Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

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Tufty
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Tufty »

First event was yesterday. I started out with 6 machines:
Image

At the top, Kitten's Torment. Built on a £10 toy stunt car (invertible, before I got my hands on it) from Smiths Toy Superstore. Unfortunately I can't seem to get more of them or I'd keep using them for cheap machines; they're fast, and the batteries last. Not much torque though.

At the bottom, Teething Problems. Built from a massively stripped down £25 Nikko car. Batteries are actually exposed (AA, not lipo) so not entirely sure how it passed tech checks, but I figured it doesn't hurt to try, and it was allowed in. On reflection, that was the key mistake I made; actually trying to enter it!

In the middle, the 4 robots that are collectively known as the Beatle...Waits. They are of course named John, Paul, George and Ringo. Of the 4, Paul is the only one who actually goes in a straight line. Again, these are all built on £10 stunt cars from Smiths, although a different design than that of Kitten's Torment.

Anyway. On with Sunday's... I want to say fights, but I think it would be rude to my opponents to say I really put up a fight!

I can't find the first fight of the BWs on YouTube for some reason, but I ran John and my dad had Ringo. Those are the lowest and highest in shot respectively. They are lined up that way for a reason: Paul at the front is the best, and George at the back has a dodgy transmitter so is the final reserve. So I put 2 wonky steering robots in for my first ever fight, with my dad (who had never even seen these things in person until an hour before showtime) grudgingly handling the other remote.

John, in a valiant show of courage and single-minded murderous intent, immediately decided to only run properly on the left wheel and dive straight into the pit. On reflection, that probably sums up the whole day. He was retired from that point on, and I managed to break his ramp off when packing him up. Frankly, he deserved it. Meanwhile, dad and Ringo made it to the other side of the arena and actually made contact with the enemy (I'm Going To Hit Your Face With My Face, I believe is the name - the bracket cuts it off and I may have misremembered, so apologies), but quickly found themselves outdriven by a machine three times the weight of poor little Ringo.

Kitten's Torment was eventually up next, taking on Rampster 3. We won, dominantly! Ha. No. Another defeat, this time because of that lack of torque mentioned above. Pushing was just impossible (remember that for later).

OK. This is the most painful (read: hilarious) fight of the day for me. I was drawn, with a Nikko using curry sauce lids for wheels and elastic bands for traction, against Baphomet. IT. HURT. First hit was square on the face, splitting and bending up the ramp. Believe it or not, things didn't get better from there. He got around the side, took a huge bite out of the right hand side wheel, split the tyre, and left me hobbling. By then, I knew I was dead. Dave hung back and showed mercy but I told him to just go for it. He wasn't sure but I wanted to see her die. The last hit, unfortunately, took a chunk out of the rear, which included the wire leading from the ESC to the left drive motor. How the motor survived I will never know. Sheer luck, I'm guessing. I didn't see the wire at the time, but it was left in the arena and swept into the pit before the next fight. I found it an hour later on a box by the microphone. Whoever put it there, thank you.

Teething Problems' scoop, after bending back into shape (minus the gash) and flailing in another fight: Image

The wheel from the right, that was shifted to the left for the wooden spoon contest (and the spoon, frankly, could have beaten it):Image

The lost tyre: Image

And the mystery of why the left wheel no longer works was solved!: Image

As you can see, Round 1 was a ROARING success.

For the losers' bracket, I withdrew Teething Problems because I realised after taking her back to the bench that she had somehow lost drive on the left wheel. It wasn't until I saw the wire on the desk I realised why.

