Page 14 - Build Your Own Combat Robot

Introduction

Some kids spend their free time playing sports. I spend mine building robots. You
may think that this is not a typical hobby for a teenaged girl, and you’re right. I am
part of a rapidly-growing community of combat robot builders from all across the
U.S., of all ages, and I’m not exactly new to the sport, either. I was at Fort Mason
San Francisco in 1994 watching the first robotic combat competition, Robot
Wars. I saw my dad win match after match with his flimsy, garage-built aluminum
contraption, and beyond all reason of my then seven-year-old brain, I was in-
spired. The next year, when I was eight, I had a flimsy, garage-built aluminum
contraption of my own, and I was ready to roll. Since then I’ve been hooked.
Through my few years of experience in the field of robotic combat, I’ve come to
realize that the actual battles—the end result of all my hard work—are not the
only things that I have to look forward to. Just as important to me are the people
and friends involved, the familiar sounds and smells of machine maintenance, the
ebb and flow of people excitedly preparing for competition, the long but reward-
ing hours of taking robots apart and putting them back together again, and the
feeling you get when you realize you’ve become a small but integral part of our
quirky little robo-community.
I hope this book will help you get started in the unique and exiting sport of robot
combat. Robot experts clearly explain everything you need to know to build a bot of
your own. For anyone thinking of building a robot, I strongly encourage you to give
it a try. You may not wind up with the super-heavyweight champ after your first
fight, but I guarantee it will be an experience you’ll never forget!

Cassidy Wright,
builder of Triple Redundancy, Fuzzy Yum Yum, and Chiabot
Orinda, California
January 2002

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