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I would have thought so but one of the resistors have exploded (I might have plugged in the 6S set into that one without disconnecting the LED). I have got some higher voltage LEDs on order but they have failed to arrive. With this and the new battery issue, I am going to be having a late night :(
Update: So the LED hasn't blown the resistor, just the wire has snapped.
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4 Attachment(s)
So Manchester was a blast. It did feel more like "A featherweight event with some heavies thrown in" but when you are talking 28+ featherweights in the pits, it is easy to come to that conclusion. Congratulations to Aegis for the win over the four matches!
As for The Honey Badger, for those that didn't know, the lance was fitted the night before and then the M4 bolt that acts as the locking pin sheared so I couldn't get the lance off and since the LEDs hadn't turned up, I couldn't use the mechanical part anyway, leaving it as a good ol' fashioned rambot. It had rather put a downer on things from the off but I was determined to make it through one fight.
First fight was pretty crazy with all 28 in the arena. From my perspective, the lance worked OK, taking on a upturned Neophyte but the robot itself got wedged underneath the arena wall, got lifted by Aegis and then for a encore scored a TKO by one of the battery leads popping out after hitting the wall. Boo!
Second fight was a bit flat for me. The Honey Badger rode up on another FW's wedge (I don't know the name of this one unfortunately), which caused it to veer onto its side. Now the big wings on the side of the robot are supposed to prevent this from happening and for about 1/8th of a second, it did but then Blunt Force Trauma came rushing in and knocked into The Honey Badger, causing it to go over the wing and onto it's back. Eventually ended up in the pit :(
There was also a "Featherweight fun time" after show event which sadly I didn't film where I wanted to test out a couple of new trims I had applied to the controller. They worked amazingly and was having a whale of a time pushing Blacksmith around but then the robot slowed to a crawl and then stopped altogether. Turned out I had blown a set of LiFe batteries. Pants. I also managed to break off the lance and the weapon motor mount so things were not going well.
The third fight, the first one on the Sunday, I had patched up the hole where the lance would have been and promptly sent it back out in the arena. I had heard that Drumroll (3?) was in the arena but I wasn't too worried immediately. However, Get Shrekt had me worrying for a moment when it got close to the drive wheels but the wings did their work. They then did their main job when The Honey Badger clipped the front end of Barróg and went up the wedge. What would normally happen in this instance is the Badger would land on its side and then it's back but the wings allowed it to skid across the floor and landed right way up. The design paid off...
Attachment 8007
...briefly. In all the excitement of still running, I had "forgotten" that Binky and Blunt Force Trauma was still in the arena. Looking at the video, I think it was Blunt Force Trauma who ripped the lid off the Badger though Binky got real close. It was still running without a lid but then Drumroll came and smacked the corner of the The Honey Badger, which caused most of the internals to come flying out. For a brief moment, it was still running with its guts hanging out but subsequently died. For a final encore, Binky and Drumroll focused a dual attack on one side of the robot, causing the entire side to be ripped out with the motor still attached. I then got pitted by the house robot.
Attachment 8008
Now, in all fairness, Alex and Jamie did come and see the mess afterwards and offered to help rebuild it but I know there was a opinion floating that the The Honey Badger was dead (even I had that momentary thought when I called out "destroy it" after it had been ripped apart).
Attachment 8005
The heck it was.
Many thanks to Arc Robotics for getting the motor connectors soldered back together and for the various offers to help rebuild. In short, the front crossmember had been torn off, the side panel obviously taken off forcibly, the front panel was a write off and all the electrics were in a bit of a state. However, the electronics were still working so with a bit of haste, reattached the "old" front panel to the Badger, remounted the motor onto the torn off panel, reattached that back onto the crossmembers with the best screws I could find that wasn't snapped or twisted.
Attachment 8006
The fourth fight was nerve racking to say the least. With The Honey Badger not really working at its fullest (despite upping the voltage from 13.2v nominal to 19.8v nominal) with it wobbling around the arena and the front not really connected to the base plate, keeping my nerve as I was driving it around was arudous. At one point, Drumroll did clip me but it seemed to have little effect. In the end, I got stuck on Madusa's flail and the arena flipper got me.
I will admit, I was a little gutted I didn't make it to the end of a fight, let alone "win" any of them (I am beginning to take this roboteering lark a little more seriously this year) but rather pleased with managing to get the robot back into the arena. I also managed to fry 3 sets of batteries, though this was more down to lending a 6S set to Tango and a 4S set to Madusa along with the 4S set from Saturday. I am not sure on the health of the 6S set in the Badger either... time for a battery upgrade me thinks.
It won't be in this robot though. Perhaps a little unsurprisingly, I've made the decision to retire The Honey Badger 2 from combat and get started with The Honey Badger 3, the design of which I was pondering on the way back home. However, I am not sure if that is going to be the priority over Kaizen though, I need to work out timescales and so on. I might yet be at EXR Guildford but I simply don't know yet.
I'll add a video of the fights later on when I've had some sleep. ;) However, it was great seeing everyone at Manchester, especially the Madusa robot who I've been advising/helping over the weeks prior to the event and even then, getting involved in getting their wheels to stay attached to the robot. Also helping with the soldering on Eric to get it into the arena on Sunday plus meeting and greeting new (such as the Barróg team) and familiar faces.
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Saw fight 3, was shocking to see such carnage, and I was impressed at how well the Badger held up to some pretty hefty abuse, can't wait to see what you come up with next... also can't wait to join in the fun proper.
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Sorry dude, typed on my phone and didn't see the autocorrect there, that sounded nasty and wasn't supposed to.
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I didn't see anything nasty there, I wouldn't worry. ;)
As I say, I've got an idea in my head for the next one. I'll need to sit down with a pen and paper and work it out properly. Can't wait to see Pushover in the arena.
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And here is the video of all four fights. There'll be a "cutting room floor" compilation later on.
https://youtu.be/rhtfOed_rZo
Now to design The Honey Badger 3.
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Wow, that was one of the most brutal demolitions I've seen in a while - felt gutted for you while watching it! The Honey Badger 2 was a really quick and nimble machine though. (Looks dead slick in your avatar btw) Props to you for getting it back in the ring so quickly. Looking forward to version 3!
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Just to echo what Dominic said, epic effort to have the Badger ready to go again for fight 4! Also looking forward to what you do with version 3.
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Hey Michael, just wanted to say that you did a great job with the robot all things considered. It was unfortunate that you were the one that took all that damage especially since you have been so helpful to so many others not just at events but also on the forum (thanks for lending us that bind plug BTW). Also we've been going over the damage on Neophyte & noticed that your lance dented our base plate.
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I would like to comment on the video, you can really get a feel for
what happend in the featherweight multi melee-very well filmed
and nice and stable.
20 + robots in the arena at once though-just confusing!:roll: I found
it hard to follow any particular robot so I'm not sure how the Adults
in the Audience could at a distance.
I think 6 feathers and 4 heavies should be the max for good competition.
Also still using that nearly dark lighting format-difficult to see -whats
wrong with super troopers?:)