The Beatle...Waits were entered first in the losers' bracket, facing Angory Bob, who took a couple of minutes to show up. Which was lucky, because it took dad that long to park Ringo. I'd, meanwhile, swapped John for Paul. I should point out that I'd forgotten how powerful Paul was - he actually MOVES - and when the battle started I floored the throttle, and Paul charged forwards, flipped himself onto his back, and that was it. Dad and Ringo, after about a second of deliberation, elected to run away and hid in the pit they discovered in round 1. I'm signing dad up for archaeology courses and I fired him as co-driver. Or rather, he had to leave before the next time they 'fought'. It has to be said though, after 2 fights, there was nothing wrong with the 3 that had fought except the damage I'd inflicted myself. George had also lost his face somehow by now, probably in transit.

Next up was Kitten's Torment, fighting Palette Pusher. This, being serious, was probably my best fight of the day. It was just a nudging match for a few seconds, then I got cornered, so made a run at Palette Pusher but as I floored it, she moved. And me, being an amazing driver, continued straight across the length of Peter's beautifully smooth arena, and flew into the pit. But I did have to go back after and find out the specs of Palette Pusher because that's the only robot KT has ever pushed successfully, aside from the BWs. Apparently it's not because PP was lighter that I pushed it, so I'm guessing for a moment there was no drive input so there was no resistance for KT. Until she faceplanted a wall. Once again though, 2 fights and not so much as a scratch.

Now came the loooooong wait, because it turns out if you can't stop losing, they stop you playing. This made me sad. But frankly it was probably a relief for everyone :lol: Being serious, it was far more useful for me to see other people fighting, seeing what I was doing wrong (other than using unbalanced motors, and driving into pits) and what sort of things I need to work into my more serious designs for next time.

Somewhere between 5 and 6, the fleaweight rumble happened. This was the reason I'd been wanting to save Paul, and luckily he was alive for this. He was one of 15, as far as I can count from the video, so I thought he might not come last. Almost immediately, I was upside down, driving over a ramp. Then I was knocked back over and carried on being useless. I cornered myself against the plastic in Ringo's favourite corner, watched one robot die next to me, and went back into the fray. I ended up on my back again, and then in the pit. but 14th isn't last! Paul beat someone! I spent the rest of the fight playing in the pit, seeing if I could use the walls and my fellow eliminated robot to right myself, just out of academic interest. The answer, unsurprisingly, was no.

Back to the antweights, and the wooden spoon qualifiers.

The BWs were first up, with (so I thought) me driving Paul and a very helpful co-driver whose name I completely forgot to ask (owner of Plank) driving what was meant to be Ringo. Unfortunately, with the way Smiths make their toys, I turned the remotes on in the wrong order and the robots synced to the wrong controllers. As it turned out, this was a great relief. We went into battle and Paul, now not under my control, went flying at the hands of a vicious vertical spinner. A tyre came off, the ramp came off, Paul flew, and landed in the pit. Myself and Ringo battled on, until he took a spinner at point blank range. To the face. As with Paul, the ramp came off. But that wasn't all. Something broke (the receiver, I think, because the light on the transmitter started blinking at me, which is usually does when I haven't turned a robot on yet, but the lights were still dancing on poor Ringo) and I was dead in the water. The 2 ramps took different damage though; Ringo's is basically a write off. Paul's needs a new piece of plastic.

Somehow we lost. Probably rigged or something. The fact Paul survived to fight again makes it a moral victory!

This was Paul's ramp at the end of the day: Image

Ringo's ramp: Image

Ringo's ramp as seen from the floor: Image

Ringo's teeth, reassembled with all the parts we found: Image

And as we found them: Image

I'm going to buy replacements for the BWs, but I'm going to make them thwackbots instead of pushers. A pusher weighing under 50 grams isn't exactly viable! Not without being properly designed and built, anyway.

Next up, Kitten's Torment. She handled herself well, but I very quickly made a mistake and drove her into the pit again. Her second time in that corner, the same one as Ringo fell in love with (and came to rest by). I think if Peter had left only the other corner as a pit, I may have won! OK, maybe not. But let me dream! I'm not posting another photo of her because she's in exactly the condition she was at the top.

