hammer vs. drum
July 11, 2016 11:00 AM Subscribe
My wife and I don't agree on everything, but we agree on the following points of BattleBot strategy:
1. Hammers never work.
2. You have to be able to self-right yourself.
3. The more costuming on your team, the less we like your bot.
posted by yhbc at 11:10 AM on July 11, 2016 [10 favorites]
1. Hammers never work.
2. You have to be able to self-right yourself.
3. The more costuming on your team, the less we like your bot.
posted by yhbc at 11:10 AM on July 11, 2016 [10 favorites]
I hate the excessive banter and human color crap. It would be a really good ten minute show with just the fights.
I've come to think of this as American Ninja Warrior Syndrome.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:11 AM on July 11, 2016 [8 favorites]
I've come to think of this as American Ninja Warrior Syndrome.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:11 AM on July 11, 2016 [8 favorites]
I hate the excessive banter and human color crap. It would be a really good ten minute show with just the fights.
I've come to think of this as American Ninja Warrior Syndrome.
Or, if you're old enough, American Gladiator Syndrome.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 11:13 AM on July 11, 2016 [9 favorites]
I've come to think of this as American Ninja Warrior Syndrome.
Or, if you're old enough, American Gladiator Syndrome.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 11:13 AM on July 11, 2016 [9 favorites]
This is why I DVR all these summer shows -- skip past all the crap and get right to the real action. Planning to do the same with much Olympics coverage.
This was an awesome battle.
posted by briank at 11:15 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
This was an awesome battle.
posted by briank at 11:15 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I would like to see what Rex Garrod could do with today's technology, though it's extremely unlikely that he'd ever return.
posted by delfin at 11:18 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by delfin at 11:18 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Woot! We did it Metafilter!
First BattleBots video to break a million views! r/battlebots could only push it to 950K
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 11:20 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
First BattleBots video to break a million views! r/battlebots could only push it to 950K
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 11:20 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
I kind of hate the spinning drum robots. They are super-effective --- and it just makes for boring, relatively quick but destructive fights with little drama. Maybe if you had two against one another the outcome wouldn't be so predictable.
posted by Kurichina at 11:21 AM on July 11, 2016
posted by Kurichina at 11:21 AM on July 11, 2016
The epic flameout at the end was nice.
I always want to see them catch on fire, but the flame weapons rarely have any effect.
We did see one last night that seemed to be using propane rather than pressurized alcohol or whatever. It managed to fry the hell out of its opponent.
I like when the people design a machine with all of the common weapons in mind. It's rare and the battles can be pretty boring just because one loses so badly.
posted by Seamus at 11:26 AM on July 11, 2016
I always want to see them catch on fire, but the flame weapons rarely have any effect.
We did see one last night that seemed to be using propane rather than pressurized alcohol or whatever. It managed to fry the hell out of its opponent.
I like when the people design a machine with all of the common weapons in mind. It's rare and the battles can be pretty boring just because one loses so badly.
posted by Seamus at 11:26 AM on July 11, 2016
3. The more costuming on your team, the less we like your bot.
I always want everyone to do well. Witch Doctor, though, I was happy to root against.
posted by Etrigan at 11:44 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
I always want everyone to do well. Witch Doctor, though, I was happy to root against.
posted by Etrigan at 11:44 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
They allow fire weapons now? Huh.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:44 AM on July 11, 2016
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:44 AM on July 11, 2016
We were very happy when Witch Doctor was upset.
I forgot:
1(a). Drones and mini-bots also never work. See, Witch Doctor.
posted by yhbc at 11:45 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I forgot:
1(a). Drones and mini-bots also never work. See, Witch Doctor.
posted by yhbc at 11:45 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Or, if you're old enough, American Gladiator Syndrome.
Not quite. He is talking about the difference between the original Ninja Warrior vs. American Ninja Warrior. The original has the human interest stuff but they get through it SO much more efficiently showing just enough of the contestant to get the crowd to root for them.
And then the competition is very clearly set up as "everyone against the mountain" instead of the more Americanized version where you're facing off against the other contestants.
I can't wait for the more advanced robotics stuff starts to trickle down to the hobbyists so we see that stuff get used in these bots.
I remember watching battlebots when it was first created and was really underwhelmed. The actual fights never lived up to the premise. This is the first one I've seen that does and continued advancement can only make it more interesting and exciting from here.
