Denise - My first Fairyweight (and future Denise-related plans)

First off, shout out to Xo Wang for linking my blog on his. I will do the same for his blog. 

Second, the first part of this was originally a SERVO magazine article I submitted a few days ago.

The 150 gram Fairyweight class (also known as the UK Antweight class) has unfortunately been on a decline in the Northeastern United States. After talking with several UK Antweight builders, I decided to build one in order to increase the amount of bots at Motorama 2016.

The method I was going to use is one utilized by UK Antweight builder Rory Mangles (his build diaries can be found here). His robots are made from a folded piece of Lexan, usually 0.08 inches (2mm thick). They have proven to be quite durable in battle throughout his fighting robot career. At my local hardware store I picked up some 0.098 inch (2.5mm) Lexan sheet. I also had some leftover 0.0625 inch (1.5mm) Lexan sheet that I used for a previous bot, perfect for the top cover.

I began by using cardboard to mock up the robot’s body, and traced the design onto the Lexan. The body was cut out with tin snips and holes for mounting the motors and wedge were drilled. (the latter holes weren’t added immediately, which let to some “interesting” drilling methods to say the least) When it came time to folding the body into a “shell”, a pair of locking pliers designed to bend sheet metal allowed me to easily fold the Lexan.  The locking pliers were also used to make the bot’s wedge. 

A fresh Lexan sheet for my new bot

Almost there...

Done!

           

The receiver/ESC/motor combo came from the UK, in the form of the NanoTwo kit. It contains a DSM2 LemonRX receiver, an ESC, and two gearmotors pre-soldered (it also contained motor mounts and 3D printed wheels, but I chose to use different ones because of how I designed the robot). All I needed to do was bind it to my transmitter.

All that was left to be done was to fully assemble the robot. I used two FIngertech Bearing Blocks to mount the motors, and attach the top and base of the bot together.. Since the Bearing Blocks are designed for the Spark motors, they needed to be modified to fit the smaller gearmotors. I sent them off to another builder to mill a slot .04 inches (1mm) deep. 

 

My bot was finished a day before the event, with a little under 20 grams to spare. I had previously given it the name, “Denise” because of an inside joke that occurred in a Facebook chat with some of my UK builder friends. One of them referred to Demise, the scary Fairyweight spinner that had won the past three Motorama events undefeated, as “Denise”. I thought it was funny and the name stuck (I could have been an awful person and told the event organizer to pronounce it the same way, but I decided not to!). 
         

At Motorama, there were only two other Fairyweights, so the event would be in round robin format. I ended up fighting Demise first, and lost. The fight went the full two minutes, the only damage to the bot were some cracks on the front wedge and the loss of a wheel.  I managed to win my second fight against Mike Jeffries' 3D Shockbots lifter, called 'Bia' (he won it at Motorama last year). Bia would later get shredded by Demise in its next fight This meant Denise came home with second place.

Denise and Demise

Denise and Bia

Bia after facing Demise

Building Denise made me appreciate the Fairyweight class even more. As soon as my fighting was done I already thought of more ideas for new bots and how to improve Denise. Hopefully the Fairyweight class will boost in numbers in the Northeast, and Denise will reign supreme (I can hope, can’t I?).

Following the event, all I've been thinking about recently are (UK) antweight designs. Aside from Denise 2, (which I will go into detail about in this post), I've thought of two other ideas for future 150g bots.

1. A horizontal undercutter originally similar to Dark Blade, but thanks to advice from Rory and Shakey, I'm leaning more towards something like Anticyclone
2. A vertical spinner similar to Why Wait (no image/video at the moment)

For Denise 2, I have several design goals (besides the obvious goals of working properly and being invertible):

1. 4 wheel drive (4wd Nanotwo ESC/receiver combo with 4 3d printed wheels from Shakey and standard micro gearmotor mounts)
2. Wheelguards (most likely 1.6mm Lexan)
3. A flush enough wedge (the wedge on the original Denise was messed up due to my imperfect bending, which meant that it had a hard time getting underneath other bots)
4. Durability (especially since I'm going to be fighting in an arena without push-outs)

The wedge will most likely stay at 2.4mm Lexan unless I am able to make weight for something thicker. At the moment, my material ideas are as follows:

1. 2mm base with 1.5mm top, sides and back, and 2.4mm wedge
2. All 2mm body and 2.4mm wedge
3. 1.5mm body and >2.4mm wedge

Of course, Bot Blast is the next on my agenda, so preparation for that comes first.

