EVENT REPORT: Motorama 2013
By Pete Smith
May 2013, Page 32
Just this February, the Northeast Robotics Club (www.nerc.us) hosted the 11th annual combat event at the 2013 Motorama motorsports extravaganza and custom car show (www.motorama events.com) in Harrisburg, PA.

BUILD REPORT: The Quest for a Different Kind of Flipper: Inspiration and Early Attempts
By Zach O’Donnell
May 2013, Page 26
I have been building fighting robots for several years, and starting in 2009 I managed to build a 12 pound robot named Scurrie that won several competitions in a row. After some time, I was also successful with a 30 pound shell spinner named Tetanus.

PARTS IS PARTS: Product Review: FingerTech Robotics Power Switch
By Mike Jeffries
April 2013, Page 30
For as long as I can remember, there hasn’t been a power switch designed for the 150 g to 3 lb combat robot classes that is readily available.

BUILD REPORT: Mini Bot Hockey Bots — Part 3
By Pete Smith
April 2013, Page 26
In Part 2 of this series, I discussed how I made the chassis and drive train. In this part, I will show you how I wired the bots and set up the transmitter and receiver.

PARTS IS PARTS: Product Review: OrangeRx T-SIX 2.4 GHz Transmitter
By Pete Smith
March 2013, Page 30
The OrangeRx range of 2.4 GHz spread spectrum DSM2 receivers (available from HobbyKing) has proved to be very useful in combat robotics over the last couple of years as they provide a cheaper alternative to the Spektrum receivers required by the popular DX6e and DX6i transmitters.

Building a Large Scrolling Display
By Pete Smith
February 2013, Page 43
Ioften attend shows where I’m either demonstrating combat robots and bot hockey, or as a sponsor providing prizes of Kitbots products. In order to inform the public about the event or the products, I have several banners to hang up on the walls, plus I also hand out business cards and information sheets when I have the time. It would be useful, however, to have a more eye-catching and informative way of passing on the information.

PARTS IS PARTS: Product Beta Test: RageBridge from Equals Zero Designs
By Mike Jeffries
February 2013, Page 39
Iwas lucky enough to get a chance recently to test the new RageBridge dual channel brushed DC motor controller from Equals Zero Designs (e0designs.com).

BUILD REPORT: Mini Bot Hockey Bots — Part 1
By Pete Smith
February 2013, Page 33
Playing bot hockey is great fun, and it’s a big hit with the crowds at events. I have my own full team of 15 lb class bots.

Mecha-Mayhem Moves to Cleveland
By Dave Graham
January 2013, Page 33
The fall of 2012 posed a challenge for the members and supporters of the Chicago Robotic Combat Association (CRCA).

The History of Robot Combat: Robot Combat in Brazil
By Morgan Berry
December 2012, Page 34
In recent years, robot combat has expanded to have a large international following. Countries all over the world have adapted the sport in unique ways.

Happy New Year from the Combat Zone
By Kevin Berry
December 2012, Page 28
Grit your teeth, readers. It's what you've come to expect in December issues of magazines — the dreaded year-end retrospective.

BotBlast Turns Five
By Dave Graham
November 2012, Page 31
Top fighting robot enthusiasts converged on Columbia Mall in Bloomsburg, PA, on Saturday, July 21, 2012 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of BotBlast.

BUILD REPORT: Algos: Who Needs MOI When You’ve Got Angular Velocity?
By Mike Jeffries
November 2012, Page 28
After competing for a year with a two-wheel drive wedge named Kobalos, I decided to retire that robot and move on to something with an active weapon.

Clash of the Bots 3
By Andrea Suarez
October 2012, Page 35
Motorama Carolina Combat Robotics hosted its third Clash of the Bots on July 14 at the Schiele Museum of Natural History.

BUILD REPORT: Siafu: An Army of Ants — Part 4
By Pete Smith
September 2012, Page 30
In this final part of my Army of Ants series, I will describe how I made the drum for Siafu and completed the rest of the bot build.