Does my end-game vision for this include humanoid robots doing Kung-Fu and/or a battle-axe? Absolutely. We just need to make sure that we stop well before the robots are totally autonomous or self-aware (that or make sure there is always at least one named "Spartacus").
posted by VTX at 11:47 AM on July 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
Not quite. He is talking about the difference between the original Ninja Warrior vs. American Ninja Warrior. The original has the human interest stuff but they get through it SO much more efficiently showing just enough of the contestant to get the crowd to root for them.
And then the competition is very clearly set up as "everyone against the mountain" instead of the more Americanized version where you're facing off against the other contestants.
I can't wait for the more advanced robotics stuff starts to trickle down to the hobbyists so we see that stuff get used in these bots.
I remember watching battlebots when it was first created and was really underwhelmed. The actual fights never lived up to the premise. This is the first one I've seen that does and continued advancement can only make it more interesting and exciting from here.
Does my end-game vision for this include humanoid robots doing Kung-Fu and/or a battle-axe? Absolutely. We just need to make sure that we stop well before the robots are totally autonomous or self-aware (that or make sure there is always at least one named "Spartacus").
posted by VTX at 11:47 AM on July 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
Of the ones we watched last night, one was semi-autonomous and another was humanoid.
The humanoid failed miserably and was obviously there for entertainment's sake. The semi-autonomous one was pretty cool and won.
posted by Seamus at 11:53 AM on July 11, 2016
The humanoid failed miserably and was obviously there for entertainment's sake. The semi-autonomous one was pretty cool and won.
posted by Seamus at 11:53 AM on July 11, 2016
My response when the builder stated that it was at least semi-autonomous was "Finally, an actual robot."
Then I got scared and hid in the corner.
posted by Seamus at 11:54 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
Then I got scared and hid in the corner.
posted by Seamus at 11:54 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
NO DISASSEMBLE!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:05 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:05 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Robot Wars have just put up a 'Meet the House Robots' trailer for the new series, I can only find it on iplayer however, so may be Brits only.
posted by biffa at 12:22 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 12:22 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I want one of the battlebots to use an EMP generator as weapon. We'll know it's won when the lights go off in the stadium- except the cameras will also be fried.
posted by happyroach at 12:24 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by happyroach at 12:24 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I kind of hate the spinning drum robots. They are super-effective --- and it just makes for boring, relatively quick but destructive fights with little drama. Maybe if you had two against one another the outcome wouldn't be so predictable.
Back in an earlier incarnation there was a fight between Nightmare -- a big vertical spinner that's sort of the grandpa to all the drum bots -- and one or another of the horizontal spinners. It was a one-hit fight, but, dude, it was a hell of a hit.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:32 PM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
Back in an earlier incarnation there was a fight between Nightmare -- a big vertical spinner that's sort of the grandpa to all the drum bots -- and one or another of the horizontal spinners. It was a one-hit fight, but, dude, it was a hell of a hit.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:32 PM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
Does anyone else get the feeling that we're going to be watching clips from Battlebots during the tribunals after we lose the war between the machines and the humans?
posted by vibrotronica at 12:36 PM on July 11, 2016
posted by vibrotronica at 12:36 PM on July 11, 2016
Does anyone else get the feeling that we're going to be watching clips from Battlebots during the tribunals after we lose the war between the machines and the humans?
It's Roko's basiliskin' time!
posted by Etrigan at 12:38 PM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
It's Roko's basiliskin' time!
posted by Etrigan at 12:38 PM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
They'll be too busy setting up monkey knife fights.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:41 PM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:41 PM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
Back in an earlier incarnation there was a fight between Nightmare -- a big vertical spinner that's sort of the grandpa to all the drum bots -- and one or another of the horizontal spinners. It was a one-hit fight, but, dude, it was a hell of a hit.
