NSBFL 7

[parassyte]

NSBFL 7

quote:

6cm clearance, is that a typo? If not then I think Im going to find plenty of space to get under and start flipping and shoveing.

Tis not a typo. Though I did some rounding. The higher and skinnier a robot is, the slipperier it is to flip.

10 minutes edit time.

I know. It was 15 before I went on a several-week forum vacation.

[parassyte]

NSBFL 7

Its surposed to be a welded monocoque, but if its as hard to weld as you say then I guess that serves me right for not researching parts correctly.

The Melting Point is around 2,450 C for Boron Carbide. Aluminum... obviously, much lower. The material is simply Boron Carbide in an Aluminum shell, so theyre chemically separate. If you try to weld, youll melt the Al immediately, and leave a black mark on the nonmetallic core.

It was a good material you found, just that the ability to assemble it is quite limited. Hard to drill through and cant be welded.

You could still have that welded monocoque hull you dreamt of, but the aluminum is the only part that welds, and not very well at that. Cmon... nobody expects regular aluminum welds to hold.

[knightrous]

NSBFL 7

The Melting Point is around 2,450 C for Boron Carbide. Aluminum... obviously, much lower. The material is simply Boron Carbide in an Aluminum shell, so theyre chemically separate. If you try to weld, youll melt the Al immediately, and leave a black mark on the nonmetallic core.

Actually, according to my chemistry book, Aluminium Boron Carbide is not just boron carbide with a aluminium shell, the hole lot is heated to 1200 till the aluminium melts and soaks in the poress boron carbide, which then chemically bonds all three materials together. Aluminium Boron Carbide should be weld able using appropriate tig welding methods and either aluminium welding filler or some custom ABC welding filler.

Nick, if you want, I can send you a scanning of the exert on ABC from my chem book. It has some nanoscope pictures of the material chemically bonded.

[parassyte]

NSBFL 7

I stated that it could be welded, but it would only bond the metallic parts of the alloy. Does your book talk about that? If so, thats rather convenient, because I couldnt find a damn thing on google.

There shouldnt be anything chemical about the bond. Not unless youre replacing boron with aluminum in the covalent network. I picture something more like steel, but replace the iron part with Boron-Carbide, and the carbon part with Aluminum. Thats still a physical bond.

like so: http://home.earthlink.net/~schuchfolk/boroncarbide.jpghttp://home.earthlink.net/~schuchfolk/boroncarbide.jpg

If it were chemical, wed call it something different. Would it be something like this?
http://home.earthlink.net/~schuchfolk/alicarbide.jpghttp://home.earthlink.net/~schuchfolk/alicarbide.jpg

Not that its a big deal. You dont need to scan your book. The welding issue is all Im concerned about.

[pcbore]

NSBFL 7

Ive recently started a job which means fights will usually be up at the weekends. Anyone who plans on getting impatient and bugging me to post should be aware that doing so will result in pain

[darkguru]

NSBFL 7

No good can come from this

[mrdaves]

NSBFL 7

You are correct, wise one.

[pcbore]

NSBFL 7

The heat G final is here after two very quick round 1 fights. V€™Ger managed to tip Circuit Breaker over, suffering a little bit of damage in the process, while Andy€™s entire game plan was to throw Got Bot from the ring as soon as possible and that€™s exactly what happened. We head now to the Last €˜Bot Standing arena to see if V€™Ger will be only the third seed to make it through the heats.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦..
ACTIVATE!!

The fight starts tentatively, with GeForce trying to get around to the side of V€™Ger, who dodges while getting the flywheel up to speed! The two vapour veterans circle their machines around each other warily, before V€™Ger attacks the side of GeForce, knocking GeForce away and spinning V€™Ger around into the bargain too! Andy regains control of GeForce and gets under V€™Ger while the flywheel is spinning up again and tosses it over!

V€™Ger does a summersault in mid-air and lands back on its wheels, only to be flipped over again! V€™Ger starts self righting, but GeForce gets under again, pushes it towards the wall and flips V€™Ger right into the wall in an attempt to break it down! V€™Ger lands back on its back, and is able to self right and get away just before GeForce comes in for a fourth flip! The flipper fires with nothing on it, and GeForce is bounced up and over!