Finally, the one wheeled Teething Problems was entered as a joke for the spoon. In the same fight was Plank and a pair of verts. Plank got pitted, and very late really I got counted out after taking my balancing screw out pre-fight (one wheel drive won't topple it, right? Wrong...) toppling over and continuing my donuts. I really wanted to see TP get utterly destroyed but the verts played it safe so I brought her back out as she went in. Now she'll make for great soldering practice, fixing that remaining drive motor. I'll try and get her fixed up for another tournament, but I'm not making any promises.

Overall, that's a very successful 9 defeats and a withdrawal. A great time was had, lessons were learned, fun will be had again next time. And I'm going to keep entering Kitten's Torment until a spinner demolishes it.
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
TimPerry
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2019 2:10 pm

Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by TimPerry »

I think my robot "Villanelle" was the vicious vertical spinner you talk of. That one big hit made my day so thank you for providing the ammo!
The only way to learn is to fight and I'm sure you'll get your first win next time!
Villanelle (Vert)
Dozer (pushbot)
Flippinbot (flipper)
Mini Roll (drum spinner)
Wedgie Wedgie (cluster)
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Kyro
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Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:36 am

Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Kyro »

my very first event i didnt pick up a single win...
the one after i finished 13th
after that 5th and 12th
then 2nd
then 3rd
then 3rd
and this event i managed 7th

so next event i expect to see you in the final group :)
Team Rocket
Trappist 1(4wd grab 'n' lift)
Ton 618 (4wd expanding bot)
Io(4wd flipper)
Tufty
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Tufty »

TimPerry wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2020 1:18 pm I think my robot "Villanelle" was the vicious vertical spinner you talk of. That one big hit made my day so thank you for providing the ammo!
The only way to learn is to fight and I'm sure you'll get your first win next time!
That explains a lot if it was Villanelle! I'm not entirely sure what internally you totalled, I can't see any damage at all. Guessing something inside the receiver went down but I really can't say for sure. Either way, a damn good hit to watch!
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
Tufty
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Tufty »

Kyro wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2020 1:43 pm my very first event i didnt pick up a single win...
the one after i finished 13th
after that 5th and 12th
then 2nd
then 3rd
then 3rd
and this event i managed 7th

so next event i expect to see you in the final group :)
No pressure then, huh? :lol: it's my aim to win, but I'm not unrealistic and I'm not gonna get upset if I don't manage it. Just having fun with these machines is enough for me.
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
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Kyro
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Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Kyro »

fun is definitely the main reason... no wins my first event but i loved it all the same...
even if to this day i still hadn't picked up a win i would still be attending events...

the first win is satisfying...

you always remember your first...

feb 23rd 2019...

it was a chilly day, and imagine my nervousness at being the very first fight called up of the day... and it was with a robot i had rush built the night before using 2 60a esc's i had laying around...
Mantis was the name i had given it... it was green... it had arms that would grab opponents...
i was called up to face a hydraulic crusher (yes an actual hydraulic crusher)
i somehow managed to keep away from the jaws, however i soon learned that i could grab, but i lacked grip to effectively move my opponent...
however i somehow managed to get it stuck on its back and took the win...
what a day...



what. a. day...
Team Rocket
Trappist 1(4wd grab 'n' lift)
Ton 618 (4wd expanding bot)
Io(4wd flipper)
Tufty
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Tufty »

Today I bought more of the little cars that made the Beatle... Waits so much fun. As standard, they're 42 grams. Armed and modified, they're down to 40 grams a time. If I can shave 3g off each of them, I've got a cluster flea, and FOUR that can be in the arena at any one time. May have to buy extra cars as spares, but I'll leave that now until the UK lockdown is lifted.