I recall Nightmare's lil' bro Backlash being pretty effective because it would not just cut but flip the lighter bots in its category. I don't think the heavyweight version ever did as well. The dominant heavy bot when I was watching as a kid was Biohazard, which was just a low-riding wedge with a flipper arm but nearly indestructible.
posted by atoxyl at 12:56 PM on July 11, 2016
I recall Nightmare's lil' bro Backlash being pretty effective because it would not just cut but flip the lighter bots in its category. I don't think the heavyweight version ever did as well. The dominant heavy bot when I was watching as a kid was Biohazard, which was just a low-riding wedge with a flipper arm but nearly indestructible.
posted by atoxyl at 12:56 PM on July 11, 2016
I know people are a little on edge about weaponized robots lately, but that was spectacular and hugely satisfying to watch. Thanks!
posted by monospace at 12:58 PM on July 11, 2016
posted by monospace at 12:58 PM on July 11, 2016
I think they should have a division with autonomous robots with the added twist that human players on the other team are allowed to attempt to disable the opposing robot, so the winning robot would be the one that is best at destroying things while ignoring all human attempts to get it to stop.
posted by straight at 1:26 PM on July 11, 2016
posted by straight at 1:26 PM on July 11, 2016
It's Roko's basiliskin' time!
There needs to be a Metafilter-specific version of Godwin's law for mentions of Roko's basilisk.
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 1:39 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
There needs to be a Metafilter-specific version of Godwin's law for mentions of Roko's basilisk.
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 1:39 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Let me guess, your naming scheme for this line of robots will start with T-1 and count up from there?
If so, I predict that the 800th iteration will be particularly effective.
posted by VTX at 1:43 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
If so, I predict that the 800th iteration will be particularly effective.
posted by VTX at 1:43 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I straight up love this show, cheesy human interest and overblown commentary and all. It's a great feeling to satisfy a deep, visceral human bloodlust without anyone losing any actual blood.
I think the arms race aspect is fascinating... how certain bot types become dominant then someone figures out how to beat them, etc, etc. Then there's those huge hits... the astonishing amount of energy behind some of those weapons. It's easy to forget, watching on a TV, that these bots that are getting flung around the ring like toys actually weigh upwards of 200 lbs and are covered in armor.
Love it.
posted by Laura Palmer's Cold Dead Kiss at 1:56 PM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
I think the arms race aspect is fascinating... how certain bot types become dominant then someone figures out how to beat them, etc, etc. Then there's those huge hits... the astonishing amount of energy behind some of those weapons. It's easy to forget, watching on a TV, that these bots that are getting flung around the ring like toys actually weigh upwards of 200 lbs and are covered in armor.
Love it.
posted by Laura Palmer's Cold Dead Kiss at 1:56 PM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
Nightmare vs. Blendo I think, ROU_Xenophobe. I forget who won, but my guess would be Blendo, which was basically a barely-mobile armored dome sitting on top of a horizontal flywheel, compared to Nightmare's basically-unarmored, all-offense-all-the-time design.
Anyway, why do people keep making hammer bots? Has that strategy ever paid off? Hammer Bots Never Work is basically Rule 1 of battlebot design, as far as I've ever been able to determine.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 1:56 PM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
Anyway, why do people keep making hammer bots? Has that strategy ever paid off? Hammer Bots Never Work is basically Rule 1 of battlebot design, as far as I've ever been able to determine.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 1:56 PM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
Even the big hammers in the arena don't seem to do any real damage, they're pointless.
For my money they could ditch the announcer guy and cut the commentary at least in half. Give me more battle footage, and maybe more news from the pit on what teams are doing to fix their bots after a fight or prepare for their next opponent.
I kinda like the odd costumes- they're always the teams working on their own without a lot of funding. The people with money always look like they got lost on their way to NASCAR.
posted by InfidelZombie at 2:04 PM on July 11, 2016
For my money they could ditch the announcer guy and cut the commentary at least in half. Give me more battle footage, and maybe more news from the pit on what teams are doing to fix their bots after a fight or prepare for their next opponent.
I kinda like the odd costumes- they're always the teams working on their own without a lot of funding. The people with money always look like they got lost on their way to NASCAR.
posted by InfidelZombie at 2:04 PM on July 11, 2016
I have to say though that one of my favorites from the early days of Robot Wars was Razer. It was one of the only bots that was designed to actually destroy its opponents rather than just bash them about or flip them over; it had a hydraulically-actuated claw thingy that it would use to grab its opponents and then crush/pierce them until they broke. Of course, Razer did break down a lot, but I still think it was one of the better designs just because it was so much more destructive.
