Tech Checkers Conference and training day

no worries grant, no rush, taking a year out from events to concentrate on new ventures, but will be coming back with a hw in 2009, moving up in weight now and away from feathers. :proud:
will still be following the forum mind, and coming as a spectator to big events for a change.

my question above obviously wont effect me personally until i come back with a new hw i am just talking in general as i know myself and a few others havent been too chuffed in the past
when we missed out on adding extra weight LOL

(Message edited by promo robots on February 09, 2008)

If robots are brand new, and they come to an event to test them out and are overweight, they should be allowed to drive in whiteboards where there is nothing at stake so they can at least dor their checks. But the next event they go to, they must be weighed again and then there is no excuse, you knew it was overweight before so you should have done something about it.

A robot being overweight MUST exclude them from any competition though as it is not fair to other roboteers.

Has this sort of thing happened in the past?

Yes, In both UK heavy and featherweight championships robots have been excluded because of over weight.

For the fighting robots championships the weight limit rules apply and should be enforced rigidly.

For the rest of the year it is mainly entertainment shows with an element of competion.
For these events it is not normal to have a weigh in and quite a few machines are a bit over weight.
I believe this is to withstand the the intensity of the amount of shows per year.

To be in full competion mode every event is unsustainable for most teams.

If weight were to be rigidly enforced for the 14 shows a year the numbers at the shows would decline. Our team would certainly reduce the number of events that we would attend.

This is why we have two machines, one for shows and one for competion.
The show machine has to be built a little heavier to withstand the duty and this enables us to have less maintenance and costs.

That is a good point. But you would not put the show Kan-opener in a competition, which is what Adrian refers to.

the rule should only apply to competition events not every day entertainment events. these entertainment events are a crucial part of building a successful robot and being overweight with added armour helps with longevity. amazingly i have been under weight with envy so i have no worries.

Well, Im not intending to take part in any serious shows, but Ive been building to the 13.6kg. Does this thread mean that people would consider it fair if I went to 15 or 20kg? (Thats not what I want to do by the way).

Surely fairness is important in any sport, even it its not competitive. I understand what Andy is saying about the rigours of competition, but perhaps we need a new weight for non-competitive robots, or a percentage of error.

In any case, if all robots were weighed, then there would be no rumours about a particular robots being massively overweight because everyone would know. And if 42 robots at Leicester is anything too go by, then it seems that FWs are not in danger of decline due to a rule that is clearly stated to everyone being enforced.

Just my thoughts anyway. I know that the tech checks that are carried out are about safety, and that is of primary importance.

Simon

My personal position on this is that you should be able to build a functional robot within the weight limit for that class. In fact its probably the biggest part of the challenge of building a fighting robot... finding the weight to squeeze in all those interesting features and nasty weaponry. It will always remain a choice between fire power and survival ability. If you would allow robots for non-competitive events to be overweight, wont that lead to the first 50-kg featherweight by August ? Just a prediction...

There has to be a limit to being overweight ...
So do we wish to define overweight as far as friendlies go... or do we leave this decision up to the competing Roboteers?

Id like to see the bots weighed as part of Tech checking and then officially marked on the bot... thus giving opportunity for objections to be raised.

my point was that i have a 100kg fully competitave robot ready for full on competition. but if i swap the ali armour for hardox it will be overweight. the initial robot if in competition would weigh 100kg. entertainment part of it would mean hardox panels would make my robot last longer. when the competition comes round then envy would weigh in at 100kg. whats the big deal with that. a 50kg robot would be a middleweight. i am sure roboteers have the sense to build a robot within the weight limits for competition and if said robots weigh more then they simply wont enter competitions.

if there was a rule written in stone that your robot wont be able to come to events and play because its 2kg overweight due to an extra bit of armour then i wont play in whiteboards. event organisers better get their hand in their pockets and provide sufficient prize money for my robot to do competitions all the time. a small trophy made from plastic wont be enough reward for my robot to enter white boards if i am not allowed a little extra armour

i am ranting. event organisers need robots to attend events or there wouldnt be a show for them. if they want 100kg robots and thats it, then make it worth while for robots to take damage at their events.

the uk champs has always been and worth doing for the prizes involved. 100kg robots can battle all they like in white board fights. ME....i would like the option to add extra armour to put on a show.

competition fights 100kg. defo
entertainment. event organisers descretion