Build Your Own Combat Robot

228 Build Your Own Combat Robot
Strategy
wide of a diameter as practical. A wide drum with short teeth welded to it will
pack more of an impact than a thin shaft with larger blades.
Drums lend themselves to an aggressive driving style; the fast weapon spin-up and
ability to upset an opponent’s footing on a good hit mean this style of robot can
take control of the match and keep the opponent on the defensive. Robots that
don’t do much damage quickly or need time to set up a controlling move, such as
thwack bots or lifters, can usually be beaten by a good drum.
The bane of the drum is the wedge. A wedge’s sloped front and often sloped
sides don’t offer a good surface for the drum’s weapon to catch. A well-designed,
powerful wedge will have more of its weight budget devoted to drive power than
the drum; and if the drum’s weapon cannot catch on the wedge to damage and flip
it up, the wedge will have the advantage.
In a fight between a drum and a spinner, the battle usually will hinge on
whether the drum’s weapon drive and support structure can hold together long
enough for the spinner to be disabled. The drum’s weapon can kick a spinner into
the air, breaking its traction and spinning it around under the recoil of it’s own
weapon, but the drum weapon is going to take a significant impact from the
force—possibly disabling it or even tearing it free from its mounts.
Hammer Bots
The hammer was first used on Thor (Robot Wars, 1995). The Judge, Killerhurtz,
Frenzy, Deadblow, and Mortis are examples of hammer bots.
Hammer bots feature hammers, axes, picks, or mace weapons on powered
overhead arms, and are designed to inflict repeated blows on an opponent’s top
armor or exposed wheels.
Hammer Design
Like a spinner, a hammer bot accelerates an impact weapon, storing kinetic energy
that is all released into the opponent in an instant. While the spinner can take its
time storing energy in its weapon, the hammer design must get its weapon up to
speed in a single swing, dumping its energy into the weapon in less than a second.
This disadvantage is offset by the hammer’s ability to control the timing and placing
of its hits, strike repeatedly in a short period of time, and use its weapon even if
pinned or lifted.
Most hammer weapons can also be used as self-righting mechanisms if the
hammer bot is flipped. Figure 10-12 shows the schematic.
Most hammer weapons are pneumatically driven. The most common and easiest
method is to attach a pneumatic cylinder that pushes the hammer down from