would swell inside of a hole and seize the rivet. Modern shops use a
hydraulic press literally to squash the rivet. These things are hard to remove if you
need repairs or make a mistake in construction. Forget about them.
When in Doubt, Build It Stout
An old engineering saying, “When in doubt, build it stout,” reminds us that if you
think some structure isn’t going to be strong enough for combat, build it stronger
with more material. If you have any doubt whatsoever if a particular technique or
design might fail under extreme conditions, it probably will fail. You’re building
a machine for operation in an environment as harsh as deep space or the bottom
of the sea.
Another thing that catches most robot builders by surprise is the final weight of
their robot. When building your robot, keep in mind that your robot will always
weigh more after you build it than you originally thought. Take this factor into
consideration when you are in your preliminary design phase. Believe us, you’d
rather add weight to a robot at the competition than have to drill holes in your precious
fighting machine at a later date to reduce its weight.