Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

[revolutionroger]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

Think the ideal floor would be panels routed at the edges, and clamped down with T-Bars all round, to produce a flat, tensioned floor.

Damage occurs when weight of a robots reaches an edge and presses down, forcing it lower than the next panel. (gaffer tape wont stop this) Clamping the joints with T-Bars running the lengh would solve this. Would need to be precise though. Changing panels could also become quicker.

I think a sprung metal floor would become an issue once damage occurs.

MDF has been tried elsewhere, but has chipboard, another completely flat cheap alternative.

just an idea ?

[Guest]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

Have to say it was not Mute that started ripping up the floor it was Buldog breed in i think the first fight of the day you dont get away with it that easy Tony

[blazerbotics]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

i have to agree with the comments about feathers. Ive noticed at the past few events that the audience quickly becomes bored with them. I have no problems with feathers fighting (as weve been doing them for 3 yrs), but if there are heavys waiting to go in, maybe they should get priority.

just my thoughts

[big_nipper]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

Yep, Bulldog Breed, EWE2 and us. We all went under the floor in the first fight. Something we have not done yet in our arena, but all the joints have supports under them and lots & lots of screws in them. Occasionaly we take a lump out of the top layer of the ply but its not too bad.

I think alot of the problems with long delays between fights was due to the arena door.

Best atmostphere at an event so far. (Ears still ringing) If theyre all like this we are in for one great year.

[jdwacken]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

I agree with Mark about the arena door causing delays.

Wayne and I have been discussing this and we came up with a couple of possible systems for locking the door closed safely whilst decreasing the time needed to lock and unlock.

They were mostly Waynes ideas (hes the skilled fabricator) so I think hes going to contact you privately, Jonno.

[jamesb]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

I think the locking and unlocking of the door is a minute time (thats minute not minute ) in the scale of things.

Getting things slicker is one thing, but really its down to the anouncer to cover the 5 minutes, or 10 minutes it takes. 5 or 10 makes no difference, just look at the change over time at RW. RR anouncer and her assistant? at Preston were fantastic, so the crowd would really not have notice the 30 seconds saved with a new door.

Feathers not as good as heavies? insted of replacing feather fights with heavy fights, make them more interesting. put someone like crushtacian with them as a house robot to spice it up. No dmage, just ham it all up. There are too few feather fights now, dont cut them back further.

[robotwars]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

Bit of info...

Roboteers briefing

It was planned, but due to a VERY early audience entrance ( 11:15am and unexpected ) and some other issues which my team were dealing with out of our control, it didn€™t happen. I apologise for that.

Loading Door

Due to the new makrolon roof, the cables pulled in the centre posts, hence, the didn€™t fit properly all day and was a nightmare to use.
We didn€™t know how the roof would work, We have an easy fix though so it will work next time.

We have talked about having two loading doors, something which could be explored further.

Floor

We are debating about the floor, once it settles down, it is then fine like by the end of the day.
But something needs to change. Maybe we need to swap to thicker plywood, or Mdf??

We will be exploring other possibilities, hmmm, just remembered I have 12 sheets of 6mm old polycarb,
** Wonders what a makrolon floor would be like LOL **

My main problem is... the arena gets tighly packed into a barn when not in use, and so it is nearly imposible to work on it, away from an event.

If we had somewhere to errect it for a period of time, then we could get our ongoing problmes sorted out.

Jonno

[dmac]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

After seeing the comments about the quality of the floor surface, The easy answer would be for the roboteers to slightly raise the front of their machines to let them clear the floor joints, shouldent make too much difference to the fights, but could drastically reduce lost time due to replaceing the floor.

Just an idea, my two pence worth.

[Guest]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

cant you use the old tennis courts at the rolls royce place like the first event there

[teamchip]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

Its not easy David to raise the front a your machine even by a midges, sometimes it would be a major re design...and open to a flipper getting under you.

Who was the guy on the mike in the black top with Crew on it?....he was great on the mike...a good warm up guy.

Tom

[stu]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

Garry - bloke in charge of the entertainment company and special effects company that is now working close with Roaming Robots. A natural entertainer really

Mr Stu
Roaming Robots Crew

[tim_jones]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

At most events it seems that one of the most avoidable delays is down to roboteers not being ready and waiting at the arena. We really need a schedule of say 4 fights an hour. Is 5 minutes load, 5 minutes fight, 5 minutes unload attainable? If not then go for 3 an hour. We should then all know what time we are due to fight, each robot should then be expected to be in a holding area 15 minutes before their alloted slot so they can sub/swap for the previous fight if necessary. Anyone failing to report to the holding area on time forfeits the battle. The RR crew do their best at a very difficult task and all to often we let them down by not being present at the right time.

How about a second loading door/bullpen for feathers as this should be easier to construct than a full blown heavy entry and would allow feather fights to be slotted in between the heavies and maybe speed things up a little.

Feathers may be seen as boring but it will not help as we move towards stronger armour, perhaps they should be restricted in this respect protect the electrics/vital components and let the rest of the bodywork take damage. We all know that damage is what makes the audience go ooooohhhhhhhh I suspect that part of the problem here is making feathers visble in an arena designed to contain heavies. Perhaps a smaller side arena hosting seperate feather fights throughout the day allowing the audience to stand closer to the action would be an option and provide a side attraction when the heavies arent occupying them in the main arena.

Just a few random thoughts to ponder.

regards

Tim Jones

[stu]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

Perhaps a smaller side arena hosting seperate feather fights throughout the day allowing the audience to stand closer to the action would be an option and provide a side attraction when the heavies arent occupying them in the main arena.

This is what is in the planning stage for future BIG events - eg like Preston.

Mr Stu

[tunna]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

Much better Show than expected ! thats whats needed, perhaps in a show invoirement competitors may plan the fights a little better between themselves ,a little like american wrestling,
and create a better Show as opposed to a full blown competition ,

[Guest]

Roaming Robots, Preston 29th Feb 2004

sounds interesting Tony