When I first was introduced to 15-pounders and NRL by Martin Mason during a combat robot competition in July of 2019, I had no idea it would become such an amazing experience for the entire club. We started out small, creating a basic CAD model that roughly was able to fit most of the electronics we were planning to order.
The team was eager to begin work on our newfound project, and every new part that came in only heightened the level of excitement in the group. Around mid-December we held our first weekend meeting at “the garage,” which is my father’s workshop garage where he works, builds, and more recently has helped us create our combat robot Kratos. Members who had very little experience beforehand about working with tools and metals quickly picked up the tricks of the trade, and before long most of them were well versed in Allen wrenches, drills, hacksaws, and the drill press we had on hand. The hours were rather long on some of those first days, but was alleviated by the hospitality of my mom and food we brought. Competition neared, forms were filled out, and tallies taken for who was going on the bus trip to Sacramento. It was an exciting time for all of us, not just those in combat robotics, because it was the first time MXR had chartered a bus in recent memory, marking an exciting new time for the club.
Work on the bot continued, and the resilience of the team must be commended time and time again. The night before competition the weapon system of the robot faced complete failure and some smoke began to waft out of the testing cage where were were trying Kratos’ weapon. Instead of backing down and giving up, team members stayed long hours during the night to try and get the robot operational, including 3 hardworking souls that stayed until 3 am! The robot was completed to the best of our abilities, yet it was not battle tested, and we worried for the durability of the brazed aluminum frame and flaky weapon system.
Many team members, sleep deprived, took naps on the bus ride to Sacramento just hours later, and the entire team plus other enthusiastic MXR members eagerly awaited arrival at the competition. We finally made it, but our team knew there was much work to be done, as a second planned robot, Nyx, was being hurriedly created at the same time. The weigh in process was almost too close to call, with our calculations being off by about 25 grams getting us just barely over the weight limit, requiring some tape to be removed. The competition began before we knew it, and as with any competition the air was ripe with excitement and nervousness. The first fight with Kratos ended in a victory, if yet incredibly close due to the enemy team’s driving skills and Kratos constantly malfunctioning drive system and limp weapon system.
The day was a test in patience, as time after time when tension was heightened or lowered the weapon ceased to work, and attempts to balance the robot were mostly for naught. After the second fight we had to deal with a potentially dangerous situation as the robot would not stop shorting as we attempted to turn it off. Quickly fixing the short, we continued to adapt to the situation, from then on having a bag with ice packs in it on hand to drop overheating batteries into. About halfway through the day and after 3 fights Kratos seemed to be in the best shape yet, as the weapon system seemed to work nicely once more. However, as soon as we attempted to turn on the system during the pre-test phase of the third match, disaster struck, as we saw trails of smoke come out of the refitted robot. Downtrodden, but not willing to give up, we gutted the motor from Kratos’ internals along with any damaged parts, cleaned up the inside, and got back in the ring. Every battle was a struggle for survival, as Kratos loved to turn off at seemingly random points, prompting me to turn off the remote, wait 3 seconds, turn it back on and proceed to frantically move the joysticks around to get crab-walking movement out of the tired robot. Unbelievably, we hobbled our way into the semifinals on about 2 hours of sleep and a beaten up bot. During lunch break I was interviewed about our submission for the innovation award by one of the judges, and did my best to explain how we tried to optimize the design as much as possible. Our team had used 3d printed parts to hold pieces together nicely and also used a technique called brazing to try and get around the hassle and extra weight of steel brackets that in practice often were mismatched when homemade.
The semifinal match began, and right away Kratos lost a wheel due to a snap hub being directly hit by the other robot’s powerful steel spinner. Knowing it was the end of the road, but unwilling to go out with a whimper, I quickly realized there were little downsides of what I was about to do next. In a final act, Kratos began to spin, faster than ever before as it was missing a wheel, and was actually more mobile than before. The team roared and looked on in excitement and disbelief at the combat-robot-turned-beyblade as Kratos was sent sprawling across the arena multiple times, unwilling to submit to powerful weaponry lightly. After two resurrections from what should have been deathblows, the broken and bent frame of what was Kratos was sent flying onto his own wheel that was knocked off, ending the match as it was immobilized. We celebrated the loss, because it was the most fun the club had had in ages, and ran back to our tables in excitement at how crazy the match was. While I personally was not present for many of them, team and club members who were not working on the robot had a blast watching combat robots fight, having a better time than I could have ever anticipated, but then again it is robots fighting, how could it not be awesome?
Awards were called, we were pretty excited even though we were knocked out of the competition. To our amazement, they called on us, team MXR, for the 500 dollar innovation award sponsored by alliantgroup! Our voices were hoarse, and our happiness to the moon, and with grateful arms we accepted the award, knowing how much good it could do for our club and future endeavors.
Written by Kalino Ruiz (2019-20 Combat Robotics Lead and Vice President)