Getting into Combat Robots
Oh my goodness where do I start? My life of combat robotics started last year with my daughter asking about building her own BattleBot. Now, just for the record, I am not an engineer, I do not have a lot tools tools, and I had an insane fear of things that could burn me (I am talking to you soldering iron).
But the reality was that when your daughter (who was 8 at the time) asks about doing something like combat robots, well it is really difficult to say no. So I started the process of searching out everything that I could to see what was available for her to participate.
Facebook Battlebots Group
I started with what I knew, Battlebots. We had seen them on television, and so I looked up to see if I could find a Facebook group (because everyone has a Facebook Group, right?). And yes there is a BattleBots Facebook Group. This was my first experience with the combat robot community. Everyone was so nice and to my surprise, many of the builders we had seen on television were also a part of this group as well.
Questions, questions, I had lots of questions. The most important of which was where do I start if my daughter wants to fight robots? To say the community is helpful, is an understatement. I was eventually pointed in the direction of a couple of websites that listed combat robot events, and it was recommended, before spending any money, we should visit an event to see what we think about it.
Where do I Find Combat Robot Events
As it turns out, there are a couple of websites that one can go to learn about combat robot events. Robotcombatevents.com and Buildersdb.com. Oh my goodness a whole new world opened up to me and so did a whole new vocabulary. After all what are Ants, Beetles, Fairies, and 150 g (which in the United States is the Fairy class)? It was all a bit overwhelming, but wouldn't you know it, there was an event that was being hosted 3 1/2 hours away. So here was our chance. I contacted the event organizer (team Angry Rooster Robotics) and we were all set.
Our First Combat Robot Event
We had no clue what to expect. All we knew was that there would be robots and robots fighting. We arrived a little late, that would be mostly my fault as I took a wrong turn (don't ask). And, one of the most amazing things happened, my daughter fell in love (by this time she was 9 years old, so I guess that is okay, right?!). The event organizer took time out of the day to say hi to us, and even invited my daughter go behind the scenes (ok it wasn't all that behind, as much as there was a little partition between the crowd and the builders) to visit the pit area and see how bot builders prepare for their matches. One of the builders (Thanks Team Wedgie) adopted my daughter onto his team for the day and I swear she was floating the rest of the day.
When it was all said and done, and this is the only way that I can describe it, my daughter found her people. You see, she is a really kind girl, loves people, rockets, robots, and unicorns and glitter (and more recently Mine Craft, ungh). We were all amazed at how kind and helpful the builders were. And as we later found out, that is just the culture of the bot community. My daughter had been competitive in other things in life and the people she was competing against were not the most kind, to say the least. In combat robots, you can fight in the arena and help fix each other's bots outside.
Our First Combat Robot
Well, really it was my daughter's first bot. During the holidays, we decided to purchase a robot kit for her to build. Now, there are a few options out there for 1 pound kits (Fingertech, BotKits, and DIY), but we ultimately went with Fingertech Robotic's Viper 2 with the Viper2 Lifter attachment. The main reason is that we could purchase a complete bot with everything needed to make it run. And then the build was on. I choose to sit back and let my daughter complete the build and only help he when she absolutely needed it. Which as it turned out involved locking the hubs to the wheels, she did every thing else. She was so excited, we were so excited, and we were ready for her first event.
Our First Robot Combat Event
This is where we will have to hit the pause button. We were all set to go to an event and had backed out at the last minute due to some logistics. That would be the last time an event in our area would be going on for quite some time as COVID-19 became a thing. At the writing of this post, that is where we are at. A lot more has happened during this time, we now have a 3D printer, I have build a few 150 g bots, 1 plastic ant, and have made significant progress on our own arena, but that is for a later time.
Final Thoughts
As I close this post out, I was wondering what some things were that I would have liked to known on the front end in lieu of having to search them out. So here are some links that I would have very much found (and currently do find) helpful as I started this process.
Facebook Groups
Combat Robotics - https://www.facebook.com/groups/RobotCombat
Antweight Combat Robots - https://www.facebook.com/groups/antweights
Beetleweight Combat Robots - https://www.facebook.com/groups/Beetleweight
Youtube'rs
3D Printing File Repositories
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