Okay, partly because I genuinely want advice, and partly because I think this might be an interesting discussion (and full of hints and tips), please humour me for this essay - and tell me your thoughts...

Im a beginning roboteer. Ive been hanging around the forum for a while, and following the show since the beginning - with the obvious planning of my own robots that seeing Robot Wars tends to induce in the mechanically minded. I know my Bosch 750s from my Eteks, my regulators from my actuators, my PICs from my MOSFETs, my planetary gearboxes from my harmonic drives (anyone using one of those?) - at least in theory. Ive got several elaborate designs which Id like to build, each unusual and potentially effective, but also, without exception, *complicated*.

Given that I know my place, and that Id rather learn before I build a super-robot which takes vast amounts of time and money (because getting it trashed because of a stupid mistake will be very annoying), common sense says I should build something simple and traditional, but more likely to lose, first. Because I know Ill lose, the robots out there are no longer season 1 quality and neither are the drivers, and its better for my ego to be thrashed in a robot I know isnt very good anyway.

But what to build?

Conventional wisdom says start with an antweight or a lightweight, but I cant see much being reusable for the heavyweight I really want to produce. Besides, I probably couldnt see it well enough in the arena, and Id rather have a bit of room to work with. Also its easier to drag victi^H^H^H^H^Hfriends in to help with something bigger. So humour me, if only because Im in this bit of the forum, and assume I want to cut my teeth on a heavyweight.

Conventional wisdom next says, build a box on wheels. The problem with that, of course, is that there are at least two boxes on wheels on the live circuit anyway (obviously I mean SMIDSY and King B) - with Tanto and others upcoming - and the chances of me doing anything to any of them with a poorly built first robot are tiny. I may expect to lose against everything, but Id want a finite chance of getting lucky. More importantly, a rambot kind of relies on being put together better than its opponent when it smacks into it - and somehow I doubt thatll be the case.

Thwack bots (T-Wrex, Overkill, Stinger) may be slightly better in terms of not taking the whacks they give out, but are harder to drive, and Id really struggle in a small arena to do anything useful with it. Besides, sit and spin is a boring tactic, and overhead thwacks arent so effective. Plus: live event = railings. Tend to be trouble.

So although Im willing to be persuaded, Im probably looking at active weaponry.

That leaves:

Pneumatics (flippers or axes - TaN/Huggy Bear/Complete Control style clampbots probably require more driving skill than I have for now). Every book on the subject says stay well away from pneumatics until you know what youre doing, or youll kill yourself on them. Ah. Problem there... Otherwise I like the flipper idea. Axes are interesting, but modern armour (other than what Ill be able to put together) kind of means I dont expect to get far with one.

Hydraulics (pretty much crushers, unless anyone has other plans). Like pneumatics, but more dangerous - and I know least about it. Kind of restricts you to entering an extreme damage class, with a spindly appendage sticking out of your robot while people with spinners are wandering around. Not a problem (much) if you have driving and engineering skill, but thats what Im here to get.

So, unless someone talks me into pneumatics, that leaves electric weaponry. Which means:

1) Spinners. Same problem as hydraulics, extreme damage only, and you need to build them really well so theyll take a hit. Oh dear. Besides, Im from the Rex Garrod school of not demolishing the opposition, so Ive never really like the idea. Since this is for live events, Id probably not be allowed to run anyway.

2) Lifters (like Panic Attack and Biohazard - and arguably Storm 2, although I dont buy it). Okay if you have a lot of driving skill and a solid robot. Oh dear. Also kind of reliant on the presence of a pit, which is by no means universal in a live event.

3) Electric axes. Hard to get through current armour, and anything powerful enough to bypass this problem (e.g. Beta) is going to be expensive and hard to build.

4) Saws. With the possible exception of the Pussy Cat blade (which is arguably a spinner), pretty much incapable of cutting into any current armour. Rare these days for a reason.

5) Esoteric stuff (drills, disembowellers, stampers, stompers, flingers, wheelcutters... dont ask me to explain all that) - not very tried and tested, probably wouldnt work very well, might not be arena safe, and might do expensive damage to opponents if they *did* work. Not for a first robot, methinks.

So, I think Ive just said why I wouldnt start with *anything*. Hence my dilemma.

People have always said start with a box, because its the obvious thing with which to start. So, to the general assembly: is that still good advice? With all the combined knowledge of the roboteering community, is the easiest thing to build really the simplest? What stands up best to being built badly? Im not expecting to win, just to put on a good show - and that point of view is another reason why a (dull) box is a bad idea. What has the greatest chance of producing an interesting fight, per unit competent builder?

Dragging tiddlywinks into this: experts at tiddlywinks win by playing very simple shots very well. Leave yourself in a position where you never have to *play* a difficult shot, and youll never *miss* a difficult shot. A novice advised by an expert is a dangerous opponent. What is the robotic equivalent - the minimum input/chance of failure for the maximum return?

What, with everything you know, would you decide to build if you had a competency failure?

Anyone?

--
Fluppet