Robot Drive - Novice
- Adam Wrigley
Last updated - June 2006

DISCLAIMER: Combat robotics is a dangerous sport by it's nature. Extreme caution should be taken when performing any operation explained on this site. Any injury or death resulting from the use of these pages is the sole responsibility of the user and not totalinsanity.net. By undertaking the construction of a combat robot you assume all responsibility for your actions. When building a combat robot, always make sure you are, or are with, a responsible adult.

Build Responsibly.

Movement, the fundamental aspect of every combat robot. Every robot must move, or it looses by default. How does a robot move? It is a little different than you might expect. Many first timers think combat robots are driven like RC cars; powered wheels in the rear, and turning idler wheels up front. However, this is not the case. Robots use a type of motion called "tank drive." As you may gather from the name, this drive system is derived from that of tanks. It can be used with treads, 2 wheels, 4 wheels... or any even amount of wheels from there on up. There are other methods of motion, including car steering as well as omni drive. However, for the beginner, tank drive is the easiest way to assemble and drive in combat. It allows for zero radius turns and for the use of thwack weapons. So, how does it work?

The main idea is that each side of the robot's drive train is independently powered. This means you'll need a way to control each side of the drive separately, so that one side can go forwards, and one reverse, at the same time. Why would you want to do this? The following images depict how a tank drive robot moves.

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How exactly to create this system up will be explained in our novice wiring tutorial, but it isn't very hard to do. The major advantage of this design is in the set up. You don't need to hinge any wheels or use any servos to steer, you just bolt some wheels to an axle, and power each side with a motor or two. In the arena it allows for a massive amount of control, and practically every R/C system has a mixer to allow you to control your robot with only 1 stick.

In combat robotics, simpler is normally better. The decreased amount of components in tank drive means fewer parts to fail in the arena. Tank drive will even work if one or more wheels are taken out during a fight. As long as you have at least one wheel on each side of the robot you will maintain a good amount of control. The same cannot be said for car steering or omni drive.