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Here are the aftermath pics
http://www.teammadcow.com/motorama2004/inside_etek.jpghttp://www.teammadcow.com/motorama2004/inside_etek.jpg
http://www.teammadcow.com/motorama2004/nice_cells.jpghttp://www.teammadcow.com/motorama2004/nice_cells.jpg
http://www.teammadcow.com/motorama2004/nice_cells_2.jpghttp://www.teammadcow.com/motorama2004/nice_cells_2.jpg
Hi Mike L That robot has the definate one hit wonder reputation, but it is fun to see how it will self-destruct each time!!! and as for safety... wendy and I have seen it on both sides of the pond. I belive both sides have their short comings and get lolled into a false sense of security!!!
as to the other bot attacking and not letting the other bots batteries just die well as a roboteer If given the chance to sit and watch batteries die or test my bot against this or any one else...I think I would want to try, cause if your affraid to go against another bot...
youve already lost!!!
Just my 2 pesos!!!
as to greenwave if you noticed when the selinoid shorted, one he dosent have enough battery to feed that motor for full HP and the v belt set up dont have the torque to shear the saftey pin from a dead stop...it has been tested!
also they turn on the reciever first, then the weapon system, then the last is the drive system. Then the safty pin is pulled. Tho personally I feel reaching across an active bot putting his leg in the path of the blade is a little stupid!!! But then again I believe that the bot builder/driver should be the only person who touches the bot before or after a fight! My veiw is I know the bot better than any wrangler does and I know the safe way to handle it in most if not all situation, plus I would feel really bad if someone unfamilliar with my bot hurt themselves trying to shutoff or move my bot!
(Message edited by mattmaxsr on January 05, 2007)
I disagree.
The reason i would let the betteries die out is noy because of fear of damage to the other robot, but there is no telling what the out of control robot could do if it bounces of and schrapnell starts to fly. Specialy with a spinner like that. with boxes like storm II you could risk it but not with that kind of shape as greenwave.
This could pose more of a risk to public and arena personel than just wait till is stops by itself.
well, i hate to be the one to say it, but based on current thinking, this is why we have to have our removable links accessable.
crazy as it seems, we must have our removable links in such a position that, if this was in the uk, we could walk in and disarm the robot.
I know that would never happen, and wed not be asked to go in and pull the link, but this is why we have the rule that it mus be accessable even on full body spineers... nuts eh?
In my mind it shouldnt matter if the robot goes out of control or not. If its in the arena then it is only as dangerous and when its in control. both have the same potential.
So its up to the Event organiser to decide if the arena could contain such a robot in a worst case senario. if you have no doubts then go for it, and who cares if it goes out of control as it makes no difference.
If a robot does go out of control, that door stays locked until the robot no longer poses a threat. maybe until the batteries are dead or until the roboteer is sure he has regained complete control of his machine and can position the robot in the corner of the arena for ease of deactivation.
Leo - are you mad ?
If Storm II lost control theres nothing stopping it going into a flat spin... have you seen Storm II spinning on the spot ?
100Kg of steel doing around 300+rpm...... rather you than me !
Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com
Is much rather try to bang that in a corner than a robot that lookst like it could snap in half with a etek bolted on top.
Any out of control robot is dangerous...to the opponent. :proud: if theres good lexan protection (about 2cm Id say) then theres not really any chance of the crowd getting hurt. :)
Nowhere has 2cm polycarb these days Kody! The days of TV company scale arena budgets are long numbered
Was there ever an arena with 2cm thick lexan?
Even 2cm lexan could be gone through, its just a case of realising that there are risks inherantly involved in the nature of the sport and doing your best as either a robot builder or event organiser to minimise the risks to everyone involved.
if an arena cannot be relied upon 100% to safely contain a robot, out of control or otherwise, then that robot should be put back in the car before it even sees its link.
In my humble opinion.
Yes, the Battlebox had 24mm Lexan (two layers of 12mm) around the bottom of the battlebox.
The FRA are in the process of reviewing all UK arenas in the hope of making them all (including XFMs) safer for the future in light of events in 2006 so hopefully the safety barrier can be metaphorically raised high still.
Ed
http://www.teasmtorm.comhttp://www.teasmtorm.com
I guess all arenas have weak points. In Battlebots case it is the wall. :proud: (which Shark Byte shredded quite nicely)
no arena is safe...
by the way, lousy driving of death drum cause him to get his robot destroyed.
