2008 UK championships

This is an early warning announcement about the Fighting Robots 2008 UK championships.

UK Featherweight Championships hosted by Robochallenge

24th and 25th May 2008 Venue in the English Midlands


UK Heavyweight Championships hosted by Roaming Robots

12th and 13th July 2008 Venue Riat Fairford Gloucestershire.

These events are already in our event section and will be updated with information soon.

One of the 3 RR events I cant go to and it had to be the UK HW champs.

I have a question: How come its over 2 days as opposed to 4/5days as the previous one was ?

In the past the heavy weight championships has been organised in two hour shows. 2007 ran for three days for four hours per day.
This event will run both days with minimal breaks.
possibly 10 Am until 6 PM and therefore more show time.
There will be a limit on the number of entrants and it may lead to a trials event to be held before hand.

You now need to await the details from the event organisers for more information

Well done RR for getting the UK champs. When was the vote held, I must have missed that one?

Isnt it gonna be too noisy to do a competition like that at an airshow though, and 2 days seems too short for the major competition of the year?

The governing body decided who should host the UK championships from the proposals put forward by both Roaming Robots and Robots Live. This was decided over email ballot earlier this month due to specific request by the event organisers for a speedy decision.

I would be very disappointed if we could not attend this event, I had this firmly on my calendar before the champs was announced. Why does there have to be a limit on attendance? would it not have been better to have an event over more days so everyone could have a go?

I agree with Chris, I am not too thrilled about the choice for Fairford either. I really wanted to go to Fairford, but if it is done as the UK championship that means I must go to a qualifier to go there.

a limit on attendance, ive never heard of that before, but if that is the case im sorry to say its ridiculous and i wouldnt even bother going. was this the same for all eos that applied? if not then i thought that should of been taken into consideration? surely the more robots their the better?
we all go on about trying to grow the sport etc.... and then i here this crazy idea.

Is this going to be one of those long threads going on and on about tangents and how it€™s not fair again? If so please count me out!

Just to say well done to RR for getting the gig, if I can compete in this then great, if my robot sucks so bad it cant compete then the fault lies with my sad robot design. And I will be in the crowd cheering or helping other teams where I can. What ever happens I€™m looking forward to the show.

:)

Sorry if the last post seemed a little harsh it€™s not my intention to offend.


:kiss:

quote:

The governing body decided who should host the UK championships from the proposals put forward by both Roaming Robots and Robots Live. This was decided over email ballot earlier this month due to specific request by the event organisers for a speedy decision.


Sory for personal feeling the FRA Governing body members.


But this sounds a bit like the Belgian government deceiding about the European basic law.
Only federal politicians were capable to chose.

Most of Europe did things otherwise. With the UK leading.

adrian the tv program robot wars had limited attendence. robots live have limited attendence at some of their events. the more robots the better yes indeed. but what you have to remember is that roaming robots did last years uk champs at a financial LOSS. there is always that risk no matter where the event is held and by whom. if we have to qualify then so be it. i would think qualifying would be part of the uk champs itself so the more robots attend qualifiers the better wouldnt you say. all that said i have a baby due anytime and its quite possible i wouldnt be able to attend a qualifying event. so if envy doesnt make it to the uk champs i would be gutted but i wouldnt MOAN about it. also that said could envy qualify if i sent jason with it or mabee another roboteer who would do me the honour of at least trying. if thats allowed.
still there may not need to be trials before the event if the limit of robots applying is not exceeded. i will apply anyway

please dont turn this into another long negative discussion.... Ive said it before and ill say it again..... we need to work together if we want our hobby to survive, not arguing about things with each other.


I think the subject of qualifiers is a bit premature.... it is NOT considered that everyone will have to qualify.

We will have 24 spaces open, with a few reserves, only if we get to a stage where we ended up with a silly amount applying... ( very unlikely ) then we would need to sort it out somehow.

Sign ups will be open early, so we can see how many teams wish to come.

Fairford has always had a limited attendance, and the only reason for this is the camping, we are provided with 30 FREE pitches. If teams want to come and not camp ( which in most years has happened for some) then of course it opens up more spaces.
In the past we have never hit our limit, of course any foreign teams / seeds wishing to attend would most likely be shown preference.

The FRA Governing body made their decision on tenders supplied by all organisers, I decided after 2 years of taking risks, it was time to go for a more secure and financially better option.
Including free camping, 2 days of shows ( 16 hours ), and a 1000 prize fund, all provided by the RAF, and no risk to me.

Lets take a step forward together !!!

