Robot Wars is coming back

Author
Discussion

FourWheelDrift

88,656 posts

285 months

Sunday 16th April 2017
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You need a convertabot, basically build one outer armoured chassis, with wheels, gearbox and drive. Then build separate robots that can be plugged into the middle of it that are all the same size and fit snugly in the centre of the chassis, one with a rotating drum weapon, one with a flipper, one with a heavy shield and anything else you can think of. Each version still within the weight limits, changeable depending on the opponent.

Dr Doofenshmirtz

15,282 posts

201 months

Sunday 16th April 2017
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BIANCO said:
They lost in Battlebots by i think just playing to safe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49dCIgNSAB4
That's the old Cobalt though - the new one seems to be a lot tougher.

Xaero

4,060 posts

216 months

Monday 17th April 2017
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Good final I thought. Well done to Eruption for surviving all those top spinners. The young guy who built it obviously put a lot of thought into its design. I hope it aids his engineering career well.

Carbide was definitely the best though. It was more battlebot quality than Robot Wars and it really showed.

vonuber

17,868 posts

166 months

Monday 17th April 2017
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Thoroughly enjoyed that, glad it's back. The robots are getting better each series I have to say.

Otispunkmeyer

12,625 posts

156 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Xaero said:
Good final I thought. Well done to Eruption for surviving all those top spinners. The young guy who built it obviously put a lot of thought into its design. I hope it aids his engineering career well.

Carbide was definitely the best though. It was more battlebot quality than Robot Wars and it really showed.
As above, they've had that bot in Battlebots as Cobalt. I am sure the experience of having to compete at that level has helped them in developing it and entering into UK robot wars. But certainly, others have risen to their challenge, it wasn't all plain-sailing.

Really good show as well I thought. The series has sort of built up to that peak and I liked the cadence; a quick question in the box after the fight, a short sit-rep with the teams in the pits and then on to the next fight.


FourWheelDrift

88,656 posts

285 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Cobalt came a cropper from a robot that had it's spinner just at wheel destroying height - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srt2fkA-2ac

joefraser

725 posts

112 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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FourWheelDrift said:
Cobalt came a cropper from a robot that had it's spinner just at wheel destroying height - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srt2fkA-2ac
Tactical brilliance shown by bombshell there, one of my favourite knock outs in all the time I've watched both shows!

Cobalt is a completely separate machine from carbide, they share the same ethos and basic design but they are more differences than a casual glance may reveal.

Evangelion

7,763 posts

179 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Interesting video there, the spinner wasn't quite at the correct height, but was sort of directed there by the other bots curved sides (a mistake I bet they won't make again).

That's a point, I wonder if anyone's thought of building a bot with a spinner whose height can be changed - even just between battles would be an improvement but if it can be done on the fly, so much the better.

ajprice

Original Poster:

27,664 posts

197 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Evangelion said:
That's a point, I wonder if anyone's thought of building a bot with a spinner whose height can be changed - even just between battles would be an improvement but if it can be done on the fly, so much the better.
Something that runs either way up, but with a self righter to turn itself over? Then the spinner is set low one way up and high when its turned, and vice versa.

Beyond Rational

3,524 posts

216 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Complexity seems to be the downfall of many. The best Robot Wars robots are IMHO the ones designed to do one thing really well (Carbide, Appollo etc.) with everything centred around the weapon. Independent self righting mechanisms often seem like after-thoughts, creating a major weakness if relied upon.

joefraser

725 posts

112 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Evangelion said:
Interesting video there, the spinner wasn't quite at the correct height, but was sort of directed there by the other bots curved sides (a mistake I bet they won't make again).

That's a point, I wonder if anyone's thought of building a bot with a spinner whose height can be changed - even just between battles would be an improvement but if it can be done on the fly, so much the better.
From what I gather from podcasts and reddit threads bombshell used a scale photo to set their spinner at a height it was able to chop tyres! Their horizontal spinner setup (it's a modular bot with vertical spinner and axe configurations to) was made for the purpose of targetting chains/tyres etc.

A very cool design which performed very well in series 2!

hairykrishna

13,185 posts

204 months

Tuesday 18th April 2017
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Evangelion said:
Interesting video there, the spinner wasn't quite at the correct height, but was sort of directed there by the other bots curved sides (a mistake I bet they won't make again).

That's a point, I wonder if anyone's thought of building a bot with a spinner whose height can be changed - even just between battles would be an improvement but if it can be done on the fly, so much the better.
Bombshells is adjustable. They'd set it up at the perfect height to knacker the weapon drive chain on Cobalt. That's why Cobalt comes in backwards in that fight - they were afraid that'd they'd lose their weapon in the first hit and that's pretty much game over in Battlebots.

vonuber

17,868 posts

166 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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The thing I like about Robot Wars is that it still has the whole 'built in a shed' mentality. There's something nicely basic and 'just in it to have fun' about it all.

