Robot Wars is coming back
Discussion
ClockworkCupcake said:
Prohibiting said:
Just spent 30 mins watching battle bots on YouTube. Wow. Makes robot wars look utterly rubbish.
It's like comparing Formula 1 with Formula Renault though. Different set of regulations. Good list of points here by one of those in Robot Wars (Pulsar);
https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/4vkbx...
That they've done the same thing again for this current season is utter stupidity, and it clearly shows. Hats off to the teams that have managed to get something built and ready in time though. With a bit more time for development and testing/practice it could be so much better IMO.
FiF said:
Plus on Battle Bots you get a blonde presenter, all hair, teeth, tits, and legs up to her arse, all wrapped in a party frock, whereas we get a bald chunky Irish bloke in a badly fitting brown suit.
Yeah, that too 
MarkRSi said:
Good list of points here by one of those in Robot Wars (Pulsar);
Good comment, yes. To quote it for posterity:
Ellis_Pulsar on Reddit said:
This is an understandable reaction. Some things to keep in mind are:
-We have far fewer resources - you can't just buy awesome combat-intended motors, speed controllers, wheels, etc, off the shelf. They just don't exist here. Importing or improvising are the options.
-We had extremely little time (we're talking weeks) so any new-builds were seriously rushed (Pulsar very much included). I risked starting my build ahead of hearing from production, and even then, Pulsar went from nothing-to-fighting in 9 weeks flat.
-We don't have the extra decade of full combat heavyweights to draw experience from. The UK hasn't had a spinner-capable arena to practice in since the original show. I drew experience from my few years in featherweight (30lb) combat.
-The single biggest difference is, unfortunately, money. Battlebots teams get $8000 each! They are also often wealthy builders, or large teams, so funding is generally not an issue. Big sponsors are also far, far easier to acquire seeing as ABC actively displays them everywhere. The BBC can't and don't, and we got £1000 to help a bit (after the fact).
This is not, in any way, trying to take away from the Battlebots teams. The standards at BB are INCREDIBLE and the teams make INCREDIBLE creations. I adore and admire them all, and would love to operate in that league. However you can't compare the machines from the two shows. At least, not yet!
Nor is it, in any way, trying to suggest that Robot Wars teams and creations aren't fantastic. They really are, especially considering everything. I admire everybody who managed to get something together in time for the show, against the odds. It felt like an awesome joint community effort and the resulting show is a raging success.
In any case, give Robot Wars some time and I guarantee the standards will explode anyway. Ingenuity is kind of our thang.
edit: another thing - the format is utterly brutal. Think how many fights the successful RW machines have done already, vs BB. It's relentless. The show doesn't get across the sheer effort involved in getting the robots back into the arena, again and again.
-We have far fewer resources - you can't just buy awesome combat-intended motors, speed controllers, wheels, etc, off the shelf. They just don't exist here. Importing or improvising are the options.
-We had extremely little time (we're talking weeks) so any new-builds were seriously rushed (Pulsar very much included). I risked starting my build ahead of hearing from production, and even then, Pulsar went from nothing-to-fighting in 9 weeks flat.
-We don't have the extra decade of full combat heavyweights to draw experience from. The UK hasn't had a spinner-capable arena to practice in since the original show. I drew experience from my few years in featherweight (30lb) combat.
-The single biggest difference is, unfortunately, money. Battlebots teams get $8000 each! They are also often wealthy builders, or large teams, so funding is generally not an issue. Big sponsors are also far, far easier to acquire seeing as ABC actively displays them everywhere. The BBC can't and don't, and we got £1000 to help a bit (after the fact).
This is not, in any way, trying to take away from the Battlebots teams. The standards at BB are INCREDIBLE and the teams make INCREDIBLE creations. I adore and admire them all, and would love to operate in that league. However you can't compare the machines from the two shows. At least, not yet!
Nor is it, in any way, trying to suggest that Robot Wars teams and creations aren't fantastic. They really are, especially considering everything. I admire everybody who managed to get something together in time for the show, against the odds. It felt like an awesome joint community effort and the resulting show is a raging success.
In any case, give Robot Wars some time and I guarantee the standards will explode anyway. Ingenuity is kind of our thang.
edit: another thing - the format is utterly brutal. Think how many fights the successful RW machines have done already, vs BB. It's relentless. The show doesn't get across the sheer effort involved in getting the robots back into the arena, again and again.
