Robot Wars Series VIII - Week 4 Discussion

We're getting to the second half of the series now, just one more episode to go until the Grand Final! As usual, spoilers from here on out.


Well, I have to say this was genuinely one of my favourite episodes so far. Some fantastically designed robots by some experienced teams. And also some honestly disappointing bots too. The teams seemed great this time though, and the editing was honestly not bad. Not loving the camera view from between Matilda's tusks but, eh. I'm sure it'll improve next series. Sweeny Todd was certainly pegged as an interesting machine since I saw its omniwheels on the website. However, honestly at middleweight mass, it really looked like wasted potential to me. The wheels seemed like the only advanced feature, and the box design with strapped-on angle grinders really did look like something cobbled together on short notice. Still a shame to see innovation go out. I honestly have no such sympathy for Terror Turtle. Back with what is basically the same robot as the previous series of Robot Wars with a fibreglass shell and a little clusterbot with the extra 10kg, it really has never been competitive. That said, I don't think the team really expected to win, they're just in it for the fun, which there's nothing wrong with in my opinion. Another robot I was sad to see go was Sabertooth. I do love multi-weapon designs, and if only they'd have been able to self-right, I think they might've gotten further. Certainly a cool-looker, but not a great performer, especially against Eruption. Kan Opener was another crusher/gripper that I'd have liked to see go through, but again we had another link disconnect. These seem to be happening literally every episode now.

Onto the four winners of the first round, I honestly have to say I was very impressed with PP3D. I know Gary reads around the forums, and I have to say that is one formidable disk. It was great to see the damage it caused, but it was such a shame that one wheel seemed to be constantly locking up or flying off or the motor burning out. Excellent machine though, and I really hope to see more of it, hopefully with improved and protected drive! Eruption was honestly a bot I expected to go a lot further. For a team we've seen go so far in the live circuit, I think they had some really bad luck in this episode. Interesting to see what they did with the extra 10kg, adding armour and that little hook-grabber thing - though the armour seemed more effective. Looked very cool overall though.

Now Storm 2, WHERE WAS THE POWER? Where was the immense speed and force behind the machine we saw dominate in Extreme 2 and the 7th wars? I heard they hadn't been doing as well since then, but honestly it felt like a machine that used to bludgeon its opponents into submission was now just gently slipping underneath them. It might just be me, but I hope to see the Storm 2 again that we saw in the 7th wars. And onto the winner, which was honestly completely out of the blue for me - Apollo. When they said it could throw 50kg in the beginning, I honestly didn't think much of it, but suddenly it started throwing house robots over and its opponents out. I think they did have a fair amount of luck to get the victory, but in the end, it was well-deserved. Clearly prone to a few reliability issues, but a worthy winner. I will say though, I hope we don't get a flipper monopoly again in the grand final. Ellis, I'm counting on you and Pulsar! As for the house robots - come on guys. We haven't seen this kind of competitor insolence since Gravity, get stuck in for goodness sake! They had ample time to attack the competitors, but they're certainly still holding back in a big way. Overall though, one of my favourite episodes. Good fun.

You see series 7 producers, Storm 2 can lose in a fair fight.
And for the rest of it.
http://i.imgur.com/BPZNxRn.gif

To say it cost 20k Storm 2 is basically an expensive pusher. With all the big spinners about they'll never risk the fiddly expensive weapons.

I suspect the massive power in Storm II was always there and still is, I think some people are struggling with a steel floor vs. the usual wooden one for grip!

I liked the episode generally, PP3D was very impressive and probably the best machine in the heat (oh NPC...) and Apollo did very well considering they kept having drive issues. I loved the Sweeney Todd team as well and I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as they looked like they did!

Really enjoyed this episode. Some excellent robots and driving skills and some excellent battles.

Single a couple out

Storm 2 - did it do anything other than push. I only saw their flipper work once and it wasnt as dominating a push as we have seen from other robots.

Apollo - very entertaining and very good robot. enjoyed watching the guys and enjoyed the way they operated during the fights. not sure how good their armour actually is but looking forward to the later episodes to see how they get on

PP3D - Exposed wheels :-) just kidding i think that weapon was awesome to watch and hopefully it will be back to do a bit more damage. Good effort gary and enjoyed the times in the pits where they were looking at robots getting fixed etc. also the technical terms of "this is supposed to be copper coloured but its not"

all in really enjoyed it and as per previous weeks i enjoy the new hosting crew and the new format.

+1 for PP3D
inverted it looked pretty handy as well. Wondered if the disk spins both ways? I've seen DPDT contactors but don't know if anyone has used them.

Great episode again, I wondered about Storm 2 as well it almost looked like it was running on dead batteries the whole episode. And PP3D is class, unlucky they didnt get through.