Bot Blast 2015 Recap (Very Belated)

I completely forgot I had a blog, and I think it would be a good idea to update it. Since my last event was Bot Blast 2015, that's the perfect place to continue

Both Slim Pickens and Thunder Child were ready to go days before the event. Viciously Circular had issues with mixing that I never got the chance to fix during the event (I was going to put it in the rumble or grudge someone).

If you forget which one is which you haven't been reading this blog enough.

At the event I was able to easily get through safety checks. I also had the pleasure of meeting Russ Barrow for the first time, who I had been chatting with for quite some time online. Russ had brought Dark Pounder, Dark Blade, and Dark Daggers for the main competition, and Dark Micro 44 and Dark Bullit for grudges and rumbles.

Many of my friends were there, including Jamison Go. It felt weird seeing him for the first time after his television debut on the reboot of BattleBots.

Due to the large number of bots competing this year (more than any other Bot Blast), all matches were shortened to two minutes long.

The antweight bots

The beetleweight bots

The mantisweight bots

Slim Pickens (2W 2L)

My first antweight match was against Cornerstone, a 2wd wedge I had fought before at Motorama. Last time I fought it beat me due to my ESCs not being calibrated properly.

The match went well, as I was able to outpush and outwedge it most of the time. After the two minutes were up, I had won the judges' decision.

Match two was against Sisu, another 2wd wedge (no picture available ATM). Unfortunately for Sisu, its wedge wasn't flush enough to be too effective against me. I dominated it for the entire match and moved onto the next fight.

Satan's Segway was my next opponent. Straight from MIT, this bot was made out of pipes. It previous events, it didn't do so well. As soon as the fight started, one of my Silver Spark motors decided that life wasn't worth living and broke a gear. Slim Pickens was left limping around for the full two minutes and was sent to the losers' bracket.

I went back to the pits and swapped out the wiring harness for Slim Pickens with a spare one I had made before the event. It was ready to go after the ESCs were recalibrated.

In the losers' bracket, I was drawn up against Cyclone, a horizontal midcutter with a nasty blade.

(Right)

 I was really nervous going into this match because this was the first time Slim Pickens ever fought a midcutter, and the fear of my wheels getting chopped off was present. After one good slam into the wall, Cyclone took my wheel off and then followed it up by ripping my wedge off.

Slim Pickens was done for the day. As I went back to my pit table with the bot in hand, Alex Horne, the man who helped me with this bot the most saw the damage that it had sustained. I don't know what happened, but I think a bit of him died that day.

Thunder Child (4W 2L)

With its brand new steel wedge, I had high hopes for Thunder Child at this event.

With my newfound confidence against spinners, the first bot I was going to face would be an undercutter.

(Foreground)

My opponent was Silent Spring, built by Jamison Go from MIT (something something BattleBots joke). What was interesting about this fight was that at Bot Blast two years ago I faced DDT, the one pound bot this one was based off of. He easily beat me.

Immediately, I raced across the arena to try and box rush him. I missed, and then we lined up for a head on collision. One good hit made him ricochet around the arena. After several other bounces, his weapon belt broke and I was easily able to push him around. Thunder Child won on a judges' decision, and suffered only scratches to the wedge and one side panel.

It made the "ping" sound whenever Silent Spring hit it. That was a plus.

My next match was against Gemini, another 4wd wedge with a 3D-printed frame.

Despite my best driving, I couldn't get under him with my new wedge. This sent me to the losers' bracket, and I was determined to make up for my previous loss.

My next opponent was Alex Horne, a good friend of mine. His bot Robo-Rooter came off of a lucky win against drum spinner Arcbeetle. Robo-Rooter was another midcutter with an STD (single tooth disc). I was a bit worried since I thought he could get a good hit on me if I wasn't careful. Thankfully, I didn't need to worry.

Robo-Rooter's weapon never worked, and its drive had problems. It was an easy win for me, and Alex gave me some advice during the match.

