UnderGlow

My Role: 

- Designed, prototyped and fabricated the entire build.

- Selected components.

- Testing and tuning.

- Operating and repairing the robot at competitions.

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Project Overview: ​

When Battlebots first aired on Comedy Central in August of 2000, it popularized the sport of combat robotics among makers both hobbyist and professional alike. In my formative years, I - like many others, was enamored by the spectacle of these giant machines beating the absolute crap out of each other. It wasn’t until I started college in 2015 that I began designing combat robots, and even later in 2018 that I actually started building my first small and large-scale robots along with a team of college friends.​

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After my college graduation, I took a brief hiatus from robot building to focus on work and other creative interests. I held out until late 2021, when I once again fell prey to the sweet siren-song of meshing gears and sawblades on metal, and feverishly began work on a 3 pound design called Burnout (on account of it's overpowered drivetrain, but low coefficient of friction wheels. It competed at Norwalk Havoc Robotics Competition in 2021, and uh... Didn't do too well.

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Since then, the design has been through two major revision cycles and is virtually unrecognizable in terms of performance and aesthetics.

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Revision Cycle 1:

• PLA chassis was replaced with Flexible TPU for superior durability.

• Eliminated the use of heat-set inserts, which were heavy and prone to failure.

• Custom molded urethane wheels instead of flimsy plastic and foam.

• The belt driven lifter was replaced by a gear train integrated into the lifting forks

• Tested new fork geometry with a wider range of motion.

 

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At this point, I was ready testing. In a test against a high kinetic energy spinner, I proved out the durability of the new materials and drivetrain changes. You can see some light damage to the chassis and wheels, but aside from cosmetic damage, it made it through the match unscathed. 

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​In addition to testing the bot's durability against a spinner, I arranged a grudge match against a control robot to test how effective the lifter geometry was.

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​The new iteration was a lot of fun, but not particularly capable of exert control over an opponent. Shortly after this test, I began a second revision cycle to address the designs most recent shortcomings, and set about finding another competition date.

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Revision Cycle 2:

• Minor changes to TPU chassis geometry for ease of repair.

• Reclaim some weight and standardize hardware to smaller torx plastite screws.

• Tweak size/features of molded wheels

  • Lower speed & better pushing torque.

  • Lighter wheels allow weight reallocation to other components.

  • Change wheel hub geometry for better urethane adhesion

• Tested new wedge/fork geometry with better defensive capability.

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It now fights under the name Underglow - a rebranding which felt appropriate given its major overhaul (and the use of fluorescent TPU filament.) 

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I'm pleased to report that it is growing into the defensive powerhouse I envisioned when I first started working on it. That being said- even with its newfound durability, I'm still excited to find that I walk away from each match with new considerations and design tweaks I can implement to make it that much stronger. Additionally, with the continual evolution of battery, brushless motor, and speed control technologies, I see many avenues to continue learning and playing with my design. Most recently, Underglow fought at Garden State Combat Robot League's March 2024, and was knocked out in a close decision by the eventual champion. ​​​​

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