30th Jan 2005, Roaming Robots Aberystwyth

Pictues of the new arena will be up on the Roaming Robots web site over the next few days. But remember, the arena is getting a another paint job, and to have a fully working pit (faster/more powerful than before) Co2 Jets, Angel Grinders, and an arena flipper (whole floor pannel like Mentorns arena as on Robot Wars). Full Pressure buffer tanks, we know how high feathers already fly - cant wait to see what happens soon. --SPLAT!-- And the poly screens will be tethered as well for extra strength.

Mr Stu

I took two pics:

http://www.teammad.co.uk/rrarena.JPGhttp://www.teammad.co.uk/rrarena.JPG
http://www.teammad.co.uk/rrarena1.JPGhttp://www.teammad.co.uk/rrarena1.JPG

And belive it or not that 2nd photo is taken through the polly :P

Wow, its looking excellent! I cant wait till Magna

Awww but Im gonna miss the uneven floor of the old arena.... wait a minute, no I aint. Woohooo looks like we can finally drop Mute down to deck :)

Nice work Jonno, cant wait to take Mute for a spin in it.

Wouldnt jump to any conclutions about the floor yet :) We found an uneven spot. Not to mention that paint job was great at giving us sticky tyres, it took Kane ages to clean it off our wheels :)

What happens if the audience are in tiered seating like at Doncaster? That canopy looks a bit low to me although I may be wrong and it looks totally different with the spots on.

As for the floor, its nice to run PT without dipping into potholes and skidding on wood-dust marbles. Apparently the paint wasnt dry :)

Stu, Angel Grinders??? Are you trying to incur the wrath of God? :wink:

Yeah - Pillow Torque going down :)

The paint was said to be 1 hour quick dry, and it was painted at about 11pm the night before, so it had a good 10 hours to dry. It wasnt wet wet, but wasnt 100% dry :) hehe - was funny though. To some people it increased their traction! hehe.

Mr Stu

Yeah - Pillow Torque going down....Stu, a word to the wise old friend..The Pillow Torque girls are people with whome you do not want to mess!! People have been known to experience pain for far less than a comment like that. (Youve seen the photo, need I say more?!) :proud:

The canopy was quite easy to see through...

I dont think people will have a problem with visibility from tiered seating.

The paint was an interesting experience...

GEOFF!!! (yes Im shouting) WHAT PHOTO??????

Calm down girl...Not THAT photo!! :wink:

Report & pics up: http://www.teammad.co.ukwww.teammad.co.uk - go events then Aberystwyth - the return.

The two photos of the arena i posted above have been deleted and can now be found at the bottom of the report.

By the use of a wink Geoff, I dont know whether to believe you or not.

Mind you if theres even a hint of salacious photos someone else might ask just how you came into possession of them (now its my turn to wink) :wink:

Is there going to be more strengthening on the area outside of the main arena? Would be nice to have some full-on fights at Magna with no restrains on robots being flipped out.

The reason robots were not allowed OOTA was due to the area the arena was in is small and wasnt enought gap around the edge of the arena.

Like david said Ewan - the venue was too small for robots to be flipped out. The polycarb screens and structure will contian an out of control heavy weight, but with the public HAVING to be so close at that venue, we asked robots to not flip each other out. Magna - dont worry - its the start of the Roaming Robots UK Championship, full on fights, more full on that it was at doncaster. Still Heavy Weight Spinners is a no no due to many reasons, mainly due to most teams are not prepared to fight spinners, theres full on competition and fun, and full on competition and not fun. So all the robots can go full on as they like :) Dont worry Ewan - when the Arena Flipper is installed - we are exspecting Feather Weights to fly out the arena and splat into the Polycarb screens!!! Ill make sure my fingure is over the button and counting the 5 seconds very accurate for your robot.

Mr Stu

1,2, 5... FIRE!

Got to be a fool to allow your feather to be flipped OOTA by the arena flipper.

Though i will buy the first person a drink who allows their feather to be flipped on purpose at the end of the fight. LOL! I will be 18 at Magna - birthday just a few days before Magna, so party time that weekend. :) hehe. Im told Team Mute will be showing me a good time round the night clubs - cant see that happening - lol i have a sence to stay alive and ataully work the next day! LOL!

Mr Stu

You may actually regret making that knowledge public Stu. It may not end at the nightclubs and you may never live that night down in 10000000000000000 years when you finally wake up on Sunday :proud:

Well just hit earth with a big bump again.... back in the land of living.... well nearly.

The arena is now packed away in my new workshop... yes workshop... time to become professional... or so they say.

4 weeks of pure hard word, paid off, and thanks for all the comments. With Aber being the first trial build of the arena, I certainly drove there with everything crossed that it was all going to fit together.

Oh by George did it fit together nicely. :)

And so far has achieved what it needed to.

Quick to assemble - still learning so will get quicker
Quick to get out of a venue - just over 2 hours which included the small corridor.
Quick to unload in storage - 2 hours
Modular so it can fit together in many variations of sizes and shapes.
And most importantly to fit in the weight limit of the truck.

And with lots of improvements in the pipe line, 2005 will hopefully by one to remember.

We would also like to know which robots would be interested in providing demos during shows, destroying washing machines and stuff with discs. Heavies and feathers. Just something we are pondering.

Magna, should see the arena just about up to spec as I want, all being well, and other commitments allowing.

And after which I will be contemplating taking on another winter tour, so stay tuned for news, we are already in discussion with a PR and Marketing Company.

Jonno

I have just signed Rev3 up for Magna. And I will be leaving the disk fitted for that, so I can do a few demos if that is O.K. It does hit the ceiling with small appliances - Microwaves/tumble driers etc. Loves Washing machines. Not interested in FULL contact though. Rough enough.

Roger.

Yeah thats good - so you can use your disc maybe for demos, but in combat disc deactivated.

Mr Stu

what we will hopefully do, is run a trial run outside of a show. ( no public ) and limited roboteer viewing to see how it goes.

Then we will make a judgement as to whether we feel it is safe enough.

Jonno

With there being a big gap between the rails and the outer polycarb Im a bit concerned about possible damage to floors when heavies do get flipped out. I know there were a few 8x4s along the outside but the coverage was not 100%.

Hiya Rob - there was not 100% coverage as we advised Heavys not to be flipped out due to how close the public had to be at that event. But magna onwards, there will be special plastic flooring between the inner arena and the outer polycarb screens. Hope that gets rid of your concern.

Mr Stu

Oh good :)