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  • [TUT][ROBOWARS]Combat Robot Types

    abhaythehero

    Member

    Updated: Oct 27, 2024
    Views: 1.4K
    Credits :: Marco Antonio Meggiolaro
    Head of the RioBotz team from PUC-Rio University
    Hi friends...!!! A lot of you must be knowing about Robowars competitions
    being organized in almost all the techfests.


    For those who are still unaware....Robowars is the simplest competition where a bot
    takes on another bot.The objective is to destroy the other one......
    just like a wrestling match........!!!!!!!

    Here I am just showing you some basic bot types which are
    generally used in such competitions......




    P.S. :But it should not stop you from thinking out of the box & coming
    up with ur own design & creativity.....[​IMG][​IMG]
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    There are several types of combat robots .None of them is the best. It is a rock-paper-scissors game. Or, as combat builders say, a wedge-spinner-hammer game.



    The wedges tend to flip over the spinners,which in turn tend to cut off hammers,which tend to puncture or damage the wedges.But they only tend to......[​IMG]



    The truth is that a well designed robot can win against a robot of any type, independently of the trends.



    In the figure below there is a diagram showing such trends for several types of robots.
    In the figure, each robot has a tendency to win against the one it is pointing to. But a good design and a good driver can completely change this.

    [​IMG]
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  • abhaythehero

    Member • Jan 10, 2011

    Rammers

    [​IMG]

    Rammers are ramming robots, they damage the opponent throwing themselves against them or pushing them against the borders of the arena.



    They usually have 4 (or more) wheel drive,wheels with high traction,
    a sturdy drive system,robust armor, high resistance to impacts,and they
    don’t have weapons except for their passive shields.



    In general, they are invertible (they can be driven upside down).
    They need to be capable to push at least 2 times their own weight.
    They are effective against robots with spinning weapons, such as spinners,
    drumbots and sawbots.

    Wedges

    [​IMG]

    Wedges are robots with a sloped plate shaped as a wedge.They usually have 2 or 4 wheels, with a very resistant drive system. They can be invertible or not.


    Despite rarely causing damage directly, they are a good tactic against spinners, making them flip over when hitting the wedge. Wedges win against their opponents
    by entering underneath them and dragging them around the arena, or
    flipping them at high speeds.


    The front of the wedge should not be made out of sheet metal, because it can get easily bent and lose functionality. Use thick plates chamfered at the edge to withstand the opponents’ impacts.


    Wedges are good against rammers and robots with spinning weapons, and they are vulnerable mainly to other lower, faster and more powerful wedges.
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  • abhaythehero

    Member • Jan 10, 2011

    Lifters


    [​IMG]


    Lifters are robots capable of lifting the opponent, immobilizing it or turning it upside down.


    They are efficient against robots that depend on traction such as rammers and wedges, or robots that have protuberating parts that can be reached by the lifting arm. They are inefficient against thwackbots and overhead thwackbots, because they are difficult to catch and they can work inverted. Lifters are vulnerable to spinners.



    The lifter design involves a slow linear actuator to lift the opponent, which
    can stop in the middle of its course. In this way, one can lift an opponent and
    drag it around the arena instead of just flipping it over. A few lifters use pneumatic systems, but most of them use electric motors with linear actuators.


    Place the batteries as far behind as possible in the robot, to act as a counterweight
    when lifting an opponent. The front wheels need to have high torque and high
    traction, because the robot weight will move forward when lifting and dragging the opponent.

    Launchers / Flippers

    [​IMG]

    Launchers (or flippers) are lifters on steroids, being capable of flinging the opponent high into the air. The opponent not only can be flipped over, but it can also suffer great damage when hitting the ground. Therefore, launchers are good against opponents with weak chassis, or batteries and electronics without protection against impacts.

    Launchers need pneumatic components with large diameters actuated by high pressure air or CO2. Eliminate all needle valves from the system, or use a big accumulator, to guarantee the high gas flow necessary to power the weapon.
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  • abhaythehero

    Member • Jan 10, 2011

    Thwackbots

    [​IMG]

    Thwackbots are usually 2-wheeled robots, invertible, which rotate all their structure
    in the same place at high speeds.


