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Updated June 22nd 2003
The ever evolving sport of Combat Robots has ignited the imagination of many designers, robot enthusiasts and hobbyists. It has exploded onto the scene with an invigorating spirit that will continue to bring more and more people into its realm of influence.
Combat Robots signify an immerging technology coupled with a competitive dimension which creates a forceful attraction to new competitors, including me. During my initial investigation into the sport I was pleased to find that there are many events both local and internationally at both small and large venues. I decided to get involved with a local competition, OCAD. Here, with the help of Mike Andreou for his controller work and my father for construction help, we achieved a 3rd place finish with the lightweight robot, SPANKIE.
Ryerson Sumo Robotics Club
(that's me with my eyes closed, lower right hand side)
And then I was hooked :)
So I decided to look into what it would require to compete at one of the larger international competition. After visiting many web pages and corresponding with several veterans of the sport, I came to the conclusion that I was going to miss out. It would just be too expensive to build a competitive robot for a large venue event. The general consensus was that to build a combat robot worthy of winning, at least, the preliminary competitions would require a sizeable financial contribution - in the range of $1000 USD, minimum. Wow.. This is a lot of money for a starving student. Especially if that student's funds are in Canadian currency.. eh?.
For instance, here is a price brake-down of what I consider the two most costly items (R/C Link & Speed Controller):
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Electronic Speed Controller from 4QD®, model #4QD-150-48 sells for $454.60 CAD (as of Feb. 19th 2002) |
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8 channel transmitter/receiver pair from Futaba® start at $400. see: this link |
No small fee! Instead of giving up early, or waiting until I have saved enough money, I decided to exchange my time & energy for the higher prices of commercial items.
If you build it yourself it will be cheaper
But will it be better??? This answer I leave for you to discover...
This web space has been devoted to a few of these electronic projects I have made myself, as part of a group, or am attempting to make. What follows is a documented account of the progress and all the information you will need in order to "Do It Yourself", from scratch. Mind you, this is not for the light of heart. Constructing these projects as documented here is likely not suitable for beginners. However, every effort has been made to provide easy to follow 'step-by-step' instructions (for finished projects) with the hope that this will allow novices and maybe beginners to achieve a successful design.
Click Here to access the DIY Combat Robots projects!!!
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