Time to read: 7 min
If you want to know the general lay of the land when it comes to combat robotics and the different types of BattleBots, you can learn about that in Part One of How to Build a BattleBot Like a Pro. If you’re ready to get into the specifics of designing and building a combat robot that can compete and win in the arena, then you’re in the right place!We’re Team RoboGym在本文中，我们将告诉您我们如何建造我们的战场，硬拉。
从餐巾素描到3D模型
尽管任何类型的机器人可以做得很好,我们在无袖长衫Gym decided to design a lifter for BattleBots. We figured a defensive robot with thick armor could do well by either pushing our opponents into arena hazards or lifting them up and sticking them in positions where their wheels couldn’t touch the ground. Of course, designing a lifter robot also fit our RoboGym theme perfectly, and was too good of an opportunity to pass up (*insert flex emoji*).
Capabilities and Constraints
设计过程可能会占据您花费的大部分时间来制作机器人。从餐巾草图到完整的CAD（计算机辅助设计）模型，它通常需要几个月的时间。当填满你想要机器人的能力时，要记住三种批判性考beplay客户端下载虑因素：体重，体重，最后但并非最不重要，重量！
250 poundssoundslike plenty of weight to integrate all the things on your combat robot wish list, but battleworthy components tend to be heavy, and those pounds add up quickly. Since any type of robot must fall within the weight limits set by the rules, there are inevitable trade-offs when allocating weight to one area of the robot or another.
Like many engineering projects, the first thing you want to do is crunch some numbers to outline the parameters for your robot. For example, how fast should your robot go to be both aggressive and controllable? How much force should your spinning robot be able to deliver to another robot? How much weight should it be able to lift在theory为了提起另一个机器人在reality? (Remember, there are always small differences between theory and practice.)
Asking those sorts of questions and playing with the numbers will provide a good starting point for the rest of your design.
设计硬拉
After years of competing at tournaments and tweaking our designs, we figured that if the robot could drive at a speed of 18mph, we could be plenty aggressive while still being able to control it fairly well. In choosing wheel size, many designs call for large wheels to give the robot the ability to drive while upside down. Because Deadlift would have a lifter arm that could be used to self-right the robot if it flipped over, we picked relatively small wheels which could be armored, then considered the max RPM to get our desired top speed. From there, we picked an appropriate electric motor and gear reduction to give us our desired RPM.
(Oh, and if you want more details about our team history and how we made our decisions designing and building Deadlift, watch ourhour-long chat with ASME.)
The Lifter
对于我们的提升机制，我们想要过度工程师机器人可以举起多少。因此，我们选择了2.5的安全保障。这意味着硬拉将能够拿起625磅，一个数字肯定会让大多数健身房绿色嫉妒。考虑到这一点，我们从扭矩向后落后，以提升大量重量以选择合适的电动机和齿轮系系统。我们甚至使齿轮厚约2.5英寸厚，采用航空航天级钢，确保在战斗中不会破裂。
系统布局
后需要了解系统和组件fit into the robot, the next step is setting the layout and designing the chassis around it. Where should the batteries go? Where should the wheels be located relative to the center of gravity of the robot? The process of refining the layout will take time and you should expect several iterations to get it right.
The Armor
Any robot that hopes to win needs to be able to take a hit — even offensive robots have to protect their critical components. There are many ways to armor a robot, but you’re going to have to make compromises to make weight, like in your material choices.
Steel might be tougher and stiffer than aluminum, but it’s also three times denser. In a fight, steel is more durable and will bend before breaking while aluminum breaks off in chunks. If you have the money, titanium provides great strength to weight ratio, but plastic generally only works well for some internal parts. As with the layout process, getting the weight, geometry, and overall performance of your robot’s armor right takes time and iteration.
Refining the Design
就像一篇文章的初稿,第一个pass at the design of a robot will not be perfect. This is why it’s so important to have team design reviews! Ideally, team members review each other’s work throughout the design process to look for ways to improve. And the considerations aren’t only about robot performance. Other critical considerations include: designing parts to be easily manufactured, designing the robot to be easily assembled, and keeping an eye out for potential interference or tolerancing issues.
Sourcing Parts
Once the team is on the same page and excited with the design, it’s time to shop around and order your parts! Most electric components, like batteries and motors, will have already been selected in the design phase, so ordering those is straightforward.
If you have access to a whole machine shop, then it’s time to get your raw materials. Other builders, like us, have only basic machining capabilities at our disposal. If that’s the case, then you have to outsource a lot of the machining. To get our parts, we shop around, comparing costs and lead times to figure out what works best. We also determine how many spares of critical parts we can realistically afford.
Last season, we were fortunate to have a sponsor, Fictiv, provide us with custom-machined parts we needed. They even had engineers review our more complex parts to give us feedback on how to simplify them for the manufacturing process. This may sound obvious, but we cannot emphasize enough how helpful a sponsor can be. And while you may not be able to find a sponsor for your robot, you can still take advantage of Fictiv’s manufacturing prowess and benefit from their free DFM feedback on your designs.
Assembly
一旦你得到了所有的零件，就是时候把它们放在一起。这是在设计评审上所花费的所有时间都确实回报了。寻找计算机型号错误的额外数小时可以在组装中节省日序（并避免头痛）。
And while the chassis is being assembled, keep in mind that all of the electrical components need to be wired to each other and the batteries. Figuring out the appropriate wire gauges and how to efficiently route the wires, then soldering it all together is another large task. The more you can plan ahead in the design phase, the less frustration during wiring and assembly. Trust us, we learned this lesson the hard way through experience.
但无论你多么小心，不可避免地都不会完全排列，或者你会在大会期间发现容忍问题。因此，可以访问某些基本设备，例如小型铣床或车床，能够用设计误差固定零件是至关重要的。在我们所有的岁月大楼机器人中，团队Robogym从未有过单一的构建，这不需要修改或调整。
Lights, Camera, Action!
我们几乎准备好了竞技场。现在机器人被组装并有线，是时候确保它在运送到竞争之前。这意味着检查机器人功能的所有方面都可以正确地 - 从测试它驱动器如何确保武器按预期工作。例如，通过硬辐射，我们通过将重型盒捆绑到机制上来测试提升机制，以确保一切顺利。
然而，有些事情只能在战斗中被证明。你的机器人实际上有多好？它会按预期推动对手吗？
Just keep in mind that every battle is a learning opportunity. In victory or defeat, you’ll see what worked as planned and what needs improvement for the next fight — and that’s what the sport is really all about. Well, that and the adrenaline rush of squaring off against another robot designed to annihilate your own!
我们希望这篇文章能够了解建立自己的机器人并竞争战斗机器人所需的想法。虽然道路很长，可能会令人沮丧，但它主要是有益的和乐趣。没有什么比这项运动更像，所以去建造自己的战场，我们会在竞技场见到你！
