Robot Wars is coming back

Author
Discussion

FourWheelDrift

88,380 posts

283 months

Wednesday 10th August 2016
quotequote all
AshBurrows said:
How can I watch battlebots in the UK?
Netflix or anything have it? Looks a billion times more hardcore than RW.
All the fights are on here - http://www.youpak.com/search?q=battlebots+2016

Ones from the last 2 months.

Battlebots USA 1hr of TV, less than 12 minutes of fighting per episode.

AshBurrows

2,552 posts

161 months

Wednesday 10th August 2016
quotequote all
FourWheelDrift said:
All the fights are on here - http://www.youpak.com/search?q=battlebots+2016

Ones from the last 2 months.

Battlebots USA 1hr of TV, less than 12 minutes of fighting per episode.
Thanks mate!

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
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Seems like drum spinners are becoming popular in battlebots.

They don't seem to be as immediately destructive but much more durable and effective later on than the large horizontal blades.

Some Gump

12,671 posts

185 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
quotequote all
cookie118 said:
Seems like drum spinners are becoming popular in battlebots.

They don't seem to be as immediately destructive but much more durable and effective later on than the large horizontal blades.
Yep. They also have 2 points of attachment, closer to the outside edge so are less flimsy than the big flywheel / big long arm designs. All too often the "big hit" robots lose their ability to damage after a few hits, so the drum ones are pretty good there.

One thing I've wondered is - since all these rely on big flywheels to work, could someone make e.g a triangular drum spinner with 3 strong but light drums coming off 1 horizontal internal flywheel with a 45 degree toothed gear? My GCSE physics head can't work out if that would be awesome (resultant force still down not round like the current drums), or if the slowdown of the flywheel would still make the robot jst spin away, or if the teeth would just break in seconds...

joefraser

725 posts

110 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
quotequote all
Some Gump said:
Yep. They also have 2 points of attachment, closer to the outside edge so are less flimsy than the big flywheel / big long arm designs. All too often the "big hit" robots lose their ability to damage after a few hits, so the drum ones are pretty good there.

One thing I've wondered is - since all these rely on big flywheels to work, could someone make e.g a triangular drum spinner with 3 strong but light drums coming off 1 horizontal internal flywheel with a 45 degree toothed gear? My GCSE physics head can't work out if that would be awesome (resultant force still down not round like the current drums), or if the slowdown of the flywheel would still make the robot jst spin away, or if the teeth would just break in seconds...
Better off having one lethal spinner with all the weight in it, multi weapon bots rarely prove themselves effective.

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
quotequote all
joefraser said:
Some Gump said:
Yep. They also have 2 points of attachment, closer to the outside edge so are less flimsy than the big flywheel / big long arm designs. All too often the "big hit" robots lose their ability to damage after a few hits, so the drum ones are pretty good there.

One thing I've wondered is - since all these rely on big flywheels to work, could someone make e.g a triangular drum spinner with 3 strong but light drums coming off 1 horizontal internal flywheel with a 45 degree toothed gear? My GCSE physics head can't work out if that would be awesome (resultant force still down not round like the current drums), or if the slowdown of the flywheel would still make the robot jst spin away, or if the teeth would just break in seconds...
Better off having one lethal spinner with all the weight in it, multi weapon bots rarely prove themselves effective.
Yeah, I'd think you'd run into problems with weight. Less weight to put into batteries, motors etc with multiple spinners.

I'm also not sure that gears are a great idea-the shock when a spinner hits the other robot must be pretty huge. Especially as most of the drum spinners spin 'upwards' so they lift the other machine. It means you have the weight of the other robot suddenly going onto the drum in a split second as it makes contact (if it digs in). I would think a belt would be the way to go for drive.

FourWheelDrift

88,380 posts

283 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
quotequote all
Minotaur, the most destructive and reliable drum spinner. - http://www.battlebots.com/robot/minotaur-s2/