"Hubmotors are stupid, don't build them." 

-Alex Horne, 2015

My next fight would have been against a scary looking eggbeater named Chibi Knockout, but it suffered drive issues and had to forfeit. 

Instead, I ended up fighting its teammate, Don Doerfler's Circuit Breaker.

Don's bot was originally another midcutter with a partly 3D-printed frame. After running out of 3D-printed weapon pulleys, he was at the point of forfeiting. I had a spare titanium sheet and offered to give it to him. He duct taped it onto the back of his bot, creating a massive spatula, and added unnecessary but hilarious foam pieces to it.

It was a tough match, but I got the win. He kept charging me with the spatula but I was able to dodge it and give him some good shoves.

The next match was against Gemini, again. I was really nervous fighting a bot that previously beat me, and kind of bummed out that I wouldn't be facing Colsonbot. Not having much confidence in the same wedge that I used the first time, I quickly changed to my spatula wedge, but put it upside down to make a traditional hinged wedge.

I am happy to say that history did not repeat itself. For the entire match I was under Gemini and straight up dominating him to the point where Gemini's driver was ready to put his transmitter down.

After that, I was guaranteed first, second, or third. I was even more tense.

In the losers' bracket final, I would be facing two-time champion Mondo Bizarro.

Truth be told, I sometimes underestimate Brandon's bot at events. At Motorama and Franklin, it got some of the worst possible draws. For the past two years at Bot Blast, Mondo had gone undefeated. This year it lost to Dominant Mode in the winners' bracket final, and now I had to face it.

I used the anti-drum attachment that had worked well for me against Grande Tambor, as it was specifically designed for bots like Mondo Bizarro. For most of the match, I had the upper hand. However, the foam block used for shock absorption started to fall off, and Mondo got a good hit on me towards the end of the fight.

At the time I thought I had won. The judges said otherwise. Mondo Bizarro went on to get first place for the third time in a row.

For the first time ever, Thunder Child had placed at an event. All the things I learned from Pete and friends had paid off.

After the regular awards were handed out, Jeremy announced the winner of the Best Driver award. By an overwhelming majority vote, it was me.

Bot Blast was a success for me. Thunder Child made me love the beetle class a lot more, and I knew that there was a lot more in store for it in the future. Slim Pickens didn't go home without a win, but it's time for another rebuild.

Thank you to all my friends who were there, and Jeremy and family for giving all of us a reason to come back every year!

Bot Blast 2015: Thoughts on the Other Bots (Beetleweights)

This is part two of my thoughts on the Bot Blast 2015 competitors. If you have not yet read the antweight thoughts post, I would recommend you read it first.

I decided to run Thunder Child instead of Viciously Circular for two reasons:

1. After its performance at Motorama, I decided to run it.
2. Viciously Circular is being worked on by Kyle Singer.

Like the previous post, I will only be doing the bots that either have images, or I know what they look like. To view the full Builders Database list, click here.

#1 Low Blow- I'm worried that I won't be able to push it, but at the same time have a feeling it'll be pretty slow. It should be able to stand up to most of the spinners.

Arcbeetle- It's a Kyle Singer bot, so I can expect it to be deadly. I think it'll place this year.

Dark Pummeler- Not looking forward to it just like Dark Pounder. It got third at the Seattle event, and I think it'll go far

El Destructo- It's gotten a complete makeover, and it looks great. Brandon has been pouring his heart and soul into this bot, so it'll be neat to see how it does.

Gemini- Fast wedge, I just need to outdrive it to win. Hopefully I don't have to fight it (I don't want a wedgefest).

Mondo Bizarro- Two-time reigning champion. Probably the most successful Weta kit next to Weta itself. I think I can beat it. I have the anti-drum attachment, and if I can beat Grande Tambor, Mondo's next!

Nocturne- It had weapon problems at Motorama, but hopefully they've been sorted out. It's well driven, too.

One Fierce Fourty Five- A melty brain spinner made by Gene. I've seen it in a video before, and it's scary. I'll use the scoop to keep it at bay.

Rmr- It had some issues at the last two events it was at, and hopefully they'll be fixed. I kind of want to fight it, because I think it'll be an entertaining fight.

