Wednesday, December 05, 2007
These brutish, soulless beasts breathe fire, wield axes and ram each other until one of them lies disembodied. By Brett Duesing, Strategic Reach
What gratitude could you feel for these ruthless gladiators—these brutish, soulless beasts that breathe fire, wield axes and ram each other until one of them lies disembodied
Combat robots undoubtedly satisfy a deep boyish urge to wreck stuff, but a closer look into the sport of combat robotics reveals something more. The escalating war of robots produces some surprising spoils. As you enter a technological future dominated by satellites, wireless gadgets and hybrid cars, you may have these evil-natured robots to thank.
 Things have looked better for Eugene as Shrederator takes the title and Team Moon is left seeing silver. |
Life After BattleBots
The sport of combat robotics first entered the public consciousness through the BattleBots show on Comedy Central, which aired five tournaments from 2000 to 2002.
“As far as the sport goes, some robot builders argue whether not being on TV anymore is good or bad,” says Bill Moon, leader of Team Moon Robotics. “The show gave the sport a lot of recognition. No matter where we go, people have seen one of those shows.”
The sport received so much attention that it briefly became a piece of pop-culture currency. The trappings of BattleBots – the glitzy graphics and overexcited announcer commentary – also gave the broadcast a veneer of manufactured hype. During the show’s reign, fighting robots were parodied on The Simpsons and the Tonight Show.
In the five years since the last episode aired, much has changed in the bot bout world. Organized under the new Robotic Fighting League (RFL), the events are down-to-business, design and strategy has taken center stage.
“I think overall it’s been good to be out of the spotlight,” says Moon. “It’s eliminated the people who just wanted to get on TV. It’s let the sport progress the way it should.”
Moon started building robots himself when he was only ten. Now at 46, he works at Cisco Systems as a distinguished engineer. Moon is one of a few multi-disciplined “Ninja-Class” engineers who work for the firm and apply ninja tactics to take on special projects that require the most out-of-the-box solutions. During his professional career, Moon has created more than 200 new patents at an average rate of one every six weeks.
 The matchup creates sparks as Eugene and Shrederator contend for the 2006 Robot Fighting League national heavyweight title. |
Team Moon began competing in combat robots six years ago, at the height of the BattleBots craze. Vladinator, one of the team’s more popular robots, dominated many of the televised tournaments. Team Moon’s six current robots compete in the larger and independent RFL as well as the yearly (untelevised) BattleBots contest, each robot ranking near the top of its weight class. Typically, it takes two people with radio controls to steer the robot – one to drive the bot around the rink, and the other to fire its weapons.
Most contests are double-elimination tournaments of three-minute bouts during which a pair of bots battle to the disabled death. The operator controls include a “tap-out” button to be used when the operator wishes to surrender the match and save its fighter further damage or humiliation. Most fights end with this forfeit button, potentially saving the loser from the scrap heap. If both fighters make it to the three-minute bell, judges determine a winner based on aggression, strategy and damage.
Weapons on super-heavy weight robots (around 340 lbs) now feature offensive maneuvers including kinetic thrusts, spinning blades and bursts of flame. The weapons push out up to 200,000 joules of energy, pumping from 2000-Amp 30-volt reserves of electric power.
According to Moon, the weapons of mass robot destruction have received serious upgrades. “You (would) think a good armor would be 3/4” thick 3130 or 3140 steel,” says Moon. “Most weapons now will cut through that like butter.”
Since the sport has left the national spotlight, more responsive engines and sinister hardware have emerged. The top competing machines are now developed using advanced engineering software, digital simulation and CNC milling.
The Devil’s Workshop
“What’s nice about robotics is that it’s a full system: mechanical, electronic and artificial intelligence,” Moon says. “You have to know a little bit of everything when you’re building a robot, and that to me is very satisfying.”
For robot builders fascinated with performance, strength, power, mechanical motion and the grating sound of metal-on-metal, it is appropriate that the most advanced addition to the Team Moon workshop is, in a sense, a robot. A robot that uses mechanics, electronics and programming—the CNC mill.
Moon purchased one of the first personal CNC machines on the market. The new mill, put out by Waunakee, WI-based Tormach is able to precision-cut the thick titanium armor, but is smaller and more affordable than the historically huge factory equipment. The personal CNC can be likened to the first personal computers, when the technology finally became practical for an individual in cost, size and performance.
And with the advent of easy-to-use CAM software, CNC technology is becoming as easy, and as common, as sending a Word document over to a printer. Only in this case, the printer is carving out three-dimensional steel parts.
“I’m far from being a machinist myself,” admits Moon. “The Tormach is an excellent example on how easy CNC machining is becoming. If we can use it, then anyone can do it. The way the technology is now; it’s very affordable compared to taking your parts to a machine shop every time.” Compared to factory-sized CNC mills that bottom out at around $30,000, the PCNC 1100 can cost under $7000.
“My older boy actually took a weeklong course over the summer to do the CAM programming using a software package called CAMWorks,” says Moon. “He’s interested enough that he’s actually making a few parts on the Tormach machine, which is an amazing thing to do for a high school kid. My objective for getting him to use tools has surpassed my expectations.”
