Aluminium flipper
arm components.
powerful, but heavier. I also
experimented with and without
The rear armor plate
is missing, showing off
the thick titanium armor on
top and on the flipper arm.
buffer tanks and with gaseous CO2,
but saw no real increase in
performance over the simpler direct
liquid injection. This may prove to
be different in the arena, but the
robot will be completed with the
lighter, smaller ram and no buffer
tank for now. It will be up to Tom
as to how it develops.
See if you can guess what robot
An inspirational ship.
Some of the design
features are used in
this robot.
inspired us so much with this near
replica. You may be able to tell
from the photos, or maybe you see
possible inspiration from several
machines. You will have to wait
until Part 2 for the reveal, and a full
review and performance assessment
of the finished machine. I truly hope
it does justice to the robot that
inspired it. SV
MANUFACTURING:
Combat Rob
t Drive Systems
● by Mike Jeffries
There are many ways to move
your robot around the arena
floor. From the simplistic two wheel
drive robot to the precision crafted
complexity of a true walking robot,
there are always different methods
of movement to consider. When
you are choosing a drive system,
you have to consider the pros and
cons of each system that makes
sense for your design and determine
which one is the best fit.
Remember, with proper
planning there is no wrong answer.
Two Wheel Drive
Apollyon is the classic two wheeled wedge
design. It uses the dragging front wedge to
get under opponents.
Two wheel drive robots are as
simple as it gets. You’ve got one
power source attached to one wheel
per side. With only two
wheels, there is very little
turning resistance which
results in a very responsive
robot. One problem with
two wheel drive robots is
that if you don’t have the
two sides of the drive system
well balanced, it will have
some difficulty driving in a
straight line at high speeds.
Another issue with two
wheel drive is that more
often than not, part of the
weight of the robot will be balanced
over a non-powered component,
reducing the robot’s ability to push
and accelerate. Two wheel drive
robots risk being hung up on
uneven floors or arena debris due
to the low number of powered
contact points.
Many two wheel drive robots
will have more than two wheels,
using the extra wheel or wheels like
casters to keep the chassis from
dragging on the ground and to help
with driving in a straight line. You
should choose two wheel drive if:
your design needs to have minimal
weight in the drive system; it needs
one part of the chassis dragging on
the ground; or it doesn’t need a lot
of pushing power.
Four Wheel Drive
Four wheel drive systems are
very common in robot combat. All
24 SERVO 10.2008