Intro
Rapid Axis is proud to have sponsored team Horizon in Battle Bots Season 7! We’ve watched the team dominate this season and become a true powerhouse competitor. If you want to get in on the action, make sure you tune into Discovery+, Philo, or FuboTV for some robot-fighting action. We’re so proud of their accomplishments, and we know that they will continue to take on the Battle Bots area with the help of Rapid Axis.
Meet Battle Bots’ Team Horizon
The Horizon Team is made up of 10 engineers, students, and artists with a passion for pushing the boundaries of possibility. The team is made up of Battle Bots veterans, regulars in the insect-weight divisions, and newcomers with radical ideas. They have a combined 35+ years of competition robotics experience, 30+ tournament wins, and 50+ top-three finishes in competition. The Horizon Team is not to be underestimated. Horizon is the most one of the toughest robots to ever enter the Battle Bots arena thanks to the ingenuity of the Horizon team and the strength & integrity of Rapid Axis parts.
Horizon’s design is unique because of its horizontal discs, which are attached to each end of the bar and spin independently from the rest of the robot. Each disc has a tooth and is powered by dedicated motors. As the discs on either end of the AR500 steel arm spin, the arm itself will spin in the opposite direction. This means that when Horizon hits with that bar, it’s going to hit twice as hard—and twice as fast! With this state-of-the-art design comes a lot of confidence for the Horizon Robotics team. Should you underestimate them, there will be trouble on the Horizon!
Team Horizon Battle Bots Features Rapid Axis Machined Components
The machined parts in the image below belong to the central assembly that attaches the weapon arm to our drive frame. All parts are made of 6061-T6 Aluminum. The beauty of 6061-T6 Aluminum is that it’s lightweight and strong. When combined with our patented designs, this material allows us to create parts that are both light enough for speed and strong enough for power.
6061-T6 Aluminum is one of the strongest aluminum alloys available, so it’s perfect for the needs of Team Horizon. It has a high strength-to-weight ratio, which means that we can make sure these parts will keep Team Horizon within the 250 lb weight limit allowed by Battle Bots competitions, while still being able to hold up against the forces competitors exert on one another during battles.
The Spindle: The Spindle is a marvel of engineering and serves as the dead shaft that the weapon arm spins around. It has keying features on its rectangular base that are designed to fit snugly into the center of our drive base, bolstering the rigidity of the drive, as well as ensuring that our weapon arm stays in its place! This is then further held into our drive base by a series of nuts and bolts. The Spindle has been designed with high-quality materials and manufacturing processes, which allow it to withstand the forces exerted on it by the robot’s weapon arm.
Central Bearing Block: The Central Bearing Block is what maintains control of the weapon arm. It’s placed on the Spindle, along with some aluminum spacers and large tapered roller bearings with our weapon arm attached, of course. This part is what allows our weapon arm to freely rotate around the Spindle when the discs are up to speed.
Custom Castellated Nut: Last but certainly not least is the custom-made castellated nut. The Castellated Nut goes on top of the spindle, gets torqued down, and then gets locked in place with a cotter pin after a hole is drilled for it in the threaded top of the spindle.
Battle Bots: Machining A Knock Out; Rapid Axis and Team Horizon Edge Out Competition
The Horizon bot has been a strong contender in the Battle Bots arena since it first entered the competition. It has taken on some challenging bots like Titan and Monsoon, and Shatter, and is an example of what can be achieved when you combine cutting-edge machined components with new materials and manufacturing methods. Just this past weekend, Horizon competed in DESTRUCT-A-THON, a new daily robot-combat show exclusive to Las Vegas. Hosted by Bil Dwyer (original host of the Comedy Central Battle Bots series), these intense, fast-moving fight-fest stars robots have delighted millions of fans all over the world.
We believe in Team Horizon and our products. We know they’re a cut above the rest, and we think you’ll agree once you see them in action. Alex from the Horizon team shares a story on how our parts have helped Horizon dominate in the Battle Bots arena. Check out the testimonial below:
Rapid Axis believes in a focus on quality and service, which has allowed Team Horizon to become a leader in Battle Bots. We take pride in every project we undertake and thoroughly enjoy seeing our machined components hold strong in the Battle Bots arena. Whether you’re a newbie or already a fan of the Battle Bots, we hope that this gave you a better appreciation for the time and effort required to compete at such a high level.
We are proud to sponsor Team Horizon, and we look forward to many more groundbreaking collaborations in the future. If you would like to witness the Horizon bot in action, you can catch the team and Rapid Axis machined components on Battle Bots, only on Discovery+, Philo, or FuboTV. At Rapid Axis, we offer machining operations and much more. Allow us to be your one-stop shop for all of your machining, finishing, and manufacturing needs. Get a free quote today.