Build Your Own Combat Robot

FIGURE 3-7
An 8-inch diameter
heavy-duty drive
wheel. (courtesy
of National Power
Chair, Inc.)
Tires
Chapter 3: Robot Locomotion 53
In addition to wheels, you need to carefully consider the rim and tire of your robot’s
assembly. The tire or rubber part of the wheel is probably the most critical
consideration, because it is the most exposed part and takes the most abuse. It is
the part that will encounter the kill saws at some point in a BattleBot competition.
Tire hazards wreck more robots than all the rest of the hazards combined.
Imagine what an opponent’s weapon or a kill saw can do to your intended
wheels. How secure is the rubber mounted to the rim? Will the rubber stay on the
rim if it’s partially shredded? How easily can the rubber be shredded? Are the tires
pneumatic and can they be “popped?” If one or more wheels have a series of
gashes in them, can you still maneuver your robot or allow it to escape your opponent
or the hazard to regroup? Can the tire be struck from the side and be
knocked off? You must ask yourself these and many other questions before you
select the tires used.
You may like a particular wheel/tire combination that you’ve located and want
to make it a bit more resilient to the onslaught it will be facing on the battle floor.
You see a pneumatic that is the right size and has good traction, but you realize
that it can easily be punctured and flattened, or it can be shredded by some
weapon or hazard. In this case, consider filling the tire with a pliable rubber epoxy
instead of air. The epoxy will bond to the inner part of the rim, and at the same