Armour ideas / materials

[Jon Smith]

Ok my question for this thread is : How big should your armour be in the heavy weight class? what grade steel how thick? Any smart materials such as D30 for vital components?

What do you suggest for a combat robot to survive a fight without ending up in pieces in the pit?

I'm going all in and want to do some arc welding on this project so what sheet metal would stand upto the abuse from a arena full of robots?

[Ellis]

Wear-plate steels, such as Hardox, are standard practice. There once was a source of 3.2mm thick Hardox but I believe that is rapidly drying up, if not already gone. 4mm is quite easy to source, though. I'm not a heavy builder, but it seems the standard method is to design a heavy, get the armour and chassis parts watercut by a company of your choice, then weld them all together.

There are other wear steels, but I'll let others comment about those, if there are any Hardox competitors.

[Eventorizon]

Given you have 3 posts... Welcome to the Forum!

Can I ask, is this your first machine and do you have any prior experience building machines similar to a heavyweight?

If Yes then go for it!

If No then we have a lot to fill you in on...

[Jon Smith]

Combat Robots yes this is my first time, and I'm filling in as much as possible.

About me:
I am a 15 year old Roboticist. I have been building robots since the age of 12 and am currently studying my GCSE's. As a Future career I have targeted my Learning towards Robotic Engineering. As a prerequisite to many careers in robotic engineering Welding knowledge shows up quite often. I have therefore decided the best way to gain welding knowledge is include the skill into another project of mine.

I have built many systems from Remote surveillance robots with Live video feed to 3d surround glasses to a Custom Liquid Cooled Computer with Automated Thermal Control including 17 thermocouple's to monitor system temperatures.

All projects require research and I can assure you I do my fair bit for each Project. Right now I am creating 3d Concepts for the Heavyweight robot and am researching into parts materials. Like most people I unfortunately don't have £1000 to spend on replacement motors therefore I aim to do things right the first time round so the second doesn't exist.

I am currently using this wonderful site as a "Kick-starter" for my research to point me in the direction I need to continue before I finalise any design plans.

And Thank you for the Welcome it is greatly appreciated.

[typhoon_driver]

I wouldn't bother specializing too quickly in life. Best advice I was ever given. Went and studied mechanical engineering, now work in the oil field. Make profit, build bots in spare time.

You may struggle to get a job with security in robotics.

[Jon Smith]

Yes I understand and respect your judgment. I am not focusing on what job I want because when I start looking for jobs in the future many things would have changed. I am looking as far as university and am keeping all career paths open. I am sure you are aware that university and education is changing rapidly and becoming more and more competitive in todays world, Therefore I need to gain as much experience and knowledge in a specific sector rather than spreading weakly over various subjects.


I may seem and appear to be aiming too high and be dismissed quickly and I completely understand reasoning for that, however I will still have fun even if I do fail in the process.

[Gaseraki]

Welcome to the forums mate.
You have a decent technology background but I'm afraid those aspects in this hobby are rather strait forward. Backgrounds in mechanical engineering and fabrication is usually needed to jump straight into heavyweight building.
Not saying you can't do it but you should start smaller then move up. Heavyweight mistakes are very expensive
Suggestion: build a feather. At your first competition eye up the heavy s and talk to people.
That would help you loads

[maddox10]

Most people who start with robot combat in "our format" do that by building one of the lighter classes. Those are a tad lighter on the wallet. But it's not up to me to decide that.

For armor. Most used atm is wear resistant steel, like Hardox. And simular kinds from other steel manufactorers. Search on names like RAEX , XAR or Creusabro. A tad more expensive than normal steel, but a lot cheaper than anything else for the same value of protection and "ease" of working with it.

The really high end grades of ali can do the job on the same level, but that you'll feel in the wallet. 7075T6 springs to mind.

Some plastics have , if used well, a reasonable result. In the past, polycarbonate -brand names like Lexan of Macrolon- was popular, but is getting replaced in most cases with the lighter, toughter cheaper, but softer HDPE.

On the other side, we have seen robots made from mild steel, ali checkerplate or low end stainless steel performing very well in the arena, and machines armored with hugely expensive stuff fail miserably. It's all how you use it.

And remember. Air is good armor, but armoring air is rather futile.

[Jon Smith]

Thank you for the most helpful post I have read yet Maddox. I'm looking to use a sheet metal to form a pyramid (Triangles are strong) and angle the metal to increase the thickness without adding more weight (Same concept used on tanks). I will do some research but right now I believe for yours and Ellis posts wear resistant steel is my best option mounted onto a internal box metal frame.

Once again thank you for your advice and I understand I am choosing to ignore some of your suggestions but I will keep posted with my progress.

Thank you for your assistance. (Thread not closed keep talking its really helpful)

[Jon Smith]

One last question What are the Average Dimensions / Size Rules for Heavyweight robots. I understand 55KG - 100KG but in terms of size W x H x D?

[Max]

There is no size restrictions, it just has to it through the door! Speaking as a 16 year old design technology enthusiast I imagine you could build a heavyweight with a lot of planning and reading through all the information on this forum, it's the best place for research. I would build something cheap and easy to begin with to save expensive mistakes, something wheelchair powered and sla batteries. Something without an active weapon.
Your probably best to start off with a feather weight though, it's cheaper and easier but you will learn a lot.
Just my thoughts.

[Jon Smith]

I'm Not planning to enter fights until I have a reliable setup with everything I need to make it worth it. I will make sure I drop into a event at some point during my research to get information, tips etc. face to face.

I have done it before on every single project and I find face to face advice the best available. I know many people have told me to start feather weight and I get the reasons but I don't want to build two robots that effectively do the same thing as I'm looking to gain as much range in skills before I go to university I have to move on after each project.

And believe it or not I'm already planning the project after this. If you want to know it involves artificial intelligence. I would love to make this combat robot AI enabled but I'm not prepared to send £500 worth of sensors and computer into a plastic box to be chopped up into thousands of pieces. Motors ,ESC's I don't mind they can be replaced easy (I hope).


Although (Mind-Post Light Bulb moment) I can install a Arduino System to send the data to a computer externally via a APC220 to then run the AI and relay the commands back. Ok that's booked for Tinker Time in the Garage when I complete the heavyweight.

Thanks for the advice.

Ok so would you say 1m long x 0.5m Wide x 0.4m tall a good Size or bigger still?

[plargen]

the smaller you can make it the more weight you can put into armour and weapons

if you have a rough idea of the shape you want, then when you get the main components you can do a basic layout to see how compact you can make it

[Max]

Just my opinion- I don't think this hobby is the kind that you can simply build one super robot then be done with it, it takes time to build robots and work on from those mistakes and slowly build up to a really good robot.
If you want to, I urge you to try to build a heavyweight. I have found a lot of people on this forum and some teachers etc. that can suggest things are too hard to do, and I am greatful for their help but I have succeeded in doing them. So don't let them put you off, but be aware it will be tough and like I said you probably will need trial and improvement to make a good robot that doesn't get broken.

[Jon Smith]

Yep I feel a lot of "Wax on, Wax Off" moments but I am prepared to go for it and yea plargen your right I will see if I can get a image of my cad designs hold on a sec