Learning how to make a battle bot-EV3 or other options?

[Nart]

My two boys will be starting 5th and 7th grades in a month. They are both interested in learning how to build battle bots (they like watching the show). When I asked my 5th grader if he was interested in first getting something like snap circuits, he said absolutely not because it looked like something for little kids. My son took an after school robotics class as part of a gifted program at his public school a couple of years ago and didn't like it. He said the groups were really big and nothing really was ever built.  Then last school year he had a quarter length robotics class using EV3's. He disliked that class because  he always got stuck in a group with a kid who would take parts and make things that had nothing to do with the project they were doing so it was hard to complete the tasks.

I am finally able to homeschool them this year through a charter school that provides instructional funds, so I can purchase the lego EV3. I know nothing about robotics, so I am not sure if that would be the best thing to buy. I have heard something called Arduino? or raspberry pi? If their goal is to eventually learn to build something like a battle bot, where do they start? 

 

[ByGrace3]

I am not super knowledgeable about this, but I can share our experience. My son had an NXT (the one before the EV3) and just upgraded to the EV3 a few weeks ago. He loves it. Both my ds who is 12 and my younger dd who is 9 are on FIRST LEGO League teams. Have you checked out to see if there are any teams in your area? Or maybe you would be interested in starting a team? Only my ds did it last year but it was an amazing experience. We are all looking forward to another year!