Make a battlebot

first you need to have all the crew members established, basicly a welder, electronics technician, driver (a devoted and reliable one), and any other role nessecary to the success of the project. not every role must be filled by only one person, nor must there be a person for every role, there have been one-man builders who weld, solder, drive, strategize, and design. likewise there have been huge teams with many welders, many designers, etc. and somtimes teams choose to have more than one driver (one steers and one controls weapons). after that, the process branches off into two methods.

for the low-funded, resourceful and creative builder, the thing to do is obtain the cheapest key components available (used or on sale or whatever) decide what to do with them, and build the bot around them.

for the well-funded builder, you should create a practical design (effecient, reliable, powerful, well armored, low cost if nessecary and most important-COOL! nobody wants to watch a bunch of wedges run into each other) draw it out (many problems reveal themselves in the sketching stage) and don't think that you can create the ulimate bot (performance in some areas diminish as performance in other areas increase, so just design what you think will be cool), next make a parts list-motors, armor, radio control system (not that hard to attain), electronic speed control, hydraulics, etc.-and make sure it has a kill switch wired directly to the negative on the power source so that it can be turned on or off from the outside (nobody wants a 500 pound 600 horse power block of metal firing up unexpectedly), build and test test test! you want to know every problem and the driver (or drivers) have to build skill at operating the bot-many bots have met their end at the hand of mediocre operaters.

keep in mind that fortune favors the bold. new ideas are key to the development and success of the sport. I'll say it again! no one wants to watch a ring full of wedges run into each other! if you want your robot to slap opponents with a big metal hand, or bounce around on springs, people will love you (well, your bot anyway). this is why it must be cool, to make sure that people remember it. wether it wins or not.

please remember safety! destroying old computers with a high powered diamond studded grinder is fun, but shrapnel is inevitable. anyone watching or operating a ROBOT BUILT TO DESTROY should have safety glasses at least, and should probably be on a ledge out of reach of the robot or behind a polycarbonate wall like in robot wars and battlebots (bullet proof glass)