A new Middleweight Robot

Breaker Box was a last-minute bot built specifically for the BattleBots - Cisco Party event in June 2006. This event was a small, invite-only competition that took place in Las Vegas, NV. Eight robots were selected to compete in this event, 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!