The future of roboting

[ady]

Re: The future of roboting

not that i go to hardly any events, but it wouldnt bother me if their was no prize just a homemade trophy for the winner/runners up.
And it wouldnt bother me to pay £20 to attend a event, its a family day out for £20!
if eo's said pay £20 to attend or we would be forced to shut, people would pay (otherwise what else would we do with our robots).
i cant get over why middleweights arnt more popular, alot of you probably think like me i would build one if others did, most with a hw has the parts to build a mw.
i think they would only be interesting if full combat? but then you might as well build a full combat arena for hw's?
i got my hw crusher still not finished but tbh i have stopped building it for now as all i keep thinking is (its a pain to transport and its gonna be blimmin expensive to fix!) and all someone has to do is stick a fat peice of hardox on the top and that will be a end to that.
featherweights are good, and even more so when its full combat, anyone can build one, but from an audiance point of view i think their boring after a while without spinners. i dont even bother watching fw videos on youtube of fw comps, wedges,spinners and flippers are all good to watch but when their all together, i find watching a flipper on flipper fight or a wedge vs wedge fight good at first but soon gets boring when its repetitive, even though its exciting for us driving, i think its boring for the audiance. (especially after they just watched a hw show)
people wont agree with me, but listen to the audiance when spinners are fighting (compare fights with spinners involved on youtube) you can clearly here the difference, you can almost feel the tension when spinners are about to fight at an event.

hw's you always need, what i like, is to see the old robot wars machines such as thor, killerhurtz, smidsy,iron awe, bigbro as these are the robots i and other people remember, also the kids that come to watch your events probably sit at home watching rw repeats and i think its special for them to see these known robots up close.
but i think if mw's got as good as fw's would hw's be missed as much (i dont know).

dont know why the forum is sooo dead, i spend more time on the bmw forum with my car than here, i click on here once a day to read any interesting posts, then go..
something needs to change though i think, i wouldnt say its on a downward spiral but its certainly not as good as it was.
havent got any answers just putting in my 2pence worth as usual

[widow_twanky]

Re: The future of roboting

.......... its gonna be blimmin expensive to fix!)

an opinion I can fully understand after Guildford

[dgr]

Re: The future of roboting

The thing with roboteering is that its an obsessive hobby. Spending all that money on something just to put it in an arena to get trashed, hell, there has to be an element of obsession there. And we'd all do it even if we had to meet in a disused car park somewhere to fight. We all have so much respect and gratitude for the event organisers that we will happily suffer some cut backs or choices in times of recession, as long as we can keep fighting! From ants to heavys, and with talk of expanding middleweights, there is a weight class level for pretty much anyone who still wants to get involved in this hobby, without age or cost restraints. So yeah, I can see the future maybe being a less glamarous place to play in, but as long as we get to play, I don't think any of us mind that one bit.
Can't wait to get my heavyweight going. Had the dream of watching my own machine roll into battle since I was 10 years old and nothing's gunna stop me achieving it now I have all the bits.

[john]

Re: The future of roboting

id like to see more events like riat, good social and less stressful day then a normal event! dont know what events are around like this but im sure there is a few

[craig_colliass]

Re: The future of roboting

Good point John

There are other Air Shows around the UK and also perhaps trade shows at The NEC, or other similar events.
It is not for me as a Roboteer to approach these people, but if anyone reading this have contacts that could be useful, perhaps they could pass this information to EO€™s so they could investigate this further, as it may be a more secure way to fund the shows!

The Car show at the NEC would be nice.

[craig_anto]

Re: The future of roboting

Thats exactly where our events are heading, we have to approach festivals and expos but its then paying for floor space, from our point of view we would be going to these events but the cost of the floor space would restrict the number of entries we could take
thats our perspective, its something i'd like us to go to as a sport but people would have to understand the entries would be tight

[robotwars]

Re: The future of roboting

Your not taling about things which havent been tried before.

RR, XFM and RL all have done these shows before.... as Craig says the only way to get to shows these days is to pay for floor space.

