Build Your Own Combat Robot

44 Build Your Own Combat Robot
FIGURE 3-1
Mechadon, the
largest walking
combat robot
ever built.
(courtesy
of Peter
Abrahamson)
True Story: Christian Carlberg and Minion
“I have been building mechanical devices since I was a kid,” says Christian
Carlberg, founder and captain of Team Coolrobots. Christian is well-known for
robot designs like OverKill, Minion, and Dreadnought. “Erector Sets, Lincoln Logs,
LEGOs,” he adds, “I used them all.”
That earlyexperience with building toys paid off for Christian, who further honed
his mechanical skills at Cornell through mechanical competitions (“build an electric
motor in a couple of hours with these common house hold items,” he says). But
LEGOs were—and remain—important. “If you can’t build the premise of your robot
with LEGOs then it’s not simple enough to withstand the BattleBox.”
What competition stands out in Christian’s mind?
“My favorite fight was the Super Heavyweight rumble for the first season of
Comedy Central’s BattleBots.”
Minion’s story actually begins in September of 1999, when BattleBots announced
the new Super Heavyweight class. “The idea of building a 325 pound robot really
appealed to me, especially considering it was a brand new weight class and there
wouldn’t be a lot of competition.”
For that event, BattleBots placed ten 300-pound robots into a box for five minutes.
“I was driving Minion for that fight,” Christian recalls. “As the fight progressed it was
clear that Minion was the strongest robot in the BattleBox. I was pushing three robots
at a time, slamming other robots up against the wall. It was so much fun and totally
worth all the hours spent on building the robot.”
Indeed, Team Coolrobots exudes bravado about Minion’s power. “Minion will not
break or be broken. The onlywayto defeat Minion is to overpower it. This used to be
impossible but has been known to happen.” Christian admits that there’s a secret to
that raw locomotive power. “The weapon was always last on my list of priorities. You
can still win as long as you are moving, which is why the frame and drive train will
always be a higher priority for me.”