I Built a Combat Robot in Under a Day (for $20) MakerBattle Event Recap

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Now you can find the 3D design files for Sonic here! justcuzrobotics.com/products/sonic-v1-cad

[@The8BitNerd]

That first loss makes me now question the way the judging works at the competitions.

[@AiraBai]

Also shouldn't he won in the moment the battery is out? Isn't normal the rule that the match ends with the batteries out?

[@MrPinguinzz]

only now?

[@Drawliphant]

Sonic is so tail heavy its secretly a hammer saw! Fun bot to watch. The small competitions with newer competitors can be really fun events if your bot is thrown together with whats lying around.

[@paydaygh9388]

Fun trick I learned from Logan David of Subzero: If your 1lb ant is doing wheelies, take a gift card or other 3.5” plastic card and bend it 90 degrees in the middle. Glue it to the robot’s rear end and you now have an anti-flip tail!

[@JustCuzRobotics]

I thought about doing something like that but it would also make it so that when the robot is flipped over it couldn't flip itself back upright easily

[@Vibrantatious]

My only guess for Baby Synthesis' win was that control points were based off of you taking a bit of air from their shots and Sonic having difficulty self righting from them. I like the simplicity of this design, and it is a great testimony that basic doesn't mean bad. This bot also proves you are a very consistent driver, you were rarely making oversteps that allowed you to hit opponents with hits much more significant than theirs.

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Yeah I think it did come down to control. My blade got stuck in the wall and floor, and when stuck the second time Synthesis freed me with the hit that broke my drive motor. So I definitely was losing on that front

[@FireMageTheSorcerer]

Sonic is kinda like Divisions little brother, just as chaotic. Also, I think that they should have given the win to you in that first fight. You definitely did more damage.

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Yeah they definitely both bring the chaos! Sonic is definitely easier to drive but it still takes some getting used to

[@Termini_Man]

You did much more damage, had more control and aggression, I am just as baffled as you on how you lost that. I also love your victory gyration

[@kreebog]

Nice video - thanks for sharing. I really appreciate that you share your design process, BoMs, and the designs themselves - keep it up!

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Thank you!

[@Spiethstar]

Well made video, like the battles with the commentary. Good luck on the comming battles

[@Kinekitsu]

Well now I gotta do a $10 bot challenge👀 Awesome vid- props for doing so well with such a short notice bot!

[@JustCuzRobotics]

I mean I kinda cheated by having an entire store worth of stock parts in hand lol. Thanks tho!

[@FireRodan93]

I LOVE this robot!! It's so beautiful and awesome! Great work Seth, great work.

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Thank you so much

[@jordhan1]

I would love the CAD files for sonic to be on your store!

[@JustCuzRobotics]

justcuzrobotics.com/products/sonic-v1-cad

[@gh0stm0nst3r6]

It's like an American Angus. Red & Black t-shirt and all lol

[@deppresionmeal942]

excuse me what was that jd!? i have seen my fair share of bad jds (horizontal spinners do absolutely no damage to wedge bots, while flinging themselves around the arena and doing the sit in the center and turn to face your opponent strat and somehow they win a unanimous jd) but that was absolutely bad. But i hope to see sonic compete again, it is such a cool bot (and maybe shrapnel mine too?)

[@chr4050]

He who lives by the judge call, dies by the judge call.

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Facts

[@grantclark4139]

Hey man, in your match against BBY I noticed they stayed pretty much in place for most of the hits while your bot went flying. I do agree with your damage assessment but from the perspective of a referee they may not see all of that, so superficial signs of better control and sturdiness may count for more. Love your videos and engineering, just throwing out an explanation

[@JustCuzRobotics]

That is definitely true. I think am experienced combat robot judge would have seem functional damage as more important than 'hit count' but it definitely looks worse than it is when your robot is flying all over the place even when doing more damage. In NHRL judging guidelines that match should have been a clear win for Sonic but this event is obviously not NHRL. Its just what I'm used to the most at this point.

[@mineman8496]

not sure what the judging criteria was but the first fight seemed like you should have won, more dammage and agression from sonic imo

[@outofdarts]

At some point, I need to see this in person.

[@JustCuzRobotics]

You should come to NHRL sometime!

[@T3hJimmer]

Shouldn't that first fight have ended when your opponent puked up a naked lipo?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Good question! Most events have their own rules about what happens when a battery is exposed but most will stop a fight. I'm not sure if the lipo just wasn't noticed in this case or if they decided to keep fights going when that happens.

[@darragongamer]

So 1lb kit wen?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

There are sooooo many already, but maybe someday. Almost all the parts I sell now are really aimed at Beetles so I'll stick to those for now!

