Shin Kicker V1

For years I wanted to make a combat robot, partly for fun and partly because it forces you to learn real engineering skills: rapid prototyping, repairing things, and making improvements after failure.

At first, I wanted to buy a kit for the normal antweight category. The kit was called the Viper, and it had a blade on the back. Then I found the PLAnt category, which let me use my 3D printing experience to cheaply repair and revise the robot.

After researching kits, I found Palm Beach Bots’ Plastic Poison kit, which had the parts I needed to start. More experienced builders told me that kit did not perform especially well, and I eventually found Team ORBY’s MAK VS. I used that robot as the starting point for Shin Kicker.

I started with the original model and added my components into CAD to make sure everything fit. Then I worked on designing a new, more powerful weapon.

I designed both symmetrical and asymmetrical weapons, but after doing the calculations, I found they were weak and would have little to no impact. Taking inspiration from the original weapon, I designed a much bulkier weapon that would pack nearly 100J of force.

After finalizing the weapon, I revised the rest of the design by adding wheel guards, more cable storage, and an area for the safety switch. After that, I was ready to make the parts.

My first match was against a University of Texas team with a massive overcutter called Eviscerator. I knew I needed protection on the front of the bot, so I mounted my plow to absorb most of the hits.

The plow shattered quickly, leaving the front open. I got a hit or two in, but Eviscerator hit my biggest weak spot and shattered the robot. I could still drive for a while until my wheels broke.