PEOPLE OF BOTS: Meet the Robot Riot Teams
By Andrea Suarez
August 2012, Page 36
The first annual Robot Riot attracted 38 robots to Miami Beach from Puerto Rico, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Competitors ranged from 13-60 years of age, including five teams that fought their first robot at this event.

Bring Back the Pogs
By Dave Graham
August 2012, Page 33
I've been involved in combat robotics for a number of years as both a competitor and an event organizer. One of the things I really enjoy about the sport is the variety of mementos created by the innovative minds of robot enthusiasts.

BUILD REPORT: Siafu: An Army of Ants — Part 3
By Pete Smith
August 2012, Page 28
In this part, I will show how the parts were manufactured, provide a list of the other parts used, and how they went together to make a drivable chassis.

BUILD REPORT: Siafu: an Army of Ants — Part 2
By Pete Smith
July 2012, Page 30
In Part 2, I will detail the design of the drive motor mounts, the hubs and wheels, the drum and its mountings, and the design of the front wedge profile.

EVENT REPORT: Gulf Coast Robot Sports Completes its 10th Event
By Andrea Suarez
June 2012, Page 42
January 2012 marked the 10th South Florida Insectweight combat event from Gulf Coast Robot Sports (GCRS).

A Decade of Robot Fighting
By Andrea Suarez
June 2012, Page 49
The box is locked, the lights are on ... it’s robot fighting time!

INTERVIEW: Tool City Robobots Leverages Combat for Learning
By Chris Olin
June 2012, Page 45
For the past six years, middle and high school students from across Crawford County, PA have been building ever-increasing powerful 15 pound combat robots to compete in the annual Tool City Robobots competition hosted by the Crawford County School District and National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) of North West Pennsylvania.

BUILD REPORT: Siafu and the Army of Ants — Part 1
By Pete Smith
June 2012, Page 32
I decided my first serious Ant would be a drum bot.

Product Review: Spektrum DX5e 2.4 GHz Transmitter
By Pete Smith
May 2012, Page 31
The 2.4 GHz spread spectrum transmitters and receivers have transformed the R/C market.

The History of Robot Combat: The Rise of the Insects — Part 1
By Morgan Berry
April 2012, Page 35
This article was difficult to put together, to say the least. Once again, the robot combat builders haven’t proven to be the most diligent record keepers (with one notable exception).

PARTS IS PARTS: Making Wheels Round
By Mike Jeffries
March 2012, Page 38
There are a decent number of ready to use wheels available today for robots of all sizes, and one of the most popular for small robots is the Lite Flite foam wheel. They’re cheap, tough, and come in a wide range of sizes.

BUILD REPORT: Antweight
By Mike Jeffries
March 2012, Page 35
Motor City Massacre

BUILD REPORT: Shaka v.3 — Part 1:
By Thomas Kenney
March 2012, Page 30
Design Goals and Methodology

EVENT REPORT: “Beware the Hobby that Eats” (Benjamin Franklin): Franklin Institute 2011
By Pete Smith
February 2012, Page 31
The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA (www2.fi.edu) was host to the Northeast Robotics Club’s (www.nerc.us) 5th Autumn Event last year on October 15th.

The History of Robot Combat: From Humble Beginnings to Multinational Sensation
By Morgan Berry
January 2012, Page 35
Long before the glitz and glamour of Comedy Central’s BattleBots™ brought mass appeal to the sport, robot combat had much humbler beginnings.

BUILD REPORT: Rollin’ With the Punches
By Andrea Suarez
January 2012, Page 29
Win or lose, the best combat robots always put on a show. That means no drive system failures unless your robot is in pieces. Bigger bots can achieve this through redundancy: four motors, four speed controllers, etc.

PARTS IS PARTS: HobbyKing R610 and R410 2.4 GHz Receivers
By Mike Jeffries
January 2012, Page 26
Ifound out recently that there are very few DSM2 receivers with programmable failsafes available when I decided to replace the Spektrum BR6000 receivers I had been using with a DSM2.

DRILL BABY, DRILL. OR, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
By Pete Smith
December 2011, Page 35
For about a decade or more, it has been possible to get cheap cordless drills from Harbor Freight (www.harborfreight.com).

