SolidWorks sponsors Battlebots program

Groundbreaking 3D Skills Program introduces non-users to SolidWorks

Combat robot makers are getting a boost from SolidWorks Corporation in the form of free software. Over the last few years, SolidWorks has given robot teams copies of its SolidWorks® 3D mechanical design and COSMOSWorks™ finite element analysis software. Now the company has announced its Battlebot sponsorship program is official.

Building a combat robot is a true test of one's engineering grit. The sport, which pits homemade radio-controlled robots metal to metal, was made popular by hit TV shows such as Comedy Central's Battlebots.

"Like a fish to water" is how Donald Hutson of Mutant Robots took to 3D. He used SolidWorks to upgrade Battlebots heavyweight Tazbot with a new 4130 frame, six 24 V Ni-Cd packs, thicker armor, and shock-mounted trusses.

Word of the SolidWorks sponsorship has spread
Applying for a sponsorship is straightforward. Anyone interested simply needs to complete an online application. Getting approved is another story. "They have to demonstrate that they are serious about building robots," says Paul Mazur, who heads the SolidWorks Battlebot sponsorship program at SolidWorks. Mazur looks for whether a team has its own web site, what competitions it's been in, and CAD files of the robots. SolidWorks is currently sponsoring more than 120 teams.

Along with free software, qualifiers also get the official hallmark of sponsorship: a SolidWorks logo sticker to place on their robots.

Mutant success
Donald Hutson was one of the first bot builders sponsored by SolidWorks. His team Mutant Robots had become a known Battlebots success with heavyweight Tazbot.

SolidWorks inspired Hutson to design two-time super heavyweight Battlebot champion Deisector, a mean metal machine with two hammers and steel jaws.

Before SolidWorks, "I used to do things the old-fashioned way when it came to fabricating parts," he says, "which was 2D drawings and getting it machined somewhere else." Having SolidWorks on his home computer was a big help. "It just allowed me to spend the time I needed to do full render designs."

Hutson says he took to 3D "like a fish to water." It allowed him to add constraints to components, create moving mechanisms, and eventually led him to design two-time super heavyweight champion Deisector. A foe to contend with, Diesector drives on both sides – right-side up and upside down – in case it's flipped over. Its weapon of destruction: aluminum-tipped steel jaws.

Now that Comedy Central announced it will no longer fund the Battlebots tournaments, Team Mutants will be starring on the popular new CBS program Crime Scene Investigation.

Gourmet damage
"Ew, gourmet damage. Must have me some," said Lauren Tozer-Kiltz upon watching her first Battlebots episode. It inspired her to build her own robots and enter them in local competitions. A technical writer by trade, Tozer-Kiltz says, "It was pure interest in the subject matter that propelled me into the sport."

Her team, Tozer-Kilts Robotics, has in its stable two antweight bots: THEM and IT. But don't let size fool you, these bots are vicious. THEM knocks its victims senseless with a hammer, and IT rams and slashes foes with spikes.

SolidWorks ensures builders keep their bots within strict weight limits. THEM, produced by Tozer-Kilts Robotics, is a one-pound antweight robot in a wedge configuration with a lifting arm.

After hearing about the SolidWorks sponsorship program through a popular message forum, Tozer-Kilts emailed SolidWorks the details of her team, robots, and plans to compete. Mazur was impressed enough to send off a copy of the software.

"I'd never used a CAD program before," says Tozer-Kiltz, "but I'm learning it like I've learned most software in my life, which is to get in there and get your hands dirty." She also benefited from a tutorial that comes with the software.

SolidWorks has helped Tozer-Kiltz keep her weight down. "If you've ever been around people who are building, it almost sounds like a Weight Watchers meeting because these people are obsessed about weight," she says. "Because in the antweight, it can't be more than a pound."

With SolidWorks, Tozer-Kiltz can assign material densities to bits and pieces of her robots and assign weights to completed components. "It's really, really helpful in terms of keeping track of how much weight you've put into the bot," she stresses.

Her team has plans to move into the bigger categories with a twelve-pounder and a three-pound beetleweight. The beetle bot's weapon is a turned-over stainless steel bowl with spikes. "We're going to spin the bowl at several thousand rpm and the spikes will cut into the bad guys," says Tozer-Kiltz. "I mean, the other bots," she adds, catching herself.

Small wonders

Tozer-Kilts Robotics also produced IT, another antweight bot, made out of 7075 T6 aluminum. IT is using a single Tamiya dual gear box with chain drive and is powered by two 9 V batteries in parallel.

Combat bot building is truly a sport for all ages. After following Battlebots for years, seventh-grader Eric Schweisberger jumped into action, building his own bots after school and on weekends. Schweisberger, who lives in Kansas, competes in the Mid U.S. Robotic Competitions.

"So far I've only built pretty small ones," he says. One of which was Plan-B, a three-pounder with a metal shiv sticking out its back like a stinger. "And right now I have a one-pounder, and I've been drawing up some designs and stuff for some other ones."

Schweisberger got his start sketching robots on notebook paper and drilling parts together by hand. Then he decided to approach SolidWorks. After he sent in his application, Paul Mazur called him with some questions.

"I had to submit some photos and prove that I built and compete with bots, and then he sent me the software," says Schweisberger, who had never laid hands on a CAD program before. But that didn't slow him down. After getting "some tips" from some bot building buddies, he was soon up to speed on the basics.

"So far I've made up some motors for the bots," he says, "Well, actually, they are real motors, I just copied the dimensions and stuff and animate them."

Schweisberger's plans for future bots include a 60-pound lightweight with a bar spinning on top and a 12-pound ramming bot.

For more information, visit…
Battlebots sponsorship program:  http://www.solidworks.com/battlebots/
Mutant Robots:   http://www.mutantrobots.com/
Tozer-Kilts Robotics:   http://www.tkrobotics.com/
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/main.shtml