To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

[killercarrot]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

if you are worried about your nice robot getting duffed, build an old scrap one too.. Ive built nothing but utter rubbish for years, and always made it to the next round.. dont worry about spinners,, theres lots of talk, but geoffs scorpion got stopped by a stuffed pig..and my Killercarrot has been up against fluffy, disco inferno, scorpion and that exterminator2 disc, and its taken some knocks, but always driven away from it.. the only bits that get bent are the cheap bits, steel chassis bits, and panels.

Having seen your nasty spinny rolling pin I think people should be more worried about what you are going to do to them.

[robotic_ants]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

I agree with most if not all of the people€™s comments on this thread already and have been through the same situation. Take a look at my profile when I built the first Conundrum because it was only MDF, Thin scrap ali, gold motor drum drive and some cheep drill motors drive built on my back garden using a work mate, drill and saw. I thought it would be trashed against any spinner but the actual damage received has been only cosmetic against the likes of Vortex and others. I guess the main damage it has taken in its lifetime was when it landed on one of the drum supports after coming off the arena flipper. Nevertheless, it has generally always continued to run right until the end of a battle.

Chris - ^_^

[geoff]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

Gentlemen, If I may add my two pennies here as the owner of a reasonably efficient feather spinner.
Glen, Im pleased to see your enthusiasm and interest remains strong after all this time, I have seen your machine and believe me you have a potentially very good robot there.
There is a lot of very good advice been posted above especially with regard to armour and batteries.
To try to allay some of your fears with regard to the damage from machines like ours, contrary to what you may believe we are not in the business of cutting apart any new machine that we come across just because we can. That is no fun for anyone.
There are 2 or 3 new teams that are starting to come to events with machines that are (with no disrespect whatsoever to those machines and their builders) not as well armoured as yours.
We have fought all of them in whiteboards and not once have we done anything but light cosmetic damage to any of them. When you drive a machine like Evilution in a whiteboard you have the responsibility to keep it under control and not to do gratuitous damage, for example we run our weapon at 1/2 speed during all whiteboards, will avoid any machine completely if asked in advance and will always stop an attack immediately if the other team says they have had enough.
So dont worry Glen, you wont get your machine trashed by us in any whiteboard.

(Enter it into a competition fight however.... We will treat it exactly the same as any other machine... As long as it still moves, it is a threat to our machine, and considered a valid target that will be dealt with until it is no longer a threat, or it surrenders! :wink

I see from your profile that you are in Kent, there is an event in Colechester on 15th & 16th April.. Do try to get there if you can, you will be more than welcome.

Geoff.

[RogueTwoRobots]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

Glen, depending on what your robot is made out of/what its weapon has, you could fight it in the new cadet class category thats been mentioned (dunno if thats running yet as I havent been to any events). That way your bot is likely to last longer hence youd get a better return for your money so to speak

Jamie

[ewan]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

Fingers crossed for the cadet class as it has loads of potential for less destructive and more creative machines. Go for it Glen, if I can do it, chances are you can do it better :wink:

[armadrillo]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

Thanks for all your comments. Its been good to hear your thoughts.

After reading through i dont think im quite ready to give up yet!
Thanks for your comment Geoff about the white board events. If that is the attitude of most teams then i dont think ive got too much to worry about.
Geoff - (Enter it into a competition fight however.... We will treat it exactly the same as any other machine... As long as it still moves, it is a threat to our machine, and considered a valid target that will be dealt with until it is no longer a threat, or it surrenders!). I wouldnt expect anything different from a competition fight and would try to give as good as i got! Am thinking about the UK Champs in August if i can get to some events beforehand.

Thanks all. Hopefully Zero should be at an event by the summer.

[geeza]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

I think that my feather DB5 has suffered most at the hands of Evilution, with one scrapped chassis and one bent one. But John was kind enough to help hammer it back into shape, Glen most roboteers will try as much as possible to help fix any damage they cause past the cosmetic.

[james...venom]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

The spinner guys like geoff, ed and the big nipper boys are great guys though. If you get drawn against them, they dont make you feel presurized into haveing to fight their nasty spinners, they understand the work involved in building these machines. Its easy to say no thanks and you dont feel as though you have to swollow your pride either. Ive had to do this before with Venom as 2 years of work and over £1k isnt worth the giant risk sometimes, especially when i need the machine for work lol. thats why i am makeing my new machine so i can enjoy the competitive side of robot combat again.

[armadrillo]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

Well, all that geeing up has got me going.

Just started to cut and shut the robot to reduce the weight. As i said in an earlier post, somehow, the robot weighs 12.6kg WITHOUT batteries. Doh! Bit strange as i weighed everthing as i went along. Ive worked out if i change the wheels (-500g), drill the holes out bigger on the chassis (-250g) and do some other bits and bobs i should be able to get under weight.

Hoping to sort the batteries from my drills for next week then i can finish the wiring quite soon.

Feel like ive got a second wind!!

[bulldoser]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

I have always fancied building a robot if only the series had started now rather then ended i may have got there. i am currently working on a smallish robot and cheap too its very simple just 2 motors, 2 servos the reciever and aas i was thinking of building the chasis/armour out of circuit board as this is fairly light but strong. my design a pivitable wedge (so it can swing when the robot is inverted)made out of steel food cans. Its barely started but i am sure it will prevail althiough with my a levels underway and university to follow it may be quite a bit of time before i complete it.

[ewan]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

Good luck with the machine, keep us posted on you progress if you can.

Just a little pointer though that circuit board material isnt the kind of material most suited to weight classes beyond antweights/super-antweights. Though there are many PCB materials around, they are very much suited to electronic circuitry as opposed to structural support.

[typhoon_driver]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

alex, if you are aiming to go larger than an antweight then I would recommend something a bit meatier than PCB material like Ewan says. If you are on a budget then you can use wood or steel. Nice and cheap and strong enough for a bigger bot.

[bulldoser]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

well as i have said it is only a small robot so far maybe a kilo at most as i have none of the tools such as welders/grinders etc appart from a macano set!!! so i dont think i am going to go larger then that.

[jamesb]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

just noticed a post from glen above

am going to change my wheels with blue ones from james baker(if i remember rightly) when i get the chance

not me, james cooper by the sounds of it. i dont do wheels.

[armadrillo]

To Build or Not To Build - That is the Question!

Yeah it is James Cooper. I looked back on my emails the day after.

I wasnt sure i got it right when i wrote it, hence the (if i remember rightly) .
Got the first right at least lol.