MinotaurRiobotz

Not easy. Before the final match, the producers asked me to be taped in the pits, telling how excited I was to almost feel the taste of victory. I told them what I was feeling, quite a bit nervous, and ended up saying that I could almost feel the taste of the giant nut. Cut! Everybody cracked up laughing. They taped again. True story.

Thank you! Daniel was very disappointed, it has always been our dream to win BattleBots. But we knew it would be a tough fight, Bite Force is tough to get under and has Paul as a driver. We are improving Minotaur's design for a higher ground clearance, and reinforcing its side walls, which broke against Tombstone and Bite Force. There is no overkill in robot combat.

Minotaur cost something like US$20k, but if you include spare parts it was much more. It depends a lot on the design, some robot structures made of welded tubes can be cheaper, but if you require CNC machining then you have an added cost. The chassis had to be machined elsewhere since our CNC mill is not big enough. I always suggest starting with lower weight classes in local events, this way you save money and still learn in the process. Then you move up to the big bots.

The drum has 73lb, with a radius of up to 3.4 inches, and a very thick wall of up to about 1.5 inches. And it spins at about 10,000RPM (12,000RPM is theoretical). I had to get the moment of inertia from the CAD file, it turns out that at full speed the weapon has about 55kJ of energy.

I used to be, he was much more emotional back in 2007. Too much adrenaline and responsibility for a freshman, all the team's work was in his hands. But he is more controlled and focused now. Away from the BattleBox, he's the nicest guy.