A list of resources and inspiration for people building fighting robots. Here you will find links to tutorials, videos, parts suppliers, communities and other links that are useful for building fighting robots.
- Events and Shows
- Communities
- Books
- Robot Combat Inspiration
- Robot Combat Media
- Resources
- Parts Suppliers
Events that you can take part in and TV shows that showcase robot combat, based on region.
- Battlebots — The popular U.S. robot combat TV show.
- Sparkfun AVC — Sparkfun's annual Autonomous Vehicle Convention featuring robot combat tournaments of multiple weight categories.
- Motorama — Robot Combat tournaments of various weight categories at the U.S. motor sports event, Motorama.
- SCRC Kilobots — The Saskatoon Combat Robotics Club's Kilobots event, robot combat events featuring robots from 150g to 3lbs.
- Robot Wars — The premier U.K. robot combat TV show.
- Robots Live! — U.K. robot combat live event showcasing heavyweights and featherweights.
- Bugglebots — An online video beetleweight tournament series.
- Robodojo — A robot combat event and club in the north of England.
- Bristol Bot Builders — A robot combat event organisation in Bristol, England.
- Extreme Robots — U.K. robot combat live event featuring heavyweights and featherweights, including heavyweight spinners.
- King Of Bots — The first Chinese robot combat TV show with fighting combatants from around the world.
- RoboCore — Brazilian robot fighting events of various weight categories.
- RoboWars Australia — Robot combat live event in Australia.
A number of communities and groups for people to participate in and learn from.
- Fighting Robots Association (FRA) — The U.K.'s governing body of robot combat, and a forum board for robot combatants.
- Combat Robotics — A Facebook Group consisting of robot combat participants and enthusiasts from all around the world.
- Unofficial Robot Wars — The Unofficial Robot Wars Facebook group, consisting of robot combatants from around the world.
- Beetleweight Robot Combat Discussion — A Facebook group consisting of Beetleweight showcases and discussion.
- Antweight Robot Combat — A Facebook group dedicated to discussion and showcasing of Antweights.
- Out Of The Arena Discord — A Discord server dedicated to robot combat discussion, including voice chat and help for building robots.
- SCRC Kilobots Facebook Group — The Facebook Group for the SCRC, based in Saskatoon.
- Sparc Tools Forum — The Sparc Tools forum boards, part of the Standardised Procedures for the Advancement of Robot Combat (SPARC).
- Bristol Bot Builders Facebook Group — The Bristol Bot Builders Facebook group based in Bristol, England.
- Robot Wars 101 — A hub for robot combat, with information for building antweights and a forum board for discussing fighting robots.
- Arizona Robot Combat — A Facebook Group for robot combtatants and organisers in the state of Arizona.
- Michigan Combat Robotics — A Facebook Group for robot builders in the state of Michigan.
- Adelaide Robot Combat — Robot Combat community and meetups in Adelaide, Australia
Recommended books for learning about and how to build fighting robots.
- Riobotz Combat Robot Tutorial — a robot combat build manual by Team Riobotz. Also available in PDF format.
- Robot Wars: Build Your Own Robot — A manual by James and Grant Cooper going over robot combat design and build, as well as full lessons on building various fighting robots.
Showcases and build diaries of robots, as well as fighting robots to be inspired by.
- Shrapnelly — 1lb Combat Robot — A blog post covering Frank Zhao's antweight drum spinner, Shrapnelly.
- Deathcap: 3lb Combat Robot — Overview of Lucy Du's beetleweight drum spinner, Deathcap.
- Building a Featherweight Crab Combat Robot In A Week — A video build diary of Joe Brown's featherweight fighting robot, Crabsolutely Clawful.
- Inside a Bugglebot — FLICK Build Diary/Battle Report — A build diary covering the design and process of Flick, a beetleweight drum spinner by Tom Lloyd.
Links to various robot combat media, including podcasts and streaming channels.
- Inside The Bot — A robot combat podcast hosted by Gabriel Stroud and Will Cedric.
- Spinnerproof — A podcast about combat robotics by Ryan Bratley and Sam Hutchins.
- Activate! The Robot Wars Podcast — A retrospective review podcast of Robot Wars by Rob E. Harmlessly and Benji.
Links for learning the basics of robot combat, how to build fighting robots, as well as tools and designs people can use to build their own. Note: some links may require joining a group or community to view the link.
Useful resources to learn the basics of robot combat, as well as tutorials on building full robots.
Learn the basics of fighting robots, including wiring, necessary components, and radio control. Recommended for people new to building fighting robots.
- Combat Robotics Tutorial — An instructable covering weight classes, different robot and weapon types, and designing a combat robot by Titan Tech Robotics.
- Combat Robot Electronics for Begineers — Alta's guide on the basics of fighting robot electronics in antweights and beetleweights.
- How To Build A Robot — A video tutorial on the concepts of building a fighting robot by Lisa Winter.