Reddit specs said:
Design & Build Breakdown
Minotaur's 250lb design is an evolution from the 220lb Touro Maximus. Touro Maximus is a tried, tested drumbot design that has been perfected since its 2009 debut, with its most noticeable design change being the 2012 change to a brushless-powered drum using two (!) Scorpion 7050 motors. This comes with several additional challenges though, as the motors require 1600 amps for the drum to spin up. At first the team would end up frying their ESCs (costing them championships in 2012 and 2013) and once that had been solved through the use of MGM brushless ESCs it was the batteries being cooked. In 2015 they cracked that problem as well through a newly attained MaxAmps sponsorship, and took the RoboGames heavyweight championship.
For Minotaur, there was another major (and expensive) change in construction. Touro Maximus' side walls had been machined from a 4.5"-thick aluminum plate, with front skids and anti-wedge wedgelets attached using screws, which made them vulnerable. For Minotaur, each side wall was machined from a large 8"-thick aluminum plate, allowing all skids and accessory attachments to be integrated into a very resistant single piece. Special tempered-steel wedgelets and skids were then machined, which could be easily assembled just sliding them into the chassis walls and inserting a pin, without the need for screws. Minotaur's back wall was also improved, with increased thickness and resistance. Its aluminum top and bottom covers were also reinforced with titanium and tempered steel sheets, against arena saws and overhead weapons.
The drivetrain uses two long Ampflow motors with custom gearboxes. The vulcanized rubber wheels are custom-made, and the team has even gone as far as making different kinds of tires depending on what opponent they face; the softer ones are for pushing matches, and the harder ones are for spinners. For Minotaur, the team also designed a new 73lb tempered steel drum - the single-tooth single-piece self-balanced profile of the new drum was calculated and optimized using genetic algorithms (GA), which maximizes the bite on the opponent while guaranteeing a perfect balance. Touro’s snail drum was also engineered this way, and Minotaur’s new drum has so much inertia that Minotaur can quickly self-right, easily pop a wheelie to drive with a single wheel, perform surprise attack maneuvers with gyro effects to deliver side hits, and (if circumstances permit, of course) perform several cool victory dances. To top it all off, the new drum sounds like a jet engine when reaching speeds beyond 10,000 RPM.
The Minotaur victory dance - https://youtu.be/GkbAcwYix7I?t=185

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Thursday 11th August 20:37

poing

8,743 posts

199 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
quotequote all
FourWheelDrift said:
Minotaur, the most destructive and reliable drum spinner. - http://www.battlebots.com/robot/minotaur-s2/

Reddit specs said:
Design & Build Breakdown
Minotaur's 250lb design is an evolution from the 220lb Touro Maximus. Touro Maximus is a tried, tested drumbot design that has been perfected since its 2009 debut, with its most noticeable design change being the 2012 change to a brushless-powered drum using two (!) Scorpion 7050 motors. This comes with several additional challenges though, as the motors require 1600 amps for the drum to spin up. At first the team would end up frying their ESCs (costing them championships in 2012 and 2013) and once that had been solved through the use of MGM brushless ESCs it was the batteries being cooked. In 2015 they cracked that problem as well through a newly attained MaxAmps sponsorship, and took the RoboGames heavyweight championship.
For Minotaur, there was another major (and expensive) change in construction. Touro Maximus' side walls had been machined from a 4.5"-thick aluminum plate, with front skids and anti-wedge wedgelets attached using screws, which made them vulnerable. For Minotaur, each side wall was machined from a large 8"-thick aluminum plate, allowing all skids and accessory attachments to be integrated into a very resistant single piece. Special tempered-steel wedgelets and skids were then machined, which could be easily assembled just sliding them into the chassis walls and inserting a pin, without the need for screws. Minotaur's back wall was also improved, with increased thickness and resistance. Its aluminum top and bottom covers were also reinforced with titanium and tempered steel sheets, against arena saws and overhead weapons.
The drivetrain uses two long Ampflow motors with custom gearboxes. The vulcanized rubber wheels are custom-made, and the team has even gone as far as making different kinds of tires depending on what opponent they face; the softer ones are for pushing matches, and the harder ones are for spinners. For Minotaur, the team also designed a new 73lb tempered steel drum - the single-tooth single-piece self-balanced profile of the new drum was calculated and optimized using genetic algorithms (GA), which maximizes the bite on the opponent while guaranteeing a perfect balance. Touro’s snail drum was also engineered this way, and Minotaur’s new drum has so much inertia that Minotaur can quickly self-right, easily pop a wheelie to drive with a single wheel, perform surprise attack maneuvers with gyro effects to deliver side hits, and (if circumstances permit, of course) perform several cool victory dances. To top it all off, the new drum sounds like a jet engine when reaching speeds beyond 10,000 RPM.
The Minotaur victory dance - https://youtu.be/GkbAcwYix7I?t=185

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Thursday 11th August 20:37
This is the thing that amazes me when watching these machines, the physics limits. So much force on the weapons that it throws the machine itself around. As a former physics student I find it more fascinating than most people no doubt but I remember the first time I saw one with a heavy disc and my first thought, which I actually said out loud to the rather bored girlfriend, was "well how's that going to work, basic physics means it's going to chuck itself in the opposite direction if it hits something."
Turns out that's exactly what happens but they just come back for more!