Robo-Rooter- Very vicious looking horizontal spinner built by Alex. I really hope it doesn't eat itself like it did two years ago, since I really want to fight it.

Scorpius- This bot is a 3D printed undercutter with a blade similar to that of Traumatizer. I don't like fighting undercutters, but I'll see what happens.

Scrambles the Death Dealer- Always looking mean event after event, it always comes up short. I really hope Tim's modifications work out this time.

Short Circuit- Another drum, I should be okay with this one. The lack of wheelguards could be a problem for it.

YardMaster, Master of Yards- Similar to Jamison Go's Silent Spring, I've just got to be careful and not let it get the best of me.

My top three scared-of bots in the beetleweight division are:

1.  Dark Pummeler
2.  Mondo Bizarro 
3. Arcbeetle

Bot Blast 2015: Thoughts on the Other Bots (Antweights)

Hello friends! I am back from my hiatus from blogging, so I thought I'd do a predictions post about my next event, Bot Blast 2015. For Bot Blast, I'm only bringing Slim Pickens and Thunder Child. I thought I'd divide up the posts by weight class, so I will first be doing the antweights. For the record I will be talking about every bot that has a picture of it, or I know what it looks like. To view the Duilders Database lineup, click here.

Anyway, here we go:

Antelope- Well driven wedge, I think he will be using the full wedge this time rather than the wedgelets, so I have to be more careful. Antelope has dropped out of the event.

Blutsauger- So far it looks like a nasty dumbot. I've seen the build progress of it, and it impresses me.

Cornerstone- I got beaten by this bot at Motorama because I had ESC problems. It's a well driven bot that I hopefully will be able to outdrive.

Cyclone- I haven't really seen that much of it in action, but I simply want to go right into his blade and make sure my wheels aren't attacked.

Dark Blade- I've seen footage of it that Russ posted, and it looks FIERCE. However, it did run into issues at a Seattle event. Russ should be able to fix it in time for the event.

Dark Pounder- Dark Pounder scares me. However, it might not be an unstoppable bot. Since Bot Blast uses a wooden floor, Dark Pounder will not have the advantage by using magnet wheels. It lost at the Seattle event because it got stuck under the arena seams, so if I'm lucky, you never know.

Ferocious Mk. - I actually don't know if Brandon Young is going to use this one, since he has three other bots entered. If he does, I'll have to outdrive it.

FireArrow V2- It doesn't have a picture but I know it's going to be similar to Kobalos but with the Fingertech Sumo Wheels. He'll be tough.

Gyroscopic- The bot that beat me at my first event is back. However, I'm faster and more maneuverable than before, so I think I have a good shot.

Justice- Should be fun. I've got to watch the wheels, though.

Petit Gateau- A first-try build from a long time fan of the sport. Looks crude, but I think it could surprise a few people.

Satan's Segway- Probably the coolest bot here. I'll use the horns and keep him at bay.

Spinzilla- The Same as Cyclone. Watch the wheels.

The Ophidian- One of the new Viper Kits that I really want to fight. If I flip him over, then I can control the fight and prevent him from chopping my wheels off.

The Red Shpee- Slow wedge, probably a joke entry.

My Top 3 most scared of bots:

1. Dark Pounder

2. Dark Blade

3. FireArrow V2

Franklin Cup 2014 Recap

I feel like this should've been posted sooner, but oh well.

The night before the event I couldn't sleep at all. I was so excited about the next day. What would happen? How would I do? As the hours ticked by, I was even more nervous!

I arrived at the event around 7 am, and set up my pit table next to Ian McMahon, who brought two ants and a beetle. Ian's a SWARC (Southwestern Alliance of Robot Combat) veteran, and I had some cool conversations with him about his experiences. My table was on the border between the pit area and the audience area, something I've been doing for the past two Franklin events.

Slim Pickens got through safety easily, but I had a problem. Viciously Circular was overweight by .7 oz. I was running out of time, and I wouldn't have enough time to bring the weight down. So for this event, Viciously Circular was out.

The fight brackets were posted, and I had to wait anxiously for my first match.
 

The pits. Lots of activity, as always.

Crawled Crawler, a cool looking sportsman from Canada. It managed to get 3rd in its weight class.

