STORY: Mini Inferno was a last-minute substitution entry for The Learning Channel's Robotica TV show, when I decided that Towering Inferno wouldn't be ready in time. He shares a few components with some previous bots, but Mini Inferno's got his own personality & style. My great pit crew members Christian Carlberg & Lauren Herold helped tons during the short 45-minute allowed repair periods and also helped me plan my strategies for the different events.

SPECS: A svelte 37lb of pure drivetrain (for fun, I weighed Mini Inferno and me on the scale at Robotica and I still came in well under the 210lb weight limit!). A simple 4-wheel drive box with lots of battery power and some new overtaxed drill motors, all packed in a 4" tall carbon fiber/aluminum body with various spike & scoop attachment configurations. For the gauntlet event, we taped down 40lb of steel weights that we "borrowed" from a camera boom.

TECH DETAILS : Mini Inferno runs off of 4 drill motors and gearboxes. 2 Power-Sonic 12V 7Ah batteries in series provide 24V, 6V above the drills' original 18V battery packs. Two Vantec RDFR23 speed controllers run the motors--one runs the front pair, the other the back pair. This redundancy is not only less stressful on my electronics, but a single speed controller failure will not kill the robot altogether, only slow it down. To help bust through the various materials in the gauntlet, I machined a pair of spikes from 3/4" drill rod and case-hardened their tips for durability. To provide maximum scooping power for the sumo, maze, and gauntlet events, I used some incredibly hard spring steel attachments to the carbon fiber flaps. Between the spikes & the various flap options, I was able to tailor Mini Inferno toward each opponent and each event.

SPONSORS: Specialty Tool provided a few odds & ends needed to finalize the bot. Shop facilities made available by UCSB Mechanical & Environmental Engineering.