RIAT is a lucky example, as we are the only attraction which is paid to attend,,,, the rest of the show entries are there because they pay for the space, and the space is at a premium.

So as i see .....

RR pledged to continue but with changes and new plans in place.
Rebel has some shows planned and is pushing to continue in the Fw devision.
RL very quiet, maybe you could send them an email to ask them to join the conversation, or maybe they dont plan on carrying on.
Roboteers are very quiet...... maybe they dont go on the forum anymore, maybe they dont want to discuss it, maybe they dont care, maybe they just expect events to happen at whatever cost.

I think the FRA should be reading this thread, and actually get of their A*SE and do something, contact event organisors and find out whats happening, contact roboteers instead of sitting silently, It shouldnt be craig who is hosting this discussion it should be the FRA. If i was president of FRA things would certainly be different.

There is coming a point in time where I see event organisors giving up, 2009 has been the hardest year ever, you dont know how close i was just a few days ago from walking away from the whole thing, and then what !!! It will come, be warned.

Its time to do something together, and not rely on EO's to save our hobby as im getting fed up of saving it and getting nothing in return.

I'm sorry but Andy Kane, you are missed, and the new committee have so far done nothing, unless you come here and tell us what you have achieved.

This is a bit of a rant, but hopefully someone will read it and get more people involved..

John
Roaming Robots

[dgr]

Re: The future of roboting

I think ANYONE who has a point to make on this topic should post it, however small. At the moment it seems a bit formal and official and people might think they have no place posting here, but we need to hear more from both the officials and, of course, the ground troops, us roboteers.
As for the officials, there have been a number of occasions I have asked on the forum for a comment or confirmation from one and got nothing in reply. Seems they are a bit AWOL at the moment...
John, I do think most of us roboteers just expect the events to keep on going, but I think thats just because we aren't involved in the running of any of them and so just think they will go on as they always have done. Maybe more volunteers to help with event organising would help? I'm guessing there are a fair few forum members who would be happy and eagar to give something back to the organisations that have done so much for us, particularly RR.

[craig_anto]

Re: The future of roboting

I'm not sure what Jonno's plans are and nor do i need to know, I know Jonno will push forward with what he thinks is best and as he has proved in the past Jonno knows best, Jonno what ever you do and where ever you go I wish u the best as an EO, a roboteer and more importantly as a friend.
We're (Rebel) are more focused at present on the lighterweights antweights to middleweights this is not to rule out a heavyweight event in the future but for now for my own piece of mind its best to push on with the featherweight and middleweight titles.
Technical brackets such as a walker division, and the return of some technogames competitions such as rope climbers long jump etc with the possiblity of including some power tool drag racers.
I know there hasn't been alot from Rebel since the event but we've worked hard since Feb running smaller events antweight world series and a science festival, the arena has changed and there are more changes to come.

As for Jonno's comments about the lack luster FRA committee at present, I couldn't agree more as an EO i've not heard from the FRA at all since Feb, seems to be a lack of commitment from them or at least being more passive than before, I would recommend the FRA read the front page of the website taking note of the FRA's aims

Its the responsability of the FRA to save the sport not Jonno or the rest of the EO's if the FRA are not prepared to work for our much beloved sport I'm prepared to go it alone

[leorcc]

Re: The future of roboting

I don't have the finances to attend many events in the UK this year. Our team will be at RIAT, but that is about it for us this year I'm afraid. Unless the economic situation improves.

[joey_picus]

Re: The future of roboting

I haven't quite got a robot yet (trying to get one or two built over the summer) but here's my two penn'orth...entry fees seem to be the way to go, I'd have no objection at all to helping the event organisers put on an event in whatever way I could, be that a 10 or 20 pound entry fee or helping out for free the day before or anything else. (to be honest I'm surprised there isn't one already, it makes economic and other kinds of sense to have one)

Dave is very correct when he says it's an obsessive hobby, I can't imagine it ever dying out (look at the antweights, they've had far less TV exposure than the other classes and yet they soldier on and on and on...) but a few other people have raised the point of people just expecting events to happen, which in my view is the wrong way to look at it as you should be prepared to contribute a bit to making the event happen yourself.