I stopped watching BattleBots and Robot Wars because even as a kid I could tell that the announcers were over-hyping it and the battles were never as dramatic as in my imagination. Razer brought things closer to that total-destruction robot combat that little me wanted to watch.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:06 PM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
I stopped watching BattleBots and Robot Wars because even as a kid I could tell that the announcers were over-hyping it and the battles were never as dramatic as in my imagination. Razer brought things closer to that total-destruction robot combat that little me wanted to watch.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:06 PM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
Also, wasn't Nightmare so successful that eventually the organizers nerfed it by requiring its builders to reverse the direction of its flywheel, so that rather than dramatically flinging its opponents across the arena, it would instead just bop them ineffectually on the head?
That may have been the point at which little me stopped watching, actually. After they took a superior design and basically forced its designers to make it worse so that it would stop winning, the whole competition seemed rigged to me. It just felt so unfair that it soured me on the whole sport.
Serious misjudgment by the organizers, too. They must have thought they had an audience that wanted to watch a dramatic story with wins and losses and triumphs against the odds and all that, whereas I (and all the other tweens I knew who were into BattleBots et al at the time) would have been positively gleeful to just watch Nightmare stomp the everloving bejeezus out of any and all challengers, over and over again forever.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:35 PM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
That may have been the point at which little me stopped watching, actually. After they took a superior design and basically forced its designers to make it worse so that it would stop winning, the whole competition seemed rigged to me. It just felt so unfair that it soured me on the whole sport.
Serious misjudgment by the organizers, too. They must have thought they had an audience that wanted to watch a dramatic story with wins and losses and triumphs against the odds and all that, whereas I (and all the other tweens I knew who were into BattleBots et al at the time) would have been positively gleeful to just watch Nightmare stomp the everloving bejeezus out of any and all challengers, over and over again forever.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:35 PM on July 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
Serious misjudgment by the organizers, too. They must have thought they had an audience that wanted to watch a dramatic story with wins and losses and triumphs against the odds and all that, whereas I (and all the other tweens I knew who were into BattleBots et al at the time) would have been positively gleeful to just watch Nightmare stomp the everloving bejeezus out of any and all challengers, over and over again forever.
I thought they might have seen it as a safety issue?
posted by atoxyl at 4:09 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I thought they might have seen it as a safety issue?
posted by atoxyl at 4:09 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
It was a safety issue. Nightmare was flinging shrapnel outside the arena in its first fight (which went to a crowd vote -- Nightmare wasn't dominating), so the organizers told them to reverse or slow the blade (or withdraw and get a special award).
posted by Etrigan at 4:12 PM on July 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 4:12 PM on July 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
That makes more sense. Totally lost on twelve-year-old me, but I can see it now.
Can I just say, by the way, that I think it's wonderful that we all remember these details from the 1990s early days of televised robot combat? Y'all are my people.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:24 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can I just say, by the way, that I think it's wonderful that we all remember these details from the 1990s early days of televised robot combat? Y'all are my people.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:24 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I hadn't been watching this version of the show, but I just happened to tune into this episode. The announcer was totally cheesy, but I kept it on, and then this fight reminded me of what I used to love about it. Total destruction! Always makes me want to build a killer bot, though, and I spend way too much time thinking of the perfect design.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:49 PM on July 11, 2016
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:49 PM on July 11, 2016
Hammer bots suck but at the very least they should make it more of a pick shape to concentrate the force onto a smaller area. Hitting a solid hunk of metal with a blunt hammer is a dubious strategy.
It works on humans in armor because it pulverizes our squishy innards through the armor. The robots don't have squishy innards.
Also they aren't robots.
posted by Justinian at 7:08 PM on July 11, 2016
It works on humans in armor because it pulverizes our squishy innards through the armor. The robots don't have squishy innards.
Also they aren't robots.
posted by Justinian at 7:08 PM on July 11, 2016
Hammers never worked on humans in armor. Medieval warhammers were the pick that you first described; they were designed to punch through armor, not dent it.
posted by ElKevbo at 7:55 PM on July 11, 2016
posted by ElKevbo at 7:55 PM on July 11, 2016
I'd swear I've seen hammer bots win once or twice? But it's really boring because the way they win is by dislodging some internal gubbin you can't see so the robot just stops moving?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:06 PM on July 11, 2016
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:06 PM on July 11, 2016
Picks don't work very well either, because 'bots are vulnerable in relatively small areas, especially as compared to people, who can leak to death even if you miss anything immediately vital.
