Beetleweight combat robot

Build summary

Having watched BattleBots growing up, I was very interested in the lightweight hobbyist-driven combat robot scene. I got into the 3lb beetleweight class specifically because it offers an exciting trade between high power-to-weight ratios and a low cost to start building. The biggest challenge in designing my 3lb combat robot was trading weight between the weapon and armor. Since I didn't know what design of robot I would be fighting in a given match, I designed the chassis to have common mounting points for modular parts, allowing me to build up an armor/weapon configuration that would be the most favorable for a given match. The chassis is all 1/4" thick aluminum, with each side bolted to another, so that I could swap out one damaged panel at a time rather than replacing the entire chassis. The side pods are mostly 3D printed, with optional aluminum panels. The top plate in the photo above is polycarbonate, but I also machined carbon fiber and aluminum options for opponents that could potentially strike the top.

Future plans

While the robot chassis itself held together in matches, I always found the TPU side panels were either getting ripped apart or would come completely off of the side of the robot, leaving the drive wheels exposed. I am planning to upgrade the side pods to PEBA, which is both lighter and returns energy even better than TPU. I also plan to redesign the geometry of the side pods themselves, hopefully preventing them from being torn clean off.