RoboSlave: Review of Fingertech Robotics "Cobra" Mini Sumo Bot

As I mentioned in a previous post, I ordered the Fingertech Robotics Mini Sumo Bot kit. At $120, I was hoping I would not be disappointed in the quality of the parts and assembly. In summary, I was not.

4 Motors at $20 each = $80
4 Wheels at $10 each = $40
3 Sensors at $1.75 each = $5.25
1 Chassis at ~$10 each = $10
4 Posts at ~$0.25 each = $1
8 Fasteners at ~$0.25 each = $2
1 Scoop at ~$5 each = $5
Glue = Priceless
Grand Total = $143.25

The first thing I though when I opened the box was "it's assembled"!? Being mechanically inclined, I usually like to put stuff together myself (or in most cases, rip things apart). But it was nice to see it all together right out of the box... I guess.

The first thing I noticed when I pulled this out of the box was the weight, it seemed very heavy. Mini sumo bots are allowed to weigh a maximum of 500 grams, per Robogames.net and the RobotRoom.com. Although I do not have a scale handy to check the weight, Fingertech claims it weighs in at 333 grams. (3-3-3, come on... what is the likely hood of that number?)

My only area of disappointment was the method of securing the motors down to the chassis. In this case, they are glued on. Typically, I am not a fan of glue. It can be easy to shear a motor off the chassis during handling or worse during a competition. Lets hope they picked a good glue (Elmers = Bad). I will probably change this in the near future, stay tuned.

Also, I did notice that one of the motor axes was just a little off from being parallel with the others... again, this is a big drawback when using glue. Its hard to fix the position once its stuck together... but I'm sure it is not enough to cause any issues. In fact, it will probably not even be noticeable to most people. But I know it is there, and I'll probably just HAVE to fix it sooner or later. If it ain't broke...... make it straight.

Fingertech's images of this kit were lacking, so I figured I would show it off for them.