GeForce flicks itself up immediately, but Nick has used the time to line up V€™Ger€™s spun up flywheel perfectly, so as soon as GeForce comes down, V€™Ger moves forwards a little and GeForce takes a hit on the side and gets knocked away! The blow leaves V€™Gers rear facing GeForce€™s rear so Nick takes the opportunity of reversing under the rear and once more upending GeForce, who is quick to summersault back over again!

GeFroce gets away from V€™Ger before Nick can turn it around, spins around and gets under V€™Ger€™s side again, throwing it towards the arena centre! V€™Ger doesn€™t go over however, but remains level due to the spinning flywheel and lands with a thump and a slight bounce on its wheels! The bounce means V€™Ger isn€™t under Nick€™s control as soon as it lands, so GeForce is almost able to come in for another flip before V€™Ger gets away!

V€™Ger is running away from GeForce now, as Nick wants to spin around to use the flywheel rather than the lifter on GeForce, but GeForce keeps right up and gets under the side of V€™Ger again and throws it over! Again the force of the flywheel keeps V€™Ger level, but then again V€™Ger hits the wall side on and is spun away in mid air by its own flywheel before landing bang on top of GeForce and gets flipped off again! V€™Ger is actually thrown behind GeForce and amazes everyone by not having broken down from the past couple of flips and instead self rights and once more gets enough distance between itself and GeForce to start spinning up!

GeForce spins around at once and starts giving chase, but V€™Ger slips around to the side and slams GeForce full on, ripping away an entire side panel! Andy spins GeForce around to keep that side covered, and is rewarded with a half power blow on the flipper! GeForce isn€™t spun around as much so gets under the flipper and tosses V€™Ger over again, before getting under the self righting V€™Ger and trying to stack it to end the fight!

The stacking attempt fails, and V€™Ger starts self righting yet again, but once more GeForce comes in and throws it over, and unfortunately for Andy back onto its wheels. GeForce goes in to attack again, but V€™Ger just about turns in time and the flipper meets the flywheel! GeForce is spun away from the blow, and V€™Ger charges in to attack the panel-less side which is suddenly exposed! Even with a the flywheel spinning at a fraction of its full power, Nick reckons he could kill GeForce with one blow here. Andy reckons that as well which is why he gets GeForce away from V€™Ger as soon as humanly possible.

V€™Ger follows while spinning up the flywheel, but Andy keeps the vulnerable side away from V€™Ger and in the end gets a blow on the opposite side for its trouble! V€™Ger and GeForce are spun away, but GeForce is able to come in and flip V€™Ger over again! V€™Ger lands on its wheels but is moving slowly now, and it looks like the flipping is taking its toll on Nick€™s machine! GeForce comes in for another flip, but V€™Ger just manages to spin out of the way!

In a move that couldn€™t be planned, GeForce shoots past V€™Ger as it spins out of the way, and the flywheel of V€™Ger hits the exposed wheel on the left hand side of GeForce! The shock of the fully spun up flywheel actually knocks the wheel from its mount and tears the gearbox off, leaving GeForce with only half its drive! What€™s worse is, a pipe in the pneumatic system seems to have come away and GeForce€™s remaining nitrogen is escaping! Nick spins the flywheel up a bit and attacks the armour-less side again, tearing a battery out and killing GeForce off fully!

GeForce couldn€™t handle the preassure. V€™Ger proves that 13 canbe a lucky number and moved through to the last16!

[pcbore]

NSBFL 7

Coming up (literally) next week, Well be half way through the heats. Lets meet the guys wholl be entertaining us:

Kruel Intent (15) vs Pink Panther - Unimmediate peril
ForcePower Turbo vs Flaming Hell - Last Bot standing

[mr_matt]

NSBFL 7

PP will use the Terrorhurtz stlye axe to grapple on to KL and shove him around the arena.

[mrdaves]

NSBFL 7

Shot in da dark:
Pink Panther to pit Kruel Intent
Force Power Turbo has enough power to knock out Flaming Hell against the walls.

[pcbore]

NSBFL 7

Heat aitch is €˜ere. I can€™t be bothered to make a witty intro, so let€™s just meet who€™ll be fighting today.

Kruel Intent is our 15th seed. This machine was made when some guy thought €œIf Hypnodisc and Cassius had a baby, what would it be like?€ €¦Or something like that. Sorry, my mind just boggled. It€™s been in all series of the NSBFL, bar number 4 and has crashed out in the first round of all but the fifth series where it made it all the way to the third place playoff. In series 6 it again crashed out at the first hurdle, which was named Dead Simple. It€™s basically been seeded for being around forever.

