Breaker Box - Heavyweight Combat Robot

In 2009, Breaker Box was upgraded to a Heavyweight (220lb) combat robot. Using the same titanium plow that was built for the original Middleweight Breaker Box, the entire rest of the robot was upgraded to the extreme. The plow arms can rotate a full 360 degrees around the robot, allowing Breaker Box to not only self-right, but escape from many sticky situations. The plow can also act as a hammer, and allows for Breaker Box's signature "spin dance" maneuver.

Features:
- 3/8" thick grade 5 titanium plow
- Four wheel drive, each wheel powered by an Ampflow A28-150 motor and customized Team Whyachi TWM3M Gearbox.
- Two additinoal TWM3M gearboxes and Ampflow motors (yes, that's SIX geared motors in this thing!) powering the 1" thick titanium lifting bars of the plow.
- Large 3/8" thick titanium plow, custom bent, welded and machined by Team Whyachi.
- Aluminum chassis, titanium side armor plates.

Fights (click the links to view the video, where available)

Battlebots 2009 : Pro Championship
won vs Suspect Device
lost vs Brutality
lost vs Root Canal

ComBots Cup V
lost vs Last Rites
won vs Ragin' Scotsman
won vs Great Pumpkin
lost vs Sewer Snake

RoboGames 2011
won vs Vice Crypt
won vs Death & Taxes
won vs Son of Ziggy
won vs Last Rites
lost vs Sewer Snake
lost vs Last Rites

Breaker Box vs. Sewer Snake (click for video)

Breaker Box vs. Great Pumpkin (click for video)

The first version of Breaker Box

The original Breaker Box was a last-minute bot built specifically for the BattleBots - Cisco Party private event in June 2006. This event was a small, invite-only competition that took place in Las Vegas, NV to entertain Cisco employees at a corporate event. Eight robots were selected to compete, so it was a short, but awesome show!

Breaker Box was built in the 3 weeks leading up to the event. Built from the ground-up, this 120 pound robot is a scaled-up version of my 1 pound robot, Shazbot. The main differences are that this robot is a 4-wheel drive instead of 2, and it is 120 times as heavy!

That's a 50 pound, 3/8" thick, actuated titanium scoop with 1" thick titanium arms (special thanks to DCWaterjet and Team Whyachi for helping me get this awesome weapon cut and bent in such a short time). The main purpose of this weapon is to stop spinners and scoop them away. Based on the same concept of my success with the smaller Shazbot, this robot was made to take a beating from the best spinners out there- just run right into them! This plow is actually quite powerful, and can do a complete 360° rotation over the robot, thus enabling Breaker Box to flip over (and over, and over) if needed, and can also lift another robot off the ground. Given the right circumstances, this plow is able to lift an opponent over the inner wall of most arenas.

The rest of the body of the robot is aluminum, mostly 3/8" plate construction, held together by about 150 machine screws. Power is NiCad battery packs. Each side on the outsides of the wheels is a custom geared pod for the lifting mechanism. There are two motors on the lifter, one on each side, so if one goes out, the other is still able to provide enough lifting power to the plow.

The Event - June 22, 2006

Not sure if we're really allowed to talk about the event, but I'll just say it was a blast. The only complaint most people had was that the arena was just too small. BattleBots brought a scaled-down BattleBox which measured something like 16x24 feet. With the interior wall and the two corner pulverizers, it was simply not enough room to manouver well. However, the robots that were there (some of the best in the sport!) were quite good, and there was plenty of destruction! The crowd was huge (something like 3000 spectators), and they loved the show!