Can a brick be successful?

[daveimi]

As above really, do you need to get under people or do you reckon literally a fast invertable brick could be successful?

[Ellis]

With total reliability and some great driving, sure. But without a wedge of some nature it'll be hard to do much. Without a wedge the only way you can push another machine is by putting more power down, which doesn't happen often, because pretty much all machines these days have more power than grip. All a scoop or wedge needs to do is lift the opponent's wheels 1mm off the ground and you have total control over them. It needn't be big or define the shape of the bot, forks or "wedgelets" can do the job.

Another reason for needing one is any machine that does have a ground scraping front will 9/10 times get the better of you!

[daveimi]

Yeah I was thinking that. I fancy a go at the FW Champs next year but can't build anything fancy. Was thinking of building something solid out a pre-welded box (cash tin, grass clipping box, catering pan etc). I suppose all I'd have to do is bolt a lip on one side.

[mrsam]

TBH from my experience this year you're going to need something tougher than the things you mentioned for a shell. Any spinner worth it's salt can easily slice through 4mm Hardox and barely slow down and if you look at the damage that 720 did to Hardwired 2 which was in places around 6mm Hardox you'll see what i mean. Best thing to do IMO would be a thick Hdpe body with hardox or something similar at the front as a scoop, Hdpe is cheap and even the 15mm stuff i used this year held up remarkably well to Drumroll, Mr Mangle and Binky, as well as being chucked into the Gladiator fight at the end of the champs against about 4 or 5 really powerful spinners.

[daveimi]

I'd be interested to see the damage they've done to 6mm hardox. Need to have a rethink lol.

Was your HDPE body screwed together or drilled and bolted with brackets? Any help on surviving the champs appreciated!

[Flag Captured]

image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

Spinners. Much afraid. Entire right hand side is bent in, quite hefty chunks out of everything. Mostly on the weld lines, admittedly, but you'll always get that with Hardox because of the heat treatment and stuff. All of that is on the 6.4 too, the 3.2 weirdly didn't take much damage at all, though it's harder to get at than the 6.4 with how the design is...

That picture at the end doesn't do the damage justice either, it's a lot worse than it looks, tough to see on photos but very visible when you look at it!


To be honest, I've been chatting with people about this, it actually seems better to use HDPE and be able to repair it, than all the hardox like I did. It can take the shocks very well and it's cheap/easy to replace. Hatchet, Loki, Rango, Defector - all used HDPE, and stood up to an awful lot of punishment. It is a case of designing well though, used poorly HDPE is a really bad armour. Used well, it's probably one of the best armours you can have. Hardox frame, HDPE armour might be a good way to go, something I'm looking at for my new one!

[daveimi]

Thanks for the pictures Matt, this has really really had an effect on how I'm planning to build in the future.

Genuinely scary!

[Eventorizon]

Going back to 2010, Tiny Toon, a 2WD hardox machine with no weapons besides a wedge, drove its way to victory. It can be done but its quite rare. There is no reason you can't build one though, even if the chances of winning are slim.

So you know how powerful some machines are, Binky has cut through 10mm of mild steel in practice and 8mm of mild in the arena. Conker 3 bent a 10mm Hardox bar and twisted the whole chassis of a welded unibody machine made from 6mm+ mild steel.

Also, never use screws in a robot. They are far to thin and they can easily be snapped. Use bolts. Either thread the plastic or use brass inserts.

[Flag Captured]

It is, but it's really only cosmetic thankfully. If this were HDPE though, I'd be able to just unbolt and stick another panel on, I'd highly recommend that personally!

Another couple I forgot, Endeavour and Richochet - the very definition of bricks! Steel has it's place, as do the rest of the materials, but given how much damage was done to Hardox this year, I'm doubting it'll hold it's effectiveness for long... Besides, you can get like 20mm HDPE for the same weight as 4mm Hardox or something. Course, you can't use HDPE for everything, but it's a great armour for pushers.

It depends what you want though, my hardox worked really nicely at being an anti spinner (watch my fight with NST, I sent it all over the shop before it clipped my link) since it's a hard surface to hit, but it's tougher to repair by very nature. Smart design is the best defence against spinners though, my sloped sides saved me no end of times!

[typhoon_driver]

Wood would be another useful material in this case. Easy to repair and a nightmare for spinners to get through or damage in the thicknesses you could put on a robot (think 2 inch all around the outside)

[Flag Captured]

Adding to Alex's post top, it is very doable but you've got to consider it's all about driving, you need to make up for the weapon deficiency in every other aspect - speed, control, power, armour...

I'm planning to upgrade the new HW2 into something more than just a pusher, but it's only going to be as an aid to the pushing ability, partly because I want an active weapon, but mostly because to have a successful pusher, you need to be a half decent driver, which I'm definitely not with robots!

[daveimi]

Oh wow I can do wood! Grandad is a scultpor so I have endless supplies of 12mm ply and 2x2. So do you reckon a wooden brick with a steel wedge bolted on the front? I could make a few spare wedges?

[Flag Captured]

HDPE inner chassis, wood outer armour and steel wedge, 4WD with 4 drills... I bet that'd be a very tough little machine! Not sure I'd go for an all wood machine in full competition, since it does splinter but that sounds a great idea on the whole. Makes repairs easier too with a bolt on portion of wooden armour instead of having to take apart your chassis. Especially with spinners being what they are now, I'm not sure I'd trust wood on it's own...

[daveimi]

When Block of Wood and Johnny 2x4 entered the champs how did they do?

[typhoon_driver]

Usually came out in pieces from memory but they were mostly wood. Make the substructure from steel and strap 2 inch wood all around and you should have a decent go at it.