The flat pattern is cut from a large piece of cardboard. When using these particular RC cars, I found a body dimension of 12.75 x 5.0 x 1.25 tall to work well. The body is slightly longer than the length of the RC car, and wide enough to cover about half of the wheel on each side. I also wanted to provide as much of a blank slate as possible for the competitors to work with. I designed these bodies to be simple and easy to make. Hopefully this Instructable will inspire you to try this with your kids (or colleagues, or friends) - and unleash the engineer within!Įach team is given the exact same cardboard body to start with. There wasn't much on the web so I ended up improvising a bit - and coincidentally ended up with a faster, more violent, and more fun version.

It has it all.Īfter returning home, I started researching what it would take to replicate this version of 'Battle Bots' for my own kids.

It makes the engineering process accessible and fun to kids of all ages. They then battled 'to the death', trying to pop the balloon that was taped on to their opponent's vehicles.Īs someone who is always on the lookout for ways to engage my kids in activities that show them how fun it is to engineer and build things - I immediately saw the genius in this activity. It was there that we watched a group of kids hastily taping tacks and paper clips to the front and sides of some small remote control vehicles. But in the months following our trip, I found myself reflecting not on these epic displays of craftsmanship and skill - but instead on a tiny activity center from the kids section. It was an inspiring trip in so many ways - from the kinetic sculptures, to the Power Racing Series, to the costume builders. Finally, in 2014, I packed up the family and headed three hours South-East to one of the largest of them all in NYC. As an avid reader of Make Magazine for over 10 years, I've read dozens of stories about the Maker Faires that happen every year across the country.

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