Combat Robotics

What is Combat Robotics?

Combat Robotics is a club that's all about creating a battle-worthy robot. Once entered into competitions, the bots are organized into fighting classes by their weight. At UCLA we compete in a 30-lb, 15-lb, and 12-lb weight class, and attend competitions all across the US.

As robots become a larger and larger role in our society, these systems will need to be robust enough to stand up to the wear and tear of everyday use in our modern society. These ideas are fundamental to combat robots and has allowed me to design systems which are lightweight but able to take huge impacts from weapons spinning at +2000 RPM.

My Roles:

2022 - 2024: Flagship Combat Robotics Co-Lead

Being present and assisting with all internal design/manufacturing decisions
Contacting companies for manufacturing/sponsorships
Managing team meeting times, availability, and budget
Ensuring each sub-team is on track with their respective time-line

2021- 2022: Flagship Combat Robotics Drivetrain/Electronics Lead

Designing and selecting components for drivetrain system
Making final decision on the speed and acceleration of our bot
Dividinf tasks amongst sub-team members and organizing regular meetings/check-ins

2020 - 2022: Combat Robotics: Duck Bot Weapons Sub-team Co-Lead

Designed Snail Cam shape and Flipper Geometry
Selected a motor with enough torque to power weapon assembly
Managed manufacturing of Weapon assembly components

Propeller Final Design Review 23-12-01

Propeller - 30lb Omni-directional, full body spinner

Propeller is a 30 lb Full body spinner bot with an omni-directional drive train system that our program is currently working on the manufacturing for. The bot makes use of 3 omni wheels placed 120 degrees apart from one another to drive in any direction. To achieve this our team did tons of research into controlling brushless motors with an Arduino, setting up PID control loops using input from encoders, and created a fully functional prototype within 6 weeks. Currently this bot is being manufactured to compete in late May at May Metal Massacre!

Orbital bombardment - 12lb arm/Vertical Spinner

Orbital Bombardment is a 12lb Arm Mounted Vertical Spinner that our program is currently designing and manufacturing. This bot exploits the fact that the vast majority of combat robots do not apply armor to the top of their bot, a weakness our robot will be able to take advantage of. The arm is planned to be made out of UHMW to reduce weight and a 2 stage pulley system is in place to get power from the motor in the chassis to the spinner at the tip of the arm.

The armor for this bot is made of a soft, compliant 3D printable material called TPU. By using this material for the armor of our robot, we're able to make use of TPU's flexibility to absorb impacts and spread the load over a longer period of time. Overall this armor tends to be less durable, but significantly lighter than steel or aluminum and typically last for the entire 3 minute fight. And because the armor is able to be 3D printed, manufacturing is simple and the armor can be made in mass and easily swapped out between fights. Currently this bot is being manufactured to compete in late May at May Metal Massacre!

Orbital Final Design Review 23-12-01

Cheddar - 15lb Flywheel flipper

Cheddar is a 15 lb flipper bot I co-lead the design and manufacturing for during the 2022-2023 school year that won the award for "Most Innovative" at our annual competition! The bot is centered around the idea of using an internal flywheel to continuously store rotational energy and release it at a moment's notice into our flipper. This is accomplished through the use of conical clutch attached to a twisted string actuator which rapidly transfers the energy from the flywheel to the flipper through a rack and pinion mechanism. The design of this bot was easily the most complex the team had ever tackled and required a ton of work to manage all the individual sub-systems and ensure all of the different factors would align. Designing this bot has involved a ton of research and calculations to ensure we created accurate models and simulations of our weapons system.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Shrug) - Drivetrain & Electronics Sub-team Lead

¯\_(ツ)_/¯, aka "Shrug", is a 15-lb vertical spinner bot I designed with a group of 10 students during 2021 Fall quarter and 2022 Winter Quarter. For this project I was the Drivetrain and Electronics Lead, this means I was in-charge of leading our sub-team in picking motors, ESCs, gearboxes, battery types, and belt systems that would give our bot enough power while still being cost/space efficient and stay underweight.

Duck Bot - Weapon Sub-team Co-Lead

Duck Bot is a 3lb flipper bot I designed with a group of my friends during my freshman year in 2020 and manufactured in 2021. For many of us, this was our first time designing and building something from scratch and while the club gave us specific motors, ESCs, batteries, etc., to use, the integration and function of all the components was completely up to us.

We wanted to create what is known as a "flipper" bot, this type of battle bot is known for its lack of kinetic/damage dealing weapon and prioritizes flipping over the opponent's bot in order to render them incapable of fighting or causing self harm.

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