COMBAT ROBOTICS GETS KIDS BUILDING, COMPETiNG, AND LEARNING

No activity is completely without risk — but with the right robot selection, proper preparation, and established safety practices, combat robotics programs can be conducted safely in school settings. Universities, community colleges, and K-12 schools across the country run weaponized robot programs. Machine shops, chemistry labs, and contact sports are also ubiquitous in schools, each with their own safety considerations. Safety is not uncharted territory for any school, just a topic that has to be planned and managed successfully. ItGresa strongly recommends that all programs review and follow applicable school, district, and state safety guidelines before starting any robotics activity.

Safety in combat robotics is primarily determined by three factors: weapon type, weight class, and arena adequacy. Here’s a general overview:

• Autonomous and programming-based robots (sumo bots, line followers, Arduino-based platforms) present safety profiles similar to any motorized educational toy and are appropriate for virtually all age groups and settings when used as directed.
• Wedge, pusher, and flipper-type robots — including many Fairyweight class robots — have low destructive potential regardless of whether they carry a “weapon.” These are non-destructive by design and appropriate for most supervised classroom environments. The primary risks are minor: a pinched finger or a flipped robot landing unexpectedly.
• Kinetic weapons (spinners, beaters, hammers) generate stored energy that increases significantly with weight class. A weaponized Fairyweight (150g) with a spinner presents a meaningfully different risk profile than the same weapon type on a Beetleweight (3lb) or heavier bot. Proper arena design and materials selection are critical — the kinetic energy in a full-combat weaponized bot can be substantial, and arenas must be designed accordingly. We address this in detail on our safety resources page.
• Plastic Antweight robots (PlAnt class) are constructed with plastic bodies and plastic weapons, which limits destructive potential compared to metal-bodied combat robots and makes them well-suited for school programs moving into kinetic weapon formats.
• Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries require careful handling and storage. The batteries used in Fairyweight and Antweight class robots are significantly smaller than those found in typical school laptops, but LiPo batteries should be charged only with an appropriate balance charger, stored in a LiPo-safe bag, and inspected regularly for damage or swelling. ItGresa recommends establishing clear battery handling procedures before any program begins and provides guidance on this as part of our school program resources.

When appropriate robots and formats are selected for the program’s age group and experience level, and when established safety practices are followed, combat robotics presents a risk profile comparable to — or lower than — many common school activities including shop class, chemistry lab, and organized sports.

Combat robotics has a well-developed safety culture built over decades of organized competition. ItGresa’s safety guidance draws on established industry standards including the SPARC (Standardized Procedures for the Advancement of Robotic Combat) ruleset and guidelines developed by the broader combat robotics community over many years of organized events. This is not one person’s opinion — it is a mature body of knowledge developed by experienced builders, event organizers, and safety professionals.

ItGresa provides safety resources including arena requirement guidelines, weight class recommendations by age and experience level, battery handling procedures, and event safety checklists. These resources are intended as general educational guidance. Schools and program administrators are responsible for evaluating the suitability of any robotics activity for their specific environment, student population, and applicable regulations, and for ensuring that all activities comply with school, district, and local safety requirements.

We’re happy to talk through safety considerations for your specific program before you purchase. Email us and we’ll help you think it through.

No. We started teaching kids robotics with zero experience. Our initial FIRST Lego League team, in their very first event, came in 7th place, beating schools with established programs and years of experience. They also won the event Gracious Professionalism Award and were invited to the District Finals. You can do the same.

Some of our build guides are written for people who have never touched a combat robot. We have kits that require only a few common tools and no soldering, and we will help you select the right bots for your experience level.

We also help to align the right robots to your curriculum and program goals.

If you get stuck, email us at info@itgresa.com — we answer.

For planning purposes, assume approximately $250–$300 per bot fully equipped with transmitter and charger for the 150g Fairyweight class, and $300–$350 per bot for the 1lb Antweight class. Actual cost will vary based on bot selection, configuration, spares, and tools.

A classroom set of 10 Fairyweight kits runs approximately $2,500–$3,000 at list price depending on configuration. Antweight classroom sets are in a similar range. We offer bundle pricing for classroom orders — email us at info@itgresa.com for a quote you can attach to a budget request or PO.

Depending on your program, your school may also need soldering stations, basic tools, spare parts, a test box for weaponized bots, and an arena. These costs vary depending on what your school already has and which robot formats you choose.

We carry professional-grade soldering stations and tools that we know can stand up to classroom use — in a past life we ran the same equipment in a production environment 24/7. We’re happy to help you put together a complete budget and equipment list for your program. Email us at info@itgresa.com and we’ll help you think it through.

98% of schools and clubs order using p-cards. However, we recognize that there are school districts that prefer to do business with Purchase Orders. Of course we accept them to better serve you, our customers.

We’ll need the name and both billing and shipping address of the organization purchasing the products. We’ll also need the contact info for the responsible person in your procurement department and the contact info of the teacher specifying the products, in case we have any questions. These can be in an email or on the purchase order. We will make sure that the organization exists and can purchase products.

You can download our W9 here. We will happily work with you to get ItGresa set up in your procurement system if need be. Net-30 is available to approved school districts.

Using a quote or our catalog on the web, make a list of the parts and products that you want and add them to your purchase order. Many teachers put their products into a cart, save the cart as a PDF, and send it to us. Email the PO and order details to info@itgresa.com. We’ll create an order for you and the system will email it to the contact info you provide for your confirmation.

Please let us know on the purchase order if you want shipping insurance. Our shipping terms are FOB shipping point — if you don’t elect to purchase insurance and the shipment is damaged or lost, it is your organization’s responsibility.

Sales taxes are generally only applicable in the State of Georgia, as we don’t have a taxable presence in any other state. They will typically not show up on your invoice. We will also happily accept your tax exemption certificate(s). We are not finance people nor tax attorneys, so we suggest that you seek final guidance from your own organization.

Our legal entity is ItGresa Consulting Group, Inc. d/b/a ItGresa Robotics.

When the order is complete, we will ship with the invoice. We can send the invoice data to your accounting organization as well, as long as you provide the email.

Any more questions? Email us at info@itgresa.com.

Smaller robot programs are actually complementary to FIRST and VEX, and the programs ItGresa supports are no exception. We’re big believers in both. We’ve volunteered as robot inspectors for years, we’ve sponsored the Marist 16 team league, and we’ve judged VEX events.

We know that those programs — especially with the larger bots — have very large teams. So large that many kids never get to touch the robot. Our programs are built to feed into FIRST and VEX, not compete with them. In many ways, combat robotics is the farm system for the larger, more complex programs. Kids learn CAD, electronics, signals, mechanics, assembly, and more. Students who build and fight their own combat robots arrive at FRC or VEX with real hands-on experience that most rookies don’t have. The speed and immediate feedback of combat robotics also helps kids learn rapid design iteration.

We can be the on-ramp, not the destination.

We’ve actually successfully taught four-year-olds to build and program Lego robots.

In practice, 5th graders and middle schoolers can absolutely build Fairyweights and Antweights in a supervised setting. Beetleweights are generally more appropriate for high schoolers. These are all general guidelines — every kid is different.

One note from ItGresa: kids continue to surprise us. They can often master the bots much sooner than we grown-ups think they can!