    They usually have one or more long rods with a hammer, axe, or some piercing weapon.


    They use the energy of their own drive motors to power the weapon, leaving more weight for their armor.



    The tires need to be narrow, otherwise they will suffer large friction losses
    when trying to turn on a dime at high speeds. The wheels, besides being narrow, cannot be too far apart. The closer they are, the faster will be the final
    angular speed of the robot, however the slower will be the acceleration and the harder will be to drive on a straight line if necessary. The drive motors need to have high RPM.


    The main problem is that most thwackbots are not capable of moving
    around to pursue their opponent while they are spinning.




    Thwackbots are sometimes called full-body spinners, for obvious reasons.

    Overhead Thwackbots

    [​IMG]

    Overhead thwackbots use their weapon in an overhead movement, instead of a horizontal one such as with the thwackbots.

    They have 2 wheels and a long rod, which rotates when the drive motors are reversed, attacking the opponent’s top. It is important that the motors have high torque, because the weapon has only a 180 degree course to acquire its maximum speed.

    Unlike thwackbots, the wheels should be far apart to help it move on a straight line and to increase the precision of the attack. The tires should be wide to maximize traction.

    The center of mass of the robot needs to be very close to the line passing
    through the axes of the wheels,to guarantee that it can lift the weapon to attack.

    They are good against rammers, wedges and lifters.
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  • abhaythehero

    Member • Jan 10, 2011

    Spearbots

    [​IMG]


    Spearbots have a long and thin penetrating weapon, usually pneumatically actuated, which tries to penetrate into the walls of the opponent’s armor and damage
    vital internal components. The weapon needs to be resistant and sharp, reaching the largest possible speed. Some conicity in the spear tip is a must to avoid it getting stuck in the opponents.

    They usually have 6 wheels, to guarantee high traction, necessary so that the robot doesn’t move too much backwards during the attack. They are not too efficient,
    except against robots with thin lateral armors or with exposed vital components.

    Horizontal Spinners

    [​IMG]


    Horizontal spinners are the most destructive robots. They have a bar, disk, shell or ring that spins at high speeds. When the weapon spins very low near the ground, the
    spinner is called an undercutter.

    Ring or shell spinners spin their entire ring or shell-shaped armor,being capable
    of storing a high kinetic energy, becoming almost impossible for the opponents to
    reach them without being hit by their weapon.

    The weapon needs to spin as fast as possible, and you should be able to
    accelerate to a speed that can cause significant damage in less than 4 seconds.
    Spinners that take longer than 8 seconds to accelerate may never have a chance to damage a resistant and aggressive opponent. Spinners need to be fast to escape from their opponents while they spin up.

    Their greatest disadvantage is that, in general, they are not invertible, depending on
    luck to flip back.
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  • abhaythehero

    Member • Jan 10, 2011

    Sawbots

    [​IMG]

    Sawbots have abrasive or toothed disks powered at high speeds by a powerful motor. They are in general combined with other designs, such as wedge-saws.


    The saws have little efficiency to cut through the opponent, especially if it is trying to escape. They can easily cut sheet metal and Lexan but they can hardly cut any metal plates during a fight.


    Their greatest advantage is the cosmetic damage they cause, generating
    a shower of sparks, scratches and shallow cuts, which can impress
    judges and guarantee victory in a close match.


    Saws that rotate in such a way to lift the other robots have high risk of getting stuck on the opponent, breaking or bending. Saws that rotate downwards reduce this problem, however they increase the chance of self-flipping over.

    Vertical Spinners

    [​IMG]


    Vertical spinners are sawbots on steroids. Unlike sawbots, in general they use large diameter disks with very few teeth, or bars, spinning on a vertical plane.

    Damage is caused by both impacts: when the opponent is hit by the weapon and thrown into the air, and when it hits the ground.

    Vertical spinners need to have a wide base so that they don't tumble when turning due to the gyroscopic effect of the weapon.

    The impact force is transmitted to the ground, and not sideways such as with spinners, allowing them not to be flung to the sides due to their own impact.