Gravity and hacking (well, knocking) off big pieces are much more efficient than making small holes and hoping you hit a battery or a control panel.
posted by Etrigan at 8:12 PM on July 11, 2016
Gravity and hacking (well, knocking) off big pieces are much more efficient than making small holes and hoping you hit a battery or a control panel.
posted by Etrigan at 8:12 PM on July 11, 2016
Has no one thought to combine the spiked hammer with fire. I assume that poking a hole in the enemy's armor and then sending a blast of fire though the hole would be effective.
posted by humanfont at 8:36 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by humanfont at 8:36 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
I thought this was the best battle of the season so far. Yes, Minotaur pretty much took Blacksmith apart, but it wasn't quick and it wasn't easy. Some of these 'bots are amazingly tough, and it makes me happy to see the resilience engineered into them.
And yeah, if you have to lose, go down in flames.
posted by lhauser at 8:41 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
And yeah, if you have to lose, go down in flames.
posted by lhauser at 8:41 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Agree with you all. The music and commentary almost kill this for me.
There are a few videos from previous seasons on YouTube with the cage sound only.
Somehow the raw audio makes it easier to appreciate that this things weight hundreds of pounds, and how much energy they carry in those kinetic weapons.
Just listen to this. Or the glorious sound of the blade spinning up before a hit here. No need to watch to the end, the battles kinda sucked.
I hope someone makes an official 'cage audio only' release. It is the kind of thing that would make me buy a blue ray edition.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 1:12 AM on July 12, 2016
There are a few videos from previous seasons on YouTube with the cage sound only.
Somehow the raw audio makes it easier to appreciate that this things weight hundreds of pounds, and how much energy they carry in those kinetic weapons.
Just listen to this. Or the glorious sound of the blade spinning up before a hit here. No need to watch to the end, the battles kinda sucked.
I hope someone makes an official 'cage audio only' release. It is the kind of thing that would make me buy a blue ray edition.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 1:12 AM on July 12, 2016
You can count me also in team "why did you bring a hammer to a spinner fight?". I totally respect the level of effort and dedication a lot of these teams have, but it is baffling to me how you can spend that much time on something and fail to recognize a basic fact like "in a 3 minute period, you're not going to hammer a steel-armored robot in a way that reliably gets you anywhere". Even in earlier incarnations of the show, hammer bots seemed like the equivalent of showing up as an armored knight to a modern military conflict against enemies who have guns and tanks and air support, etc.
Then again, I put fire in the same category. Showy as hell, but what exactly are you going to accomplish in the time of a single match with it? You have to already be in a position of having more or less already won the match to do anything of substance with it, and even then quite a few of your opponents' bots could be put under a flame for a solid minute to no effect.
posted by tocts at 5:50 AM on July 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Then again, I put fire in the same category. Showy as hell, but what exactly are you going to accomplish in the time of a single match with it? You have to already be in a position of having more or less already won the match to do anything of substance with it, and even then quite a few of your opponents' bots could be put under a flame for a solid minute to no effect.
posted by tocts at 5:50 AM on July 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm guessing that some teams just think the hammer is cooler and should work better if only a team executed it correctly. They see the problem as none of the previous hammer-bots being built well enough or using the right method to generate power.
What they really need to do go it Mythbusters style and figure out how hard do you need to hit a robot with a hammer to make it break. Then they can work backwards from there. Most likely they'd realize that they need to generate WAY more power than they can generate without some kind of energetic chemical reaction* (read: explosive) to propel it.
*The term I was advised to use by my high school physics teacher when talking about explosives on the phone so the FBI doesn't knock down your door.
posted by VTX at 6:09 AM on July 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
What they really need to do go it Mythbusters style and figure out how hard do you need to hit a robot with a hammer to make it break. Then they can work backwards from there. Most likely they'd realize that they need to generate WAY more power than they can generate without some kind of energetic chemical reaction* (read: explosive) to propel it.
*The term I was advised to use by my high school physics teacher when talking about explosives on the phone so the FBI doesn't knock down your door.
posted by VTX at 6:09 AM on July 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
ROU_Xenophobe: Back in an earlier incarnation there was a fight between Nightmare -- a big vertical spinner that's sort of the grandpa to all the drum bots -- and one or another of the horizontal spinners. It was a one-hit fight, but, dude, it was a hell of a hit.
