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RioBotz Combot Tutorial
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Marco



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


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RioBotz Combot Tutorial

Cheers from Brazil.

This post is to announce the English version of the RioBotz Combot Tutorial, with 367 pages. It is available for free download at:
www.riobotz.com.br/en/tutorial.html
or at www.robocore.net/tutorial

I had written it in 2006 because there was nothing available in Portuguese about combots back then. It is said that it helped to create several new Brazilian combot teams (my main objective), after reaching 20,000 downloads. We have a very active combat robot community in Brazil, just like yours.

A few builders asked me to generate an English version. I’ve spent two years translating and expanding the original text from 190 to 367 pages, with almost 900 figures. Besides the chapters about combot design, I’ve also included build reports from all combots from RioBotz, including the entire Touro family. It also has a link to this forum.

Thanks. I hope you’ll find it a useful contribution. Your forum surely is, I've learned a lot from the posts, especially the ones from Nick Martin!

Cheers,
Marco Antonio Meggiolaro
Team RioBotz

Post Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:42 am 
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Marco



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


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The contents of the tutorial is reproduced below, FYI.

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. A Brief History of Robot Combat, 1.2. Structure of the Tutorial, 1.3. Acknowledgments

2. DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS
2.1. Weight Classes, 2.2. Scale Factor, 2.3. Combat Robot Types (2.3.1. Rammers, 2.3.2. Wedges, 2.3.3. Lifters, 2.3.4. Launchers / Flippers, 2.3.5. Thwackbots, 2.3.6. Overhead Thwackbots, 2.3.7. Spearbots, 2.3.8. Horizontal Spinners, 2.3.9. Sawbots, 2.3.10. Vertical Spinners, 2.3.11. Drumbots, 2.3.12. Hammerbots, 2.3.13. Clampers, 2.3.14. Crushers, 2.3.15. Flamethrowers, 2.3.16. Multibots), 2.4. Design Steps (2.4.1. Cost, 2.4.2. Sponsorship, 2.4.3. Designing the Robot, 2.4.4. Calculations, 2.4.5. Optimization, 2.4.6. Building and Testing), 2.5. Robot Structure, 2.6. Robot Armor (2.6.1. Traditional Armor, 2.6.2. Ablative Armor, 2.6.3. Reactive Armor), 2.7. Robot Drive System (2.7.1. Tank Treads and Legs, 2.7.2. Wheel Types, 2.7.3. Wheel Steering, 2.7.4. Two-Wheel Drive, 2.7.5. All-Wheel Drive, 2.7.6. Omni-Directional Drive, 2.7.7. Wheel Placement, 2.7.8. Invertible Design), 2.8. Robot Weapon System, 2.9. Building Tools

3. MATERIALS
3.1. Mechanical Properties, 3.2. Steels and Cast Irons, 3.3. Aluminum Alloys, 3.4. Titanium Alloys, 3.5. Magnesium Alloys, 3.6. Other Metals, 3.7. Non-Metals, 3.8. Material Selection Principles (3.8.1. Stiffness Optimization, 3.8.2. Strength and Toughness Optimization), 3.9. Minimum Weight Design (3.9.1. Minimum Weight Plates, 3.9.2. Minimum Weight Internal Mounts, 3.9.3. Minimum Weight Protected Structural Walls, 3.9.4. Minimum Weight Integrated Structure-Armor Walls, 3.9.5. Minimum Weight Wedges, 3.9.6. Minimum Weight Traditional Armor, 3.9.7. Minimum Weight Ablative Armor, 3.9.8. Minimum Weight Beams, 3.9.9. Minimum Weight Shafts and Gears, 3.9.10. Minimum Weight Spinning Bars and Eggbeaters, 3.9.11. Minimum Weight Spinning Disks, Shells and Drums, 3.9.12. Minimum Weight Weapon Inserts, 3.9.13. Minimum Weight Clamper and Crusher Claws, 3.9.14. Minimum Weight Trusses), 3.10. Minimum Volume Design (3.10.1. Compact-Sized Internal Mounts, 3.10.2. Compact-Sized Drums, 3.10.3. Compact-Sized Shafts, Gears and Weapon Parts), 3.11. Conclusions on Materials Selection

4. JOINING ELEMENTS
4.1. Screws, 4.2. Shaft Mounting, 4.3. Rivets, 4.4. Hinges, 4.5. Welds

5. MOTORS AND TRANSMISSIONS
5.1. Brushed DC Motors (5.1.1. Example: Magmotor S28-150, 5.1.2. Typical Brushed DC Motors, 5.1.3. Identifying Unknown Brushed DC Motors), 5.2. Brushless DC Motors, 5.3. Power Transmission (5.3.1. Gears, 5.3.2. Belts, 5.3.3. Chains, 5.3.4. Flexible Couplings, 5.3.5. Torque Limiters), 5.4. Weapon and Drive System Calculations (5.4.1. Example: Design of Touro’s Drive System, 5.4.2. Example: Design of Touro’s Weapon System, 5.4.3. Energy and Capacity Consumption of Spinning Weapons), 5.5. Pneumatic Systems, 5.6. Hydraulic Systems, 5.7. Internal Combustion Engines