 Ian's bots. The bot on the far left, Speed Wedge 3, got first in the beetles.

Beetleweight Weta kit Mondo Bizarro. It didn't do so well this time.

Togr, an angled horizontal spinner built by Kyle Singer. It got second place in the beetles and did a lot of damage

Triggo, a destructive shell spinner built by Zac O'Donnell. It got first place in the featherweights.

The arena after a day of fighting.

Match 1: Slim Pickens vs Physique Black

 Physique Black was one of the scariest bots there. I wasn't sure I'd make it out alive. However, I was able to dodge the drum (which at one point started smoking), and win the judges' decision.



Match 2: Slim Pickens vs Puppy

For this match, I decided to not use the horns for Slim Pickens. After what happened at Bot Blast, I didn't want to take any chances with them slamming me on my back. We traded blows, and it was probably one of the closes fights I'd ever had. Luckily, I won the decision.



Match 3: Slim Pickens vs Brisingr

The actual Brisingr

For the record, Brisingr looked nothing like what it did in its BuildersDB page, so I don't know if Kyle was lazy or messing with us. It had a nasty spinning disc that had done some damage in its previous fights. I was really nervous. Luckily for me, they had weapon motor issues which allowed me to push them around with little to no scratches.


Antweight Final: Slim Pickens vs Puppy (again)


This was it. The ant final. I knew that if I lost this, I would still have another chance (you have to beat the undefeated bot twice in order to win in this event). This fight wasn't as close as the other one was. For the first time, I got first place at an event. Interestingly, this was the fight where Slim Pickens took the most damage. One of the washers for my Snap Hubs fell off and I didn't realize it until after the match. I had to go back into the arena to get it since I can't buy replacements from Kurtis.

Slim Pickens with its first place trophy.

This event was without a doubt a success. Slim Pickens performed flawlessly and left with barely any damage. I got to see some great matches, see cool bots, and hang out with friends. There will also be an article in Servo magazine in the next month or so that will be written by Hugh Savoldelli, so stay tuned for that as well. My next event is Motorama 2014, which leaves me with a lot of things to get done:

• Order extra snap rings for Slim Pickens
• Order extra parts for Thunder Child
• Get Viciously Circular in weight for Motorama
• Start working on my new beetle

The full results of the event.

A friend of mine, who goes by the alias "The Media Wiz", came to the event and made a little video about it. I think it would do the video justice if I embedded it here:

Franklin Institute Robot Conflict 2014 Predictions (Antweights)

It's that time again! Franklin Institute Robot Conflict is coming up, and it's time for predictions. I am going to devote this post to only antweights, since I will be competing with Viciously Circular and Slim Pickens. That way, I will be able to talk about each bot I could be facing.

You can view the BuildersDatabase page for the event here.


Brisingr

Brisignr is built by Kyle Singer, who has created bots such as Ripto and Fangus. The sawblade doesn't concern me as much as it would with a spinning bar or disc. One thing to note is that Brisingr was (I believe) the basis for Swamp Woman 2, a bot that I fought at my first event and beat. I shouldn't have a problem, but I just need to make sure he doesn't chew up my wheels.

Kate the Rat

This was the first bot I ever beat. I should be able to do it again, but it depends on who is driving it. The team (a family of six), has had alternating drivers on several of their bots. I'll just have to see who's driving this time.

Physique Black/Red

These bots scare me. They both have vicious looking drums, and are probably my greatest threat at this event. At Motorama I beat a bot similar to them thanks to a close judges' decision, but I think it will come down to how well they can drive them.

Puppy
Magzant is back, and it has a new name. Like Kate the Rat, it depends on who is driving it. It can get under me, so I just need to stay to the sides and shove them around. I'll probably ditch the horns this time.


Sky Rocket

I faced this bot at Bot Blast, and he could have beaten me had I not hit him in the bottom after getting under his wedge. I need to be careful facing him, since Sky Rocket had a pretty good driver, and it will probably be a close match.

Spinzilla

One of my best friends, Brandon Nichols, has a new antweight. It looks deadly, especially since it came off a 2nd place win at the MIT Maker Faire. Like Brisingr, I'll make sure he doesn't chop my wheels off.


The Red Shpee

Apparently it has a wedge, but it has no picture or any combat record. I'll just have to wait until the event.

