What is a dangerous toy? How dangerous are we talking, here?

This is blog about remote controlled fighting robots. (Sometimes) Dangerous Toys. Antweight sized fighting robots, which range from 150 gram 'UK' antweights to the relatively large 1 pound 'US' antweights.   As I design and build my machines with extensive use of a 3d printer, a lot of what I show and discussed will be related to 3d printing challenges as they relate to building small combat robots.

How Dangerous? For starters, not very. When I do talk about the more dangerous bots, I'll be sure to say so.

Building the "Crater" arena.  Just polystyrene, Elmer's glue, paint, and sand. So much sand.

This is the arena, finished for the first time. I have to repaint it after every few uses.  I find repainting and re-sanding it enjoyable, otherwise it would not be worth the effort.

On the Dange-O-Meter, these toys are solid green not-dangerous.

Vlad-Micro.

Just like the original, lifting spikes combined with a fast charge is surprisingly effective.

Sadly, while I managed to make my 10 year old Barello150 dual ESC fit, it no longer functions and is in the 'dead' bag, probably for good.  Current Vlad Micro uses two Banebots ESCs (don't remember the numbers, the yellow ones.) 

Mission Control. 1lb antweight. 3d printed carbon fiber infused nylon frame and accessories with titanium outriders, claw and scoop, and back wedge. Status: Active

The all plastic 'Plastique' full body spinner. A spring presses a brushless motor powered wheel against the shell, making it spin. Normally indestructible, the shell exploded into multiple pieces at Seattle Bot Battles 2018.  Status: Inactive

This is called "Bodacious Hillar Wolt", after the randomly generated title of it's original Tinkercad file.  It won the 1lb Plastic Class at Seattle Bot Battles 2018.  Status: Unknown - Just had it's best outing ever, but was destroyed during the rumble.

Lil Joker, a 150g machine. Its a modified version of a robot design from Thingiverse. This one features far faster motors, a titanium to plate and flipper, and a nylon base. It only won one fight, but it took no serious damage. Status: Inactive (guts removed to power some fun bots.)

Seattle Bot Battle 2018 remains. Clockwise from the top left. Bodacious Hillar Wolt, Plastique, Tiny the Impaler, Mission Control, Lil Joker

The 'final' Vlad Micro design. Improvements from the prototype include annoying power light on the top-mast, on/off switch, and sturdier construction. Of course, I've already made further improvements to this 'final' design. 

Tiny the Impaler.  Essentially the same as Vlad Micro, but with larger wheels for more speed, a titanium top plate and spikes, and a lower top-lid allowing it to run inverted. Printed out of eSun Carbon Fiber Nylon

I spent over an hour rewiring Tiny to lose those final 2 grams. When I was done, it still weighed exactly the same. Eventually I spent 30 seconds drilling for holes in the titanium lid.