newbie

[Paradox]

hi there.

about 2 hours ago i was browsing wikipedia and came across robot wars page... and then i just went to some different robot wars "team" sites... and various other sites..and then found out about robo-one, which looked very cool.

I found some videos of it on youtube, and the robots are amazing... i have been doing some research and i think i'd like to get a KHR-2, but im not sure.. what would be the best to get for a novice just starting out with robots?

i have read some topics here and apparantly KHR2 doesnt really have any english documentation, which is a bit daunting... but can it be built without breaking it sucessfully with no english manual? i'm good at constructing kits and such so if the construction isnt too complicated i should be ok...

just some questions on the robots in generals...

these things can actually participate in tournaments? so.. you program your bot from your PC, download the programs onto the robot and execute the programs via some remote control? and by doing this... you attack other robots in matches and knock eachother down to win etc?

sounds fun..

if i were to buy a KHR2, what would be the best place to buy (cheapest) and also considering i live in the UK? would i need anything else with it?

thanks a lot.

[hivemind]

Hello Paradox, welcome to the forums.

The KHR-2 Is a very nice robot, but you should keep your eyes open for a few others that are out and that are coming out. For example, the Hitec Robonova-1 is out and is in the english language, plus has a lot of good support in its section of the forums. (you may want to search for another similar post to this not too long ago)

Another option is to take your time, wait a while, and buy the Manoi when it comes out. I believe it has a similar make to the Kondo robots and uses Kondo servos. It can be found on robots-dreams and in the news section i believe. A very good choice.

The Kondo bots are great due to the nice walking gaits provided here, the 3d simulator and all of that, but i believe the english support is a little lacking. But as long as you are willing to push yourself I am sure you could figure it out and do fine.

Whatever your choice, goodluck, have fun, and dont rush to a decision.

[Paradox]

thanks for the quick reply.

by Kondo, you mean the KH- series robots?

I cant find any pictures of the Manoi robot you spoke about on robots dreams..

i'm not in any rush so i can wait if theres a better option for me coming out soon etc.

I looked at the robonova, but it feels a bit too lego / for little kids .. thats how i see it anyway.. the way it looks, where the others have more wires hanging out and look like they where made with bits of scrap hehe

[hivemind]

Yes, I mean the KH- series by Kondo

As for the Robonova, I actually think that the clean wiring is an advantage. With all the wires hanging out it is extremely easy to cut one and that means re-soldering a new one in there (not fun.. iva had it happen a few times)

Here you can find the Manoi.

Another advantage of the KH- robots is the 10.4v that they run at, where the robonova runs at 6v. But personally i find that my robonova is doing well, check robots-dreams, youll see my robot doing flips, i have tri-colour eyes, and plenty of mods to come.

Glad to help your search though

[Paradox]

this is manoi? http://www.robots-dreams.com/Image00694_1.jpg

because i did some searching and all images seem to look like this: http://www.core77.com/blog/images/manoi.jpg

or do you get different shells for it?

and excuse my ignorance but what does the voltage matter? or is it just that the battery lasts longer?

[hivemind]

the first picture you posted is the newest model, where the second pictures are the old Manoi, as you can see it is much nicer now

and you can always take the shell off and then the model will look similar to both the KHR-1 and RN-1

And the voltage relates to the speed/torque of the servos, generally a higher voltage means faster and stronger servos.

I know that someone in the KH- section made a hulk version that is about twice as stronge as a KHR-2 using the design of a KH-1, very cool. And batteries are easy to replace, but stock battery, so i have heard, the KH- series lasts 30 minutes and takes forever to charger (could be a bad charger), but i know that the RN-1 lasts an hour and takes an hour to charge.

[Paradox]

well, i like the "new" manoi..definetly cooler than the first, but in regards to what it can do and its limitations (does anyone know about this or because its not released yet theres no info?) is it worth waiting for?

thanks again hive


edit: some more questions before i go to sleep, how hard is it to program "moves" for the robots? ive done some visual basic but thats about it in the programming department, html and some php though.

do the robots come with some preset programs? how are the programs handled and how do you control the bots and execute different programs?

can you download other peoples programs to use on your bot or do people not share like that?

thanks

[hivemind]

np, but i would suggest taking about an hour and a half and looking through the forums, youll find the video of the Manoi, one of the first robots its size (with no shell on it) able to push around a box with two full liter bottles, which is very impressive. It also walks smoothly, and the shell is pretty awesome too.

As for other specs, i think the inside, at least from what i have seen, looks very close to the KH- series, and the RN-1 is very close to the KH-1, so those three, at least by design aspect, are very close, programming is huge, and also any mods you may make are huge, so its what you want to buy so that you can mod it... This is a modding community, its all about the mods.

-Hope I am helping

[Paradox]

yeah thanks. i think ill wait for the manoi to be released, do you know when and how much it will be?

[Paradox]

are there any english sites which deal with robo-one like explain the rules and what the different classes are?

and in some videos i see different looking bots, are those home made or modified / spray painted different colours/modded and all that?

http://www.robo-one.com/ the ones in that image on the page look cool, i guess they are modded?

[hivemind]

I honestly do not know when/how much the Manoi is going to be, but i believe it will be soon and i would guess a bit more than the KH- models. as for the robo-one, try using goodle language tools (beta):
Robo-One

Most bots in Robo-One are homebuilt, that is really the way to go in the end. but starting out with another bot is great, gives you a good foundation before you take off and make your own, and plus is a lot cheaper