Battle Robot Stompbot
Many have seen battle robot Stompbot s, and chances are many of you havent. They are probably the greatest marvels of the battle robot world. Imagine a 5 foot tall walking, moving, reacting robot that is equipped with weaponry that is designed to shred its opponent. Sounds pretty fun doesnt it? A stompbot is a true walking Battlerobot that moves using articulated legs and sometimes arms. Battle-robots that qualify as a StompBot will be allowed an additional 30% weight advantage over their non-walking brethren. To qualify as a StompBot you must meet the following criteria. First of all the drive mechanism used on the battle robot locomotion engine must be powered solely by linear hydraulic or pneumatic actuators or by linear actuators driven by a rotary electric motor. Locomotion is the movement of an organism or object from one place to another, often by the action of appendages such as legs, arms or any such body parts or objects.
All electric actuators must operate in such a manner that their reversal of motion requires reversal of the rotary electric motor. Any of your Battle robot stompbot parts that touch the ground for locomotion or support have to move forward and backwards in a reciprocating motion relative equal to their center of gravity of the Battle robot. Any Battle robot part that touches the ground has to be actuated such that they can also potentially be moved up or down without moving sideways. Whenever the Battle robot is moving along the ground, absolutely no part of the Battle robot weight can be supported on the ground by any piece of the robots body. In addition absolutely no linear electric motors can be used as part of the locomotion method of a StompBot. There is a reason though, despite all of these specific and minor rules and terms that designers decide to go with the StompBot design. For its brute force and strength; and well frankly, they look pretty darn cool! So what sets these Stompbots apart from the rest of the battle robots out there? Can they just walk around and look fancy? Or is there a distinct advantage on this level of height and mobility?
Of course there is! Your mobility will come with the single most important advantage. You will have a significant height difference between you and your opponent, making the force of any blunt or bladed weapon that much more significant. There is a lot more work involved if you decide to go this route and make a StompBot, but I assure you the effort will be worth it tenfold when you play and have fun with your final product. Now go have fun building your Battle robot stompbot.