 Weighing in at 212 pounds, Eugene is Team Moon Robotics’ most modern combat system. Currently ranked fourth in its class, Eugene features gyroscopically compensated steering and a power plant with a peak output of 50 kilowatts. ADVERTISEMENT
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Robots Making Robots
Six years ago, a Team Moon robot began as a cardboard model and then a wooden one. The physical prototypes were tested and tweaked manually before the metal parts were finally fabricated. “It took us over a year to design it and about six months to build it, because we had to do so much stuff by hand,” Moon recalls.
Now, the shop can push out most machines in half the time, thanks to an automated design process that is in many ways more advanced than that of some commercial manufacturers. Robots are now fully designed in SolidWorks, a 3D modeler.
“Eugene,” Moon’s latest carnage-craving contraption, was created using the mechanical simulation software Cosmos for various mechanical simulations. The software was used to perform a stress analysis of the assembly and simulate repair exercises by evaluating volumetric data from the design in order to ensure clearances inside the machine were capable of fitting different sizes of tools.
 Eugene was 100 percent computer-designed and test-simulated in SolidWorks. The rotational-weaponry in Eugene is interchangeable between a spinning blade and a two-ended axe. At the outer tip, the 40-lb titanium blade travels at 450 mph. A lighter 38-pound blade has an 840 mph tip velocity, which creates an intimidating sonic boom when it crosses the sound barrier. |
The majority of Eugene’s parts are very complex in construction, including a lot of curves and circles that bend in more than two dimensions. “For our purposes, we benefit from having a CNC machine where we could CAM these difficult shapes. The machine would do the thinking, rather than trying to do it manually,” Moon says. “The Tormach was a really good choice for us because it was specifically designed as a CNC, whereas a lot of smaller mills are conversions of a manual machine.”
Despite its small size, the Tormach mill maintains its cutting power whether cutting titanium armor or precision transmission parts. With more than half a ton of iron in the frame and a rigid spindle, the three-axis mill carves the complicated three-dimensional curves – ones which would be impossible to cut by hand – in a matter of minutes.
The high rate of innovation in robot sport can be seen firsthand in the evolution of pieces on the mill. Given the ability to make a few iterations, robot parts and assemblies have evolved into stronger and more effective devices. In the past, complex parts needed to be ordered at a local machine shop, which could take a few days, even weeks of waiting. Now that Team Moon can cut their own parts in the garage, they can speed up the construction process while enhancing the design. At-home CNC capabilities give the team the ability to refine the robot design during the design process in a fraction of the time.
“Two years ago, I made a mistake with the size of a sprocket for this standard go-cart wheel,” Moon says. “In order to get the piece made at a machine shop, I’d have to order 10 of them to make it worthwhile, because of the set-up costs. So I ordered 10, got them back and the support wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been. It’s just wasn’t cost-effective to go make another one again. I just had to live with it and remember to make the change the next time we ordered parts. Today, I just machine another one.”
The Spoils Of Robotic War
The innovations in robot construction have uses beyond the arena. According to Moon, militaries have shown an interest in the sport, particularly regarding defensive armor. Some in the military have also seen the sport’s potential as a training tool for both mechanics and strategic thinking. British Air Force cadets even take a course in building robots and fight them on the UK bot circuit, the Fighting Robot Association (FRA).
The biggest impact of combat robotics may be felt in the commercial realm. “There are a lot of parts we have designed that actually have a lot of use for people,” says Moon. “For example, electric motors. We are very demanding on our motors. We have the highest packed, highest quality motors money can buy. They have to be super rugged, deliver constant power, and be very lightweight. Five years ago, that was just an odd request. Today, having a high performance electric motor is a very interesting thing if you’re a manufacturer of hybrid cars. What would it take to build a hybrid car? You’d need a lightweight, high-efficiency electric motor that’s pretty rugged.”
Because he is an engineer of Ninja status, Moon is fortunate enough to work with suppliers who give him test parts in exchange for feedback. Team Moon often gets prototypes of early technology that is inaccessible to normal customers.
“There have been a lot of manufacturers that we work with closely,” Moon says. “One of them has taken motors that were first developed by combat robots into the wheelchair business. Another vendor was in satellite communications, and needed motors to move the parts on satellites. Now that company has a whole line of motors, based on what they’ve learned from combat robots.”
Batteries are another factor in hybrid cars. Any electric car designed for practical use has to contend with limitations of battery life, reliable power delivery and the time it takes to recharge.
“There are a number of industries very dependent on batteries. Some battery-makers have given us experimental batteries to test out,” Moon says. “We need batteries that we can completely drain in three minutes. I need to cool them down, and then recharge them within 25 minutes before they go out again for another three-minute drain. We need that level of cycling. Five years ago it was impossible, but now I have batteries now that can perform like that. If you can do that, then you can build power plants for electric cars; you can build laptops and cell phones that can charge in a couple minutes and last all day.”
Whatever the future is for bot-technology, the more intangible, but perhaps greater, impact of the sport may be on the future generation. Robots have brought fathers and sons together, teaching the youth not just about competition, but how to be mechanically self-reliant. Rather than passing on the old skills of traditional tools to the next generation, the advanced science of robot war imparts kids with the relevant high-tech skills for later professional or entrepreneurial success: computer modeling, CAM programming and CNC machining. Now that these building technologies have come down to a personal level of use and affordability, the future is wide open.