So here are the top 3 most worrying antweights:

1. Spinzilla

2. Brisingr

3. Sky Rocket

Bot Blast 2014 Report

ANALYSIS TIME

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

Bot Blast 2014 Predictions

Another event is on the horizon, and it is time for me to make predictions!

Bot Blast 2014 is an annual event held in Bloomsburg, PA. It features antweight, beetleweight, and mantisweight robots (and formerly fairyweights). I will be competing with two ants this time, Slim Pickens, and my new ant, Viciously Circular (formerly called "Endgame").

Let's get Started!

Here's how the ants look:

Edit: as of July 4th, Cannon will not be competing

Probably my biggest concerns include Gyroscopic, an eggbeater that beat me at FI 2012, Cannon,
another beater that got second at Motorama 2013, FireArrow, a very good wedge that got 3rd last year, and Antelope (it's being redesigned to be 4wd instead of just 2wd), another good wedge. Another bot, Velociraptor, could possibly be a threat. It's done very well in the past, but my wedge should hold up against the sawblade. If we do fight, I do hope to see a lot of sparks!

Now we're onto the beetles!

Probably the one to watch out for is Raptor 2.2, the two-time Robogames champion. It's fast, very well driven, and can take a beating but keep on going. From the same team is Allosaurus, a drum bot which is one of the few bots that has ever beaten Raptor 2.2. Ripto 3.0 is a returning champion(?) which has done really well and can hit hard. Reigning champions Mondo Bizarro return as well. It's a good bot, but I think it might get outclassed by some of the other bots. One Fierce Javelin is competing, and seemed promising when it got a few wins at the 2014 USATL STEM Tech Olympiad, and is pretty fast, too.

Finally, the mantisweights.

Reigning champion Threecoil returns to fight against some more dangerous bots. It's got a flywheel powered flipper that gave it two first place finishes in a row. Returning after a years' hiatus, One Fierce Bush Wacker is a nasty spinner that won a few years ago. It's another hard hitter. Chibi Blackout is a nasty looking drumbot that resembles that of a 15lber. CATAPULT is a shell spinner that has been under construction for a while. If it doesn't have any technical problems, it could do a lot of damage.

That's it for today!

Motorama 2014: Days 2 and 3

I'm back!

Day 1:

So my adventures in Motorama scaled up by three pounds. Thunder Child had some ESC issues, but they ended up getting fixed thanks to the folks from the Grande Tambor team.

It works!

Battle 1: Thunder Child vs Trilobite

Your standard (boring) wedge match. I was facing the Kitbots man himself, Peter Smith, with the exact same bot. My electronics were screwed up for some reason, so I ended up stopping and slowing down at some points. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but my guess would be that it had something to do with the BEC. Trilobite won on a judges' decision.

Day 2:

Battle 2: Thunder Child vs Mulcher

Mulcher is another bot from the team that brought Magzant, Kate the Rat, and Heartbreaker. It's a horizontal spinner that's shaped like the starship Enterprise. Pete Smith gave me an attachment to keep the spinner at bay. I went into this match really worried that my bot would get torn apart. However, I remembered the words of Matt Maxham, the driver of Sewer Snake, "Break his fist with my face". Mulcher spun up early before the green light, but I started driving early so the judge's ignored it. He got some good hits on me, and I kept ramming him. I ended up losing a wheel and was basically limping like every Sewer Snake v Last Rites match. After another hit, the belts for his drive motors came out and he stopped moving. He ended up tapping out.

Thunder Child after facing Mulcher

Battle 3: Thunder Child vs Maniac Kathy

Maniac Cathy is another Kitbot, which is an undercutter with a self righting hoop. I wasn't sure what I'd do to KO him, so I figured it would be best to just push him around for the full 3 minutes. We traded blows, and then he flipped me over. Two of my drive motors stopped working, and I ended up high centered. It was a tap out for me.

So I was done for the day when it came to competing. That was okay, because there were lots of awesome fights to watch, and more places to explore in the event.

At the end of the event, I got a trophy, prizes, and a picture with Ms. Motorama.