    Their disadvantages are having their lateral and back exposed, and having a hard time making quick turns due to the gyroscopic effect. They have problems against very low wedges and tough rammers. The fights against horizontal spinners are extremely violent and fast, and they can go either way, although vertical disks with large diameter usually lose to powerful horizontal bars.
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  • abhaythehero

    Member • Jan 10, 2011

    Drumbots

    [​IMG]

    Drumbots have a spinning drum or eggbeater with teeth, in general powered by belts or chains,horizontally mounted in front of the robot. They usually rotate in such a way to launch the opponent, turning it over or causing damage from the impact with the weapon or with the ground.

    Drumbots are more compact versions of vertical spinners, with less moment of inertia in the weapon. This allows a shorter acceleration time for the drum, however causing less damage to the opponent.

    They are very stable due to their low center of gravity, they can be invertible, and they
    make turns more easily than vertical spinners due to the smaller gyroscopic effect.

    Wider drums allow drumbots to reach their opponent without needing a perfect
    lignment. The acceleration time of the drum should be at most 4 seconds.

    Their worst enemies are very resistant, well armored invertible robots.


    Hammerbots

    [​IMG]

    Hammerbots are robots with hammers or axes that hit their opponents’ top.

    Usually with 4 wheels,their attack is similar to the one from overhead thwackbots, however the weapon actuation is independent of the drive system.

    The weapon can be fired repeatedly and quickly. It is usually pneumatically powered to deliver enough speed in its course, which has only 180 degrees. The weapon system can work as a mechanism to flip back the robot itself.

    They are very efficient against robots with weak top armors. Powerful hammerbots are good against rammers, wedges,thwackbots and sawbots. Their worst enemies are the spinners.
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  • abhaythehero

    Member • Jan 10, 2011

    Clampers

    [​IMG]


    Clampers are robots capable of holding and lifting an opponent, usually carrying them to the dead zone on the borders of the arena. They’re usually pneumatically actuated (faster), or they use an electric system with high gear reduction (slower).

    Their design strategies are similar to the lifters’, where the robot weight should be shifted back to avoid tipping forward when lifting the opponent.

    Clampers need to be fast enough to reach their opponents before they can escape from their claws.

    They are good against rammers, wedges and thwackbots. Hammerbots should be caught from their sides, so the clamper can avoid being repeatedly hit by the hammer while clamping them. Instead of a lifting platform, a few clampers use a dustpan, which is basically a wide box open at the front and top where an opponent is maneuvered into. A few dustpan designs do not include a restraining claw.


    Crushers


    [​IMG]


    Crushers are robots with hydraulic claws capable of slowly puncturing or crushing the opponents.

    The claws need to have long tips to penetrate efficiently, and they need to have a long course to be able to work against an opponent with large dimensions. Their main advantage is that it is almost impossible for the opponent to escape after being caught, ending the match.

    Crushers need to be hydraulically powered to generate enough forces to crush, which makes them very complex and heavy, leaving little weight left for the drive system.

    They are usually heavyweights or super-heavyweights.More sophisticated robots use a two-stage hydraulic system: the first stage is fast enough to hold the opponent before it can escape, and the second stage is slow but with enough force to puncture and crush.
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  • abhaythehero

    Member • Jan 10, 2011

    Flamethrowers

    [​IMG]


    A few competitions allow the use of flamethrowers.The flamethrowers are usually used together with other weapons,such as wedges.

    The effect is mostly visual, counting points with the judges and making the audience cheer.

    They are usually inefficient to disable other robots because most opponents are fireproof, except if the electronics is exposed or the wheels are flammable.

    ********************End of Tutorial********************

    I hope that I have helped you in some way... :smile:
    Regards,
    Abhay
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  • ICECUBE

    Member • Jan 23, 2011

    thnx........let me know about types of high speed and high torque motors......!!
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  • ISHAN TOPRE

    Member • Jan 30, 2011

    Yeah lot of ideas thanks....
    Next time I will have an idea as to what to do in such competitions.....😀
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  • monti singh

    Member • Sep 7, 2012

    i want to know about war robots parts which use in it n how it is used
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  • Shadab Ahmad

    Member • Oct 22, 2015

    Thank you sooooo much.... This article about combat robots is very helpful....
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  • Meet Jain

    Member • May 20, 2016

    hey , Anyone there ? can you help me for the interior of the bots !
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