Build Your Own Combat Robot

216 Build Your Own Combat Robot
FIGURE 10-5
A clamp bot
configuration.
Strategy
Clamp bots use strategic designs and are intended to take control of the match
by denying the opponent the ability to move. Usually their only option to inflict
damage is to take the opponent over the arena hazards.
Clamp bots work well against rams and wedges—these types of robots completely
depend on their drive power for weapons, and once grabbed and lifted are completely
helpless. Against a thwack bot, the challenge for a clamp bot will be in
catching its opponent, because many thwack bots are very fast robots. Like the
ram and wedge, once caught, a thwack bot can be rendered helpless by a firmly
grasping and lifting clamp bot.
Spinners, particularly the completely enclosed shell-type spinners, are a tough
opponent for a clamp bot. The spinner’s weapon must be stopped before the
clamp bot can grab it, but the only way the clamp bot has of stopping the shell is by
repeatedly ramming it, taking punishing blows to the arm mechanism before the
spinner is slow enough to be grabbed. With more working parts and typically
lighter frames, clamp bots are more likely than most robot types to be damaged by
this kind of punishment. A vertical spinner–or drum–type robot is an easier target,
if the clamp bot can outmaneuver and grasp it without taking a hit.