Woot a semi... Woot a review

[pcbore]

Titanium and hardox armour
Brick thick chasis
Better flipper
More pushing power

...Sounds great, but Id hate to be your accountant

[kaideejee]

I thought XT went over the top on the Bulldog too. OK, they said its flipper was still working so you cant stop or words to that effect, but the flipper is no use if it cant move is it? Keep out of the way, let the ref count it out - no need to destroy a beaten bot is there?

So the new one is coming to Preston? Ill look forward to that then - as long as its fighting in the 12-2 show .

-- Kev

[fluppet]

Frank: Im pretty sure what got the wheels on Gravity was the horns on Tornados wedge. Certainly a tyre was being pushed around by a horn when Tornado had them against a wall, but they already had one flat by that point.

Im a bit confused about the original flat tyre. Might have been the flail, might have been Sir K (I was trying to work it out, watching the video). Ill be a little surprised if the flail can do much, but then if its a protest against the need to fit active weaponry Im 100% behind them... Ive always felt that Tornados spinner didnt do all that much damage either (good at superficial scratches, but needs larger teeth) - but maybe thats unfair. Very good at flipping robots up into the air so Tornado can get under them, though.

Great driving by Andrew (although a bit reliant on getting under Gravity when meeting head on, on a couple of occasions); teach the Gravity guys not to be cocky about not fearing any robots other than Dantomkia, although they deserve respect for a very impressive showing.

What on earth were they doing in the arena with pneumatic tyres, though? (Or did they just *behave* like pneumatic tyres?)

--
Fluppet

[pcbore]

I think having stuffed or solid tyres makes the wheels heavier, so maybe Gravity didnt have any weight to spare?

[fluppet]

True, but its one of those things Id expect to design in (call me a novice, but...) at a fairly early stage. I thought stuffing them with some kind of foam (possibly inflating them afterwards?) was the usual light weight technique to allow them to run flat. Id gladly have a few holes drilled in my armour (in the right place) in order to stop the wheels being so vulnerable.

But then, what do I know? Just a bit surprised that such a proficient robot was vulnerable in so simple an area.

--
Fluppet

[gravity]

exactly, what do you know ?

Both tires were punctured by the horns on the wedge off tornado. The flaily thing didnt do shite, as we all know. We lost againast a sharp box on wheels, so be it.
Why not fill up the tires ? Same answer as on the question why only 4 mm of polycarbonate armour ? No time, no weight, too lazy. Dont forget, Gravity was built in 4 weeks, and hadnt had a fight before series 7.

And its true. I dont fear any other robots. Why fear a robot ? Simple fact is, tornados wedge was lower than mine. that was the end of it. Im not gonna say if this or if that. Tornado won, fair and square.

But it still is a weaponless box on wheels

[pcbore]

And in the new bloods, storm 2 proved that weaponless boxes on wheels can kick arse. Whats your point? :P

[fluppet]

:-) Thank you for setting me straight, WJ. I hope you took no offense at my comments.

To be fair, it didnt look like your tyres were punctured so much as partly pushed off the wheels by the horns (in the small amount of coverage where you could see it) - or possibly punctured *in the process* of looking like they were about to come off the wheels, anyway. Any type of tyre would have struggled. Interesting tactic, and a detail of Tornado I hadnt really registered in the past (learn something new every day).

But still, thanks for the demonstration of why I need to make time and weight available for puncture proof tyres. :-) I appreciate (even as a novice) that the weight is always a struggle and, although I think I knew, I *had* forgotten that Gravity was built so quickly - so you have my sympathy when it comes to time consuming details like sorting the wheels. I commend you for your building pace, and hope I get as proficient someday when I have to rebuild the bits of my robots that others leave scattered over the arena.

The fearing thing is tongue-in-cheek - goodness knows your performance means that you have the right to be confident, but I did think that you were jinxing yourself the moment you said that. I guess your level of fear can be lower if you can build the things in four weeks (rather than, say, six months) anyway - less time lost if you get trashed! Oh to be so handy with a MIG welder.

I look forward to seeing the next version of Gravity (with puncture proof tyres) in the future.

--
Fluppet