Pretty sure that was Nightmare vs Son of Whyachi.
posted by hanov3r at 9:19 AM on July 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Pretty sure that was Nightmare vs Son of Whyachi.
posted by hanov3r at 9:19 AM on July 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yarp. Muchas spasibo.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:56 AM on July 12, 2016
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:56 AM on July 12, 2016
Can somebody explain to an English major why the drumbots are the dominant design? Is it because the RPM are so high?
posted by HeroZero at 7:11 PM on July 12, 2016
posted by HeroZero at 7:11 PM on July 12, 2016
Has no one thought to combine the spiked hammer with fire. I assume that poking a hole in the enemy's armor and then sending a blast of fire though the hole would be effective.
As someone pointed out, the duration of fire isn't enough to do damage in a match. What I would do, is combine a pick with high pressure water spray at the tip. Make a hole, then spray water inside where it can short something out.
Alternatively, detergent plus gasoline- never mind about aiming either.- how about a rotary yard sprinkler? I figure once enough of the arena is on fire, they'll call the match.
posted by happyroach at 10:36 PM on July 12, 2016
As someone pointed out, the duration of fire isn't enough to do damage in a match. What I would do, is combine a pick with high pressure water spray at the tip. Make a hole, then spray water inside where it can short something out.
Alternatively, detergent plus gasoline- never mind about aiming either.- how about a rotary yard sprinkler? I figure once enough of the arena is on fire, they'll call the match.
posted by happyroach at 10:36 PM on July 12, 2016
Can somebody explain to an English major why the drumbots are the dominant design?
They aren't. None of the top 4 last year were drums.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:53 PM on July 12, 2016
They aren't. None of the top 4 last year were drums.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:53 PM on July 12, 2016
Having ROU_Xenophobe and Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival in a thread, cheerfully discussing the design of killer robots, feels like something that would have sprung from the pen of Banks himself.
posted by Eleven at 6:03 AM on July 13, 2016
posted by Eleven at 6:03 AM on July 13, 2016
2016 battlebot rules state that fire weapons are for showmanship only. Every robot must have an active weapon, and fire does not count as an active weapon .
The rules state that the active weapon must 'look' to the judges like it can damage the opposing robot.
There are a few safety rules that I include wording to the effect that one has to convince the judges that one knows what one is doing. For example, maximum voltage is 48v, unless you can convince the judges that you know what you are doing, then you can use up to 220v.
There are other rules that are designed to make better TV, like the fire one.
Some robot competitions, specially the early ones and some smaller non televised ones happening in cons and other countries, have more room relaxed rules. They remind me of early Pride mixed martial arts tournaments. Almost no rules, not very safe, many one sided or boring fights. But when it works it is amazing, and you actually get to see how different techniques would work on 'real world fights'.
Battlebot main mission is to turn robot combat into TV friendly mainstream entertainment. The rules for this year, the robots that were not allowed to enter, the ones that did, and the production of and commentating, all this makes me worry that battlebots is going the WWE instead of the UFC way.
I still prefer early Pride.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 10:44 AM on July 13, 2016
The rules state that the active weapon must 'look' to the judges like it can damage the opposing robot.
There are a few safety rules that I include wording to the effect that one has to convince the judges that one knows what one is doing. For example, maximum voltage is 48v, unless you can convince the judges that you know what you are doing, then you can use up to 220v.
There are other rules that are designed to make better TV, like the fire one.
Some robot competitions, specially the early ones and some smaller non televised ones happening in cons and other countries, have more room relaxed rules. They remind me of early Pride mixed martial arts tournaments. Almost no rules, not very safe, many one sided or boring fights. But when it works it is amazing, and you actually get to see how different techniques would work on 'real world fights'.
Battlebot main mission is to turn robot combat into TV friendly mainstream entertainment. The rules for this year, the robots that were not allowed to enter, the ones that did, and the production of and commentating, all this makes me worry that battlebots is going the WWE instead of the UFC way.
I still prefer early Pride.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 10:44 AM on July 13, 2016
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It was impressive. The low drone of the spinning drum was disquieting.
I like watching the fights. I like discussing with the kid which machine has the advantage and why.
I hate the excessive banter and human color crap. It would be a really good ten minute show with just the fights.
posted by Seamus at 11:04 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]