In Battlebots case it was also the fact that you were in the arena with your robot to arm up. Not only that but the other guy is arming up at the same time!! Youve got to keep one eye on your own robot in case it unexpectedly gets out of hand - youre also got to keep the other eye on the other robot as well!
If one did get out of hand in there, where could you run to anyway? At least with our rules arming up is done over the side wall but there is still space between the edge of the arena and the lexan screens to jump out of harms way - in the Battlebox none of that existed!
Safe arenas can be made. but its not just haveing meter thick polycarbonate. its the quality of the arena construction thats important. It takes along time and expirence to iron out all the weak points just like our robots. weve upgraded our arena over a period of around 3 years....... now its perfect :) lol nothing is perfect but you can get close. I dont think the potential of what robots can do has been realized still :sad: even with featherweights.
Completely agree with James B.
Safe is relative, you always get some idiot who makes things unsafe, for themselves mainly.
I agree with both JB as far as to the potential of FWs & Ed with his some idiot theory. I would rather err on the side Sods/Murphys Law every time even if that means reacting to stop a possible hazardous situation from occurring or over-engineering to ensure that it wont happen. Theres another old saying that prevention is better than cure but its an ever changing world and its something that should always be subject to review at any time.
i priced up an arena build recently for a hypothetical event.
The brief - a heavyyweight world championships able to run anything that shows up
the screens spec - 50mm polycarb to 1 meter, 25mm above that, 12mm roof, which excludes the 20mm thick steel kick plates and plenty more i wont go into.
The event is not happening this year, but I refused to go any thinner on anything with that specific run anything brief. My attitude being, if the people commissioning an arena are not willing to invest in the arena spec, I cannot and will not put my approval on it to run anything
Thats my opinion, if the arena is perfectly safe for all robots but one, that one doesnt run. If it is safe for no robots to run, they dont. You can guarantee an arena spec that is up to the job, but then if some muppet is in the arena arming his robot with another ready to go behind him, whats the point?
No.... this is not the woodlands arena spec, before anyone asks. :)
well that is exactly what the FRA are trying to sort out at the moment! Making sure that robots/discs are only allowed to run in an arena safe enough!
But you can have a billet of steel that the robots fight in, if the staff are not careful and safely trained, and robot activation is not correct then a simple robot can be dangerous. I for sure would not want to arm up a full body spinner or large bar whilst standing next to it.
Dont get the idea that current event safety procedures for arming up are going to change - I was just citing peoples experiences from competing in the USA in Battlebots. It is also known that pieces still managed to fly out of that arena.
The FRA are trying to sort out arena specs for all robots to be able to arm up, run in, and fight with the upmost safety in mind. Even with the most careful and experienced arena staff, roboteers, and well engineered robot, there is no knowing what may happen. It is the unpredictable that the FRA is trying to exercise at least some control over.
Try this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qOuVfcoRmwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qOuVfcoRmw
LMAO!!!
I can see Technobots putting that video clip on their web site to advertise the robot kit as they sell that kit - or maybe not. LOL!
Mr Stu
My son laughed his **** off at that. Methinks him and I need to have words :wink:
Birds and bees Karoline ? Or actuators and solenoids ?
I dont think I can get away with the actuators and solenoids argument :lol:
Wow I want 1 of these
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=61b3901ac51b5c12457145eea53b71bc.1504232& vdone=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.yahoo.com%2Fvideo%2Ffavor ites%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26vid%3D61b3901ac51b5c12457145eea53b71bc.1504232 %26a%3Ds%26_crumb%3D&vback=favoriteshttp://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vi...71bc.1504232&v done=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.yahoo.com%2Fvideo%2Ffavori tes%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26vid%3D61b39 01ac51b5c12457145eea53b71bc.1504232%26a%3Ds%26_cru mb%3D&vback=favorites
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUEN0kSkA80http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUEN0kSkA80
nice robot vid
Remote control on a wire!
I thought that was the tether - if it goes out of control just pull it back :crazy:
bungy cord :crazy:
Thats Meshuggah. Dutch vertical spinner from BNN robotwars series 2 (filmed at the same time as UK series 6). The rope is there to pull the removable link out if the IC engine goes crazy. The disk is a flywheel from a F16 fighterplane.
(Message edited by leorcc on March 16, 2007)