We did use a DPDT contactor in Project one to switch the starter motor for the drive.
And Beta used the bigger version of that for the Etek to power the axe.

Both Albright SW series. Project One used the SW88 24V B, Beta the SW288

Ah nice, thanks for that.
eBay is a treasure trove. :)

shame eruption didn't get the win because of the immobilisation as well, that always used to be automatic if you weren't moving

Thanks for comments everyone. It was a very tough heat but a fun one to film in.

With regards to the drive motors, I will say categorically that their failure was my fault and not that of NPC. Essentially the drive motors weren't shock mounted as they should have been. Had they been then they wouldn't have had issue. This will be something I'm putting into place if there is a series 2. The wheels were just cheap sack truck puncture proof wheels. In retrospect, not appropriate for use as the hubs were made of thin stamped steel. I'll be removing these and upgrading in favour of something a little tougher. I'm keeping the exposed wheels as it wasn't the fact they were exposed that caused issues and it would detract from the look of the machine.

With regards to the disc. It currently only spins in one direction. I would however like to drop our twin solenoid control in favour of full speed control. This would allow us to not only run in each direction but to also run the disc at less than full speed if we fancy (not that we generally would). I LOVE the crazy gyro dancing when we are upside down. I've had a few recommendations to try and stabilise it or a self righter but to hell with it, it's cool so it stays :)

It looked to me that the disc had a bend in it after the fight with Storm II Gary, at least it sounded like it.

It finally got bend up to hit the chassis in that fight yeah. Going up against wedges right the way through along with our aerial acrobatics warped the 20mm thick hardox disc up by 10mm so it was knocking the underside of the chassis. New discs will get cut for a second series. Playing with designs now.

One thing I forgot to mention - I felt few things hit home better than judge Lucy Rogers' bit on internet forums and other online communication - I was surprised they didn't mention and combat robot sites actually.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by joey_picus

I suspect the massive power in Storm II was always there and still is, I think some people are struggling with a steel floor vs. the usual wooden one for grip!

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https://twitter.com/TeamstormUK/stat...04965299113984

#RobotWars Storm 2 not looking as fast as I remember from the 7th wars It isn't - down to 12mph top speed, a sacrifice made for reliability (we hope)

Hmm, I don't recall reliability ever being an issue before, and they said Team Storm were still worried about burn-outs in the episode anyway. :/

I know Storm 2 at live events had Ampflow motors, and no longer the very expensive and fragile LEM130's.

Another machine that used the LEM's was Brutus. But after eating at least one every live event, that machine went to a replacement for Bosch 750's, and got a lot more reliable after that.

I was gonna say I knew storm was using lems at some point that were known for unreliability.

Gary do you think you'd ever try a bar instead of a disk just to see how it span up compared to a disk? :-)

In short, no. A number of reasons why,

- A disc looks cooler (imo) and there are many bar spinners but not many large discs kicking around so I like to be a bit different
- A disc is much more stable during a collision with an opponent. If you watch the gyro forces acting on carbide or tombstone, the bot generally gets thrown away at funny angles meaning it takes a bit longer to line up for another hit. As a disc has mass all the way around, it's far more stable during a horizontal collision. If you watch some of PP3Ds hits, we either get knocked horizontally across the arena or launched up into the air but we stay near horizontal
- It's easier to get more of the spinning mass to the outer edge where you want it to store kinetic energy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by typhoon_driver

In short, no. A number of reasons why, - A disc looks cooler (imo) and there are many bar spinners but not many large discs kicking around so I like to be a bit different - A disc is much more stable during a collision with an opponent. If you watch the gyro forces acting on carbide or tombstone, the bot generally gets thrown away at funny angles meaning it takes a bit longer to line up for another hit. As a disc has mass all the way around, it's far more stable during a horizontal collision. If you watch some of PP3Ds hits, we either get knocked horizontally across the arena or launched up into the air but we stay near horizontal - It's easier to get more of the spinning mass to the outer edge where you want it to store kinetic energy.

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All of which, especially the second point, is perfectly sensible... ...and begs the question of why you like dancing semi-out-of-control while hitting, warping and abrading your disc on the floor when you're flipped :)

Because the gyro dancing looks cool :)

I think to be honest, if we're really going for cool factor, you'd have put some googly eyes on it by now. ;)
http://www.robotwars.tv/media/1083/nuts1-min.jpg

Its the way of the future. I've bought new supplies for next time ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by typhoon_driver

Because the gyro dancing looks cool :)

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think for next year you need to work out a way to make the disc whistle. im sure a couple of tactically drilled holes would do it

This has probably been my favourite episode ever, so far.

It was great fun to watch from start to finish and most of the tech talk was interesting and informative too.

I think PP3Ds gyro dancing was very entertaining - almost cartoonish the way it lurched forwards and bounced off the floor when it was upside down! Brilliant stuff.