Brendan's Gift​

Brendan Steele, a former KSU Combat Robotics club member, recently brought us a $500 prize we had won several years ago out of his pocket. Brendan wanted to give back to the club to say thanks for helping him start what is now a significant part of his life. During his time in the club, Brendan helped design one of the winning bots in the past year, named Bigish.

His Time At Combat Robotics​

Brendan has built multiple bots in the past, one of his more notiable is Ram Plan. In 2022, Ram Plan had 14 fights, going 10 to 4 with 2 KOs. During an NHRL competition, Brendan's bot managed to create a very shocking moment. In the middle of the battle, Brendan managed to use Ram Plan to turn off the House bot. This moment created a great reaction from the crowd and even warranted the clip being uploaded to the NHRL YouTube channel as a short. See here links. Lucky for Brendan, doing this gave him a sweet 1,000 dollars for simply turning the house bot off.

Where He Is Today​

Later, Brendan continued to compete in battle bot competitions, most recently winning the October NHRL and going 4 in 0 with his new Huge-inspired bot Slam Plan after his time on the battle bot team Huge. Brendan improved the Huge design by adding a new aerodynamic blade, a light chassis design, and cambered extra light wheels.

Nearing the end of the semester, it is our goal to run a 3lb plastic bot competition that would be open to competitors across Kent State.

Last year we ran a similar event, but it was 1.5lbs and only open to the members of the club, some photos are below for inspiration

This page will be updated with more information as we finalize the competition (i.e. location/date & registration)

General Overview of our event​

• We are choosing to do it as a plastic event (i.e. 3d printed except for electronics, wheels, and screws)

• Bots can weigh up to 3lb, but do not have a minimum weight requirement (though it is highly suggested to get as close as possible to the limit)

• Multi-bot configurations are allowed under our rules

• Teams can be individual, or many (we recommend 3-5 in a team)

• The club has sponsors that can provide discounts on parts and materials

• The club can 3D print parts for you as needed.

• Please have some kind of weapon lock for your bot. This ensures that, in the event of a communication error, everyone stays safe

We have a folder of helpful information/old lessons found here

• ACCESSING THIS FOLDER REQUIRES MEMBERSHIP & DRIVE ACCESS, IT IS NOT FREELY AVAILABLE

A full list of the rules can be obtained here

Additionaly A list of Recommended Electronics can be found here and cad for those parts can be found here

We will be running multiple workshops/lessons across the semester​

These will range in their content, but by the end you will have the knowledge to build your own combat robot at any weight class

• Please remember that club membership and these workshops are only available to KSU Students

Some lessons we can guarantee now:

• So You Want to Build a Battlebot Eh? An overview of typical bot designs/strategies (hosted by Austin S. on 8/30/24)
• Introduction to Computer Aided Design (CAD) (hosted by Matt S. on 9/13/24)
• Part Selection & Where to Buy Them (hosted by Austin T. on 9/20/24)
• Screws, Bolts, & Nuts - an overview of the world of fasteners & McMaster Carr (hosted by Greg W on 9/27/24)
  • View the recording of this here

Inspiration​

KSU Team Members Find Success at CHAMP​

This weekend, our team member David Dreyer & alumni Brendan Steele attended Akron Makerspace's CHAMP combat event. This event hosted a number of 1 lb & 3 lb bots across the local area. Out of all the teams there, our members walked away with 1st place in both weight classes. Below is more information on each bot;

Baby Cosmo​

Baby Cosmo is Brendan's 1 lb vertical spinner bot, very much inspired by Endgame in the Battlebots show. Its initial version was debuted during our team's 1.5 lb plastic event last Fall. Brendan has worked since to make it competitive at the 1 lb full combat level.

Katana​

Katana is David's 3 lb vertical spinner bot, based on Witch Doctor and Hypershock from Battlebots. Similar to Brendan's, it first began as a 1.5 lb bot for our in-house mini-event. Following the event, David redesigned it for the 3 lb wieght class, and has taken in to several nhrl events across the last 6 months.

Gallery​

Fight Footage​

Brendan has graciously uploaded all of the fight footage to his youtube channel. The footage can be viewed here