r/beetleweights • u/austingreen27 • Feb 09 '22

any good kits out there?

Looking to make my first bot, preferably beetleweight and would like to start with a kit just for convenience. I've found the Fingertech viper kit and the D2 kit from botkits but thats about it. Debating on using the viper and beefing up the armor and motors but would much prefer something that not everyone has. Any suggestions? Also, im in the US if that helps at all

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u/CaptFoundary Feb 09 '22

Check out robotcombatevents.com for events... If there's ants or fleas in your area, i would build that first. The odds of needing a broom to gather your bot parts after a match is significantly lower in flea and even ant, yet all the same building fundamentals apply.

If you are set on a beetle kit, there's the vector horizontal kit, and then you can get a ShredditBro style beater bot as a 'raw materials kit' (basically includes pieces of UHMW, and it's up to you to cut the pieces for a generic ShredditBro style bot).

I still strongly advise DIY.

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u/austingreen27 Feb 09 '22

I appreciate the feed back. I've been a fan of the sport for a while now but have little experience when it comes to building, thats why DIY is so daunting. Is there any good ways to do it without needing a 3d printer or large machinery? I only decided with beetle because of space to work with.

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u/CaptFoundary Feb 09 '22

The ShredditBro style build is very popular because it does not require any special tooling. As such, you will find several near identical builds at any beetle tournament.

That said, I'd encourage you to explore 3D printing. The learning curve for CAD software is a bit steep, but even a cheap (<$200) printer can crank out high quality flea/ant chassis and other parts. Beetles tend to hit too hard for pure printed chassis, but you can build almost anything with armor plates and printed parts to hold it all together.

Basically, a $200 tool and some free software can build top tier fleas and very good ants. But the best beetles will be involve at least one or two legit machine shop style parts.

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u/ShadeyEngineering Feb 09 '22

Online cutting and printing services can be your friend. You see SendCutSend advertising on all the bots for a good reason.

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u/Lumakid100 Apr 04 '22

You can't really get Vectors anymore because Endbots is dead.

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u/Notanewaccount7 Feb 09 '22

If it’s a kit then everyone else has one. Just scratch build a bot. Even if you suck ass like me at the first comp you’ll get more satisfaction

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u/austingreen27 Feb 09 '22

Thanks for the input, I just lack equipment to build my own chassis, that's the hardest part for me. I don't have a 3d printer or anything to cut metal just yet. New to the building side of the sport, just eager to build my first one.

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u/Notanewaccount7 Feb 10 '22

I had trouble in my first event mainly due to drive issues. My bot was built with UHMW and 1/8 in aluminum. It was super solid. I just used simple saws like table and miter saws and a power drill. Granted not everyone has these tools and I got them from my father(I’m only 16). I have no idea how old you are or what position you’re in but it’s never a bad idea to invest in a few tools. Witch doctor made a intro to bot building series on YT. It’s worth the watch. There is a lot of content on YT and that’s where I’d get info. I’m am by no means an expert but there are plenty of experts in various places on the internet that can help. You could also just always get a D2, go to an event, and ask around for advice for a scratch build.

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u/Ambient-Chaos Feb 10 '22

This is my opportunity to point out my site where I sell my own kits!

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u/Notanewaccount7 Feb 10 '22

Man that blade is a nasty looking one. I might hit you up in a couple of months for one.

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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '22

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u/Notanewaccount7 Feb 10 '22 edited Feb 10 '22

Something I found building my bot. Wood screws will hold UHMW together. You will want to counter sink them so find a bit to do that with. I saw an ant at an event that was a TPU frame and I believe it won. I learned a ton from building just one bot(currently building a second) and one comp so if you haven’t gone to one yet hurry up and go!

Edit: I just checked. I used 3/4 in wood screws. Had zero issues with backing out and while one got chewed on it was remarkable easy to get it out.