[@OuroborosArmory]

Do you know of any good groups in central florida? Near Sarasota?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

I think there are a few events in Florida. You can find local combat robot events at www.robotcombatevents.com/

[@pauldoe3201]

It seems like you made a thwack vert, I don’t see what the problem is 😂

[@forceofwillgaming8475]

Dang that first match was crazy. Also who was that on commentary she sounds familiar

[@JustCuzRobotics]

That would be Ashley, known for the nhrl robot milk tank

[@NotShayD]

You could program your remote to have an acceleration rate that is right below the point of your robot flipping itself, and you would be able to achieve a lot more control

[@JustCuzRobotics]

That certainly might be possible!

[@DigitalJedi]

I feel like the much funnier option is a wheelie bar.

[@bami2]

You might even be able to program a PID so that when you accelerate forward it also spins up the weapon by a certain amount to counteract the flip-up with the weapon inertia. You would still need to limit the motor speed when the weapon is up to full speed but would at least give you more box-rushing possibilities instead of straight knee-capping the robot acceleration.

[@JustCuzRobotics]

That would be much more complicated since it would require having closed loop control over the weapon speed which means additional Hardware that I don't have space for

[@bami2]

@@JustCuzRobotics I was thinking you could do it entirely on the transmitter side: Cap the weapon control to like 80% and raise it to 100% when the bot starts accelerating straight forward, just as a little nudge to keep the front end to the floor and then slowly ramp it back to 80% for the next acceleration. I think other bot builders have experimented with automatically ramping down weapon speed while turning (or automatically limiting turning speed based on weapon speed) to reduce the gyro. But I'd be more worried about side-effects of the weapon unintentionally spinning up while test driving or just adding complexity that might go wrong.

[@Headbanger142]

Wait....what? Couldn't you have appealed that first match decision?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

There is no appeals process at pretty much any competition outside of Battlebots on TV

[@Timbit901]

Eternal sadness looking to make a cheap bot and was hoping the net cost was actually going to be $20

[@JustCuzRobotics]

The cheapest way to get a complete robot now is probably a 150 g robot from Turnabot

[@Timbit901]

Yeah time to go cheaper by making some questionable amazon choices

[@connorbingel7134]

I use cheep RC airplane remotes that save a ton of money. You can skimp on motors but you need to buy nice ESCs and batteries. Honestly Seth’s all in one ESC is the best for the price that I’ve found. I was impatient and bought one of the itgreasas at a comp for a premium instead of waiting for more stock

[@JustCuzRobotics]

I don't sell an all in one ESC just yet! Only power distribution boards that still require a separate ESC. It is something on my list however. Once the WEKA is fully developed it should be trivial to add power distribution onto that platform.

[@connorbingel7134]

@JustCuzRobotics, I meant your drive esc. It used to be you had to buy two escs or a really crappy Amazon one

[@gearheadmetalfactory6402]

What plastic would you recommend for a full chassis?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

TPU is what I used, it works great as long as you design to be floppy and flexible

[@gearheadmetalfactory6402]

@@JustCuzRoboticswhat plastic would work for more of a rigid frame?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Nylon has proven pretty durable although difficult to 3d print large parts well

[@gearheadmetalfactory6402]

@@JustCuzRoboticswhat nylon would you recommend?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Taulman alloy 910 is commonly used but difficult to print. I haven't found a plain nylon I'm super happy with. Polymaker Copa I have heard is good but haven't tried it.

[@andrewpetrov7646]

you should have won the first fight fi it was not built in two it would have been dead 💀

[@l8dawn]

for the new PD, are the smds just an LVR or is there a shunt?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

I'm not sure what you mean by a shunt in this context. I'm using a linear regulator in combination with a set of diodes and capacitors to help filter and stabilize the voltage.

[@l8dawn]

gotcha. I didn't know if after the linear regulator there was a series regulator since it could generate too much heat, so I was wondering if you were using a (parallel) shunt regulator as well@@JustCuzRobotics

[@JustCuzRobotics]

To be honest I'm not an electrical engineer and I don't know what all the industry standard things would be, I just do my own research and try things and find out what works

[@l8dawn]

I'm looking forward to the new dESC regardless :)@@JustCuzRobotics

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Oh yeah the ESC is actually designed by a competent electrical engineer. I am helping out with the overall requirements and some details but CB Technologies is doing all the firmware and hardware development.

[@KodyFurlong]

Is that Bunny announcing?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Nope, it's Ashley, she helps out a lot with NHRL events though too!

[@ironoreiron]

Can you make a tutorial on how to design a robot from scratch on fusion 360 as i am still new to fusion 360 but am interested in making a combat robot So everything from the weapon to the entire body Thx :)

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Unfortunately I probably won't be making many CAD tutorials in the future. They are extremely time consuming to edit and the audience for them is small. There are some great channels that have made those however. You should check out team small Robotics FOXIC CAD Along on youtube.

[@ironoreiron]

@@JustCuzRobotics i just watched part one of foxic cad, its actually really good and useful so thx

[@stevenjack6283]

So what are the odds a PLA printed robot will survive the first hit?

[@JustCuzRobotics]

Very low lol

[@sickboy1031]

That's where the plastic ant categories comes in