Meet The Bot:
SPECTROSCOPE
Introducing Spectroscope! Team RECR’s Fist Ever 3lb Combat Robot.
After the long hours spent on the engineering mountain that is Kaleidoscope v2, team RECR wanted to build something that would be a lot simpler, cheaper, and quicker to turn around event-to-event. Spectroscope turned out to be so simple that it was designed, built, and fielded all in under a two weeks before the January 2023 NHRL event.
What’s It Take to Make a Simple Robot?
Out of all the different designs of robots, one of the simplest designs is the classis horizontal midcutter. At the heavyweight scale, Tombstone is the bot best known for fielding this rugged, straightforward design.
Team RECR’s take on this concept involves a single piece TPU body print sandwiched between two plates of machined 3mm quasi layup carbon fiber. This allows for a super simple 3 piece construction, and leaves a full pound left over for the weapon on the robot.
Speaking of the weapon, Spectroscope features a 6.5” diameter, ¼” thick, AR600 horizontal disk spinning with a tip speed of 250 mph. The weapon rides on needle bearings, and a 3/8” hardened steel shoulder bolt. To power this, Spectroscope uses a SunnySky 2216 1400kv brushless outrunner, FlyColor Francy 30 amp BlHeli 32 ESC, and 1000mah battery.
For the drive, Spectroscope uses 22mm brushed gearmotors paired with wide foam wheels, giving it relatively low traction, but good shock absorption overall.
The last point of interest on the bot design are the long carbon fiber forks equipped at the rear of the robot. These were originally left over from an unused configuration on Kaleidoscope v2, and on Spectroscope were intended to act as a way to control opponents during a march.