Servo - October 2013

Some folks may wonder, what do combat robot builders do when they are not building or preparing for a combat event?

Well, some find other events and technical challenges to keep the creative juices flowing. Many build for and attend the Maker Faire. The Maker Faire has become one of the must-go-to events since it began eight years ago. This year, I became aware of a new event that was to be held at the 2013 Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA.

The event is part of the Power Racing series. This event requires teams to build an electric powered race car using small electric kiddie cars like a Barbie Jeep, for example. The teams are allowed to modify the stock machines as long as the original body remains mostly intact and the parts budget doesn't exceed $500. Upon learning about this, I immediately double-dawg dared my friends at the NIMBY space in Oakland, CA to try and beat our team at this race.

Our group consisted of a merger of Team K.I.S.S. robotics and Team Plumb Crazy (Matt and Wendy Maxham) — builders of the combat robot Sewer Snake, among others. Together, we became Team Kiss My Snake (KMS). We have a history of competing with NIMBY and many other teams in another event called Power Tool Drag Racing. So, we knew that NIMBY couldn't resist a new tech challenge.

I contacted Matt and we discussed what to use for a drive system. We both have a lot of very used parts from over 16 years of building combat robots. The original design was supposed to use two EV Warrior motors that came from an electric bike and the speed controllers that come with them. We also found an old Barbie Jeep to use.

I didn't hear from Matt for a couple of weeks, so I finally called him and he had already built the car. When I went and saw it, the Jeep had a steel frame with the EV Warrior motors mounted on it, a rear differential/axle, drum brake, the front steering, the actual Jeep body, and, of course, Matt’s trademark Red Harbor Freight tires used on his robot Sewer Snake. Matt became busy getting ready for combat at RoboGames 2013, so we didn't do anything for a couple of months.

After RoboGames, I called him about one week before the Maker Faire and Matt said he had some bad news. He drove the racer and both of the speed controllers burned up, so he figured we were done. I did some quick motor/torque math and confirmed the EV Warrior motors