This was halfway through the extremely careful and fiddly upgrade:
Image

And one completed:
Image

The new fleet:
Image

I want to be clear; these are serious combat robots, not toy cars with facial hair. Nope. Not even remotely.
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
Tufty
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Tufty »

Tiny update on the new Beatle... Waits (may change the name yet and let the 3 remaining from the original set that can still be repaired, keep fighting as well until they die): I've been doing more thorough driving tests with them, and it turns out that by accident I've made robots that can right themselves!
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
Tufty
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Tufty »

Preliminary review of Botfest 4 today, no photos yet because I'm writing this in the back seat of the car. I entered Rust-Bucket, When Unicorns Go Rogue, and Scrooge McDerp. The first pair are both built from the same base as the Beatle... Waits, and Scrooge from a different stunt car, which has more speed and more torque. I was lucky in that of my 12 heat battles, only one was against a spinner.

Rust-Bucket was basically too heavy for its drive system so hobbled around for a bit, and every time it lost it was because of poor driving by me - getting the ramp stuck between the arena edge and the wall. Only one fight lasted longer, and that's thanks to a very sporting opponent (thank you Theo!) who kept rescuing me and watching me make the exact same mistake on a different wall. I finally chose the pit for it to shoot into, and that was that.

Scrooge McDerp proved by far the most promising of my robots, but lost its 4 heat battles because I either got stuck in the arena gap, or took a full speed run at someone by the pit, only for them to move out of the way at the last second. I need more practice with this one but I'll bring it back next time.

And now we have to talk about When Unicorns Go Rogue. Where Rust-Bucket had the weight issue, I made sure WUGR was lighter so it actually moved. I may have overdone it, however: in a 150g weight class, I weighed in at a hefty... 47g. In 3 of the heat fights I was, predictably, outclassed. I couldn't push, manoeuvre or damage my opponents in the way they could against me. However, I did actually take a win in my first fight! I'm being moderately smug about having got that monkey off my back but I can't say I'm proud of how it happened. After so nearly getting stuck on a couple of occasions, I managed to wriggle free and my opponent instead found himself stuck. I tried to free him, but because I'd messed up the angle of the ramp I only had traction on one wheel and it cost me. I did get that sorted for the second battle where I met the spinner, and I'll post a damage photo later. What caught me out there was I forgot to readjust the ramp for the third fight, which cost me traction on one wheel again, and by the 4th fight I was struggling with wear and tear and lost easily.

I did later participate, with Scrooge McDerp, in the rumble and the boss battle. In the rumble I was in the pit early, and after a minute or two managed to wriggle behind a wall to give an opening for the remaining robots. But in the boss battle I found myself flipped early by another ant and only got back on my wheels after the boss was pitted. I did my best to help Theo, who was being ganged up on by then, and it came down to just the two of us. I got my ramp stuck under his servo, and managed to cling on when he almost pitted me, then went for a kamikaze dive when he was by the pit and drove myself in when once again he moved. Not the best ending but my best result - even if I'd have been considered beaten in any other tournament after being upside down for a few minutes.
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
Tufty
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Oh, It Broke: Team Diary

Post by Tufty »

https://imgur.com/gallery/A0gO78P

This is the 'before' photo of the 3 machines, and after my one spinner battle, the damage to the front of When Unicorns Go Rogue.

https://imgur.com/gallery/uypmSm1

Here we have a photo of the wheel of WUGR which lost all of... one layer of the MDF. Considering I kept it light to keep mobility in the machine, the lack of armour should have meant the machine came home in bits and had to retire from its subsequent fights (I had the parts to rebuild, but at that stage probably not the time) but instead I came away defeated but intact. I have no idea how. Also forgive the blades on the wheels - they were added for a whiteboard fight that never happened where I was hoping to put it in the arena with all the flippers and see if anyone could get it stuck in the ceiling. More spikes = more chance of that. The wheels don't go round like that, of course!

The other photo in that link is the final 'damage' to Scrooge McDerp. In the first fight I was against a grabber with freshly painted orange claws that left some of their paint on top of Scrooge. I also picked up a speck of blue paint during either the heats or the all-robot rumble, but it got knocked off again during the boss battle so the ramp ended up as shiny as it had started.
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
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