Lucas Ayde

3,573 posts

169 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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vonuber said:
The thing I like about Robot Wars is that it still has the whole 'built in a shed' mentality. There's something nicely basic and 'just in it to have fun' about it all.
Unfortunately, that makes for some pretty weak robots - many fights are over after one bot takes its first serious hit and either dies completely, loses its weapon or loses its mobility. The 'league' format doesn't help either as they are typically only given a few hours for repairs until the next fight. By the time we hit the 'final' at the end of the episode, both robots are generally on their last legs before the fight even starts.


Battlebots is far superior in terms of the engineering and build quality of the robots and the longevity of the fights. Also, the presentation is pretty good. Typical slick American 'TV Sports' coverage and the commentators are entertaining.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

191 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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Lucas Ayde said:
vonuber said:
The thing I like about Robot Wars is that it still has the whole 'built in a shed' mentality. There's something nicely basic and 'just in it to have fun' about it all.
Unfortunately, that makes for some pretty weak robots - many fights are over after one bot takes its first serious hit and either dies completely, loses its weapon or loses its mobility. The 'league' format doesn't help either as they are typically only given a few hours for repairs until the next fight. By the time we hit the 'final' at the end of the episode, both robots are generally on their last legs before the fight even starts.


Battlebots is far superior in terms of the engineering and build quality of the robots and the longevity of the fights. Also, the presentation is pretty good. Typical slick American 'TV Sports' coverage and the commentators are entertaining.
I haven't watched the lastest battlebots, but watched the last season. Personally I prefer the Robot Wars structure to watch and frankly I'd have said most of the Battlebots robots were no better or inferior in design and construction. And the only reason some of their bouts lasted longer, was simply the fact that both robots fighting were very poor designs with very limited offensive abilities.

Otispunkmeyer

12,625 posts

156 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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Evangelion said:
Interesting video there, the spinner wasn't quite at the correct height, but was sort of directed there by the other bots curved sides (a mistake I bet they won't make again).

That's a point, I wonder if anyone's thought of building a bot with a spinner whose height can be changed - even just between battles would be an improvement but if it can be done on the fly, so much the better.
Well carbide seemed like it could run both ways up and the blade wasn't centrally positioned, so if it was the other way up the blade would be higher. I suppose that is one way to do it whilst still keeping the mounting for it all as strong as possible.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

191 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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Well just started watching Season 2 Episode 3 over lunch of Battlebots. Chomp vs Discoinferno.

Went the full distance.... but because neither robot had any form of effective offensive weapons. Don't think either robot was even dented, let alone damaged.

It's still fun and I still like watching it, but claiming Robot Wars is inferior just doesn't make sense.

hairykrishna

13,185 posts

204 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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300bhp/ton said:
Well just started watching Season 2 Episode 3 over lunch of Battlebots. Chomp vs Discoinferno.

Went the full distance.... but because neither robot had any form of effective offensive weapons. Don't think either robot was even dented, let alone damaged.

It's still fun and I still like watching it, but claiming Robot Wars is inferior just doesn't make sense.
That fight's a bit of an exception though. There's been nothing in Robot Wars to compare to Minotaur vs Blacksmith or Tombstone vs Beta.

I like both series and both have good points. The massive budget both for teams and production shows in Battlebots. I don't think it's controversial to say the standard of robots is higher. Each of the sponsors shown on TV has chucked in a contract minimum of $7500, plus they get $8k from ABC just for showing up. There are not insignificant cash prizes for the higher placed robots. The budgets are on a different scale - hence the ratio of CNC porn/welded by a newbie in a shed ratio is different from RW. There's much less filler in the RW show though and I feel the judges decisions are handled better than in BB.

Edited by hairykrishna on Wednesday 19th April 14:41

ClockworkCupcake

74,807 posts

273 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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Comparing Battlebots with Robot Wars is like comparing Formula 1 and Indycar (or maybe Formula E). Different regulations, different challenges, different results.

The fact that some teams compete in both series with different robots merely serves to underline this.

joefraser

725 posts

112 months

Wednesday 19th April 2017
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ClockworkCupcake said:
Comparing Battlebots with Robot Wars is like comparing Formula 1 and Indycar (or maybe Formula E). Different regulations, different challenges, different results.

The fact that some teams compete in both series with different robots merely serves to underline this.
Bingo!

Each series has it's strengths and flaws, I love both !