SERVO 12.2013 31
These wheels were discussed for their ease of use and
suitability for use on robots weighing 30 lbs or less. If
your application requires something that is not offered
by the wheels covered here, you may be able to find
something that will work at one of the following
websites:
www.robotmarketplace.com/products/
wheels_main.html
www.fingertechrobotics.com/products.php
?cat=Wheels+% 26+Hubs
www.andymark.com/Wheel-s/229.htm
www.vexrobotics.com/vexpro/wheels-and-hubs
http://teamwhyachi.com/wheels.htm
Nearly six years ago, my wife and I completed our greatest
accomplishment. We had
successfully made our first fully
autonomous (sometimes too
autonomous) biped walker. Since
then we've completed a second
walker, but now we're into the really
challenging part of working with
bipeds: raising them.
My two boys have been
following me to combat robot
events since before they could walk.
My oldest son, Cayden, is turning six
and my youngest son, Ethan is three
and a half. Cayden has been to at
least a half dozen events. Not too
bad for someone whose hands are
too small to hold the remote and
drive at the same time. Ethan has
been to probably three or four.
This article is a mini build report
from my perspective of getting the
bots and boys ready for their first
event with their own "real" combots
at Battle at Maker Faire, which took
place on October 5th at the Orlando
Mini Maker Faire.
History
Cayden has previously competed
in two events and Ethan one. They
both fought in the unmodified toy
class at the Gulf Coast Robot Sports
event in Bradenton, FL. The GCRS
unmodified toy class was exactly as it
sounds: Intended for the youngsters,
kids brought their small RC cars that
were unmodified and tried to push
each other into the pit. The two boys
ultimately went 1-2 in a field of
about five. Daddy was extremely
shocked and proud.
I knew at that time that we had
something that could really flourish. I
just had to get them into something
a little more competitive. That's when
I took my old broken Antweight
vertical spinner and bolted a wedge
on the front. The robot Speedy was
born and Cayden used it at another
GCRS event.
The wedge spent a previous life
as a VCR case. It was relatively
lightweight, but was easy to work
with and gave me a nice sharp
wedge. Cayden did well driving it,
but unfortunately facing the tougher
bots with more driving experience
was too much for him. The important
thing about having his own bot and
competing against "the big kids" was
that he was bitten by the bug.
Building Angry Bot
I was in the garage digging
through my spare robot parts trying
to get inspiration for my next robot,
when Cayden came out to join me.
We have a very similar personality
when it comes to robots. We look at
Building Builders
● by Matt Spurk
Angry Bot under construction.