(Insert joke about how this is the closest I will be to a girl here)

I also learned a few things:

-Make sure to check your connections with a 9 volt before using a lipo battery.
-Bring a lot more spare motors, since the spinners will kill them.
- Make more attachments for different bots.

Motorama 2014: Day 1

My dad and I went to Motorma 2014 last February, and this is our story

Day 1:

I was planning on fighting with two bots: the new and improved Slim Pickens, and 4 Minute Warning, which I bought off ebay from Team Asian Invasion. The latter of the two was unable to compete due to the lack of a lipo battery. No problem, I'd get it ready for Bot Blast. Slim Pickens had burned out its escs a week before the event, and a team graciously gave us some replacements. See, we aren't all bitter rivals!

I got to see many of my friends that day, and meet some new friends. One guy I got to talk to was Ray Billings. You might not know who that guy is, but to me, he's a celebrity. He built Last Rites, one of the most destructive spinners of all time.


Battle 1: Slim Pickens v No Such Robot

This was the guy who beat me in the FI 2014 rumble. Its builder had given it a bigger blade, and added a self righting mechanism. I simply pushed it around and won the judges' decision, while NSR only got a few shots in at my backside.

After that mach, my lipo burned out. I have no idea why. Luckily, some other builder gave me another lipo to use for the remainer of the event.

Battle 2: Slim Pickens v Algos

Algos was built by one of my best friends, Mike Jefferies of Near Chaos Robotics. He's given me lots of advice over two years, so now it was mentor v student! One shot, and I'm stuck on my horns.

Battle 3: Slim Pickens v Klazo

Klazo was the prototype Kitbots Saifu kit, which was also a part of Near Chaos Robotics (the driver was going to marry the driver of Algos).  I honestly was surprised that I was drawn up against this bot. In its previous fight, it faced Vile Ant, a terrifying bar spinner, and somehow won. I felt a bit less nervous going into this match, as Klazo was still a threat, but less than the Moto 2012 antweight champion. She got some good shots on me, but I stayed strong and pushed her around and even had her on her dancing on her front for a moment. The judges gave me the nod to go through!

Battle 4: Slim Pickens v Magzant

I've faced nearly all of this team's bots before, and I've beaten all of them. Magzant is unique because it uses brushless motors for its drive (brushless motors are used for spinning weapons). I scooped the other wedge up and got a good hold of it with my little horns. Whilst carrying the other bot, I shoved it into each wall and stuck her in the small space between the wall and floor.

Battle 5: Slim Pickens v Algos (again)
At this point in time, I knew that no matter what, I'd be in the top 3, get a trophy, and go down in Motorama history (okay, the final part might not really happen). This time I removed the horns, so I wouldn't get stuck on my back. Algos knocked me over a few times, and I got under him and pushed him around. Then he got a good shot and tore my wedge off, exposing my battery. I tapped out after that hit.

I got third in the antweights. Yay!

Luckily, the wedge damage wasn't that bad. I just had to reattach it with two screws. I lost both of my drive motors, and was done for the day.

The best match of the day IMO was the antweight rumble. Take a look!

The bots in the rumble are: PMD (Penis Measuring Device), Klazo, Magzant, Kate the Rat, Poco Tambor, No Such Robot, and Vile Ant

Next post: Days 2 and 3!

A Very Very Belated Franklin 2013 Report

I AM BACK


So I went to Franklin 2013, and this is my story.

I got there around 7:30 and bring all of my crap in. The arena is where it has been for the past couple of years, in an area that is rarely used outside of robot stuff. The table I picked was near the boundary line where non-competitors could go, and sandwiched between Hugh Savoldelli and his dad, and Zac O'Donell's two bots. Team Cooking with Gas took up the other side of my table, and I made sure to give him as much room as possible, since he had two 30lbers.

Battle 1: Slim Pickens v Hangar 11

So it's me vs Hugh. I get a couple of good rams at him (Also, you can see how zippy my robot is. It's running 22.2:1 Silver Sparks), but he flips me onto the wall and I can't get off. Oh well.


Battle 2: Thunder Child v Mr, Croup
I got an unlucky draw against this vertical spinner. I got hit several times until I was on my back. Luckily, it actually worked!


