Build Your Own Combat Robot

As you can see, the history of robot combat is relatively short in comparison
with baseball or football, but all sports have to start somewhere. With its current
growth rate, it won’t be long before this becomes one of the most popular sports in
the world.
As with any game, there are different rules and goals for each event. Following
are brief descriptions of some of these contests. The exact details of the events
should be obtained directly from the event organizers.
BattleBots
Chapter 1: Welcome to Competition Robots 7
BattleBots is probably the most popular robotics event in the United States. A
large fan base has been accumulating ever since these competitions started airing
on cable TV. BattleBots is a single elimination fight-to-the-death contest where
one robot tries to destroy another in a 3-minute time frame. If one of the robots becomes
incapacitated for 30 continuous seconds, or is destroyed, that robot loses
the match. If both robots are still fighting at the end of the 3-minute time frame, the
winning robot is declared by how many points they scored. There are three official
judges who award up to 5 points each for aggressiveness, damage, and strategy,
for a total of 45 points. The robot with the most points wins the match.
If your robot is fortunate enough to survive the match, it has only 20 minutes to
undergo any repairs before the next match. If the robot faces another fight soon
afterward and cannot be repaired in the 20-minute time frame, it must forfeit the
next match.
The main BattleBots arena is called the BattleBox. Weighing in at 35 tons, this
“box” consists of a steel floor measuring 48-feet-by-48-feet, and walls that tower 24ft
high. The walls of the BattleBox are made out of Lexan (a highly resilient
polycarbonate) ranging in thickness from one inch at the base of the walls to
3/16 inches at the top. There are two 8-foot-by-8-foot entry doors where the robots
enter. Within the BattleBox there are a set of hazards and weapons, which are
as follows:
■ Kill Saws These are 20-inch-diameter carbide-tipped SystiMatic saw
blades that can cut through virtually any material. They can spring up
with many pounds of force, easily tossing 340-pound superheavyweight
robots into the air.
■ Pulverizers These monster aluminum hammers are used to smash any
unfortunate robot that gets under them.
■ Hell Raisers BattleBots competitions occasionally employ these 3-footby-4foot
plates that move up 6 inches, wreaking havoc in a robot’s motion.
■ Ram Rods The ram rods are a set of six carbide-tipped spears that
shoot up 6 inches from the BattleBox floor with over 60 pounds of force.