Call for a ban on wedges

I took my friend to see a live event late last year,he had many comments but I noted that he was less than impressed by the number of roboteers who were using the ford escort of the robot world-THE WEDGE-to be fair some did have powerfull flippers and yes your in with a chance of winning with the tried and tested design,not sure that it totally captivates the audience though.

Cant imagine that robot wars would have survived to the seventh series if so many wedges were involved-they were effectivley frowned upon

Some people dont have time or money to make anything bigger than a wedge or dont have the experience!

There are many heavyweight spinners hideing out there, but they cant spin up in any existing arenas as it is just too danegerous. And wedges combined with flippers are still on of the most effective designs out there.

I think if wedges didnt captivate the audiences, then Roaming Robots and XFM etc wouldnt be putting on sellout shows time after time, so the majority of the audience must not mind them. As Bex says, lack of money can play a major part in making your robot a wedge - if you cant afford to install an effective weapons system into your robot, a wedge is one of the best ways to at least have some control over the outcome of a fight. Sure, theyre not all that visually exciting, but (particularly for newcomers) theyre easy to build and so are the most viable option.

I make it a rule for myself never to have a wedge or pushbot, but I see no reason to ban them.

Yes, I think flippers and spinners and specially axes and hammers are far more exiting, but seeing a storm II slamming a robot in the wall without his lifter or a Bonx doing likewise in the feather department is not my idea of boring either.

Having a wedge or a box is not the problem, how you use it is the major issue.

When Team Storm built Storm II we followed the rules to build something that would win - Storm II was a simple approach designed to do exactly what it said on the tin :o)

We made no apologies for the fact that it didnt look exciting, or have a fancy paint job - our goal was to win.....

Five years on Storm II is still the UK number 2 in whatever competition you want to judge by (robot wars, Roaming Robots....) so we clearly got something right.

...come to think about it, are there any robots out there competing and winning 5 years old or more ?

Not sure - and slightly off topic !

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

Surely its less than 5 years that Storm 2 has been built ? Storm 2 made its first TV appearance August 1 2003, so thats under 4 years, so a robot thats been competing for longer than you and still winning, Kan Opener and THz I think would qualify

PS: Im not big on wedges but as Ed says, if thats whats needed to win, you make it.

Storm II was built in 2002 and first competed in Extreme in 2003

Ask John Reid and Andy Kane if theyre using the same chassis etc as they were when they built their robots ? The only change to Storm II really was the addition of the arm when Mentorn changed the rules which meant we had to move some bits around inside the bot !

Dont think youll find that Kan Opener or THz would even nearly qualify there ;)

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

(Message edited by storm on February 23, 2007)

Tough as nails is also that age. It was made for BNN series 2, that was the same year as UK series 6.

its good to here peoples opinions and im sure everyone has a different one. I personally have been watching robotwars since day one, and i now have a heavyweight and feather of my own. i know personally how expensive a hobby it is but to me nothing beats seeing destruction, and videos etc i have watched from recent events, their are some i have found boring which has never happened to me before. this is only my opinion, and hence why i have a spinner. i loved chaos2 etc when they came on the scene and they are still great to watch even now, but im finding that their are too many flippers and wedges
on the scene. im sure if you asked any viewers from the tv days their favorite fight im sure it would be one that involves damage rather than seeing something sent OOTA (except maybe the more unusal ones such as WBC.

why ban wedges? this really winds me up. Its as bad as mentorn saying no robot can compete without a weapon, Saying no wedges would rule out almost all flippers, and previous Robot Wars winners.

Then how do u define a wedge bot? dont be dumb and just say its a wedge shape, we know that, but when does a wedge no longer become a wedge? Terrorhurtz for example can use its front end to wedge under and ram them into walls, i know it can ive been on the receiving end. Is it no longer a wedge when it has a weapon?

But this said a simple wedge bot can still be effective for example at folkestone Tanto went 5-1 wins to loses without a weapon and as a wedgebot, beating the likes of Terrorhurtz and Dominator 3.

Personally I think we need to start looking at this as a sport not a hobby, and as a sport we need to start concentrating on what makes the sport advance not what the public enjoys, i am aware of the fact we need the public support but personally id rather we got our house sorted and the worried about making it a spectical for the public

This has been a party political broad cast from the Wedgebot Party

Kan-Opener is upto F-Spec, not sure of the full history but as I understood it that will be the 6th full chasis, infact E & F spec are both fully working, would be interesting to see them fight each other :). Very few robots last a few years of constant events.

At Robots live a few weeks back we broke our lifter in the 1st competition fight and still managed to win the event somehow. Our crusher worked but since it was on the floor couldnt use it, does that mean we should be banned as well?