Battle 3: Slim Pickens v Ubersaw

Ubersaw's blade wasn't working, so the match was much easier for me. I simply pushed him around like it was nobody's business. Unfortunately, I got stuck underneath the gutter (seriously, why add that?), but the other robot got stuck as well. We got unstuck, and then I won on a judges' decision.

Battle 4: Thunder Child v Void
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9Q1Xxeviw
Void never got its weapon to work. Thunder Child on the other hand, wasn't fully charged, so I was basically pushing him around really slowly. I ended up winning on a judges' decison.

Battle 5: Thunder Child v Play n' Crazy

Thunder child blew 2 of its motors, and was reduced to limping. PnC dealt some good blows against me, and I had to tap out.

Battle 6: Slim Pickens v Dust Pandemonium

DP was a wide bot with a little blender blade behind a "dust pan". I pushed him around for a bit, and then he flipped me over after my flappy wedge flapped backwards. He got the judges' win.


Battle 7: Antweight rumble

It was me vs Ubersaw, No Such Robot (a wedge with a saw), and See You Next Wednesday (a 1lb Sherderator). I started off pushing the other bots around, but NSR got from behind and cut out the back side of my bot. The lipo came out and was dragged behind Slim Pickens. I ended up tripping over it and it disconnected. I believe No Such Robot won the rumble.


Despite both bots going 1-2, I had a great time! Many of my friends were there, and I saw some awesome fights! Next time, I'll talk about Motorama '14!

Franklin 2013 Predictions

So it's my second NERC Franklin Institute event coming up, and I thought I'd dedicate this blog post to talking about who I think will win this year, and who looks the most deadly. If you robot isn't here, don't feel bad. Let's start with the antweights.

For me, I think Poco Tambor is one to watch out for. It's been competing for years and has done well before. Gyroscopic is a destructive eggbeater that beat me last year to get first. I hope to get Sean back this time! I've seen Capricant in videos from Gulf Coast Robot Sports, and it looks impressive. It can push other robots around with its little wedgelets and is very zippy (I think it's using Kitbots' 1000 rpm motors). My friend Brandon (aka Headbanger142 on youtube) told me about Antelope. it's really difficult to get underneath, but I think I can do it. It looks durable, too. All in all, I feel more confident with my new wedge that is stronger than before.

Now the beetles! Mondo Bizarro is definitely the one to watch. They've been undefeated in this form (originally it was a UK beetle with a plastic drum, but now it's a Weta kit). The durable and powerful Grande Tambor is also gonna be there. They were runner ups two years ago, and just came off of a third place finish at Motorama 2013. The same team that made Capricant are also competing with Ramvac, a wedge that's improved over years, and is quite fast. We've also got the Biohazard toy Bazinga that got first last year. I think it's the last Bohazard toy still competing, after D12 retired after last year's Franklin. It's got a good amount pushing power, but it's made of plastic! Brandon also told me Mr. Croup is a good spinner. I believe it's sent several bots to the ceiling. My robot Thunder Child will be competing, and I do think I'll be able to stand up to these spinners. The Trilobite kits are very durable, and my scoop can get underneath most anything.

In the hobbyweights, the only bot I've ever seen before is Fiasco. It got second last year, and should do well. As far as the others, I don't have an opinion on them.

Upheaval has been winning for years in the sportsman class, so there is probably no doubt it'll win. I would say the veteran Tyrant, but I don't think Al is going to be there this year (Confirmed: he will not be there). Gigarange is a four bar lifter which I've seen at Motorama before. Phoenix is another flipper to watch out for. I'd love to see a flipper frenzy with it against Upheaval. Jack Reacher is a cleverly designed flywheel powered flipper. Its builder, Zac, made a scaled up version of his smaller robot Threecoil. I want to see more of Jack Reacher, since it's cool to see new designs in the Sportsman class.

Finally, we come down to the Featherweight class. Like a reincarnation of lightweight Ziggo, Tetanus has splattered many a good robot around the box. I give it my vote. We've also got Whammo, a wedge that actually fought Tetanus two years ago. It survived for the judges' decision, since Tetanus wasn't as destructive as it is now.

So what are your predictions? Tell me!

Update: Antelope, Ramvac, and Capricant have pulled out of the competition.

Hi

So I just created a blog. I'll try to update it as much as I can (or choose to). Enjoy!