Brilliant engineering and the drum machines are the perfect compromise in my mind. Doubt it could be done within the weight limit but a drum at front and rear will counter itself nicely making a balanced machine but the forces on the internal drive would probably cause it to implode. biggrin

Evangelion

7,639 posts

177 months

Friday 12th August 2016
quotequote all
I've often wondered why someone hasn't built one with a pair of co-axial, contra-rotating discs. One on top of the other.

Steamer

13,844 posts

212 months

Friday 12th August 2016
quotequote all
Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here, but to echo what was said earlier I thought it was a bit (a lot!) Unfortunate that Thor went out the way he did.

In the earlier rounds I really thought we looking at a possible finalist - he really did seem to have a well built and thought out machine, really liked the way it was adaptable and didnt have much in the way of weaknesses, along with great control from the operator.

Quite miss Craig but the new format is fine.

RedLeicester

6,869 posts

244 months

Friday 12th August 2016
quotequote all
Steamer said:
Quite miss Craig but the new format is fine.
I miss Philippa Forester

eltawater

3,107 posts

178 months

Friday 12th August 2016
quotequote all
Evangelion said:
I've often wondered why someone hasn't built one with a pair of co-axial, contra-rotating discs. One on top of the other.
Hit one with an axe or a hammer and it would jam the other.

PhillipM

6,515 posts

188 months

Friday 12th August 2016
quotequote all
poing said:
This is the thing that amazes me when watching these machines, the physics limits. So much force on the weapons that it throws the machine itself around. As a former physics student I find it more fascinating than most people no doubt but I remember the first time I saw one with a heavy disc and my first thought, which I actually said out loud to the rather bored girlfriend, was "well how's that going to work, basic physics means it's going to chuck itself in the opposite direction if it hits something."
Turns out that's exactly what happens but they just come back for more!
This is why lighter drums/discs but at higher rpm are coming in, same energy but more mass in the bot for better control.

Steamer

13,844 posts

212 months

Saturday 13th August 2016
quotequote all
RedLeicester said:
Steamer said:
Quite miss Craig but the new format is fine.
I miss Philippa Forester
You said it best brother cloud9

...which has just reminded me of the fantastic 'Spaced' episode when they take part in underground robot wars thumbup

rubystone

11,252 posts

258 months

Saturday 13th August 2016
quotequote all
ajprice said:
This many posts and nobody here has said what car and model year the alloy wheel used as the pit release was from? Or what tyre is was?

As Lee McKenzie would say, disappointing hehe
I did. Porsche 924.

Some Gump

12,671 posts

185 months

Saturday 13th August 2016
quotequote all
Steamer said:
You said it best brother cloud9

...which has just reminded me of the fantastic 'Spaced' episode when they take part in underground robot wars thumbup
War bd v's robocock. Activate!

ClockworkCupcake

74,401 posts

271 months

Sunday 14th August 2016
quotequote all
I finally got round to watching last Sunday's, and I have to say that the powerfully build company director with a goatee who was fronting Dantomkia seemed like a bit of a wker. Even Dara seemed a little annoyed and told him that you can't trash talk the other team after you have lost.

It's a shame that the roboteers were given so little time to build and test their robots. The newcomer made of wood seemed particularly thrown together with the team clearly being happy that their robot worked at all.

TR2 was a worthy winner. What a great robot, and very skilfully driven too.

defblade

7,392 posts

212 months

Sunday 14th August 2016
quotequote all
I've been thinking about that wooden one. I think their error was in mounting the sheets with internal fixings. If they'd have held it together with angle iron externally, it might have held up a lot better, the attacker wouldn't have been able to get into a seam an rip it open the same way.

(I'm ignoring the wooden robot/flame pit problem for now... wink )

ajprice

Original Poster:

27,317 posts

195 months

Sunday 14th August 2016
quotequote all
defblade said:
I've been thinking about that wooden one. I think their error was in mounting the sheets with internal fixings. If they'd have held it together with angle iron externally, it might have held up a lot better, the attacker wouldn't have been able to get into a seam an rip it open the same way.

(I'm ignoring the wooden robot/flame pit problem for now... wink )
I don't think getting ripped open was the problem, I think it fell apart when Dantomkia flipped it hehe

PhillipM

6,515 posts

188 months

Sunday 14th August 2016
quotequote all
Tonights looks a lot more promising in the fights department, few of the teams on reddit saying it's far better than the previous couple of episodes.