Servo - February 2014

68 SERVO 02.2014

In October 2001, while most kids were taking in horror movies or planning out Halloween costumes, we were among a dedicated cadre of roboticists that descended upon Phoenix, AZ for Botbash 2001. Under the tutelage of our dad (who was also our robotics mentor), we built a

60 pound fighting robot with the aid of an educational grant. Thus began our adventures in the world of competitive robotics. Adventures that took us to FIRST regionals, connected us with SERVO Magazine, and even took us underwater.

Our experience with Botbash and combat robotics has influenced everything that we’ve done since, by teaching us the basics of good robot design and about the incomparable excitement of competition.

As we moved from high school to college, and then eventually on to our careers, we found ourselves with less time for competitions. The last event we competed in was the 2008

MATE ROV event. The last combat robotics event that we competed in was 2003’s Botbash by the Sea, held at the San Diego, CA County Fair. While our combat robots have made occasional appearances in the pages of SERVO, our 60 pounder Troublemaker and 30 pounder Twibill Trouble have — like us — been retired from the combat robotics scene for 11 years. We thought that was long enough, and that 2014 would see our return to combat robotics.

After so long, we knew that upgrades would have to be made — both for the sake of updated rules and for the reason that not all components stand the test of time. We also knew it might be a challenge to find the right competition. With RoboGames concluded, where would combat roboticists go? We were eager to find out, and to prove that even after 11 years we still had what it takes to skirmish with the best of them.

Days Gone By

As mentioned, our first foray into the wild and crazy world of combat robotics came in 2001 when we received a grant which we pledged to use for the educational endeavor of designing and building a fighting robot. Even though we were just completing middle school, we already had some exposure to robotics in the form of the classic LEGO MINDSTORMS kit. So, of course, the next logical step was a 60 lb combat robot.