One thing that might be good would be to have a few more roboteer get togethers with some gentle ramming in a pub car park? There seem to be not enough of them nowadays and people should look at getting the regional socials going again - not with regional reps but more with anyone who's willing and able to host it.

Shane - if the events carry on and the organisers can keep going, I can fully agree with your post

[cliveb]

Re: The future of roboting

I totally agree with the general consensus of opinion that the EO's need more input from the FRA and the roboteering community in general.Yes lets have an entry fee per team at each event, where else can we go and play if all of the EO's pull out.How else can we help, how about turning up to an event earlier and pitch in and help setting up or staying back and taking down ( if possible). Promoting the events with the EO's, surely we can afford a weekend or 2 to get off our backsides and go to the area of the event to hand out flyers etc.Lets see how we can reduce costs for the EO's and help sell tickets, or all we will have is vapour bot battles on the forum.
I decided to get more involved and stand for the FRA Governing body so that Alex and the other kids would have a place to still fight their robots when they are older, am i doing enough, NO.
Can I do more, I have to or there is no future.
We the governing body have been asked to give dates that we are available for a meeting at the end of the month. This must be number 1 priority on the agenda,what else is more important than this issue, what is the point debating other issues if we have no events.
Whatever the EO's decide, whether it is to pull out, or continue in a reduced format or go in a totally different direction, thanks for what you have done for us.I have really enjoyed the last 2 years and hopefully if we ALL work together,will continue to do so for many years to come.

Clive

[craig_colliass]

Re: The future of roboting

Craig, Jonno, Clive and everyone else thank you for your comments on this subject. Jonno your rants are always welcome here.

Firstly I would like to say if the other EO€™s want to add to this discussion I for one would very much welcome this, but if they prefer not to then I would respect this as well.

As for the FRA committee I think they may feel that if they said anything they may be seen as biased to one or other EO.

Perhaps if the EO€™s had some questions directed to the FRA on this matter that they could answer directly on this thread that may get over this hurdle.
I know most of them well, and know they have concerns for the future of the movement too, so I don€™t think they can€™t be bothered to respond to this thread but want to be even handed and considered in their response.

I would ask anyone who can contribute to this discussion please do. I feel that there should be concerted effort by us from the grass roots upwards to concentrate efforts to secure the future of the robot scene in the UK.

Free speech is a gift given to this country at great cost lets use it.

Thank you for reading this


Craig

[Marien]

Re: The future of roboting

Doing an event with Roboteers, FW robots and an arena isn€™t very hard.
It€™s the costs and responsibility that come with having HW€™s, spectators and high-impact-weapons that kills us. This means: transporting many materials, using a lot of time to set up, needing a crew to control and inform spectators and some dedicated people to search venues and do the wheeling and dealing. A lot of efforts.
And the result is not guaranteed; enough robots and entertainment, enough tickets sold, getting your money afterwards.

Although HW€™s rule, the workable way would be an easy-fold-and-set-up-arena for FW€™s, maybe with spinners. Maybe middleweights are a good compromise.

What will DRG do coming year? Probably only FW events, few of them with spectators. We are almost bankrupted by the Zandvoort event.

[psycho_fling]

Re: The future of roboting

well i have been in this sport for about 4.5 years now and i am really enjoying it

first id like to thank Jonno for helping me get started as he has done for many people, and also thank him and every other EOs event i have attended

now that i have more cash i would be happy to pay an entry fee to an event if it helps to cover peoples costs

and tbh i feel maybe smaller arenas and a higher amount of events in various places eg normal shows, expos, air shows etc would be great -more suited to the fws

i would be very happy to help out when i can it's only fair i think, unfortunatly at the last home event i was ill and unable to help but i wanted to

alot of roboteers may under estimate what goes into a show for the eos and everyone that helps

since i started i feel i have come along way from a zeobot kit and a AA operated TX, and i think the same can be said for the events i have attended more and more of them and they have improved and been refined to an event i would love to watch or be part of

don't know if this helps but i had a view and people have asked to hear everyones
Well done everyone