BotLight On: Ray Billings, HardCore Robotics
February 24th, 2010 by SB
Ray Billings’ Last Rites vs VD6
If ever there was a ComBot that made you say “OH $#!%- RUUUUNNNN!!!!” it was most likely built by Ray Billings, of HardCore Robotics. Ray is an ex-prison guard, and became interested in combat robotics after the fact, when he was working at an adult college, and a colleague introduced him to the sport. He was hooked, and so this week, our BotLight is on Ray Billings. Interview below!
Intern: What was your first venture into combat robotics? How did it go? What did you learn?
Ray: Our fist event was Battlebots 4. We took one middleweight robot, a thwackbot style machine called Darkness. We ended up gong 3-1 and making it to TV rounds, but never actually made it to TV. The frame for this first machine was made from an old bedframe. We had a lot of fun, and certainly learned a lot about competing in general- I was astonished at the overall activity level in the pits, something I wasn’t prepared for.
Intern: What kind of activity?
Ray: For one thing, I was amazed (and still am today actually) of how many machines came to the event without being combat ready. When I show up to an event, I can literally pull my bot from the truck and drop it in the arena to fight instantly, which is one of the MAJOR differences between the great teams,and the not so great ones in my opinion, anyway.
The pits at ComBots are always alive with activity!
Another thing that surprised me was the frantic repairs needed between matches. I had done some various forms of racing in the past (carts, motorcycles, etc) and have had to deal with that kind of activity before, but bots take it up a notch, no doubt about that.
Intern: How did your ideas and designs develop during and after your first competition?
Ray: I have always built very tough machines physically, but the first few machines were not all that impressive as far as delivering damage to the other guy. Battlebots had a rather odd (and quite limiting) arrangement, requiring you to be ranked for getting to the TV rounds,and requiring you to keep the robot in the same configuration. For BB5 I would have loved to have built a different machine, but since I was on the verge of being ranked with Darkness, I was forced to continue with the thwackbot design. For BB5 I rebuilt Darkness from scratch, and again went 3-1 with it, which would have put me in the ranked category for the class. Unfortunately, BB never had season 6, so my ranking meant nothing after that. However, this meant I was free to build what I wanted, and so I started building the big kinetic energy (KE) bots I am known for today.
Intern: Very cool. On that note, you and your team have become well-known for having some of the biggest, baddest ‘bots around. How do you determine how much weight to put towards a weapon, vs how much to use on defense, vs how much drive? Do you consider your KE ‘bots “glass cannons?”
Ray: Glass cannons – I like that term! There have been a LOT of one hit wonders, machines with high KE but no real chance to use it in a sustained fashion. For me, I try to get the absolute most energy possible in a machine capable of delivering repeatedly, and reliably. Sometimes I succeed, but often times I don’t. If I’m in a long tournament, the wear and tear will eventually get to the point where I can’t keep the ‘bots running. I’m always on that fine line between maximum KE and being able to survive.
I usally start by looking at the weapon – between 1/4 and 1/3 of the mass of the bot will be the actual spinning part. More than this and I won’t be able to build a strong enough frame to make it survive, and less than this will mean I won’t have the lethal power I am after
Next, I look to a drive system that is capable of delivering the weapon. No pushing, no real speed, just barely enough to reliably point the bot in the right direction. I build weapons, not pushers, so drive only needs to be able to get it there.
After that is batteries – my bots are harder on batteries than anyone in the sport, and so I need to plan carefully. I need enough to be able to source the amp current for the big weapon, and enough capacity for at least 2 minutes. Matches are 3 minutes long, but I plan for 2 minutes. If the other guy can take 2 minutes of me smacking him, he deserves to win.
Whatever weight is left over goes to frame and armor, and frame is WAY more important in my designs than armor.The structure supporting the weapon needs to be substantial – I usually have to build a new frame after every event, or every other event, because it gets bent and twisted from the forces being unleashed.
Intern: Wow! What can you do to make sure the frame is solid enough to hold up to those forces?
Ray: I use 4130 chrome molly tubing for the frames, and almost exclusively use 1″ diameter tubing. However, the wall thicknesses vary consderably, depending on what I think the stresses are at that point. Some of it is very thin, at .035 wall, whereas I have used some as thick as .250 wall. It looks like it is all the same tubing, but it isn’t. Sort of a trade secret for building a strong but light frame. Since I rebuild so many frames, I have gotten pretty good a gauging stresses and building accordingly. The probem is I keep building for more power, so the stresses keep increasing 
.
Intern: Have you ever considered using computer software to aid you in gauging the stresses? What are your thoughts in that respect?
Ray: I use AutoCAD and Solidworks on occasion, but more from a design process of “will it fit”. It’s my opinion that the tools in computer modeling just can’t take into account the unpredictable forces that come in a combat environment. More power to those that want to use them, and I am a big fan of using all the tools at your disposal, but I think you would get answers that would fail in the arena.
Intern: What’s next for Hardcore Robotics? Any design changes or new bots on the table?
Ray: Our middleweight, Mortician came home from the ComBots event without any major damage. The few things on it needing work are done, and it is combat ready now for RoboGames. Pretty much the same story for our 30 pound bot Mitch. The Heayweight Last Rites is pretty much unfixable, and will need to be rebuilt from scratch.
We are also in the process of developing a new 30 pound machine, which will be something we have never tried before. It will be a high KE spinner, but in a different configuration than we have attempted in the past. If development proves successful and it plays out well at Robogames, we may try to scale it up for the MW/HW classes. And if time allows, we may even bring an easter themed bot for crowd appeal!
Intern: Very cool! Thanks again for taking the time get interviewed! Do you have any parting advice for people interested in getting involved in events like ComBots, who haven’t yet made the jump into the sport?
Ray: There are a lot of folks that I have talked to who would say something like “I’d like to do that, but I just don’t think I would be able to”. It really is amazing how easy it can be once you get started actually. There are some up front costs fr electronics,but after that you can make competitive and fun bots out of scrap material – like my bedframe. The builders who compete are all really good about advice, and if you have questions just ask someone. They’ll talk your ears off !
Team HardCore Robotics (Ray at center)
