About Valkyrie
A deep dive into our 250lb undercutter on the Discovery Channel’s BattleBots.
What Makes Up Valkyrie?
Valkyrie is what’s called an undercutter, which refers to a horizontal spinning weapon below a robot’s frame. Undercutters are designed to slice through wheels and target the undercarriage of opponent robots.
Drive System
Valkyrie drives at 15 mph, meaning she can get across the BattleBox in under 4 seconds.
Wide Stance
Valkyrie is nearly 4 ft wide. She can turn on a dime and maneuver around opponents.
Frame Structure
Valkyrie’s inner structure is aluminum, with titanium and steel armor surrounding the frame to protect the inner workings.
Undercutting Weapon Blade
The top of Valkyrie’s 65 lb blade spins at 250 mph. The blade itself rests on a low-friction skid pad which spins against the ground.
Key Design Features
Isolated System Modules
Every subsystem of Valkyrie is isolated into a unique module that can be easily replaced or upgraded. This makes it fast and simple to repair Valkyrie between fights, and allows the team to upgrade individual modules without a system-level redesign between each season of BattleBots to make Valkyrie even more competitive.
Performance Optimization
We learn more about the system after every BattleBots fight, and constantly refine Valkyrie’s design to account for our learnings. With the help of our sponsor TE Connectivity, we log electrical system data and use that information to design more advanced control schemes. We also employ generative design tool to optimize the strength and weight of our frame for peak performance.
Adaptable Configurations
Valkyrie has seven different weapon options and multiple styles of armor to adapt to various opponents and their strategies. We tailor our configuration to our opponent’s setup before each fight, all while keeping beneath the 250 lb weight limit.