Anomalii
Ryan De Angioletti
Built at the Flowers Invention Studio
Last year with RoboJackets, I designed, built, and competed Anomali, a 3lb “beetle weight” BattleBot. This was my first experience with BattleBots, and remarkably, Anomali was very successful. After 18 fights, Anomali was running on its last legs, and it was time for Anomalii.
Through these many matches, I have learned a lot about designing BattleBots and the failures in Anomali’s original design. The second iteration, Anomalii, aims to improve the drive and weapon system of Anomali, which were inadequate.
Through the manufacturing of Anomalii, I learned more about 3D printing, water jetting, and sheet metal bending. This was one of my first times on a manual mill, and I was able to practice and gain experience when making Anomalii’s motor mounts.
Design: Anomalii is a redesign of it's predecessor Anomali. Anomalii, designed in Autodesk Inventor, went through ten iterations, before being ready to begin manufacturing.
Water Jetting: The majority of parts on Anomalii are water jet aluminum, steel, or titanium. One unique water jet part was Anomalii's drive hubs (middle). These parts needed to precisely key onto a d-shaft, and were toleranced by changing the water jet's path offset from 0.021" to 0.016".
Milling: The drive motor mounts were milled before being tapped. A 3D printed guide was used to locate and drill two holes on the top and bottom of each mount.
3D Printing: The wheels and chassis of Anomalii are made of TPU, printed on a Bambu Labs and Ultimaker respectively. Anomalii's gears were printed out of Nylon, before being boiled in water to rehydrate.
Sheet Metal Bending: Anomalii's top plate was bent on a sheet metal brake, adding two 40 degree bends. Several top plates were made and failed bends (right) are scrapped.
Assembly & Soldering: Finally, Anomalii was assembled and electronics were soldered and tested.
Budget and Parts List
Cost breakdown for Anomalii before tax. Most of Anomalii's stock was scrap metal not listed on this BOM. In addition to what is listed, Anomallii uses 1/8" 6061 Aluminum, 1/4" AR400, and 1/16" Grade 2 Titanium.
Final Thoughts
I am very proud of Anomalii. Anomalii has won two matches and placed 5th in RoboJacket's December tournament. Anomalii improved its drive speed from roughly 4 to 12 ft/s and max weapon energy from 120 to 275 joules. However, this first prototype and test of Anomalii highlighted some shortcomings in this iteration that could be ironed out.
Wheels - The current design uses wood screws, which caused the wheels to occasionally catch against the chassis, leading to two motor stalls. Replacing screws with a binding agent would solve this problem.
Chassis TPU - TPU printed on an Ultimaker proved weak against weapon hits. Printing on a Prusa or Bambu Labs would significantly strengthen the chassis.
Control - The vast majority of control problems can be chalked up to one thing; I suck at driving. With more experience behind the sticks, the control of Anomalii should improve.
To learn more about Anomalii, visit: https://wiki.robojackets.org/Anomali(i)
All Fights
as of January 2024
Funded and supported by the Invention Studio at Georgia Tech, a student organization.
