"Kit" might not be the best word to describe these products. They are shipped to you fully assembled, (except for electrical connections), so that you can go right to work adding your finishing touches. Leaving the armor and weapon up to you preserves maximum versatility and flexibility and it requires you to use your creativity to come up with a winning design. Start with this rugged, low-profile, mobile platform to simplify and reduce the time required to complete your project.

We call this a "middle weight" but there is no reason it couldn't be configured as a heavy weight. You can order this kit with up to four motors, four MC-545 batteries, and one or two speed controllers installed. If you order this configuration we will include, (free of charge), two additional internal bulkheads on which the
AmpFlow controller(s) will be mounted. The Middle weight kit configured as a heavy weight robot tips the scale at 114 pounds which leaves you over 100 pounds for your weapon and armor. It has an extremely high power-to-weight ratio and the small square footprint works well for a full-body spinner or other compact weapon.

Note that four motors are not required in any of our kits in order to achieve four-wheel drive. All wheels will be driven even if only two motors are installed in the kits. But if you decide to go with the E-150 economy motors, we suggest you use four of them in the middle weight.

A total of ten chains are used for power transmission and speed reduction. The ten chains have no connecting links, and they are all exactly the same length. In fact, every chain in all of our kits is the same length, (except two chains in the heavy weight). This enables us to buy these in large quantities and pass the savings on to you. All the kits also share wheels, axles, sprockets, shafts, and other hardware so we are able to pass on volume discounts on all those items.

The base plate is drilled and countersunk with all the holes required to mount the speed controller, three sizes of batteries, and other components - a total of 84 holes. Order this kit with a speed controller and four batteries or dual speed controllers and we will include additional mounting bulkheads free of charge.

Rugged Construction
Goal number two is "battle worthy" construction. One of the keys to BioHazard's success is a bulletproof drive train that is completely housed in a square aluminum extruded tube.
The one-piece extrusion (one each for the left and right drive trains), is precision CNC machined with mounting holes for all the sprockets, wheels, and motors. Each drive component is supported on both sides of the 3" x 3" square aluminum tubing to avoid "overhung" loads.
The tubing is made from 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. The feather and light weight robots have frame tubes with 1/4" wall thickness and the middle and heavy weights have tubing with 3/8" wall thickness. BioHazard, (a heavy weight robot), uses 1/4" tubing but we wanted to offer an even stronger drivetrain to stand up to your most destructive opponents.

Drive modules include a separate two-stage speed reducer for each wheel. All the drive chains are continuous loops with no connecting links. Eliminating the connecting links increases chain strength by almost 30%. BioHazard uses #25 chain, but we wanted the drive train to be extra-strong so all our kits feature #35 chain. The sprockets, shafts, and axles are custom-made from 5140 Chromoly steel. Two different sets of sprockets are available so you have your choice of medium-fast or very fast, (details below). One of our powerful Motors mounts on each drive module and is plenty strong for any ordinary robot. Our middle and heavyweight drive modules also have mounting provisions for a second set of motors if you are looking for truly extraordinary acceleration.

The wheel assembly is made from the popular 4" Colson Performa tire. These are machined and mated to our custom hubs, bearings, and 19-tooth Chromoly sprockets. This combination weighs in at just 1.1 pounds - including the drive sprocket! We believe that this is the lowest-cost and lightest wheel/sprocket combination available. These wheels are included in all our kits but you can also order them separately. Visit our wheels section for more details.

The base plates and the bulkheads are made from 6061-T6 aluminum. The base plates are drilled and countersunk with all the mounting holes for the bulkheads, drive modules, speed controller, and several different sizes and types of batteries. All components are CNC computer machined to tight tolerances for maximum consistency and lowest cost.

One of the key features of our kits is that they are held together entirely with screws. Using screws instead of welding makes it easy to replace damaged parts. The heavyweight base plate has over 90 screw holes! The thickness of the base plates ranges from .156" for the heavy weight, down to .094" for the feather weight. Bolting the bulkheads and the drive modules to the base plate results in a very stiff structure. You can easily drill and tap holes in the drive modules to mount your own custom components

None of the sprockets hang below the bottom surface of the drive modules - not even the sprockets on the wheels. The screws are all countersunk on the underside so nothing protrudes from the smooth surface of the base plate except the rubber part of the wheels.

Tip Resistance: The wheels are positioned so that they stick out of the frame towards the front and the rear. This allows the robot to be tipped up onto its front or rear and still maintain contact between the drive wheels and the floor. This can get you out of trouble if your opponent is a wedge or a flipper. You can decide to keep this feature or cover the wheels with armor. The wheels are also positioned as close to the sides of the frame as possible so that even sideways tips will still have to be quite extreme before the frame comes in contact with the floor.

Another of BioHazard's key features is the low profile. The highest point on any of our kits (the bulkheads) is just 4.4 inches from the floor. This allows you plenty of room to build your educational project or combat weaponry on top of the kit's mobile platform without creating a robot that is unreasonably tall. A low center of gravity also makes it very difficult for your opponent to tip you over.

Ground Clearance: You can increase the ground clearance on any of our kits with a little extra machining. Contact us and we will provide detailed drawings.