I personally dont like wedges, but as long as they keep winning they wont go away and a doubt any event organiser will ban them as thats where most people start with their first robot and we always need more roboteers. That makes this thread really pointless, why did I bother posting.

Not building a wedge is simply one of the many interesting challenges every roboteer cherishes. :mrgreen:

Maddox and I would rather go for an abnormal design. That way the public has less trouble remembering who those crazy Flemish are.
But that aside, I think we should be free to use whatever shape we want. Dont put a clamp on creativity ! Rules are needed but too many rules suffocate. (Ive recently joined a political party and -hey lookie!- thats one of their major program points... :proud:)

It sounds to me like a ban on something that works very well. The wedge shape has definite advantages.
I can understand banning things that are dangerous, but banning things that are boring just doesnt cut it for me.

ban the wedge, the box becomes popular,

ban the box, cyliners become popular,

ban cylinders.....

Where do you finish? If you ban something thats popular then the sport as a whole will suffer.

In short: No we will not ban wedges.

What we will do is encourage as many people as possible that if they do make a wedge, to make it an interesting one.

Amen to that Leo.

For the record.. (From the front page of the website)
FRA Aims...
Promotion and education of all things to do with robots,
of all weights, shapes and sizes

Matter closed!

Wedges? Banned? In the FRA, do those words actually belong in the same sentence?

Wedges are, as said before, one of the most formidable designs out there. The only reason they were frowned upon is because other roboteers kept losing to them, and that makes them look like...outlaws...I think...

Most people have already brought up the point of the effectiveness of wedges, so I wont go into that. Thing is... banning wedges... what bots will be left? Spinners are already out of the picture, and for a good reason, theyre dangerous. Wedges banned, well see no more flippers, no more vertical crushers, no more vertical clampers, no more passive wedges, no more skirts (heck someone could be wedged by them, and whats the point of skirts anyway?) and hardly any axes.
So, some succesfull machines that WOULD be allowed: TAN, Kan-Opener, Stinger, Tornado (with spike setup), Thor... ermz... ermz...

well here is my 2 pence worth.........ban wedge shape robots my ****

(Message edited by kane on February 23, 2007)

spinners are not dangerous if correctly controlled in a secure enviroment. ask any member of the audience if they dont find spinners enjoyable.. and also without the audience would their be a sport?? i doubt it. i dont mind wedges just that their are too many. how long would have robot wars lasted if all their were was wedges.

I didnt find the big damage fights so enjoyable, because I knew some poor soul had to pay for somethng that just got shredded. Before series 7, OOTAs were stil rare, and it was special when it happened.

I have kept away from this thread on purpose,I did the intial post after I had drunk some morrisons whisky(home brand)and believe me its head banging stuff :crazy:of course a ban is quite ridiculas but I live in hope of more variety of shapes,I expected a tough rebuke from wedge owners hi-graig of WEDGEHOG!:kiss:no offence meant,anyone who keeps the robot fighting game alive is to be applauded.

Wow you started early on the day that was posted then :):proud:

what 9pm? thats not early

It is if you only got up at 7:45pm :wink:

university of Bedfordshire Rugby team fundraiser happens 3 times a year, starts at the student union at 11, then moves from bar to bar to bar etc for 16 hours (thats when the bars close round here) god loves beer and so do we

Party on wayne
Party on Garth

Wouldnt it be better if it were 3 times a week? If you just happened to get injured during a game you wouldnt feel a thing :proud:
I was going to ask what it had to do with wedges until I realised that it has EVERYTHING to do with them:mrgreen:

(Message edited by anukhet on February 27, 2007)

well considering im always injured/intoxicated (didnt think i should say p*ssed ah dammit) it should surely explain some of my designs/ builds/ operating skills. I dont seem to remember much about the day i flipped big nipper out of the arena with beast was definatly a good nite (so im told)

this said ive given up alcohol for lent so tanto may improve woohoo

lent? I dont know that word, what does it translate to?
Seconds?

Stefan,
Lent (engels) In Nederlands.. de vastenmaand / vastentijd.

When you give up something for 40 days.

Hang on a second!....Craig to give up the beer for 40 days??

Oh look!...A flying pig! :proud:

In Craigs case I think Stefan was right :)

Craig, thats a pity, as I just have prepared a bottle of Maddox Special for you....

oi maddox i want some of that bottle of special please :)

Stand in line Shane, the line forms behind me. :)

Oh lucky me, Im the foretaster. :rofl:

aw dammit am i gonna miss maddox special brew?

well folks ive gone a week without temptation but then again ive locked myself in my room with a CAD program and a list of parts so ive not really been tempted, tonite will see my major test, its £1 a pint nite and i have £20 can i survive the nite... tune in tomorrow to find out ifi made it lol

fancy a pint craig?

go on then