AWS 40

[Andrew_Hibberd]

Got home after dropping Scott off. I really enjoyed todays competition. A huge thanks to Will and Reading University for the organisation.

There was some really good close fights as well as some impressive damage. Kwijebo breaking the 4mm polycarb wall must be a record. Other than kwijebo taking a bit of damage during that hit my robots are all in one piece. I am very impressed with Ickle it turned out to be much more effective than I had hoped. Ickle and Cylos did very well as a cluster, although Ickle could do with being a little faster. Congrats to Rhys for winning the FWS.

The arena was a good size, although the corners did slow up some fights. Having the dual rooms was good for space but having 3 spinners and pneumatics had me running between rooms quite often and did seem to slow it down.

Hope to see even more robots at the next one.

[shakesc]

Sorry I could not of been there but the live link was great
Hope to see everyone soon

[BeligerAnt]

Enjoyed my first event as a fully-fledged competitor - but now you all know why James & Bethany don't usually let me drive!

However, I managed to win at least one fight with each robot and Make-A-Bot performed well despite being a simple robot built as a demonstrator for the Maker Faire. RONNY survived an encounter with Combat Cluster and even won in the end, only to lose to Titanic in the next round!

Thanks to Will & friends and all at Reading Uni for making it possible. The separation of the pits was a bit of a problem and contributed to some of the delays. Organisation was a little haphazard at the start, I know some people missed out on signing up for the non-spinner comp, but the main comp ran very well.

I can't see a 2-day event working very well, the extra time and cost of accomodation would put it out of reach of many people. However, we do need to do something about the time it's taking to complete the event.

[joey_picus]

The obvious thing to do would be to split the FWS from the main event, however that then runs the risk of leaving the fleas without an event unless that could be reworked so the FWS happened at other events (RFRC, SAC, et cetera) or even became its own event?

[BeligerAnt]

That's one possibility Joey, although I didn't want to be the one to suggest it!
With an increasing number of fleas, and running FWS as double-elimination, it does take a significant amount of time. The FWS took a lot longer than the (single elimination) non-spinner comp.

But do fleas have the "critical mass" required for their own event?

[joey_picus]

I think they definitely have the critical mass for it to be something that could be done at the SAC or RFRC, organiser permitting of course! It's something for the committee to mull over I think, but removing them as an obligation for hosting the AWS would free up a lot of time spent tech checking and doing the draw for them, as you've said.

As for being able to function as their own event, it might work out for people whose organisational skills don't stretch to hosting a full AWS (such as, as was sadly proven in Pontefract, me) who could use a copy of AntLog and random.org to do something for a smaller number of robots - also the numbers of people involved would probably be low enough to be able to host it in a classroom or even part of a pub like the 'good old days'! The big problem though would be getting people to turn up I think, it's hard to see the fleaweights being enough of a reason to put time, money, planning etc. into attending an event for a lot of people.

Apologies if this doesn't make much sense, I am running on about three hours of sleep right now XD

(Thinking out loud, might a two day AWS work if the fleas happened the evening before the main event? That would reduce the strain on attendees who only had antweights, although obviously the extra hall hire and things is still an issue...)

[earthwormjim]

Hi Guys. I seem to have missed EVERYONE at the end! Was it something I said??:( (LOL)
Fantastic day,thanks to Will,and everyone involved.And to the winners.Well done guys.My robots performed very well. Hell boy was into the final 10 or so,and Omelette Du Fromage came 3rd in the fleas! Fantom did very well,right up to when it met Ripto! But it will return,for sure. The Barbarian was a nightmare,and ripped the charge wire and power switch off TWICE! That'll teach me for using hot glue to hold the swith in place on a big spinny thing!The distance from the arena to the pits kept me fit all day running back and forth.But the extra space was great,especially with so many people being there. As a big fan of fleas,I think getting rid of the FWS might be the best solution. Fleas can still ennter the AWS as part of a cluster,so they wouldnt need to dissapear altogether,and I think that we do need to slow things down from where they were today.
Brilliand day though.Nice to see everyone,as always.
Cheers,Jim.

[Remote-Controlled Dave]

I think the FWS is gaining strength all the time and needs to be kept! I'm a big fan of it and we will struggle to fly across for 3 AWSs a year, so never would for a stand alone fleaweight championship. I think we could do other things to speed up the day. The obvious one that hasn't been said yet is to do two arenas for every AWS, at least for the early stages. You could be setting up in one whilst the fight in the other happens, or have two fights go simultaneously if time is getting tight.
Or maybe move the FWS to the end of the day, get straight on with the main AWS from the start, no warm up comp, then FWS can run alongside the fun events at the end given time. Then if someone wants to chance their flea in the AWS beforehand its up to them.
Lots of solutions before a two day event though, which would probably just decrease numbers anyway, therefore negating the need for it in the first place.

Hi Jim!

[razerdave]

Hey folks.

First off, massive thanks to Will, Kat, Finian and Co. for a great event, hope you'd can do it again some time (but we want headsets next time so we can all do commentary ).
Secondly, I want to profusely apologise for my bad mood after a few of the matches; frustration set in and my general moods not been great over the last few weeks, so if I was rude or crass with anyone (Dave L, Oliver, Will, etc), I am very sorry.

I've learnt a few things from this AWS, like giving Little Devil a Ti flipper and some to drive it that can drive 2 sticks (sorry Jarvis ). And a few other things for the other machines. Also learnt not to underestimate certain robots (Ant Clank being the noted one).

As for fleas, I agree with Dave, they should stay. If you get rid of anything, it should be the non spinner comp. I think the main factor for slowing the event down was having the pita and arena in 2 rooms and we couldn't hear the mike for half of it.

So, lets do it all again shall we? . Anyone volunteering for AWS 41?

[dcr raptor]

With the FWS, if we make it its own event, why not run it along side a smaller antweight event, and possibly even a nanoweight and super antweight event if those weight classes gain a bit of popularity.