So here's how my matches went:
Slim Pickens vs Nuff Said
Nuff Said was a box with two wedgelets on the front. At the start, I got under him, he got under me, and then he started to lose control. I shoved him into the wall and stuck him underneath. Then I whipped out my phone and took a picture, which gave everyone a laugh.
Viciously Circular vs Velociraptor
Interestingly, this would be a rematch from Robogames 2013, in which Endgame (the original bot), beat Velociraptor when it drove out of a pushout by accident. In Bot Blast, it wasn't going to happen Both bots exchanged hits until Viciously Circular lost its pulley and was flipped over.
Slim Pickens vs Empire
Empire was a wedge with a spinning drum that I don't think ended up working. It was built by a team that had competed only once before. I pushed it into the wall several times and the link came off. Another KO for Slim Pickens.
Viciously Circular vs Sky Rocket
(Middle)
Sky Rocket was made from a new team for their first event. It was a scaled up version of Zach Lytle's "Micro Drive" that was made into an antweight kit by Fingertech Robotics. Going into this match, I was afraid that it would be able to get under me, and it did so for the first 15 seconds in the match. Not only that, but I didn't want to completely destroy their bot in their first event. I was able to get around to the sides and hit them, and drive it to the wall to deliver some its to the underbelly. The driver tapped out, and I backed off.Slim Pickens vs Velociraptor
After losing to this bot with Viciously Circular, I was a bit nervous going into this match. For safe measure, I removed the horns on my bot so I wouldn’t get flipped over. I got under him most of the match and he chewed up my wheels and put a few dents in the front. After the full three minutes, the judges gave me the nod to go through.
Viciously Circular vs Hercules
(Right)
Hercules was a servo powered lifter bot that I didn’t seem afraid of. I thought I could simply get under him and pound his underbelly. After one hit, my front panel fell off and I tapped out since it exposed my battery. The reason was because I didn’t put in all the screws and it simply fell out due to the shockwaves from the hit.
Slim Pickens vs Antelope
If you recall my predictions blog post, you’d remember that I was worried about Antelope. From its previous matches, it looked very effective and very wedgy. For this match, the builder used several aluminum(?) wedglets as opposed to its normal flat wedge. I pushed him around the entire match, and was able to get the judges’ nod to go to the finals.
Slim Pickens vs Fire Arrow
Fire Arrow was definitely on the top of my list of “bots that I am worried about facing”. What would make this match important is that it was for all the marbles. There would be no second match if I lost since it was a modified double elimination. The match started and we got under each other multiple times. My drive system had some issues and it seemed that I kept turning when I wanted to go straight. He got under me and shoved me to the wall, which ended up flipping me onto my horns. This left me with second place in the ants.
All in all, Bot Blast 2014 was a success for me. I got second in the ants, used a bot with an active weapon for the first time, and saw some awesome matches. I also learned how well of a driver I was, as several people told me how well I was doing. One other highlight was the crowd. They really enjoyed the event, and a lot of kids got really excited seeing robot combat for possibly the first time.
The next event I will be going to is Franklin 2014. I already know what must be done for the event. They are as follows:
-Resolder Slim Pickens' drive motor leads
-Get extra snap rings for my Snap Hubs
-Loctite the screws on Viciously Circular's weapon pulley, and grind a flat edge on the motor shaft
-Replace Viciously Circular's weapon motor and ESC
No comments:
Post a Comment