- How To Build A Robot Weapon System — A video tutorial on how to make a robot weapon's system by Lisa Winter.
The smallest weight category, at 150g. Suitable for beginners in robot combat.
- How To Build A UK Antweight Robot — A video tutorial covering how to build a U.K. antweight fighting robot by Team Panoramic.
- Cheap Arduino Robot Control — An instructable covering how to build a U.K. antweight using Arduino boards and nRF24L01 modules for control by Team Panic.
- How To Make An Antweight — A forum post covering the components and build process of making a simple U.K. antweight by Laser.
1lb fighting robots, the U.S. catergory of antweight, heavier than U.K. antweights.
- One Pound Fighting Robot, Algos — An instructable going over the build of his U.S. antweight spinner, Algos.
- Sgt. Cuddles Antweight Combat Robot Build — The process of building Sgt. Cuddles, a 1lb antweight drum spinner by Robert Cowan.
10 times heavier than fairyweights, beetleweights are a 1.5kg/3lb weight class.
- Naked Singularity: Beetleweight Wedge Combat Robot — An instructable covering the build process of Naked Singularity, a beetleweight wedge by lewisb42
- Robo-Rooter — 3lb Combat Robot — An overview of the build process for Robo-Rooter, a beetleweight horizontal spinner by Alex Horne.
- Unskinny Bot: 3-lb Horizontal Spinner Combat Bot — A beetleweight bar spinner's build process by lewisb42.
A step up from beetleweights and below the featherweights, hobbyweights are the 12lb weight class.
- Doom Service: Multi-saw Combat Robot — An instructable going over the build process of Doom Service, a hobbyweight combat robot by lewisb42.
- Abrasive Personality — 12 Pound Combat Robot — An look at the process of lewisb42's hobbyheight, Abrasive Personality.
13.6kg/30lb fighting robots, a popular weight category.
- 30lb Fighting Robot — Nyx — An instructable covering the build process of Nyx, a featherweight combat robot by Mike Jeffries.
- Phoenix — 30lb Combat Robot — An overview of the build for the pneumatically-powered featherweight Phoenix by Alex Horne.
- Crippling Depression — A video playlist of the design, build, and outcome of Robert Cowan's featherweight robot, Crippling Depression.
The heaviest weight class, at 110kg in the U.K. and 250lbs in the U.S.
Useful tidbits and pointers you can use when building a fighting robot.
- Hacking Drills — Cheap/Powerful Gearmotors for Robotic Applications — An instructable that covers how to use drill motors for featherweight robots by Alex Horne.
- Brushless Beetleweight Drive — A hack for putting a hobby DC Motor gearbox onto a 1806 Brushless Motor by Rory Mangles.
- Quanum Brushless Drive with Planetary Gearbox — A hack to place a 22mm planetary gearbox onto a Quanum BE1806 Brushless Motor by Cosmin Gorgovan.
- SimonK Firmware Flashing Tutorial (Brushless Drive) — Robert Cowan's tutorial on how to flash SimonK firmware to make a Brushless ESC Reversible.
- Beetleweight Brushless Drive — A tutorial on how to mount a 22mm planetary gearbox onto a brushless motor for beetleweight robots by Robert Cowan.
Ready-made designs and components you can download to use for building a fighting robot.
- Saw Loser — An open source design, with drawings and design files for Alex Mordue's beetleweight robot, Saw Loser.
Resources for necessary software to program robot components and electronics.
Software that can be used to program various radio transmitters over USB.
- T6Config — Radio Control software on PC for programming T6A Radio Transmitters.
- Turborix — Radio Control programming on macOS for T6A Radio Transmitters.
Applications that can be used to program Speed Controllers, using different software configurations, over USB.
- RapidFlash — A Google Chrome App for flashing and programming ESCs using SimonK Firmware.
Stores and suppliers where you can buy the necessary components and tools for building a fighting robot.
- Banggood — Gadgets, electronics and technology online store.
- AliExpress — Online Chinese retail store, including electronics and robot components.
- HobbyKing — U.K., U.S., and E.U. hobby components store.
- Fingertech Robotics — Canadian antweight and beetleweight components store.
- Equals Zero Designs — U.S. components supplier, including the famous Ragebridge series of Speed Controllers.
- The Robot Marketplace — U.S. hobby and components store.
- Nuts and Bots — Team Nuts' antweight robots and components store.
- Ranglebox — Featherweight and beetleweight components supplier.
- Technobots — U.K. robotics and components store.
- Drizzlebots — Antweight and beetleweights components supplier.
- RoboCore — Brazilian robot and electronic components store.
If you want to add to this list, contributions are welcome! Please read the contribution guidelines before making any changes.
To the extent possible under law, Iain <@IainIsCreative> has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.
If you like this list, you may also like my other list, awesome-nodebots. If you found this list helpful and has been useful for you to build a fighting robot, feel free to buy me a coffee tea.