This may be Flaming Hells first series, but it is an oldish machine from one of only two guys to enter every series, Dave Weston. This is a nasty cage spinner which should have a flaming quick spin up time, and provide enough power to send any machine to flame in hell. The armour isn€™t brilliant, but seeing you€™ve got to get past that cage first, that might not be a problem€¦

Pink Panther is hoping to be one cool cat, with interchangeable weapons and those quad sprung skirt€¦ Things. Quite a rarity in that it€™s a tracked machine, Pink Panther should have enough pushing and axing power to more than fend for itself in the warzone, but apparently it€™s easy to shove from the sides.

Lastly is ForcePower Turbo from Andy Jackson. It€™s an invertible rammer with tough as nails armour on the front, but less so on the sides and bottom. With an incredible 60 HP drive chain, Force could Power its way past anything! After series 5 ended, ForcePower won an annihilator to take the vacant 8th seeding, but was dropped out in the first round of series 6 by Annoying Box Rush..

Battle 1

Kruel Intent vs Pink Panther in the Unimmediate Peril arena.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦..
ACTIVATE!!

Kruel Intent is the fastest off the blocks, and shoots under the front of Pink Panther, who starts off sluggishly! The flipper fires and rolls Pink Panther over! The axe fires and Pink Panther self rights, but is unable to escape as Kruel Intent comes in for a side attack with the flipper! The skirts prove too good for Kruel Intents wedge, and Pink Panther slowly drives forwards! The skirts are digging into the floor and really digging groves into it, so I damn well hope Matt€™s going to pay for that!

Kruel Intent spins around with the flywheel fully spun up, and easily gives the escaping Pink Panther a gash in its side armour! Pink Panther turns around to give Kruel Intent a bop on the bonce with its axe, but Kruel Intent easily dodges and the axe hits the floor! Kruel Intent shoots under the front on Pink Panther again and rolls it onto its back, and again Pink Panther self rights! While spinning the flywheel up again, Kruel Intent dodges around Pink Panther who is trying, and failing, to catch the more agile machine!

Flywheel spun up, Krul Intent attacks the weakened side of Pink Panther, spinning both machines away from each other! Kruel Intent goes straight back on the attack though and goes for the front of Pink Panther again, as the Kruel Intent driver knows he can€™t get under the skirts! The axe comes down and puts a dent in Kruel Intent€™s flipper, but Kruiel Intent goes under the front anyway and again flips Pink Panther over!

Pink Panther self rights, only to receive another blow on its damaged side! The polycarb in that area has just shattered off completely, but the Titanium is looking good. More importantly though, damage has been taken to the paint job! Pink Panther trundles forwards and gives Kruel Intent another couple of thwacks, but this doesn€™t stop Kruel Intent from just driving under again and flipping Pink Panther before retreating to spin up the flywheel!

Pink Panther does indeed self right, and starts slowly chasing after Kruel Intent, the skirts digging long grooves into the floor as it does so! Kruel Intent suddenly stops running and drives at Pink Panther with the flywheel, dodging around the axe and hitting the so far undamaged side! Kruel Intent has decided that flipping isn€™t the way to go as it brings it into range of the axe and has decided to make use of Alex Holt€™s annoying hit and run methods!

Kruel Intent again runs off to power up the flywheel for another attack, but something€™s wrong with Pink Panther! Smoke is literally pouring out from under Pink Panther, and it looks like its ground to a complete stop! The judges call a cease to the action and we go to see what€™s wrong with Pink Panther.

€¦And the news is in! The effort of shifting around Pink Panther while being held back by those too good skirts has proven too just much for the motors, which have promptly burnt out. Kruel Intent is the winner!

In other news, the Unimmediate Peril arena is out of commission for the next few fights while repairs go underway on the floor which was badly torn up in the fight.

Battle 2

ForcePower Turbo vs Flaming Hell in the Last €˜Bot Standing arena.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦..
ACTIVATE!!

ForcePower is almost immediately off the blocks, and charges towards Flaming Hell, who reverses away while spinning up the cage! This doesn€™t keep ForcePower away, but does delay the point of impact and allows Dave to spin the cage up almost fully before the two collide! ForcePower takes the shot well on the front wedge, but is spun off to the side! Flaming Hell takes the opportunity to put a little space between them and spins up the cage while ForcePower is turning around for another attack!

