Combat Robots

Combat robots are a mode of robot competition in which custom-built machines fight using various methods to incapacitate each other. The Combat robots have generally been remote-controlled vehicles rather than autonomous robots.

Combat robots builders are generally hobbyists and the complexity and cost of their machines can vary substantially. Combat robots uses weight classes, with the heaviest robots able to exert more power and destructive capabilities. The rules of competitions are designed for the safety of the builders, operators, and spectators while also providing for an entertaining spectacle. Robot combat arenas are generally surrounded by a bulletproof screen.

Combat robots come in a variety of designs, with different strategies for winning fights. Robot designs typically incorporate weapons for attacking opponents, such as axes, hammers, flippers and spinning devices. Rules almost always prohibit gun-like weapons as well as other strategies not conducive to the safety and enjoyment of participants and spectators.

Combat Robots Design

Effective Combat robots must have some method of damaging or controlling the actions of its opponent while at the same time protecting itself from aggression. The tactics employed by combat robot operators and the robot designs which support those tactics are numerous. Although some robots have multiple weapons, the more successful competitors concentrate on a single form of attack. This is a list of most of the basic types of weapons. Most robot weaponry falls into one of the following categories:

Rammer –

Combat robots employing high-power drive trains and heavy armor are able to use their speed and maneuverability to crash into their opponent repeatedly with the hope of damaging weapons and vital components. Their pushing power may also be used to shove their opponent into arena hazards.

Wedge –

Similar in concept to a rammer, the wedge uses a low-clearance inclined wedge or scoop to move in under an opponent and break its contact with the arena floor – decreasing its mobility and rendering it easy to push off into a wall or hazard. The wedge is also useful in deflecting attacks by other robots. Small wedge-lets are used to lift opponent bot and feed it to a secondary weapon system.

Saw Blades –

A popular weapon in the early years of Combat robots, these robots use a dedicated motor to power either a modified chainsaw or circular saw, or a custom-built cutting disc, usually at high speeds (up to 10,000 rpm). These weapons can create spectacular showers of sparks, and are easy to combine with other designs, but can be ineffective against robots with tougher armor.

Spinner –

Spinners are generally larger and heavier than saw blades, and spin at a lower RPM. Rather than cutting through the opponent, spinners use a heavy bar, studded disc, or toothed cylinder (drum/eggbeater) to strike the opponent with the kinetic energy stored in the rotating mass. The mass may spin on either a horizontal or vertical axis, although vertical spinners may have maneuverability problems due to the gyroscopic action of the weapon.

Thwack Bot –

A narrow, high-speed, two-wheel drive train attached to a long boom with an impact weapon on the end creates a robot that can spin in place at a high speed, swinging the weapon in a horizontal circle. The simplicity and durability of the design are appealing, but the robot cannot be made to move in a controlled manner while spinning without employing sophisticated electronics (See Melty-Brain Spinner above).

Torque Reaction –

A variant on the thwack bot is the torque reaction hammer, also known as axlebots. These robots have two very large wheels with the small body of the robot hanging in between them. A long weapon boom has a vertically oriented hammer, pick, or axe on the end. On acceleration, the weapon boom swings upward and over to the rear of the robot to offset the motor torque. When the robot reverses direction, the weapon will swing forcibly back over the top and hopefully impact the opponent.

Lifter –

Using tactics similar to a wedge, the lifter uses a powered arm, prow, or platform to get underneath the opponent and lift it away from the arena surface to remove its maneuverability. The lifter may then push the other robot toward arena hazards or attempt to toss the opponent onto its back.

Important Features Of Combat Robots

Flipper –

Although mechanically resembling a lifter, the flipper uses much higher levels of pneumatic power to fire the lifting arm or panel explosively upward. An effective flipper can throw opponents end-over-end through the air causing damage from the landing impact or, in Robot Wars, toss it completely out of the arena. Flippers use a large volume of compressed gas and often have a limited number of effective attacks before their supply runs low. The two-time Robot Wars champion Chaos 2 and original, 2000s-era

Stabber –

Mechanically similar to the flipper is the stabber, which throws or stabs opponents forward instead of upward. An effective stabber can penetrate into the opponent, damage vital inner parts. When they fail to penetrate, they throw their opponent back across the arena into walls or hazards. Stabbers typically use a large volume of compressed gas, which limits the number of times they can fire their weapon in a fight. BattleBots super heavyweight Rammstein was a stabber.

Clamper –

Another lifter variant, the clamper adds an arm or claw that descends from above to secure the opposing robot in place on a lifting platform. The entire assembly then lifts and carries the opponent wherever the operator pleases. Two-time BattleBots super heavyweight champion Diesector was an electric clamper, as well as middleweight runner-up Complete Control.

Dustpan –

An uncommon variant on the clamper, the dustpan simplifies the design by replacing the lifting platform with a wide box open at the front and top. An opponent maneuvered into the box may then be restrained with an arm or claw from above. Some designs use only the box with no restraining claw. BattleBots middleweight runner-up S.O.B. used a dustpan in conjunction with a saw blade mounted on an arm, with the more recent 2018 BattleBots competitor SawBlaze using a 180º pivoted-arm-mounted circular saw on their trident-style dustpan design to cut downwards into an opponent.[19]

Crusher –

Like flywheels, crushers can be separated into horizontal and vertical variants. Vertical crushers use a hydraulic cylinder attached to a sharp piercing arm to pin and slowly penetrate the top armor of the opponent. Robot Wars Series 5 Champion and two-time world champion Razer was the first vertical crusher, and by far the most successful. Horizontal crushers feature two of these arms, which act like pincers to crush robots between them. Two-time Robot Wars Annihilator champion Kan-Opener armed with horizontal claws, and King of Bots Champion “Spectre” armed with a vertical ‘biting fang’ – or like the Dutch-fielded, hydraulically-powered ten metric tonne-force “toucan-billed” robot Petunia in recent seasons of Discovery Channel’s Battlebots are other examples of successful crushers.

Advantages of Combat Robots

• Replace soldiers in dangerous missions, such as crawling through caves or in street-to-street urban combat, reducing casualties.
• Reduce civilian casualties if used properly and if sufficient ethical programming could be developed.
• Act as a “force multiplier.” One human fighter could command a squad of robots working semi autonomously.
• Make faster decisions than humans, an important advantage on the modern battlefield.
• Be unaffected by anger, revenge, hunger, fear, fatigue, or stress.
• Use video or other sensors to monitor human soldiers on both sides of a battle for violations of the laws of war.
• Refuse to carry out unethical or illegal commands, something a human soldier might be pressured not to do.

Replace soldiers in dangerous missions, such as crawling through caves or in street-to-street urban combat, reducing casualties.

Disadvantages of Combat Robots

• Reduce civilian casualties if used properly and if sufficient ethical programming could be developed.
• Act as a “force multiplier.” One human fighter could command a squad of robots working semi autonomously.
• Make faster decisions than humans, an important advantage on the modern battlefield.
• Be unaffected by anger, revenge, hunger, fear, fatigue, or stress.
• Use video or other sensors to monitor human soldiers on both sides of a battle for violations of the laws of war.
• Refuse to carry out an unethical or illegal commands, something a human soldier might be pressured not to do.

Conclusion

Choosing your robot’s configuration will come naturally as you review your personality, your engineering skills, and your building ability. Robots with complicated weapons are exciting but hard to keep running throughout a long grueling event. It’s worth the effort though, as nothing can replace the thrill you feel when the crowd is roaring for you. Hey, the design that you are inspired to pursue could turn out to be quite a crowd pleaser, but you won’t know until you build it. So get out there and just do it!