Gamebots G8 Boys - Term 3

؜Sprint Brief

Build your own bots and bring them to life with awesome mechanisms! Once your bots are ready, enter the arena to race, battle, or team up in fun challenges. Experiment hands-on to design movement, reactions, and personality, turning your creations into playful competitors. Every match is a game of strategy, creativity, and surprise—who will outsmart, outmaneuver, or team up to win?

WHAT WE ARE DOING

WHY WE ARE DOING IT

Design and build creative machines that battle, race, or challenge each other in game-like arenas

You will learn how motion and mechanics can turn simple designs into bots that compete, push, and play games together.

Final Project Expectations

The final project can include a motor-powered mechanism that controls movement—pushing, racing, or battling against other bots through creative motion. Otherwise, you need to include manual mechanical designs.

Students will custom-design the structure of their bots and ensure each machine can move and compete in the arena.

Each bot will include a playful or competitive element, such as completing a challenge, defending a zone, or outlasting opponents in a series of fun arena games..

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Student Examples

Design Process Steps

A good example of signals are "the launch of chatGPT" or "the fall of the iconic tunnel tree redwood" and good examples of drivers would be "artificial intelligence" or "climate change"

Then, identify signals (glimpses of the future we already see today) and drivers (what made the signal possible)

Interactivity Integrated

؜Bring your bots to life by integrating motors with laser-cut or 3D-printed parts

؜Brainstorm ideas and sketch your bot movement in action.

Create the blue print drawings that will help you build your mechanism

Conceptualization

Bring your prototype sketch to life by building a cardboard model that recreates your movement.

Model Making

2

3

1

Form groups of 4 & Look at examples to get inspired

Precedent Research

4

5

Competetion

؜Head to the Arena to compete! Group competition!

2 hrs

8 hrs

3hrs

1 hr

ACTIVITY MATERIALS

A precedent is a real-world example or project that you can research to better understand ideas related to your work.

Precedent Research (Part A)

1.

؜Form groups of 4, this is your group for the remaining of this project .

Go to the toolbox folder and you will find a library of various battle bots

Precedent Research (Part B)

1.

؜Select 1 projects and answer the following questions on a sheet of paper:

What is the primary function of the bot?
What type of movement does it utilize? Observe how motion is created (wheels, gears, motors, levers).
In what ways do you find the bot innovative or creative?
Can you identify any unique materials or technologies used in the machine?

Create a quick sketch that explains how the bot works ( motion, technologies, shape ...)

NOTE: There is an example on the next slide...

؜Warhead Analysis

Primary Function: Warhead is a control and burn bot. Its primary goal is to use its massive articulated pincers to "grapple" or trap an opponent, lifting them to compromise their traction while using high-output flamethrowers to cook their internal electronics.

Innovation & Creativity: Most bots are "boxes with weapons," but Warhead uses a biological, predatory shape. Its innovation lies in its "distressed" aesthetic combined with a functional multi-weapon system (clamping + fire), which forces opponents to defend against both physical crushing and thermal damage.

Unique Materials & Tech: It utilizes aerospace-grade aluminum and titanium for its curved "wings" and chassis to maintain a high strength-to-weight ratio. The most unique tech is its custom butane/propane ignition system integrated directly into the clamping mechanism, allowing it to maintain a steady flame even during high-impact collisions.

EXAMPLE

In brainstorming, students collectively generate ideas that will shape the concepts for their group projects. They typically begin by listing ideas individually, then come together to share and discuss them using a pin-up brainstorming board filled with writing, drawings, Post-it notes, and lively conversation.

1 - ENCOURAGE WILD IDEAS

2 - SUSPEND JUDGMENT

4 - BUILD ON IDEAS

5 - BE VISUAL

3 - GO FOR QUANTITY

Wild ideas can often give rise to creative leaps.

Don’t shoot down someone else’s idea.

Aim for as many ideas as possible.

Build and expand on the ideas of others.

Sketch your ideas.

Conceptualization

Before designing your bot, choose one arena challenge. Your bot’s mechanism and movement should help it perform well in this game.

Once you pick a challenge, the group of four will split into two teams of two. Each team will design and build a bot to compete against the other in the same arena. You may switch pairs if another group is interested in the same challenge.

2.

Conceptualization

A. Select one game challenge to design for !

1.Ball Launch Challenge: Bots use mechanisms to shoot or roll a ball into a target zone or bucket. Points for accuracy or distance.

2.Block Knockdown: Bots use a lever, arm, or spinning mechanism to knock down stacked blocks in an opponent’s zone.

3.Ping-Pong Ping: Bots flick or launch ping-pong balls into moving targets or small baskets. Use different angles, speeds, or “moving targets” on the arena.

4.Catapult Battle: Bots fling small soft objects at an opponent’s target (like knocking over a cone or ball).

Variation: Give each bot a limited number of “shots” to score points before the round ends.

You can think of one outside that list!

2.

Sketching in design thinking is a quick and visual way to explore, communicate, and develop ideas. It helps designers think through problems, test concepts, and share their thoughts with others—without needing polished drawings. Sketches can be rough, but they’re powerful tools for brainstorming, prototyping, and collaboration.