ForcePower again charges Flaming Hell head on, and is again deflected by the cage! Another charge, another deflection, but Dave manages to get Flaming Hell away from the next charge and ForcePower shoots straight past! Flaming hell drives straight at ForcePower€™s rear, but Andy quickly turns ForcePower around! The result is a blow on the side which knocks ForcePower across the arena, and around in circles three or four times!

It€™s a few vital seconds before Andy can regain control of ForcePower, and Dave uses those seconds to spin up while catching up with ForcePower! Andy has no sooner gained control of ForcePower when Flaming Hell comes in with another big hit, this time on the rear leaving a dent in the Titanium and spinning ForcePower around again! This works to Andy€™s advantage though, as ForcePower€™s wedge ends up facing Flaming Hell and all Andy has to do is move ForcePower forwards!

Flaming hell is a little spun up by the time ForcePower connects, but not enough to deflect ForcePower, and so the rammer slams under the cage spinner and pushes it along the arena and into the wall! Flaming hell tries to escape, but ForcePower keeps on top of it and takes it into wall after wall, trying to damage the cage, break the spinner mechanism, anything! It€™s a good thirty to fourty seconds of ForcePower dominating Flaming Hell around the arena, until Flaming Hell finally manages to escape, and ForcePower rams into the wall as it just misses the fleeing spinner!

ForcePower doesn€™t let it lie, though and reverses into Flaming Hell to keep the spinner stalled! Flaming Hell slips away from ForcePower though and the spinner starts doing its thang! ForcePower drives into it wedge first to try and get under again, but to no avail and is knocked away! ForcePower regains control and charges at Flaming Hell, which manages to dodge and clips ForcePower on the side as it does so! ForcePower is spun around a couple of times and crashes into the wall!

Flaming Hell evades another charge, and just misses with a counter-attack on ForcePower€™s rear! ForcePower quickly turns around and rams into the spinner, again hoping to stall it, and is again deflected away with barely a scratch on the front wedge! Flaming Hell is bounced near the wall, and gets away quickly before Andy has quite regained control of ForcePower!

ForcePower charges at Flaming Hell again, but Flaming Hell dodges, and goes to hit ForcePower who also dodges! The two dodge around each other for different reasons. Andy, because he€™s trying to work out a better plan than just ramming in, and Dave because he€™s realised hitting the front wedge is a waste of time, and is trying to get into a position where he can attack the sides.

A better plan not coming to him, Andy drives ForcePower straight at Flaming Hell again and both get bounced away! There€™s a moment of confusion as both drivers regain control, and Flaming Hell manages to get in an attack on ForcePower€™s damaged side, opening up a gash in the armour! ForcePower is able to get back under Flaming Hell before the cage spins up, but Flaming hell isn€™t on the wedge properly and is only pushed forwards a little bit before it spins off the wedge!
ForcePower quickly turns and reverses, and uses the rear to push Flaming hell against the wall! ForcePower drives forwards a bit before quickly turning and driving in to ram Flaming Hell against the wall! Flaming hell isn€™t able to get away and so gets smashed against the wall three or four times before it finally gets away and ForcePower hits the wall! The cage is still working though, and spins up ominously as ForcePower drives in to stop this from happening!

As before though, both machines are deflected away from each other, and it looks like the front plate of ForcePower is starting to come loose! Flaming hell dodges another lunge from ForcePower, and strikes the side again, spinning ForcePower around a few times! Upon regaining control of ForcePower, Andy again takes it straight into the spinning cage, again getting deflected! It looks like the bolts on one side of ForcePower€™s front wedge have totally broken now!

Flaming Hell spins up as it charges ForcePower head on! Andy turns ForcePower around, not wishing to lose the front wedge, but takes another side hit for his trouble! A tooth catches the gash made earlier on ForcePower and tears it wider! ForcePower regains control quickly but is looking a little sluggish now, and Flaming Hell easily avoids it long enough to get spun up, and attacks the front wedge in an attempt to tear it off completely!

This fails, and ForcePower is able to get under Flaming Hell once more! However it looks like ForcePower€™s drive is failing and so Flaming hell is less rammed and more gently coaxed along the arena! Flaming Hell slips off the wedge and spins up, but it looks like Dave needn€™t have bothered as ForcePower has come to a standstill! Dave gives ForcePower another good whack just to make sure, and ForcePower is counted out!

