Deciding on a weight class...

[Jack Daniels]

I am feeling rather ambitious for this upcoming winter... Have to admit, seeing all of you build bots and compete is contagious.

Currently, I do not have a gameplan.  I need help finding out which competitions I can enter in the New York / Boston area of the United States and which weight class would work out for me.

If anyone can provide links to websites that would have rules and info for competitions around here that would be pretty awesome.  I might be willing to drive out to Philly, but that is kinda a stretch...

Thanks for your help.  I am going to use this thread to figure out my gameplan. 

-Determine class and potential competition future
-Rough design ideas
-Determine cost of parts and best sites to order from (Paypal preferred)
-Solidify design ideas
-etc etc etc
-profit?

[Badnik96]

Build an ant so once I make mine we can fight :3

[SKBT]

The only east cost competition worth going to is NERC's motorama or Franklin Cup in Harrisburg and Philly respectively.

http://nerc.us/


As for weight classes for someone starting out you will have the most bang for the buck from the sportsman class. The class doesn't allow high KE weapons so it's less likely thar your bot will be destroyed and a sportsman can cost as little as $600.

Statistically the best designs for all weightclasses above 12lbs are fast and powerful pushybots (wedges, lifters, sewers snake, ect) and flippers. I also think that its easier to work with a larger bot because of size and you can have larger tolerances and it will still look fine. And finally a big 30lber is way more impressive to show off than a little 1lber.


I buy most of my parts from:

http://www.hobbyking.com/ for cheap radio gear

http://www.robotmarketplace.com/ Batteries, unless I find them cheaper, Esc's, wheels,

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/ Esc's and LEDs

http://onlinemetals.com/ awesome small quantity metal dealer, super cheap and quick service. They also can cut to your dimensions for no extra cost.

http://www.mcmaster.com/ the fastest way to order any industrial parts online. No lie they have your order ready to go and shipped out before you even pay for it.   

[Vertigo]

...and a sportsman can cost as little as $600.

Explosion = £500 and full pressure flipper
Annihilation = £200

I would agree with SKBT saying that the feather's are a good class to start off with (or Sportsman if you're scared of the spinners). Do not however agree that bigger is better. I would say make you're robot as compact as possible, to allow for the best armour possible, and Annihilation is one of the smallest feathers in the UK and has nad a fair amount of success. If you don't have much experience at all (or lacking confidence), then ants are a good place to start (although in the US they have a different weight-limit so what do I know :P).

Robot Market Place will be very useful to you. But then again other places will be too. Shop around, we got Annihilation's motors off eBay (9.6v DeWALT drill motors), never broken after 4.5 years of service (about ten events a year, atleast four fights per event), and give a good amount of push.

[SKBT]

I never said bigger robots were better I only said that heavier weightclasses are easier to work on. It was incredibly frustrating to work on my ant, simply because it was so small versus my 30lbers where everything is bigger.

[haz]

go feather its a nice weightclass to build

[Vertigo]

I never said bigger robots were better I only said that heavier weightclasses are easier to work on. It was incredibly frustrating to work on my ant, simply because it was so small versus my 30lbers where everything is bigger.

Ah, I thought you meant larger as in in-compact XD

[Jack Daniels]

The only east cost competition worth going to is NERC's motorama or Franklin Cup in Harrisburg and Philly respectively.

Gah! So, are there any competitions in Boston not worth going to?  :P

I honestly don't want to put a bunch of time and effort into a bot only have that competition as my only option.  I was hoping there would be a few small-fry comps nearby that I could practice with.

Hmmmm.... I might have to do some web digging first before considering a build.  If I come up empty, I probably wont waste my time and focus on other projects.  I'm also trying to find a good RC carpet racing track nearby to race at.

Thanks for all your help everyone.  I will keep you posted if I find a Comp somewhere closer to compete in.

[Natef]

If you come to the franklin cup, I'll be there!