This Beyblade battlebot is like a whirling dervish of destruction

Battlebots are fascinating, because their builders always manage to come up with unique new ways of destroying opponents while avoiding damage at the same time. Like any good sport, it involves metagaming to develop a strategy based on expected opponent strategies. Ari’s strategy was to make a translational drift (or “melty brain”) combat robot that spins its entire body at insane speeds, which requires some pretty careful engineering.

Ari’s contender is like the robot equivalent of a Beyblade. It is circular and rotates really, really fast. One protrusion catches on opponent bots and transfers all of that kinetic energy from spinning into an incredibly powerful punch. But physics being what it is, Ari’s Beyblade bot also experiences that same impact. So, Ari had to design the bot’s chassis to hold up to the forces and the electronics needed to withstand the impacts, too.

The robot only weighs one pound and that includes the battery and motors, so Ari had to keep the control electronics light. The primary component is an Arduino Nano ESP32 board, which connects to the other components through a custom PCB. Those other parts consist of LEDs, brushless DC motors, and the electronic speed controllers (ESCs) that drive the motors at such ludicrous speeds. 

This worked very well and Ari’s bot tore through the competition like an out-of-control buzzsaw through frightened butter. Ari did lose the final bout, but that was on something of a technicality as a loose connection interfered with his ability to control the bot. Even so, we’re calling the design and strategy a success.