Conceptualization

؜2.

؜Team GameBot Design & Strategy

As a team of four, we'll split into two pairs, and each pair will design a bot.

Also, as a team, make a list of the components you’ll need to build your game arena — think about the walls, boundaries, obstacles, nets, or any special features that will make the arena exciting and functional.

Conceptualization

؜2.

B. Sketching

Frame 1: Show the parts: the base structure, moving mechanisms, and any tools or arms used to push, launch, or interact with objects.

Frame 2: In Action

Draw your bot in the arena during the game. Show which parts are moving, how your bot propels or interacts with objects, and how it competes with other bots.

Frame 3: The Result / Impact

Draw or show the outcome of your bot’s action—objects it moved, targets it hit, blocks it knocked down, or balls it launched.

How to Diagram

Use multiple sketches in sequence
Use arrows and text to explain
Use different views (top, side, etc.)

ACTIVITY MATERIALS

Cardboard

Paint Brushes

Bristol Papers

Zip-ties

Straws

Metal Ruler

Pencil

Markers

Cutting Blade

Masking Tape

Hot Glue Gun

String

Brads

Popsicles and wooden skewers

Prototyping is the process of turning your sketches and ideas into physical models that you can test and improve. It starts with drawing your concept, then building simple versions using materials to explore how it moves or works. Prototyping helps you test mechanisms (how parts move or connect) and kinetics (how motion happens), so you can find what works and what needs fixing.

Model Making

3.

You will first select 1–2 mechanisms that your bot will use to compete in the arena. Then you will recreate these mechanisms using lo-fi materials.

For example:

Rotating Spinner – A spinning part that can push, bump, or knock over objects in the arena.
Pushing Arm / Ram -A straight arm that extends or swings forward to push objects or other bots (scissor lift)
Catapult / Launcher - A spring-loaded or lever-based mechanism to fling balls, blocks, or small items toward targets.
Claw or Grabber - A simple claw that opens and closes to pick up objects and move them to a target zone.
؜Pendulum / Swinging Arm - A swinging piece that hits or knocks over objects in its path repeatedly.
Launcher with Elastic Band - Use rubber bands to store energy and release it to propel objects quickly.

Find all the resources for basic prototyping techniques and mechanisms in the toolbox!

CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: SHAPING

Bending

Scoring

Curving

Faceting

Layering

Hinging

CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: JOINERY

Brads

Flanges

Brace

Skewer

Bend

Hinge

Slots

Butt Joint

CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: Mechanism

Gears

Scissor lift

Grabbing

Waving

Tentacle

Curving

Cam & Follower

Crank & Slider

Student Examples

Desk Critiques

Group Feedback

Kinds of Feedback

There are three forms of feedback. Understanding these can help us understand the conversations we have with our teams and improve our own ability to react to and use feedback to strengthen our designs.

Reaction-Based

Feedback

Direction-Based

Feedback

Question-based Feedback

X

Feedback time!

Teachers are going to move around the class and give feedback to each group!

Make sure you have your research, sketches, and prototype.

High Fidelity prototyping

Digital Fabrication is the process where your ideas become real objects. Once you’ve designed something, you can use tools like 3D printers or laser cutters to bring it to life. The 3D printer builds your design layer by layer in plastic or other materials, while the laser cutter can cut or etch shapes precisely from wood, cardboard, or acrylic. It’s like turning your sketches and digital drawings into real, touchable creations!

Interactivity is when your design can respond to people or the environment. It means your project doesn't just sit still—it can move, light up, make sound, or react when someone touches it, presses a button, or gets close. Adding interactivity makes your design more engaging and dynamic, turning it into something that can communicate or perform.

Every team must improve their design by adding at least one laser-cut part. You can combine both: use laser/XTool for parts that need precision, and kit pieces for parts you want to play with or test.

You will also add electronics to make it work as wanted!

Diagramming

؜Once you get feedback, create a clearly sketch to show your final design. This sketch will allow you to know what piece you would like to laser cut.

Draw the main body or base of your machine.
Clearly draw the mechanism that creates the movement.
Use arrows to show movement.
Label the important parts
Write small notes about used materials

4.

Interactivity Integrated

4.

To integrate motors into your BattleBot project, you typically need to connect three main components: the power source (battery), the brain (microcontroller or receiver), and the motor controller (ESC), which acts as the bridge.

؜Electrical Integration (The Circuit)

The Battery: Provides high-current power.
The Motor Controller (ESC): Receives signals from your remote and tells the motor how fast to spin and in which direction.
The Motor: Converts that electricity into physical movement.

Keep it Secure: Use "L-brackets" or zip ties to ensure the motor doesn't fly off when your bot hits something.

Wiring: Always bundle your wires to keep them away from spinning parts and the flamethrower!

Check the toolbox

For some cool circuits

Document your work!

5.

Take a photo and record a video of your project moving and turn it into a gif.

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؜Battle Arena

5.

Time for the Battles!

End of Challenge!

GameBots

Or