6. WEAPON DESIGN
6.1. Spinning Bar Design, 6.2. Spinning Disk Design, 6.3. Tooth Design (6.3.1. Tooth Height and Bite, 6.3.2. Number of Teeth), 6.4. Impact Theory (6.4.1. Impact Equations, 6.4.2. Limit Cases, 6.4.3. Impact Energy, 6.4.4. Example: Last Rites vs. Sir Loin), 6.5. Effective Mass (6.5.1. Effective Mass of Horizontal Spinners, 6.5.2. Effective Mass of Vertical Spinners and Drumbots, 6.5.3. Example: Drumbot Impact, 6.5.4. Effective Mass of Hammerbots, 6.5.5. Full Body, Shell and Ring Drumbots, 6.5.6. Effective Mass Summary), 6.6. Effective Spring and Damper (6.6.1. A Simple Spring-Damper Model, 6.6.2. Spring and Damper Energy, 6.6.3. Offensive Strategies, 6.6.4. Defensive Strategies, 6.6.5. Case Study: Vertical Spinner Stiffness and Damping, 6.6.6. Equivalent Electric Circuit), 6.7. Hammerbot Design (6.7.1. Hammer Energy, 6.7.2. Hammer Impact), 6.8. Overhead Thwackbot Design, 6.9. Thwackbot Design (6.9.1. Thwackbot Equations, 6.9.2. Melty Brain Control, 6.9.3. NavBot Control), 6.10. Launcher Design (6.10.1. Three-Bar Mechanisms, 6.10.2. Launcher Equations, 6.10.3. Height Launcher Equations, 6.10.4. Range Launcher Equations, 6.10.5. Four-Bar Mechanisms, 6.10.6. Launcher Stability), 6.11. Lifter Design, 6.12. Clamper Design, 6.13. Rammer Design, 6.14. Wedge Design (6.14.1. Wedge Types and Shapes, 6.14.2. Wedge Impact, 6.14.3. Defensive Wedges, 6.14.4. Offensive Wedges, 6.14.5. Example: Offensive Wedge vs. Horizontal Spinner, 6.14.6. Angled Impacts, 6.14.7. Wedge Design Against Vertical Spinners), 6.15. Gyroscopic Effect, 6.16. Summary

7. ELECTRONICS
7.1. Radio Transmitter and Receiver (7.1.1. Transmitters, 7.1.2. Receivers, 7.1.3. Antennas, 7.1.4. Gyroscopes, 7.1.5. Battery Elimination Circuit, 7.1.6. Servos), 7.2. Controlling Brushed DC Motors (7.2.1. Bang-Bang Control, 7.2.2. Pulse Width Modulation, 7.2.3. H-Bridge), 7.3. Electronic Speed Controllers (7.3.1. OSMC - Open Source Motor Controller, 7.3.2. IFI Victor, 7.3.3. Robot Power Scorpion, 7.3.4. BaneBots, 7.3.5. Other Brushed Motor Speed Controllers, 7.3.6. Brushless Electronic Speed Controllers), 7.4. Solenoids (7.4.1. White-Rodgers 586 SPDT, 7.4.2. Team Whyachi TW-C1), 7.5. Wiring (7.5.1. Wires, 7.5.2. Terminals, Plugs and Connectors), 7.6. Power Switches, 7.7. Connection Schemes (7.7.1. Classic Connection Scheme, 7.7.2. Improved Connection Scheme, 7.7.3. Connection Scheme for Reversible Weapons), 7.8. Developing your Own Electronics (7.8.1. Speed Controller Development, 7.8.2. RC Interface Development)

8. BATTERIES
8.1. Battery Types (8.1.1. Sealed Lead Acid (SLA), 8.1.2. Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd), 8.1.3. Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH), 8.1.4. Alkaline, 8.1.5. Lithium), 8.2. Battery Properties (8.2.1. Price, 8.2.2. Weight, 8.2.3. Voltage, 8.2.4. Shelf Life, 8.2.5. Number of Recharge Cycles, 8.2.6. Charge Time, 8.2.7. Self-Discharge, 8.2.8. Discharge Curve, 8.2.9. Internal Resistance, 8.2.10. Capacity, 8.2.11. De-Rating Factor, 8.2.12. Discharge Rate), 8.3. Battery Care and Tips (8.3.1. Shock Mounting, 8.3.2. Recharging, 8.3.3. Battery Storage, 8.3.4. Assembling Your Own Pack, 8.3.5. Billy Moon's Rules for LiPo)

