Tech Checks & Robot Home Checklist
BBB Home Checklist:
Updated 11/11/25
Even if you’re very experienced, you should go through this list before any BBB beetleweight or featherweight event to ensure your formal tech check at the event will go smoothly. If you have any questions, queries or issues, feel free to let us know, post on our forum or in our Facebook group.
| Check: | Detail: | |
| Is my robot in weight? | Your robot, including link or switch and consumables (not including cradle, locking bars or sharp edge protection) should weigh no more than 1.5kg for beetle, 13.6kg for feather (see weight class specific rules for weight bonuses). If you have interchangeable setups, they must all be in weight and you should go to tech check with your heaviest installed and inform the tech checker. Minibots where appropriate should also follow any rules given. | |
| Does my robot fit in the organisers safety box? | For beetleweights, your robot must easily fit inside the organisers safety box with the lid on. For BBB, this is 46x43x38cm. | |
| Does my robot have a power cut-off? | Your robot requires a power cut-off that is securely mounted and away from moving parts of the robot and labelled. Either: – Removable link – insertable & removable without tools, location labelled. – Approved switch (beetles only) – FingerTech Metric or Lynx Switch. Minimum 5mm lid hole, on/off arrow labelled, material around access hole must be non-conductive. | |
| Does my robot have a visible and dedicated power light? | Your robot requires a power light. This should be run straight from the battery power line, not off another component (eg – BEC, receiver) Power lights must be clearly visible under typical arena conditions and when turning your robot on or off – if in doubt, your light should be positioned next to your power cut-off. | |
| Does my robot have a dedicated locking bar? | Any moving weapon requires a locking bar that completely stops motion. The locking bar must be marked as such with a tag or tape, and not used for any other purpose than locking your robot. A clamp is not permitted. The locking bar must not be loose. The locking location on the robot must be easily visible for the arena marshal. Spring powered weapons must lock with no energy stored. | |
| Am I only bringing one robot? | BBB allows only one complete copy of a robot to attend an event and get tech checked. Please do not bring a full electrically and structurally complete spare/alternate robot, we will take action if discovered. | |
| Do I have a cradle for my robot? | Your robot must have a dedicated cradle which keeps all wheels off the ground when bench testing your drive. | |
| Are my robots’ sharp edges protected? | You should cover the sharp edges of your robot when it’s not in the arena. Foam is your friend! | |
| Is my robot’s electronics safe? | All of your wiring and internal solder joints should be insulated, to prevent shorting. Wires should be of an appropriate thickness for current draw of components. External wires should also be kept to an absolute minimum. Your battery must be adequately protected within the body to minimise the chance of being punctured or coming loose during combat – no part of the battery should be exposed when the robot is fully assembled | |
| Am I charging my batteries safely? | You must charge your batteries appropriately and in a lipo bag and should not be left unattended. Batteries showing any evidence of damage or swelling must immediately be placed a lipo bag and removed to a safe, well-ventilated area such as outdoors and the event organiser should be notified. | |
| Does my robot failsafe? | If your robot loses signal, both the drive and weapon should stop moving. To test this, with your weapon locked and wheels up on a cradle, put your drive into full forward and turn off your transmitter while still holding the stick, not releasing until the robot stops moving. If everything stops, it passes. If it does not stop, you may need to enable failsafing on your transmitter or receiver, check the manual for both. | |
| If my robot has a spinner, is it legal and does it failsafe? | You will be expected to know the stats of your components to check the tip speed of your robot is under the maximum theoretical limit of 250mph (beetles), 20mph (BEVs). Tip speed calculator here. You must be able on request to demonstrate your weapon can failsafe and stop within 30 seconds from maximum speed in the test box or arena. If you are testing this at home please take extreme care. If you believe your robot has very high kinetic energy please get in touch before competing. | |
| Does my robot have any unusual weapon systems I need to check? | If you are planning to bring a more unusual weapon type, including but not limited to contact-based heat weapons, pneumatics, hydraulics & internal combustion systems, please contact the event organiser prior to signup to ensure safety. |
BBB Event Tech Checks:
Updated 11/11/25
Used by our tech checkers at BBB Beetle events
| Tech check item: | |
| Cradle doesn’t wobble | |
| Sharp edge protection doesn’t fall off | |
| Locking bar dedicated/marked and not loose | |
| Weight incl link. 2kg shuffle. heaviest config? declare mini bots. | |
| Battery protected? is lipo spec correct for spinners? | |
| Wiring (nothing exposed)? | |
| Removable Link away from wep/wheels. no tool req’d? labelled, well mounted | |
| OR Power Switch approved M2.5 switch, min 5mm hole, labelled, well mounted | |
| Power Light surface visible | |
| Failsafe drive and weapon | |
| Spinner checklist: Transmitter on, link in, locking bar out, close door Spin down in 30s (from a sensible speed) Tx on side, open door, bar in, link out |
Disclaimer: Building, maintaining and fighting combat robots is dangerous and comes with risk that must be assessed on a person by person basis. We cannot be held liable for any personal injury, loss of property or money from partaking in building, maintaining, repairing, testing or fighting combat robots even when following our guides and rulesets.