John
http://www.roamingrobots.co.ukwww.roamingrobots.co.uk

Jonno, I applaude the fact that you still do it.

I never questioned you on that respect, Roaming robots is one of the best reasons Robot wars still is a fantastic hobby, and not a sideshow for a few nostalgic idiots. Or even less.

I mainly hope the curse of the Championships doesnt ruin Fairford either.

Personal opinion.

2004. Billing Aquadrome. Back up event. A week in the rain, the hexagonal arena.

2005. The failed DRG event due promises of outsiders, made on the promises of others. Cold shivering get together on a wet Amsterdam camping site.

2006. Wicksteed Park. The hole in the foil roof, the showers, the suicied in the nearby pond.

2007. Haven vacation park, backing out sponsors. Venue with flashlights, and a few other issues.
Audience like a bunch of uninterested zombies. (except a few fans)

Now, I was there in all those occasions, and thanks to the mayority of the roboteers I had always a lot of fun, and a good filling in of precious days off from work.

But if I have to look at the Fairford event 2008.
Limited access (I was at the champs since series 5).
Short periode, only 2 days.... ( I lose at least 12 hours travel on even the closest by event in the UK)

In a periode I cant even get a day off work without having a fight and getting black marks on my reputation (no kids, nor wife with a limited vacation timing). I think I will miss this event. But still, I will try.

Jonno, if there is anyone who has the best interest of the sport at heart its you.

I will go on the record and say i really dont like the decision on naming Fairford the place for the UK champs but i do understand your reasoning behind it.

Therefore I will not mention anything more about the decision, and I will just apply for Fairford and look forward to beat the living daylights out of other robots there, including yours. :)

jonno, i am not having a personal dig and i appreciate that in the past you have lost out financially yourself,your judgement is better than mine of what works best hosting events, but what i think has to be considered is, where would it leave you if the certain exciting robots, you would like to see at least attend the champs didnt get through your qualifiers by having an off day and say all you ended up with was 22 flippers and 2 wedges? would that still be exciting?.it also gives i believe the less likely contenders to have a chance. all this providing qualifiers go ahead.
i just think limited attendance at such a major competition is a bad idea, sorry.

(Message edited by ady on January 18, 2008)

Fantastic. Glad to hear that both events are going ahead this year!

Sadly I wont be at the heavyweight champs this year as I will be in the states but I want to see vids on youtube asap after the comp!

i bet your looking forward to fw champs though? :) im not sure whether im going to put the old prodigy in (as its a safer bet of winning lol) or the evo spinner which will be interesting now with 24v and 1 tooth. i was wondering whether to lend prodigy to a newbee for the competition, but knowing my luck it would get drawn either against you gary or myself LOL.

adrian theres 12 seeds / well top 12 from 2007 champs, they are

Big Nipper,THZ,Iron Awe 5,Dantomkia ,Kapow ,Beast ,Turbulence ,Ripper ,Tiberious ,Kanopener ,Velocirippa ,Envy
6 out of these i class as flippers, i should think these 12 robots will be there as there seeds, but i guess these could change on winter tour results and also foreign teams will be there. i cant remember how many robots attended 2007 champs but it wasnt that many over 24. even for robot wars most of us had to do trials and the less likely contenders and even good robots dont get on , and that was more of a big deal as it was on TV. also 1000 in prize money means theres alot of money to be won . we will have to wait and see if theres over 24 robots tho but i cant seeing anyone having to trial as some teams wont be able to make it due to work just like last yrs champs?

will be a good event with 10s of thousands of people walking around and watching

cool for me if envy is a seed. i fancy it this year. envy has had lots of upgrades and just about ironed out flaws so looking forward to it.

Jonno
Congrats on getting the UK champs again but I would have to question the suitability of the Fairford venue. We didnt go to Fairford last year because of the inevitable traffic chaos . Is it still your intention to have the event outside? If so I suppose we just have to hope it doesnt rain.
I.M.H.O one of your other indoor venues would have provided a better bet.

