So going into the final day, I had a feeling that Barróg could be better, and so much of the Monday morning was spent prepping the machine. One of my wheels was cracked so we tried to replace it, but it was stuck on so tight we had to destroy it to take it off, so it probably would have survived either way! 6 new plastic wedgelets were cut and bent (special thanks to Dominic Cartlidge for helping with that), and the top was swapped back with the original one. Finally, I needed a solution to the oversteering, so I adjusted the trims on my Devo 7E so that turning would only run the motors at half power. I felt safe to say that despite being in its 7th fight here and its 13th fight overall, Barróg was in the best shape it had ever been in.


A shot of Barróg before going into its Top 8 fight.

FIGHT 7: TOP 8

So for the top 8, all the fights were randomly drawn. I was expecting to fight Shrapnel originally, but I ended up getting paired with the winner of the second losers melee, which just so happened to be... DB12... again. Pretty crazy coincidence, but I had my strategies for them, so after testing the new drive settings in the arena I was ready to fight.



Some observations from this fight:


  • I intended to get out of DB12's charge, but unfortunately the machine wasn't as fast as I'd hoped, and DB12 called by charge angle.
  • It's at this point that I go flying well into the corner. I do find it interesting that I didn't seem to get much vertical height, my theory on this is that all the weight is at the back of the machine, so most big hits on the front can only roll me and send me into a tumble.
  • After one big hit I'm in a position where I can't self-right, and my batteries are hanging out. It doesn't take a genius to know that I've lost this before it even started.


POST-FIGHT:


A shot of all the damage from the hit. Note the crack running all along the top piece.

Well that fight was certainly a bit of an anti-climax, but nonetheless I was satisfied with my performance at KOB UK. Damage wise the hit bent one of the wedgelets, and a crack was formed all along the front piece of the machine, arcing back as far as at the top. Annoying damage, but not irreparable, and so being out of the competition now, I set my sights on one more fight.

FIGHT 8: GLADIATOR


Barróg loaded up into the arena.

So the gladiator was one of the fights I absolutely wanted to be a part of when coming to KOB UK, and thanks to my early finish I had enough time to repair and prepare. A support piece was installed underneath the front piece to keep the whole thing together, and wedgelets and batteries were replaced. I had hoped to be a part of a tag-team whiteboard with Orpheus, but unfortunately there were horizontals in the arena, and I wouldn't have time to switch between my setups quickly enough. I loaded into the arena and prepared for the mayhem.



Some observations from this fight:


  • The first part of the fight was me trying to stay by the sides, which seems to have been an effective strategy. Neon was my biggest fear early on, but unfortunately for Ellis Neon didn't seem to be spinning that fight.
  • I finally manage to get a solid lift on DB12, sort of a last hurrah for our rivalry if I do say so myself. I can't quite get them into the pit, but the bot seems to die shortly after. In its defence, this was its 11th fight, and 4th fight that day alone, so a bit of wear is to be expected.
  • For the second part of the fight, I seem to want to fight Binky instead of, y'know, anyone else who couldn't kill me. In my efforts to get around Binky, I ended up feeding them into Impact and Bane, disabling both, so you can't say that there's no strategy involved.
  • For whatever reason Binky is really able to do quite significant damage to Barróg like none of the other verts I've faced so far. First it removes one of my claws in Manchester, and here it knocks out two of my wedgelets, corresponding green pieces included, and for the first time so far Barróg takes a direct hit to its base. Fortunately, the curved nature of the design and the weight distribution allows me to roll right back onto my wheels. Nice to have that part of my design vindicated, if only once!
  • I'm definitely driving a lot better in this match overall, with oversteering being kept to a minimum from now on. Using my newfound control, I'm able to stay out of much of the danger until there's only three machines left: me, Aegis, and Binky.
  • At this point the fight is half me and Aegis trying to work together to disable Binky, and both of us cheekily trying to feed the other into Binky's weapon. This goes on for a few minutes, but eventually Binky starts running out of power, and a well placed lift by Aegis sends it over and out of the running.
  • Aegis, last years gladiator winner, was the largest souce of inspiration for Barróg's design, so it seems that this style of bot is pretty darn resistant. We were both too awkwardly shaped for each other to really use out weapons, so what resulted was a pushing match for the ages. Barróg's general wedge shape was more suited to getting under Aegis, but only where the remaining wedge was, so pushing matches were still pretty even.
  • Near the end of the fight, Aegis wedges me onto the side wall. Thanks to the plastic nature of the bot, I'm just about able to bounce out of there, and I gotta say, it was pretty nice to hear the crowd cheer at that point, even if it was only for another 30 seconds or so.
  • Finally, after over 9 gruelling minutes, Barróg loses drive on one side. This is to my knowledge my first and only electrical failing in the entire tournament, but I am willing to let it slide since the machine has gone above and beyond what would be reasonable asked for it.


POST-FIGHT:


Barróg, essentially in the condition it's still currently in.

So I was pretty happy with just how long Barróg seemed to last, and congratulations again to Rory Charlesworth and Aegis for two back-to-back gladiator wins! I took a look inside the machine to check my batteries and see what had caused the left side drive to fail. My batteries were hovering around 14V, and as it turns out, it was the fuse protecting the left side ESC that had failed. Once I replaced the fuse the machine was still perfectly functional, which was a pleasant surprise! Maybe a disappointing way to go out for some, but I was just happy to keep my BotBitz 30A working, and second place in a gladiator is a pretty significant achievement for me, certainly my favourite fight of the event.


The 30A fuse that blew, can't fault it for doing its job.