Proto Labs : Digging Under the Feathers of BattleBot DUCK!

DUCK!ing the Competition

DUCK! took the 2020 season off due to the pandemic but he's back and ready to compete, taking on all comers with his classic lean profile. Other than the ability to ram an opponent, DUCK!'s only offensive weapon is his protruding orange beak, called a lifter, which can scoot under another bot and fling it into the air.

In one of his last battles (back in 2019), DUCK! survived an unscheduled facelift at the hands of Team Cobalt. He was thrown around the floor repeatedly, had his lifter mechanism/beak not-so-surgically removed, and yet still won. "DUCK! is a little bit unique in that it's a defensive robot, said Hal Rucker, Team Black and Blue lead in an interview on our Digital Thread podcast. "It doesn't have a big, scary weapon like most of the other robots have. DUCK! is designed to take a punch and keep going…some people refer to it as a break your fist on my face strategy."

Dissecting DUCK!

Rucker, and his teammate and daughter, Hannah, will handle the controls as DUCK! takes on what Rucker says are some of the biggest and most offensive bots ever in the competition.

Every year in which he competes, DUCK! gets a bit of a new look, but also gets some upgrades to his exterior frame and insides. While DUCK! 1.0 was designed, built, and tested in 28 days, Rucker had a wealth of time for this season-a few years! Solid magnesium became the metal of choice for DUCK! 3.0's chassis. The chassis cover, however, can be swapped out to meet weight regulations, using either polycarbonate, or even titanium. Also, for the first time, DUCK! used 3D-printed metal parts.