Rob

shane i dont no if they are seeds

but i am guessing they will be

envy wouldnt have any problem in a trial neways its quality - i say me n u in final this year :P

(Message edited by john on January 18, 2008)

i say envy knocks you out in the first round :)

then we retire to the campsite and knock back some beer :)

well i hope theres loser round thing

and do u remember who knocked u out in 2007 champs

reminder here http://roamingrobots.co.uk/events2007_UKChampsresults.htmhttp://roamingrobots.co.uk/events200...mpsresults.htm
:lol:

its 2 early to start banter - we will start in a few months - my dad will tell me off lol

yeah you did knock me out but via a breakdown on envys part. the gods were with you that day. but yes stop the banter now i have the last word :)

:) i want to reply to that but it will end up going on til the event lol :rofl:

as ur the older man i wont say it :P

we can agree that flippers rule tho ye?

envy rules :) :) :) tho thor just might rule when finished.

ye axes r well better then flippers but i dnt have 1 so u noo

little john, i think im right in saying that typhoon didnt get through their qualifying round and look what happened lol? correct me if im wrong gary.

ye it might have been a fix to who was on the show or not but they still have to go to a trail

for series 4 we went and won both our fights but we didnt get on

even tho that was a fix there was still a trial to get on and part of that trial must have been to see if the robot could put on a good show and if it looks good , and typhoon looks great and proved that by winning the series , they also new what typhoon could do as they had made a middleweight or a feather for the series b4? so it was a daddy version

i think you cant compare this to tv really.

well u just did

but ye i no wot u mean

can feathers attend this or does it depend on how many heavys apply

dont know wether to sleep in my car or tent it. mabee john bell will let me crash on his caravan bungalow floor next to his stash of beer. :)

Well to answer some of your questions..

The arena / pits will be under a big marquee so it doesn€™t matter what the weather is dong outside, we can still run in the dry. Im sure it will be sunny though... it normally is !! :)

The signups will be a first come first served basis with preference to the seeds, yes Matt feathers will be allowed to attend.

If you camp with us, and arrive on the Friday then you do miss the majority of the traffic.

I think sometimes its easy for roboteers to be very vocal about their opinions, but don€™t necessarily consider all of the factors which lead us to make choices.

You need to understand just how much it costs to put an event on, let alone make any money, The breakeven point on any event is higher than most would consider, and it is very easy to NOT make money.

The UK champs is the big event, therefore to host it you need a minimum of 12 hours, or 6 shows which is equivalent to 3 days in an indoor venue, and then add your prize money, and accommodation.

So treble the venue costs compared to normal, add the prize money, add the accommodation bill for both crew and roboteers and you end up with an event which IMHO will not make any money in the current climate.
That€™s why I opted to host it at RIAT where everything is provided.


And then of course you have to consider the quality of the show, if people are paying good money to see a show, they want just that€¦. Lets be honest the first rounds of the UK champs can be quite tedious, €œ flip a robot, it gets stuck, wait for 10 seconds, end of fight €œ It isn€™t until you get to the semi finals where the competition really hots up.

The FRA made a vote which was 5 - 2, maybe you should ask them why they opted for Roaming Robots, or even ask Robots Live what was in their proposal that they didn€™t get it?

Other than that€¦here€™s an idea why don€™t roboteers put their hands in their pockets, and help with the event if they want it so badly, I don€™t think many will volunteer, but are very easy to expect it all for free.

Consider this€¦. Event Organisors don€™t make any money€¦.. or they get fed up, what happens€¦ they give up€¦. then what ?

Food for thought I hope.

I for one am looking forward to the event, and I know a lot of pople are too. At the end of the day everyone has a choice whether to attend or not, but of course hope they attend because they want to.

John
http://www.RoamingRobots.co.ukwww.RoamingRobots.co.uk

oh and axes rule... wait till the weekend and ill show you :)

Consider this€¦. Event Organisors don€™t make any money€¦.. or they get fed up, what happens€¦ they give up€¦. then what ?

Two way mate, roboteers get fed up, we dont make any money, we give up then what :wink:

Other than that€¦here€™s an idea why don€™t roboteers put their hands in their pockets, and help with the event if they want it so badly, I don€™t think many will volunteer, but are very easy to expect it all for free.

perhaps we should be paid for attending :wink:,i would donate mate but my costs go into robot repairs, and travel expenses, but fra get a donation from me every year, i always make the effort to help at the end of an event in dismantling the arena, thats more than some offer!

unfortunatley i wont be attending (as im washing my hair) no seriously i dont run a hw anymore, but hope all goes well, and look forward to buying the dvd! more expense :sad: lol

oh and spinners rule! lol

We have 3 race cars each costing many thousands. petrol to tow the cars to race meetings is more than a robot and then its around £150 to enter.

roboteers get a very good deal. an exclusive environment where they can carry out thier hobby in a safe environment for free! coupled with an audience, free acommidation at some events, free food, free co2.... all in all roboteers are a very lucky bunch and get it very easy compared to any other sport/hobby.

it is very much appriciated when roboteers help pack away though :)

(Message edited by james...venom on January 22, 2008)