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.

BUILD REPORT: Apollyon 2
By Mike Jeffries
April 2011, Page 24
Concept to Creation.

MANUFACTURING: Hobbyweight Weapon Blade and Hub
By Pete Smith
March 2011, Page 32
Hobbyweight Weapon Blade and Hub

BUILD REPORT: Building Combat Arenas: A Guide to Staying Safe
By James Baker
March 2011, Page 28
Combat robots are dangerous; we can all agree about that.

Potpourri
By Kevin Berry
February 2011, Page 30
Lithium-Ion vs. Lithium-Polymer

PARTS IS PARTS: DeWalt Drill Motor Mounting Solution
By Don Hebert
February 2011, Page 26
The 18 volt DeWalt drill is used by many robots in the 30 pound and up category.

RioBotz Combot Tutorial Summarized – DC Motors
By Kevin Berry
January 2011, Page 30
Editor’s note: Professor Marco Antonio Meggiolaro, of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has translated his popular book, the RioBotz Combot Tutorial, into English.

Affordable 2.4 GHz
By Pete Smith
January 2011, Page 23
The principal radio frequency for many years in USA combat robotics was 75 MHz PCM.

EVENT REPORT: Franklin Institute 2010 – Rise of the Melty Brains!
By Pete Smith
December 2010, Page 34
The Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia and NERC (www.nerc.us) presented their fourth annual robot event on Saturday, October 9, ‘10.

MANUFACTURING: Calculating Bolt Torques
By Matthew Spurk Katherine Kelly
December 2010, Page 29
Sparks fly as the two robots smash into each other again. Sweat drips down your forehead as you prepare for another charge across the arena.

EVENT REPORT: Clash of the Bots — Schiele Museum 2010
By Pete Smith
November 2010, Page 33
Walk in the front door of the Schiele Museum (www.schielemuseum.org) in Gastonia, NC and the first thing you see is a full size replica of the skeleton of a T-Rex!

PARTS IS PARTS: TAIG Tools Desktop CNC Mills
By Kevin Berry
November 2010, Page 28
On the ever interesting Robot Fighting League forum, I ran across this spontaneous product review. It meets my criteria for this column, which is “builder tested.” I am a firm believer that all product reviews should be after they’ve been “in the box."

EVENT REPORT: Robotic HORD Returns to Cuyahoga Valley Career Center
By Chris Olin
October 2010, Page 38
The Ohio Robotics Club (ORC) — a member of the Robot Fighting League (RFL) hosted the House of Robotic Destruction (HORD) Spring 2010 at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center (CVCC) back in May of this year.

PARTS IS PARTS: O-Ring Wheels for Ants
By Pete Smith
October 2010, Page 33
Antweight (<1lb) combat robots use a variety of different drive motors and finding small, light, and robust wheels for them can be a problem.

MANUFACTURING: Composites – Part 2
By Bradley Hanstad - Team Think Tank
October 2010, Page 29
In this month’s article, I will cover a very basic lay-up process, the tools you need, and the safety precautions to take.

Combat Zone’s Greatest Hits
By Kevin Berry
September 2010, Page 38
Dalton O’Conner of Team Massacre Robotics sent in this one. The bot is Sonic the Hedgehog from the 12 lb class.

PARTS IS PARTS: Let’s Roll — Wheels for Combat Robots
By James Baker
September 2010, Page 32
It does not matter how powerful your robot is, if you cannot transfer that power to the floor. Wheels are the single most important part of your robot because without them doing their job properly, the effectiveness of every other capability is reduced.

PARTS IS PARTS: Bantam E-Station BC8HP Charger Review
By Nick Martin
August 2010, Page 36
The BC8HP charger is an update to Bantam’s already popular BC8 model. In short, Bantam has kept all the good features, increased the power rating, and improved the ergonomics.

BUILD REPORT: Bigger Better Beetle Blade
By Pete Smith
August 2010, Page 28
The first blade I had created for our 3 lb beetleweight, Pure Dead Brilliant, had been done in a big hurry to meet weight for its first competition.

COMBAT ZONE’s Greatest Hits
By Kevin Berry
July 2010, Page 30
This month, once again, only one builder submitted to Greatest Hits. Come on, bot fighters! There are tons of events going on, and gourmet damage abounds!

RioBotz ComBot Tutorial Summarized: HammerBots
By Kevin Berry
July 2010, Page 26
Professor Marco Antonio Meggiolaro, of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has translated his popular book — the RioBotz Combot Tutorial — into English.

Combat Zone’s Greatest Hits
By Kevin Berry
June 2010, Page 34
This month, only one builder submitted to Greatest Hits. Going by the mystery handle “kkeerroo,” this Australian fighter highlights his bot — “Vendetta” — competing at RoboWars 7 in a semi-final fight against a spinner call Bender.

Open Melt — Generous Sharing or a Threat to Society as We Know it?
By Kevin Berry
June 2010, Page 30
The author — in a blatant attempt to up his word count and thus his income — summarizes material he’s already sold to SERVO once ...

PARTS IS PARTS: Data Points: Fine-Tune Your Bot’s Performance
By Pete Smith
June 2010, Page 28
Knowing exactly how well your bot performs in a particular configuration would be very useful ... like, exactly how fast is the blade turning? What current is the weapon motor drawing at start-up and at cruise? How much does the battery voltage sag at full power?