Post-BattleBots Endotherm

Here you see a top shot of Endotherm. The black smudge on the rear is from Missing Link's tires. The black-and-white cylinder on the fender (right side of the image) is the antenna, wrapped around a BIC pen case, taped on, and then wire-tied to the fender. Worked fairly well, although reception upside-down was not as good.



Here you see a shot of the side of Endotherm while upside down. Notice that the ball-transfer closest is missing the ball! You can also see the damage to the fender. Right above the two black bolts near the wheel (holding the blue diamond-plate to the fender supports) you can barely see a slice in the aluminum. That slice is about 1/4" deep in 1/2" thick aluminum. Ouch.

You can also see damage to the side (below the closest ball transfer), as well as damage to the bottom of the armor. The wheel also took some damage, although it didn't affect traction and performance.



Here's a bottom shot of Endotherm. The saw damage across the bottom is more evident, as is the slice in the 1/2" aluminum support of the fender (bottom of image).

The bottom armor was 0.13" thick diamond plate, and the saws came close to cutting all the way through. Right under the armor were the power lines from the batteries to the motor controllers. Had Endotherm stayed on the saws a bit longer, there probably would have been a pretty fire.


The rear "bash-bar" as well as the rear spike (not shown) also took some damage, although mostly cosmetic scratches and slices. The bottom armor also took some bending at the corners.

All in all, the armor did what it was designed for: protect the drive train and electronics. I'm very happy that the one Achilles' heal (the exposed antenna) avoided damage all together!