Battle Bots - APOGEE 25 Robowars (BITS Pilani)
As a first-year student, I had the opportunity to work with my team—Atharv, Rushil, and Shoyam—to design and build a fully functional combat robot for APOGEE Robowars. With no prior experience in robotics, this project pushed us to learn everything from mechanical design to electronics integration from the ground up.
Design & Engineering
We built a wedge-style combat bot using an aluminium sheet-metal chassis, which we designed ourselves and had laser-cut externally. Our weapon system consisted of dual side-mounted hammers made from off-the-shelf hammer heads welded onto steel rods (welding done outside the lab). This gave us a simple yet effective impact weapon that could strike from multiple angles.
Drivetrain & Electronics
To power the bot, we used:
High-power drone BLDC motors
Bidirectional ESCs for reversible control
LiPo battery for high current output
A GTS pulley transmission to keep the drivetrain lightweight while allowing more of the weight budget to be focused on the weapon
This setup provided a good balance of speed, torque, and responsiveness during the competition.
Fabrication & Assembly
Most of the hands-on work was done in the Tinkerer’s Lab, where I worked on:
Drilling and fitting aluminium components
Minor machining and adjustments
Integrating motors, pulleys, and electronics
Complete chassis and system assembly
Testing, troubleshooting, and refining the bot
Sheet metal cutting and welding were handled by external vendors, but all design and integration were done by us.
Outcome
Although our first version didn’t perform at a top competitive level, the experience was extremely valuable. I gained practical skills in mechanical design, fabrication, wiring, and system debugging under real-world constraints. Our team is now developing a more advanced second-generation bot with improved performance and reliability.