It wasn€™t the crashing into arena walls, it wasn€™t the blows from Flaming hell. ForcePower doesn€™t exactly look healthy, but in the end it just ran out of power. Flaming Hell burns into the heat final, where it meets Kruel Intent in the Roulette arena!

[pcbore]

NSBFL 7

Incidently, FP vs FH was a bastard to write

[pcbore]

NSBFL 7

It€™s the final of Heat letter after G! In round 1, Kruel Intent got through for only the second time in its career, when Pink Panther broke down after a one-way fight. Flaming Hell did damage to ForcePower, but only won thanks to being more economical on the batteries, so it could be said both have been a bit lucky. We go to the Roulette arena now to see which robot€™s luck has run out.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦..
ACTIVATE!!

Kruel Intent shoots straight at Flaming Hell, who dodges backwards while getting the cage spun up! Kruel Intent catches up and goes for a flip, but is spun away by the powerful cage with an almighty gash in the front flipper! Kruel Intent reverses though, and strikes the still cage with its own flywheel! The two retreat for a moment to spin up their weapons. It€™s Flaming hell who reaches a dangerous speed first and goes on the attack!

Kruel Intent dodges away from the attack and brings the rear flywheel to bear on the cage! With a loud boom, both machines get spun away, and it has to be said neither are looking healthy! Flaming Hell has come off the worst, as it gets bounced over a pit! Luckily for Dave, it fails to open, sending Flaming Hell into oblivion, and instead Flaming Hell is free to spin back up and go on the attack again!

Kruel Intent evades the next attack, but Dave keeps up the pressure and manages to score a side strike on Kruel Intent, spinning the seed away and into the PPZ! Kruel Intent gets out of there immediately before any house robots can go on the offensive, and wedges under Flaming Hell before it can spin up again! Kruel Intent flips Flaming Hell over and onto a pit, but Dave is still lucky and Flaming Hell starts to self right!

Kruel Intent rams into the self righting Flaming Hell and flips it over onto another pit, but once more Dave is lucky, double so as Flaming Hell has been flipped back upright and starts to spin up again! Kruel Intent drives in with the flywheel fully spun up, and once more stalls the cage with its own spinner! However, Kruel Intent is spun over the pit Flaming Hell has just gotten away from and like Flaming Hell fails to drop into the abyss!

Kruel Intent drives in at Flaming Hell again and gets under the machine before the cage is spun up, but a tooth hits the floor and Flaming Hell is bounced off and back onto the same pit! With a whoosh of smoke, the pit opens, but Flaming Hell isn€™t actually on it properly, and the sensor has been set off by Flaming Hell€™s cage! Dave breathes a sigh of relief, but Kruel Intent drives in to shove Flaming Hell in anyway! This doesn€™t quite go to plan, as Kruel Intent hits the cage instead of the robot, bounces Flaming Hell up and both machines end up in the pit!

With both machines down, we€™ll have to go to a judge€™s decision.

Control: Kruel Intent, when not being spun away from weapon attacks, was always under control. However, driving itself into the pit costs it a little. Flaming Hell spent a fair portion of the short fight being flipped and bounced , but was also well controlled. Kruel Intent: 2. Flaming Hell: 3

Damage: Kruel Intent was badly damaged by the blows it took. Flaming Hell€™s cage looks a little damaged, but not very badly. Kruel Intent: 1. Flaming Hell: 4.

Aggression: Both showed good aggression, but both also spent time running away for spin up time. All in all, Kruel Intent showed more aggression, but only just. Kruel Intent: 3. Flaming Hell: 3.

The final result is€¦ Kruel Intent: 6. Flaming hell: 10.

Another seed bites the dust, and Flaming hell is through to the last 16!

[pcbore]

NSBFL 7

So far through to the last 16 are:

Sonic Boom
Dervish VI
Stratos-Fear
Star 69
MORD
Battle Raptor 3
VGer
Flaming Hell

Possibly not the line-up so far that everyones been predicting, and to answer some unasked questions no I havent been deliberately writing to make everyone wrong

Next time its heat I:

Love Bite (16) vs ROTROTB - Last bot standing

Glasgow Kiss vs Think Tank - The moat