a great place to learn, actually is to read a lot about combat robots. this guy eric, who participates in the northeast robot combat events is very saavy in electronics. heck, he even BUILT his own brushless motor and made the can of it as his spinning weapon. if you would like to browse websites, etc, here are a few.
www.robotcombat.com
www.nerc.us (theres a link to delphi forums, thats where you may find loads of indo)
www.teamdelta.com
these are a few, hope you find something intresting!