An anecdotal guide to flying with robots

I thought I’d share my experiences of flying abroad with robots in the hope that it helps other people looking at travelling to events in countries you don’t live in. I do not claim that these steps will definitely get you through with no issues, but I’m intending for this to serve as a rough guide - hence the ‘anecdotal’ in the title!

Most of the stuff I did to prepare for flying to NHRL last year was based off of Team Panic’s video, I recommend you watch it because it will basically summarise most of what I say here.

First things first - lipos. This will be dependent on the airline you fly with, so check their restrictions first. However, beetleweight sized lipos should be well under the limits. I flew with British Airways and my 4S 650mah lipos were fine to take. If you’re taking multiple bots though, you may find yourself reaching the quantity limits, so check those as well.

Lipos should be removed from the robots, as they will be considered ‘spare batteries’ as opposed to the rechargeable batteries built into things like your phone, shaver etc. I taped my connectors (both the XT30 and balance lead) on each of the batteries, place each battery individually into a small ziploc style bag, and then into my hard lipo travel case. You probably don’t specifically need a hard carry case, your lipo bag should suffice, as I know a few others who have flown with their batteries in the lipo bag, or in their original packaging. In any case, these should come with you in your CABIN luggage. Printouts of your airline battery restrictions and the spec sheets of your batteries will come in handy, and don’t forget to declare the batteries at check-in/security etc.

I don’t know if transmitters have to go into one or the other, but I travelled with my transmitter inside a hard padded carry case in my hold luggage. If I fly again, I’d probably try to take it in my cabin luggage. A hard padded case is helpful to protect all the switches and gubbins that stick out that are liable to be damaged. Failing that, another towel might help with padding?

The robot, tools and sharps (forks, axe heads etc.) should go in hold luggage. I wrapped my robot in a towel to cushion it from rough handling, and nothing broke on either end of travel. Partially disassembling the bot may help with removing areas likely to break - for example, I took off the axe arm, omni wheels, weapon module and armour from PMXL before wrapping it in the towel. I put all the spare parts into a box, with smaller boxes inside to separate specific parts like all the hardox bits in a tupperware box, a small carboard box just for wheels etc. Maybe avoid labelling anything that might raise eyebrows e.g. I labelled a box “axe module” instead of “weapon module”, don;t know if it matters but it doesn’t hurt. I also printed off an inventory with a picture of the packed suitcase explaining the various boxes, as well as information about the event I was attending, in case border security pulled the hold luggage and rummaged around.

I didn’t do anything different for my box of fasteners that I’d normally do, but I have each type of fastener in its own little bag in my hard plastic screw box. I’d avoid loose screws - my travel buddy had TSA rummage through their luggage and when we got to the AirBnb we found all the screws had fallen out into the bottom of the luggage - not a fun tidy up!

Soldering irons and chargers - we went from the UK’s 240v mains to the US 120v mains, which meant our simple soldering irons would not get up to temperature, as they were the cheap amazon style ones with no power brick - we ended up having to pick up a nasty $6 WalMart special with absolutely no temperature control! Take this into consideration when you pack.

Below is the picture of my hold luggage that I used for the inventory that I put in there. From left to right, top to bottom:

  • Soldering iron (black and orange bag above the blue, pretty hidden tbf.
  • Cordless Drill
  • Toolbox
  • Electronics - ESCs, wires etc. Box was pretty padded with the bags and stuff, but I also but in a little bit of bubble wrap/carboard packing to fill it out.
  • Box of armour configs, wheels, axe modules etc. for the robot, and my fasteners in a box. Ended up being very full no didn’t need any extra padding.
  • 2 robot chassis wrapped in a towel, placed centrally for extra protection.
  • Transmitter in hard carry case
  • lipo bag with lipo charger
    The rest of the space was taken up with my clothes, toiletries etc., so the suitcase ended up pretty padded with little room for things to shake.

If you’ve got any other tips, please add them below, especially if it corrects some misinformation I may have inadvertantly said!

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Good guide! It’s way easier to fly to Bristol for me than drive or train so I have a lot of experience with this.

  • I don’t declare my lipos, I just make sure they are in a lipo safe bag. The last time I flew with lipos and my tx in hand luggage, and believe it or not the thing that flagged my luggage for a search was the suitcase wheel.
  • I also got burned (or not) by my UK Amazon special soldering iron the first time I went to NHRL. USB-C is the way forward - I now have a Pinecil soldering iron and a lipo charger that both run off it. My travel adaptor doubles up as a laptop charger that works here and abroad, so I just use that. Even better, I have a massive power bank that can charge a laptop or power both soldering iron and charger, so I don’t need to find a plug at the event. Comes in handy for soldering in a beer garden too.
  • I sometimes leave the battery in the robot, as it’s “installed”. I figure it’s safest in there. I don’t always do this though, and might not do it again.
  • for travelling to the US I left a letter to the TSA in my suitcase describing what I was going to and giving links to NHRL
  • The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to not overpack. The first time I flew, my bag was 23kg, for BBB in Feb it was 12.5kg. You don’t need a hammer, I’ve never drilled anything at an event, you don’t need sheets of plastic, just bring a few preassembled spares and design the robot with travel in mind - for example most of the screws on attitude adjuster are 12mm M4, and I only use one type of fork and one type of anti horizontal config. Likewise I use the same 2.5mm hex screwdriver where I can.

If I think of anything else I’ll add it!

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Huge element of YMMV with traveling I find. When I did Robogsmes with King B in 2018, we split the Big Bot Batteries between us to mule in the carry on. I kept a physical print out of the BA policy and was glad to have done so.

Worth considering they couldn’t have looked more like bombs if they tried. I think I was the only one held up at Gatwick because I got a guy who bluntly refused them as they had 4000 on the side. Small discussion between watt hours and milliamp hours went no where. Removed from the queue and put in a little cubicle where I spoke to a Senior Guy who seemed more lanyard than man. Was very quickly greenlit and send on my merry way.

The TSA for all their reputation did not blink at the turnigy branded semtex cosplay but instead made a fuss over a cigarette lighter and how grotesque the Anti Smoking images are on British tobacco. Personal preference and agent discretion etc.

I think just giving yourself an extra few minutes and being confident with “I am okay to be doing this” helps massively.

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Yeah we had practically zero issues on our NHRL trip with the five or so of us taking beetles + filos 12.

Lipos in hand luggage - everything else in the hold.

Security wanted a quick look at the lipos everytime (mostly because some of our lipo bags were making them hard to see on the scanners) - but never gave us any real trouble once they looked them over. Interestingly on the way out security seemed unaware of what the purpose of a lipo bag was - but satisfied when told they’re fire retardant.

One thing I would say - If the scanners pick up any damage to your lipos - even if it’s cosmetic damage to the heat shrink/tape - don’t be surprised if they take them off you.

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