Build Your Own Combat Robot

36 Build Your Own Combat Robot
S afety
Building a combat robot is not a cheap venture, and you should be prepared to
spend a lot of money to build something competitive. Most builders spend several
thousand dollars building their bots. You might be the lucky individual with a
home machine shop (or have a friend with one) and an uncle who owns a junkyard
and a surplus store. However, most of us aren’t this fortunate and must hunt
through countless stores and catalogs to find what we want. Appendixes A-C at
the end of this book will lead you to many proven sources of robot parts. No matter
how full your junk boxes may be, you’ll probably find yourself purchasing a
lot of the parts to build the robot—especially the electronics and controls.
Before you start building your bot, you must also address safety issues. If you’ve
watched BattleBots, chances are you’ve heard the announcers stressing the use of
safety glasses and proper supervision. As adults, most of us have already learned
the basics in shop safety. But the construction of combat robots extends way beyond
what is normally considered a hazard in a home shop, and severe injuries are
possible with even the smallest combat robot—both in operation and in the construction
process.
Before we delve into safety issues, we should mention gaining knowledge in the
use of shop tools. All the safety equipment in the world won’t protect you from
unsafe shop practices. If you haven’t been instructed in the use of shop tools
through a shop class at school, or through instruction at your job, you should consult
a friend or acquaintance to instruct you, or leave the work to those who know
how to do it safely. This cannot be stated strongly enough!
A chuck key left in a drill press when it is turned can be thrown at high speed
right through safety glasses. A slight slip with a band saw can turn you into a
nine-fingered bot builder in a fraction of a second. Misuse of a bench grinder can
cause a grinding wheel to literally explode into shrapnel, riddling your body, face,
and eyes with hundreds of rock-shaped bullets. A loose piece of clothing can be
sucked into a metal lathe in a second, and you along with it. If this scares you, then
we authors have done our job here. You’re welcome.
Safety glasses are a must when using any power tool for any purpose. Even the
tiniest particle in your eye can ruin your day, and a metal particle traveling at high
speed can destroy your eye or eyes. Buy and wear the good, tempered glass kind
with side shields. Keep those glasses on even when working with batteries and
with high-amperage cables. A sealed electrolyte battery when dropped on a floor
can crack and splash acid everywhere. Sparking cables can make you feel as if you
placed your face on a welding table.
Okay, enough said on these issues.