Free Next Weekend? Build A ComBot

Writing by Evan Ackerman on Friday, 5 of September , 2008 at 3:33 am

In what could be, but hopefully isn’t, a once in a lifetime opportunity, TechShop in San Francisco is offering a comprehensive course in combat robot construction. When I say comprehensive, I mean you can walk in the door not knowing a speed controller from a servo, and walk out limping because your brand new fully armed and operational 60 pound combat robot decided that you weren’t worthy to wield its multi-spectrum radio transmitter and politely ran over your foot. Of course, that’s not going to happen, because the course also includes expert instruction. And a complementary kill switch. Here’s the skinny:

In this 2-day full-weekend class, you and your team member will learn to create a 60-pound fighting robot platform with help from the world’s best combat robot builders.

This Workshop Covers:

* Basic Robot Construction
* Weapon Construction
* Defense Measures
* Gear Ratios
* Motor Speed Controllers
* Driving Tips
* Materials Science (Cost-to-Strength Trade-Offs)

You Will Also Participate in Crash-Courses Covering:

* Mills, Lathes and Drill Presses
* Basic Hand Tools
* Taps and Dies
* Welding

You’ll build and take home your own base for a 60-lb combat robot, ready for you to attach weapons and armor and find an opponent! The workshop runs for two eight-hour days and even includes lunch and snacks.

The $595 class fee includes (2)eight-hour sessions, lunch, and snacks.

The $995 materials fee includes:

* 2 Dewalt High-Torque Motors
* 2 Matched Gearboxes
* 2 Motor Speed Controllers
* 2 Battery Packs
* 1 Master Kill Switch
* 1 Multi-Spectrum Radio Transmitter
* 1 Multi-Channel Radio Receiver
* Polycarbonate and Fasteners for Your Robot Base

Flamethrower sold separately.

Instructors include a suite of veteran combat robot experts, and this guy. If I could spare the dosh, I’d totally be there… It looks like it’s gonna be awesome.

[ TechShop ]

Comments (1)

Category: Announcements,Competitive,DIY,Hobby

• Add this post to
• Del.icio.us -
• Digg

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>