FiF said:
ClockworkCupcake said:
Prohibiting said:
Just spent 30 mins watching battle bots on YouTube. Wow. Makes robot wars look utterly rubbish.
It's like comparing Formula 1 with Formula Renault though. Different set of regulations. MarkRSi said:
FiF said:
Plus on Battle Bots you get a blonde presenter, all hair, teeth, tits, and legs up to her arse, all wrapped in a party frock, whereas we get a bald chunky Irish bloke in a badly fitting brown suit.
Yeah, that too 
Alison Haislip. Just about work safe
Evangelion said:
If the BBC want to save some money they could always get rid of the bloody silly House Robots.
Given how often the competitor robots seem to conk out or get stuck, I'd say keep the house robots (I assume they're fairly durable and not having to replace them constantly). They could make their CPZ much smaller though, right in the corner say.Evangelion said:
If the BBC want to save some money they could always get rid of the bloody silly House Robots.
The House Robots are built and paid for - they haven't really been upgraded. So there wouldn't be a lot of savings to be made there. Plus they are to Robot Wars what the Stig is to Top Gear; part of the brand. ClockworkCupcake said:
The House Robots are built and paid for - they haven't really been upgraded. So there wouldn't be a lot of savings to be made there. Plus they are to Robot Wars what the Stig is to Top Gear; part of the brand.
This, I think only matilda has had some serious upgrades, I have never seen it flipping other robots like that with the tusks before. It also used to have a chainsaw for a tail where as now it has a spinner.wonder what happened to Sgt. Bash, it was always nice to see somebody being bbq'd by its flamethrower.
ajprice said:
All the house robots are new for these new series, and bigger. The ye olde robots weighed a bit more than the competitor robots (110kg ish compared to a 100kg limit, Killalot was about 500kg. The new ones are at least 300kg, Killalot 750kg, with a 110kg competitor robot limit.
Yep to a point in the old series by series 5 onwards competitors robots were sometimes a match for the house robots, matilda, sgt bash, shunt and dead metal have all been flipped by a few opetitiors robots. Now the weight difference is so big the new breed dont stand a chance. Shunt went from 115kg iirc to cira 350kg!
slipstream 1985 said:
ajprice said:
All the house robots are new for these new series, and bigger. The ye olde robots weighed a bit more than the competitor robots (110kg ish compared to a 100kg limit, Killalot was about 500kg. The new ones are at least 300kg, Killalot 750kg, with a 110kg competitor robot limit.
Yep to a point in the old series by series 5 onwards competitors robots were sometimes a match for the house robots, matilda, sgt bash, shunt and dead metal have all been flipped by a few opetitiors robots. Now the weight difference is so big the new breed dont stand a chance. Shunt went from 115kg iirc to cira 350kg!
SpamCan said:
This, I think only matilda has had some serious upgrades, I have never seen it flipping other robots like that with the tusks before. It also used to have a chainsaw for a tail where as now it has a spinner..
Matilda got an upgrade to a flywheel in place of the chainsaw after series 4 of old Robot Wars.I knew they had work done to them to improve them but I didn't realise they had basically added 200-300% to some of them weight wise.
FourWheelDrift said:
Matilda got an upgrade to a flywheel in place of the chainsaw after series 4 of old Robot Wars.
Really, wow I had completely missed that one.
Prohibiting said:
The house robots have hardly done anything these last 2 new series. In the old series, Killalot would always be dishing out damage and crushing the robots that enter his zone with his big claw. Now he'll gently pick them up and then release.
True, I think Shunt and Matilda are the only ones (especially Matilda) that have dealt anything like serious damage in the past two series. Though the house robots seem to have taken on a different role and are used more of a scoring benchmark for a judge’s decision, i.e. loosing points for control if you inadvertently drive into the clutches of the house robots and giving the opponent bonus points for ramming you into the clutches of a house robots.Prohibiting said:
The house robots have hardly done anything these last 2 new series. In the old series, Killalot would always be dishing out damage and crushing the robots that enter his zone with his big claw. Now he'll gently pick them up and then release.
The competitor robots take such a hammering in each bout that a House Robot adding extra damage could very easily put them out of the running. The current format is rather flawed in this respect - it's all so rushed and crammed into such a short time with only a few hours repair time between bouts.
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