Where do you live? If you're in Europe, there are a number of comps that you can get into, a large variety of weight classes from 150g(seriously) all the way to big heavyweights like this(not sure what the specific weights are in Euro, but US is 220-250lbs, up to 340lb for SHW), and Euro bots tend to be cheaper than US bots too. As far as competitive robots goes, I don't know exactly what they've spent, but Sewer Snake is DEFINITELY one of the cheaper HW robots. Take BattleBots for examples(pretty much the pinnacle of combat robotics), there have been robots that have nearly $100,000 invested into them between design & engineering, labor, parts, raw materials, and machining & fabrication($$$), though that is uncommon and certainly doesn't guarantee a win over a well designed robot like this one. But you certainly won't find anything near that expensive in Euro competition, and, because the weaker Euro arenas lead to very strict limits on spinner power allowed(to prevent pieces of robots from going through the arena, a legitimate problem throughout the evolution of these competitions), you generally won't suffer as much damage in Euro comps as much as you may in US comps which allows for cheaper armor to be used. If you're legitimately interested, this is a very accessible sport in North America and Europe, even some comps in South America from what I've heard. Just get on google and do some searching, there's PLENTY of info out there to get you started.

bombshell

they can also push about 2-3x as many amps as 18650s (at the cost of about 1/2 the watt hours)

freedomfightre """How comparable are the motors you use to CIM motors? """ CIM =337 W (at 2,655 rpm, 172 oz-in, and 68A) S28-400= at stall 3720 oz-in) stall torque is apples to oranges with the CIM output but these are VERY torquey motors so if the s28-400 is 10 times stronger you are also paying 10 to 15 times more!!! """Are you using #35 chain for the drive motors, and what size is you manipulator chain?"" Kind of..it called 35R or 35race chain sold at go kart stores. Its a little heavier and wider, but it rated at about as strong as #40 ANSI chain! here's a link to the chain we use ( www.bmikarts.com/35-RLV-Extreme-Chain-Gold-on-Black-_p_637.html ) """You mentioned a number of suppliers; do you purchase from VEX or AndyMark?""" I know of them, and Ive gotten aluminum sprockets from andymark (i think) in the past.

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/htpmkseJsN21ias.html ( at the beginning of the video, I take the top lifter off the robot. The flame weapon is built into the top lifter!

This is a little late but here's my feelings... the power to weight ratio of combat robots compared to FRC is probably a bit more powerful and when designing and testing we did some test with the center wheel 1/8" to 3/8" bigger. We found it wasn't needed, and actually caused over steer, and a less stable platform, so we moved away from that idea.

Every thing is a trade off, there is no right answer....just less wrong answers! Our design worked better when I was driving better!!! So if I don't start practicing more, I may have to add some armor!!!

Another trade off is that powerful spinners(even rammers) can hit the outside wheel armor hard enough to bend it into the wheels. And, the way that this drivetrain is designed, if one wheel was completely locked up due to this, it would prevent that entire side of the robot from moving. So that design element is really a tough call - exposed wheels are no doubt more susceptible to damage but that damage is limited to the individual wheel the takes the hit, while armor should allow for bigger hits to the side without damaging the wheels but a big enough hit that locks up only 1 wheel would shut down drive for that entire side even though the other 2 wheels are undamaged. Worst case scenario, damage to your wheel armor could cause you to lose by KO, even though that was the only damage that occurred and the actual drivetrain is perfectly fine. To take it a little further, using a smaller drive motor for each wheel instead of a single motor driving 3 would overcome that potential problem with wheel armor, but then of course you have increased weight that you're going to have to deal with, more components to potentially fail, and another proverbial 10lbs of shit to stuff into that 5lb aluminum bag. Trade offs!

about 24"w x 30" to 32"long.

@@mattmaxsr you meant new version of sewer snake which is a little bit longer then the one in the video?

And now you guys made it to battlebots, congratulate!

btw can I have the dimension of Extinguisher? I make card models of combat robots.

The ESC's in this version/ video are IFI Victor 885's, our new bot uses "VEX Victor BB" . As seen and available here www.ampflow.com/vex_motor_speed_controller.htm