Build Your Own Combat Robot

FIGURE 14-15
Internal view of
Live Wires
showing the
symmetry of all
of its internal
components.
(photo by Clare
Miles)
of the battery box. This entire robot was bolted together using button-head screws
to allow for easy maintenance.
Finally: The Show
Chapter 14: Real-Life Robots: Lessons from Veteran Builders 325
We stripped the robot down and shipped it to the TLC studios in seven different
boxes. I decided to send it priority overnight a day before the last drop-dead day,
which turned out to be a good thing because we had a major earthquake that
brought everything to a standstill two days later. Luckily, the airport reopened the
day before I was to leave for California, and I was able to get a flight.
Dave and I arrived at the studio about 4:00 in the afternoon. We spent that evening
watching the previous contestants compete, getting interviewed for TV, and
reassembling the robot. Finally, we got to bed about 3:00 in the morning. Four
hours later, we went back to the studio for the weigh-in. Figure 14-16 shows a picture
of the robot at the weigh-in. I was originally targeting the robot to weigh around
100 to 120 pounds, but the robot came in at a svelt 198 pounds. A bit heavier than
I thought, but it was still under the 212 pounds max weight limit.
Because Robotica invited more robots to the show than they needed (in case of
any no-shows), they had to come up with a qualification round to narrow the
number of robots to 24. The first part of the qualification round was to go around
the figure-8 course twice and get timed for the run. When our turn came, we put
the robot in the arena and it took off. Figure 14-17 shows Live Wires coming
around the first bend in the course. At this point, the robot started having problems.
One side of the bot stopped working so it started going around in circles.
This was a rather disconcerting experience. After the time expired, we gathered up