HardWired II

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Thanks! I'm amazed I ended up actually in Birmingham and not in Australia or something. Wouldn't put it past me...
EDIT: in fact, I did actually spend 2 and a bit hours getting to the NEC (was lost) before realising there was a shuttle straight to the NEC building that I can catch straight outside my hotel. First trip, 2 1/2 hours, second trip, 20 minutes.

It will be too, Already seen Little Spinner destroy a microwave, that's a sight to behold! Tomorrow will be truly epic, can't wait to see how the competition unfolds...

Hatchet looks brutal too, that'll be great to see in action, glad you got it sorted in the end!

[mrsam]

AHH can't believe i missed that i bet it was awesome! Hatchet WILL WORK! not sure how well but it will, i'm bringing the old Nimhs i was using in it along with a spare 7.2v battery to use for spare cells if needed, although i've had a fair few offers fro other roboteers who say i can borrow theirs so hopefully all will be well

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Don't worry, I'm just uploading it to the flagrobotics Facebook page (Facebook.com/flagrobotics) for you now!

I think it'll run better than you think, though I'm still in the dark entirely! I though HardWired was going to be mid sized, it's roughly half a Tormenta 2... Might well be the smallest bot at the champs! Definitely entering something weaponised next year though.
Everyone in the pits was great too, had a few great chats with people, and so many people helped get HardWired ready, seriously couldn't get a nicer group of people!

Hope it's all sorted tomorrow! You'll be fine, and do come and say hi if you spot me - I'll be wearing the hilariously cheesy 'HardWired II' shirt I had made!

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First full day of competition, and I've already got a win under my belt, from fight 1 no less! Albeit it was one hit from Ironside that I think stopped it's bar and sheared it's mountings, and Binky had some issues which forced it to tap out... A win's a win, though, but all I will say is that it'd have been a very different story if Binky was working, and Ironside didn't damage itself on that first hit - would have been lucky to even come second!

NST and Carcinus was very different, I was enough of a nuisance to NST, running into that bar constantly seemed to slow it down in terms of actually going on the attack, though my own aggression was my downfall - turns out I'd not put the link properly in place, NST just it it right and well... Bye bye link! Came off very lightly though, the machine still works, no internal damage whatsoever!

So far I'm on 5 points after 2 points, if I can win one by KO and come second in the next, I'll be through to the next round, but that's very optimistic by this point, the only one I could win is Joule/Gianto - Beauty 8 will have me out of the arena, and it's got more push than me so I most certainly won't win against that, I can just hope I last long enough to come second...

Still, nothing's ever certain in this sport!

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...aaaand I'm out, turns out I'd have only been able to qualify if I'd have actually won against Beauty 8, which would have been easy. Hahaha.

Still, I'm not really bothered, it's been so much fun getting here that I really don't care about being out! Besides, it's obvious that HardWired II needs some changes to not go all Tokyo Drift whenever it's driving. I just have way too much wheelspin! Maybe looking at a two-stage gearbox, and more hardox for next year because I think I'm slightly lacking in the hardox. Just a top and bottom plate though! It's only stainless so it could be a weak point. Upgrading will make that less of one! Probably looking into having it permanently shock mounted too if I can, bits of Carcinus work so I'll stick to something similar! After that, removable baseplate Scruffy-style will help wonders, since I'll be able to rearrange things a lot better, and then just bigger wheels and more weight, really. It seems to work so I don't want to mess with it too much.

The ideas I had for the disc mechanism, after some discussion, will be going on HardWired III which will, at the time of writing, look exactly like HardWired II but with a disc on it, but I'm thinking of making it into a bulkhead-construction with hardox bolted to it instead for a tougher foundation for the disc, which will be single -tooth and probably quite smallish in diameter, kind of like Rango's drum is. Don't know much more than that at the minute, going to (attempt to) cad it up sometime to get a good idea of how it will work. All going to plan, that'll be my entry for any further competitions, and someone else will drive HardWired II, but I'll be driving it at any non-spinner events.

As a side note, looking forward to today's battles, should be absolutely incredible with some of these matchups, don't know how to call it!

[overkill]

Good luck in the Gladiator event tomorrow; that 5AH battery will outlast all the other entrants.

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Thanks! Am I definitely in it? Got a bit of work to do in the morning if so! Binky/DB10 have bent my planer blade out quite heavily, and my new motor needs testing - that should be incredibly fun though

Good luck in the remaining rounds of the annihilator too, Mr Mangle looked to be doing great so far -Bet it'll go far!

[mrsam]

We'll ask James or Grant tomorrow about the gladiator as i'd like to know if i'm in it as well, i think Hardwired has a great chance of winning if that motor works because short of someone throwing you over the wall it's so tough to beat

[maddox10]

I want to replace the planer blade with 6mm Hardox. So, come over and we'll adapt.

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Thanks Sam! Maybe, see how it goes, law of probability says there'll be at least one flipper in there and most likely a drum, though the ones that can hit me are all still in the comp so I'm not so worried about those.

Definitely too Mario, more hardox is best hardox! Was tempted to suggest a slight redesign of it to see of o can get it either a little more ground scraping or removable, but I think 6mm of hardox will never need to be replaced, or adjusted. Ever. That's definitely the best idea

I mean, I've taken some nasty hits and still my hardox shell is holding up perfectly!

[daveimi]

Congrats for getting stuck in and having a go! Dead impressive!

Dangerous Dave

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Cheers! I've got plenty of photos to post up, and a few videos - HardWired definitely deteriorates very quickly paint-job wise...

Got a big list of issues, right from the big ones (lack of traction) right down to tiny little things (slight pull to the right) which I intend to sort out fully for the next competition I do with HardWired II. It'll be long job, but it'll be worth it in the end!

Mario's done a heck of a job on my machine too, the body shell and welds stood up to literally anything and everything that could be thrown at it! In fact, I never broke down from mechanical immobilisation, even with a cracked magnet in a motor...

[mrsam]

Hardwired is a beast of a machine, get the lack of traction/weight sorted and it will be one to watch, it's a shame that hit from 720 caused so much damage as up until then it was practically unscathed. Best of luck with it though and i hope to see you at some events at some point, i want that 1 on 1!

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Cheers Sam! Its really fast, but with some adjustments and more grip, I can see it becoming very Satanix-ey. Might seriously consider renaming it Angelix if Dave lets me hahaha!

720 seemed to cause a lot of damage too, bent the chassis (hardox) BUT it's all cosmetic, had it running this evening briefly and it's as though nothing happened at all. Again, fantastic design work on Mario's part there!
I'm going to try and get to as many events as I can too, hope to see you at some! I'm sure the one on one will happen soon enough too, just let me get that hardox top plate welded on and we'll see how much you want to fight it then

[mrsam]

I'll still want to fight it just let me sort out the drive first,(be a bit pointless you just pushing me around) and get the axe how i want it and then we'll see how tough that shell really is