9. COMBOT EVENTS
9.1. Before the Event (9.1.1. Test and Drive Your Robot, 9.1.2. Prevent Common Failures, 9.1.3. Lose Weight, 9.1.4. Travel Preparations), 9.2. During the Event (9.2.1. Getting Started, 9.2.2. Waiting for Your Fight, 9.2.3. Before Your Fight, 9.2.4. During Your Fight, 9.2.5. Deciding Who Won, 9.2.6. After Your Fight, 9.2.7. Between Fights), 9.3. After the Event (9.3.1. Battery Care, 9.3.2. Inspect Your Robot, 9.3.3. Wrap Up)

10. RIOBOTZ BUILD REPORTS
10.1. Lacrainha, 10.2. Lacraia, 10.3. Anubis, 10.4. Ciclone, 10.5. Titan, 10.6. Touro, 10.7. Mini-Touro, 10.8. Tourinho, 10.9. Puminha, 10.10. Touro Light, 10.11. Micro-Touro, 10.12. Touro Jr., 10.13. Touro Feather, 10.14. Pocket

CONCLUSIONS
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Bibliography
Appendix A – Conversion among Brinell, Vickers and Rockwell A, B and C hardnesses
Appendix B – Material Data
Appendix C – Stress Concentration Factor Graphs
Appendix D – Radio Control Channels and Frequencies

Post Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:44 am 
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andrew



Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 3110
Location: Castle Hill, Sydney. N.S.W


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downloaded it last night thanks guys,

Have not read much in detail but what i glanced through appeared to be quite informative and well presented.

Nicely done
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Post Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:35 am 
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Glen
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 9481
Location: Where you least expect


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absolutely amazing Surprised please print some hardcopies of it! ill take one Very Happy

Post Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:40 am 
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Knightrous
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Joined: 15 Jun 2004
Posts: 8511
Location: NSW


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Just had a quick skim through the whole thing. Very very nice! Will be taking some time to read some of this in depth in the future. Defininately needs published in paper back Cool
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Post Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:43 am 
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andrew



Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 3110
Location: Castle Hill, Sydney. N.S.W


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yeha man you could make some good coin with this thing

Lesser books have been published and done reasonably well, this would exceed those easily
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Post Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:37 pm 
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Marco



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


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Thanks for the kind words! I chose to distribute the tutorial for free to reach out to a greater number of builders. If you like a hardcopy (so do I, it feels better to read), feel free to print it out or have it printed. I'm looking forward to your feedback.

Post Wed Mar 11, 2009 1:17 pm 
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Marco



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


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Several people had asked me to generate a printed version of the RioBotz Tutorial. So I generated a press-quality version of the text (better quality than the one from the downloadable PDF) and uploaded it to www.lulu.com, which is a very well-known publishing company/website. I've just bought a few printed copies and the print quality is excellent.

The tutorial ended up very cheap, because I'm not getting any money out of it, the price only covers the printing costs. It can be safely bought directly from lulu.com, which will print it in 3 to 5 business days and ship to any international address.

The 374-page black and white version ended up only US$10.23 plus shipping, it can be bought at
http://www.lulu.com/content/7150541
It's 8.5" x 11", with perfect binding and publisher's grade paper, and color cover.

I've also generated a full-color version on very high quality paper, however the printing costs make it US$80.30 plus shipping. The link is:
http://www.lulu.com/content/7148702
It's much more expensive but it is worth it, considering that there are 895 figures in the tutorial, most of them in color.

I hope you enjoy this humble contribution to this great sport!

Post Sat Jun 20, 2009 8:44 am 
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Nick
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


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That's great news Marco, I will definitely have to get one. Even though I have probably read less than 1/4 of the guide so far, its helped solve some complex problems and really improved my bot designs. With a printed copy to browse thru, I will doubtless gain even more insights Very Happy.

Edit: Book ordered, shipping was better than some other book stores too.

Post Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:23 am 
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Marco



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 5
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


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Nick, I'm so glad I could help. You can't imagine how many Banebots gearboxes you've saved with your tips, thanks!

Post Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:10 am 
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Nick
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Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


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Well, even the fancy colour version is good value, considering how packed with relevant information it is - I could buy 10 general engineering books and not get that much info.

Its good to hear the Banebots tips worked out for you, I will have to think up some more ideas you can use.

Post Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:19 am 
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Nick
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Posts: 11802
Location: Sydney, NSW


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Hey, the book arrived already! Somehow, the US seller had it printed in Melbourne and just shipped locally - impressive. The quality is great too and the only thing I could criticise is the narrow margins, too small to scribble notes in.

After reading Marco's minimum weight design sections, I can see the next version of Scissorhands sporting some magnesium (If I can find a seller on the web Mad)

Post Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:34 pm 
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Valen
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Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 4436
Location: Sydney


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ooooh lets see if we can get scissorhands V3 to turn into a flare.
I call dibs on the auto darkening welding helmet for his fights ;-P
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Post Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:40 pm 
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Nick
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Location: Sydney, NSW


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Can you calculate the thermal output from burning 1.5Kg of magnesium? I don't think there would be much floor left...

Post Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:47 pm 
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Valen
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suprised your not using an aluminium lithium alloy
at least then if you get damaged your not going to worry too much ;->
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Post Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:57 pm 
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