Call for a ban on wedges

[Guest]

I took my friend to see a live event late last year,he had many comments but I noted that he was less than impressed by the number of roboteers who were using the ford escort of the robot world-THE WEDGE-to be fair some did have powerfull flippers and yes your in with a chance of winning with the tried and tested design,not sure that it totally captivates the audience though.

Cant imagine that robot wars would have survived to the seventh series if so many wedges were involved-they were effectivley frowned upon

[bex]

Call for a ban on wedges

Some people dont have time or money to make anything bigger than a wedge or dont have the experience!

[geeza]

Call for a ban on wedges

There are many heavyweight spinners hideing out there, but they cant spin up in any existing arenas as it is just too danegerous. And wedges combined with flippers are still on of the most effective designs out there.

[RogueTwoRobots]

Call for a ban on wedges

I think if wedges didnt captivate the audiences, then Roaming Robots and XFM etc wouldnt be putting on sellout shows time after time, so the majority of the audience must not mind them. As Bex says, lack of money can play a major part in making your robot a wedge - if you cant afford to install an effective weapons system into your robot, a wedge is one of the best ways to at least have some control over the outcome of a fight. Sure, theyre not all that visually exciting, but (particularly for newcomers) theyre easy to build and so are the most viable option.

[leorcc]

Call for a ban on wedges

I make it a rule for myself never to have a wedge or pushbot, but I see no reason to ban them.

Yes, I think flippers and spinners and specially axes and hammers are far more exiting, but seeing a storm II slamming a robot in the wall without his lifter or a Bonx doing likewise in the feather department is not my idea of boring either.

Having a wedge or a box is not the problem, how you use it is the major issue.

[storm]

Call for a ban on wedges

When Team Storm built Storm II we followed the rules to build something that would win - Storm II was a simple approach designed to do exactly what it said on the tin )

We made no apologies for the fact that it didnt look exciting, or have a fancy paint job - our goal was to win.....

Five years on Storm II is still the UK number 2 in whatever competition you want to judge by (robot wars, Roaming Robots....) so we clearly got something right.

...come to think about it, are there any robots out there competing and winning 5 years old or more ?

Not sure - and slightly off topic !

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

[razerdave]

Call for a ban on wedges

Surely its less than 5 years that Storm 2 has been built ? Storm 2 made its first TV appearance August 1 2003, so thats under 4 years, so a robot thats been competing for longer than you and still winning, Kan Opener and THz I think would qualify

PS: Im not big on wedges but as Ed says, if thats whats needed to win, you make it.

[storm]

Call for a ban on wedges

Storm II was built in 2002 and first competed in Extreme in 2003

Ask John Reid and Andy Kane if theyre using the same chassis etc as they were when they built their robots ? The only change to Storm II really was the addition of the arm when Mentorn changed the rules which meant we had to move some bits around inside the bot !

Dont think youll find that Kan Opener or THz would even nearly qualify there

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

(Message edited by storm on February 23, 2007)

[leorcc]

Call for a ban on wedges

Tough as nails is also that age. It was made for BNN series 2, that was the same year as UK series 6.

[ady]

Call for a ban on wedges

its good to here peoples opinions and im sure everyone has a different one. I personally have been watching robotwars since day one, and i now have a heavyweight and feather of my own. i know personally how expensive a hobby it is but to me nothing beats seeing destruction, and videos etc i have watched from recent events, their are some i have found boring which has never happened to me before. this is only my opinion, and hence why i have a spinner. i loved chaos2 etc when they came on the scene and they are still great to watch even now, but im finding that their are too many flippers and wedges
on the scene. im sure if you asked any viewers from the tv days their favorite fight im sure it would be one that involves damage rather than seeing something sent OOTA (except maybe the more unusal ones such as WBC.

[craig_anto]

Call for a ban on wedges

why ban wedges? this really winds me up. Its as bad as mentorn saying no robot can compete without a weapon, Saying no wedges would rule out almost all flippers, and previous Robot Wars winners.

Then how do u define a wedge bot? dont be dumb and just say its a wedge shape, we know that, but when does a wedge no longer become a wedge? Terrorhurtz for example can use its front end to wedge under and ram them into walls, i know it can ive been on the receiving end. Is it no longer a wedge when it has a weapon?

But this said a simple wedge bot can still be effective for example at folkestone Tanto went 5-1 wins to loses without a weapon and as a wedgebot, beating the likes of Terrorhurtz and Dominator 3.

Personally I think we need to start looking at this as a sport not a hobby, and as a sport we need to start concentrating on what makes the sport advance not what the public enjoys, i am aware of the fact we need the public support but personally id rather we got our house sorted and the worried about making it a spectical for the public

This has been a party political broad cast from the Wedgebot Party

[big_nipper]

Call for a ban on wedges

Kan-Opener is upto F-Spec, not sure of the full history but as I understood it that will be the 6th full chasis, infact E & F spec are both fully working, would be interesting to see them fight each other . Very few robots last a few years of constant events.

At Robots live a few weeks back we broke our lifter in the 1st competition fight and still managed to win the event somehow. Our crusher worked but since it was on the floor couldnt use it, does that mean we should be banned as well?

I personally dont like wedges, but as long as they keep winning they wont go away and a doubt any event organiser will ban them as thats where most people start with their first robot and we always need more roboteers. That makes this thread really pointless, why did I bother posting.

[babeth]

Call for a ban on wedges

Not building a wedge is simply one of the many interesting challenges every roboteer cherishes.

Maddox and I would rather go for an abnormal design. That way the public has less trouble remembering who those crazy Flemish are.
But that aside, I think we should be free to use whatever shape we want. Dont put a clamp on creativity ! Rules are needed but too many rules suffocate. (Ive recently joined a political party and -hey lookie!- thats one of their major program points... )

[bugs]

Call for a ban on wedges

It sounds to me like a ban on something that works very well. The wedge shape has definite advantages.
I can understand banning things that are dangerous, but banning things that are boring just doesnt cut it for me.

[typhoon_driver]

Call for a ban on wedges

ban the wedge, the box becomes popular,

ban the box, cyliners become popular,

ban cylinders.....

Where do you finish? If you ban something thats popular then the sport as a whole will suffer.