MANUFACTURING: Designing for Waterjet
By Mike Jeffries
December 2011, Page 31
When designing a robot, often the focus is on the weapon system or how much power you can cram into the drive system.

FEATURE: So, You Want to Cut Metal on Your Table Saw?
By Kevin Berry
November 2011, Page 32
Like many bot builders, I started out as a woodworker. So, I have a shop full of woodworking tools and, now, a serious bot building jones.

BUILD REPORT: Rebuilding Apollyon, Again
By Mike Jeffries
November 2011, Page 28
Since the last build report was written, Apollyon has competed at Motorama. Apollyon took terminal damage there while achieving a 3-2 record, and yet again needed a complete rebuild.

EVENT REPORT: Clash of the Bots 2 by Pete Smith
By Pete Smith
October 2011, Page 32
The Schiele Museum (www.schielemuseum.org) in Gastonia, NC held their second “Clash of the Bots” open day on Saturday, July 23rd.

PARTS IS PARTS: Susie’s Saga Continues – The Beginner’s Guide to Motors
By Morgan Berry
October 2011, Page 38
In the last issue of SERVO, we introduced you to Susie — a young girl trying to begin a career in combat robotics.

BUILD REPORT: A Team Building Exercise
By Pete Smith
October 2011, Page 29
My Kitbots bot hockey team “Team Scotch Pies” had competed in one event and taken part in a couple of demonstrations, but the bots were retasked for a summer camp and were less than ideal.

EVENT REPORT: 2011 NRL National Championships
By Nicholas Ozorak
September 2011, Page 34
It was may 21, 2011. In an airplane hanger at the edge of the Indianapolis International Airport, I could hear crashes, clanks, and the hum of tools being used.

BUILD REPORT: The Great Outdoors: Combat Robots vs. Mother Nature
By James Baker
September 2011, Page 28
Robots fight. We all know this, and it is why we read this section of the magazine. However, where, and when

EVENT REPORT: National Robotics League Championship
By Kevin Berry
August 2011, Page 32
Twenty-nine robots built by 91 students from 14 schools battled for national recognition in two days of intense competition at the National Tooling and Machining Association’s (NTMA) 2011 National Robotics League (NRL) Championships held May 21-22 at Vincennes University’s Aviation Technology Center in Indianapolis, IN.

In Front of the Cameras at RoboGames
By Liz McAmis Sam McAmis
August 2011, Page 36
This year, we competed at RoboGames with our heavyweight, Gruff.

BUILD REPORT: Building a Better Beatle Beater Bar — Part 2
By Pete Smith
August 2011, Page 28
This month, I will show how to create the axle, drive pulley, and flanges.

EVENT REPORT: Robot Rumble
By Pete Smith
July 2011, Page 32
The Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC held its fourth annual “Robot Rumble” on Saturday April 16, 2011.

MANUFACTURING: The Roboticist’s Guide to Plastic
By Matthew Spurk
July 2011, Page 28
Plastic has become an integral part of our society. It holds our food, is found in our automobiles, and is even on and in our bodies. It also makes a great building material for robotics.

POTPOURRI 3.0
By Kevin Berry
June 2011, Page 28
This month's theme: Kids Building Combat Bots Become Better Kids.

EVENT REPORT: Motorama 2011
By Pete Smith
May 2011, Page 31
Each February, the Northeast Robotics Club (www.nerc.us) hosts their biggest competition of the year as part of the Motorama motorsports extravaganza and custom car show (www.motoramaevents.com) in Harrisburg, PA.

BUILD REPORT: Kobalos — Antweight Wedge/Rammer
By Mike Jeffries
May 2011, Page 26
Kobalos is a miniaturization of my 12 lb robot, Apollyon. The basic idea was to build something that would be as close to indestructible as possible.

VIDEO REVIEW: Bots High
By Collin Berry
April 2011, Page 31
Joey Daoud, a BotsIQ veteran and film school graduate, has produced a documentary about the sport. SERVO was given the opportunity to do a pre-release screening. We enlisted a journalist of similar age and background to review this interesting video.