Combat Robot
This combat robot design is for the Dogeweight, or 15 lb weight class. The design features a drum spinner and modular armor configurations.
The main body of the robot consists of a two large pieces of aluminum sheet metal on the top and bottom, and a strip folded into shape around the edge. Aluminum was chosen since it is durable enough to provide some protection to the electronics inside the robot while remaining light enough to meet the weight requirements. A four wheel design was chosen for the increased traction over the common two wheeled designs, which would give our robot an edge when pushing another robot. The wheels on each side are driven by belts to a single mini-CIM motor. Since the belts are located within the body of the robot, they are protected, making it much less likely for the robot to be disabled by drive train issues.
The weapon consists of a drum-style spinner with two large teeth placed opposite each other. The teeth are removable from the drum for ease of manufacturing and replacement. Since the teeth are the part of the weapon that would primarily be impacting the opposing robots, they would be expected to take significantly more damage than the rest of the weapon. Thus, it would be much more efficient to be able to replace the teeth as necessary by undoing the four bolts that hold them on than it would to have to replace the entire weapon. The chain to drive the drum was intentionally placed in a protected location on the robot to prevent it from becoming a target.
The robot's armor was designed to be modular to adapt to the varied designs of opposing robots. The primary armor configuration consists of two small "wedgelets" at the front of the robot to provide some protection in head-to-head collisions and help feed the opposing robot into the weapon. Alternate configurations include a larger wedge at the front for increased protection in head-to-head collisions, as well as guards for the wheels. The elevated bar on the top of the robot serves a dual purpose: it protects the weapon chain from overhead attacks, as well as allowing the robot to drive and attack upside down, as the back wheels will still contact the ground when the robot is resting on the bar.