MonsterBorg vs. DiddyBorg for battlebots?

Submitted by rhardgrave on Wed, 06/16/2021 - 16:20

Forums:

ThunderBorg and MonsterBorg

Hi,
I'm trying to design a kit for kids to use to build their first battlebots using Raspberry Pi. I was looking at both MonsterBorg and DiddyBorg as possible starting points to provide the movement/remote control foundation and then adding other pieces to build in weapons, etc. The idea is that the kids could add weapons and program their controllers to control them.

Which is a better fit to provide a base platform to add on a wide variety of accessories between MonsterBorg and DiddyBorg? I was leaning towards DiddyBorg because it had the multifunction top kit, etc., which seemed to *maybe* enable more stuff to be mounted on top? But most battlebots are mounting weapons in front as well, so not sure if either MonsterBorg/DiddyBorg has more flexibility for that?

I really know nothing about these sorts of electronics so don't assume I have any idea what I'm getting into!

Thank you for any guidance you can provide!

Roman

piborg

Fri, 06/18/2021 - 08:40

Permalink

MonsterBorg vs. DiddyBorg for battlebots

DiddyBorg is the better robot for mounting options, especially if you want to add sensors or weapons that mounted to the front / side at a later date.

The Multifunction Top provides plenty of additional screw points, plus some larger holes which cables can be threaded through to connect to the Raspberry Pi. It also has two holes which are designed for fitting SG90 servos if they (or something similar) are part of the weapon's base :)

If you do not need the camera module installed you could potentially mount a weapon to the front or back of DiddyBorg by replacing (or modifying) the camera mount with something that holds the weapon and sits into the same slots in the top and bottom plates. You could also use both the multifunction and standard top plates to add a third tier so there is plenty of space within the DiddyBorg for housing the electronics / mechanical parts of the weapons.

In comparison MonsterBorg has a small number of screw points if the lid is removed (see picture below). You could potentially make your weapons on a base with four screw holes that use these points, but it is definitely not as flexible as DiddyBorg.

The other major difference between DiddyBorg and MonsterBorg is speed. MonsterBorg moves faster, but it is easier to precisely control DiddyBorg (e.g. lining up for an attack).

Images: