AIO Electronics Controller for Combat Robots

We are a professional BattleBots team developing a compact, durable all-in-one electronics controller for 3 lb (beetleweight) combat robots. I'm looking for an electronics engineer to evaluate the requirements and reference designs, recommend the architecture, and then design the schematic and PCB in KiCad. I do not want to unnecessarily reinvent proven circuits - several open-source projects are close to what we want and should be treated as references, not assumptions to copy. ONE BOARD, FOUR SUBSYSTEMS - One high-current brushless weapon ESC (~80A class) running AM32 - Two bidirectional brushless drive ESCs (~35A each) running AM32, with reliable braking/reversing - Integrated 2.4 GHz ExpressLRS receiver with a PCB-integrated antenna (chip antenna preferred - no external antenna wire or U.FL, those are mechanical failure points) - Shared 4S-6S LiPo/LiHV battery input (~26.1 V max at full charge) with all power regulation and protection. Transient margins, MOSFET ratings, capacitance, and protection are for you to determine. PRIORITIES, IN ORDER: 1) reliability, 2) very small footprint (rough target 40 x 40 mm - not a hard limit; tell us if bigger is meaningfully better or smaller is safe), 3) impact and vibration durability, 4) thermal performance, 5) reasonable cost. THE ENVIRONMENT: this lives inside a combat robot - far harsher than a drone. Severe impacts, high vibration, weapon spin-up current spikes, motor stalls, rapid reversing, regenerative voltage spikes, electrical noise from three inverters, and conductive debris. The receiver must not brown out or reset during weapon spin-up. We only need ~20 ft of reliable RF range, so we will gladly trade range for compactness and robustness. PROVEN REFERENCE DESIGNS (to evaluate, not clone): - Weapon ESC: CB Technology KIWI 80A AM32 ESC (open hardware, combat-robot specific, existing AM32 target) - Drive/packaging: Cronos Labs Catalyst MK1 (drive ESC portion and packaging concepts only - we're replacing its receiver with ELRS) - Receiver: OpenRX Lite 2.4 GHz (ESP32-C3 + SX1281 + chip antenna, full KiCad source and ELRS targets) Full brief with links to these and to the specific weapon/drive motors will be shared. PHASE 1 - ARCHITECTURE FIRST. Before any layout, review the requirements, the three references, AM32 and ExpressLRS hardware requirements, and the motor list, then propose the architecture you believe best combines small size, low weight, reliability, and manufacturability: MOSFET selection and ratings, layer count and stackup, copper weight, power regulation, protection (TVS, bulk and HF capacitance, brownout, reverse polarity if practical), current sensing, and the receiver-to-ESC communication method (PWM, DShot, CRSF, or your recommendation). We have preliminary opinions on all of these but have deliberately left them out - we want your independent evaluation. Please challenge our assumptions. DELIVERABLES: complete KiCad project (schematic, layout, source), BOM, Gerbers and drill files, pick-and-place/CPL, assembly drawings, programming/debug documentation (pogo-pin pads), firmware target/configuration info, design notes, and a Rev A test plan covering gate waveforms, dead time, MOSFET/driver temperatures, current and voltage sensing, bus transients, stall and reversing behavior, receiver brownout resistance, and RF performance with motors running. Board should be buildable at JLCPCB/PCBWay or equivalent. Direct solder pads for battery and motor phases - minimal connectors. Firmware should stay as close to upstream AM32 and ExpressLRS as practical - we want minimal custom firmware maintenance. IN YOUR PROPOSAL, PLEASE BRIEFLY COVER: 1) a motor drive or other high-current switching power stage you have designed (voltage/current, and what you'd do differently now), 2) your experience placing RF sections or antennas near noisy power electronics, and 3) which of the three references you'd lean on most and why.