Battlebots 2016

[The_Ditto]

I've always thought something along this lines would work great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjraETJiEd4

It's just trying to scale it down and get the appropriate torque on those rotors that would be the challenge ... O.o

But just imagine a bot with that on the front getting a hold of the other bot ? "bye bye" .. O.o

[pendell]

So ... Mega Tento vs. Poison Arrow.

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Wow, that was a boring fight. I think Mega Tento needs to be re-thought. It didn't appear to have any ability to inflict a knockout, and "direct damage with the primary weapon" is what the judges want to see.

I think that's why they gave it to poison arrow. It's a lot easier to see the damage it's inflicting, so points for damage and aggression.

I also wonder if there's a fifth, implicit category -- entertainment value. "Do we want to see another fight where the lady bug is completely ineffectual? Nahhh."

And once again a drone is in play with a flamethrower. Despite the fact that Mega Tento didn't defend against it at all, it was completely ineffective.

For drone ideas, How about a drill of some kind? Land on top of the enemy, drill down from above.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Traab]

So ... Mega Tento vs. Poison Arrow.

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Wow, that was a boring fight. I think Mega Tento needs to be re-thought. It didn't appear to have any ability to inflict a knockout, and "direct damage with the primary weapon" is what the judges want to see.

I think that's why they gave it to poison arrow. It's a lot easier to see the damage it's inflicting, so points for damage and aggression.

I also wonder if there's a fifth, implicit category -- entertainment value. "Do we want to see another fight where the lady bug is completely ineffectual? Nahhh."

And once again a drone is in play with a flamethrower. Despite the fact that Mega Tento didn't defend against it at all, it was completely ineffective.

For drone ideas, How about a drill of some kind? Land on top of the enemy, drill down from above.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Not enough pressure to effectively penetrate. Might be able to do a pneumatic spike perhaps. Stab it out fast enough with a sharp enough tip and it might penetrate.

[ChillerInstinct]

Another episode's in the books, and boy, was this a doozy.

Spoiler: July 21st Results

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Complete Control (10) vs. Warhead (23)

The night starts strong with a HELL of a match between two of the IMO coolest bots in the bracket. It's a close one, but Warhead wins after pulling off a move that NEEDS to be seen to believe. This is one for the history books.

Razorback (15) vs. Ghost Raptor (18)

...Okay, how did I not know about Razorback before this match? That design is BEAUTIFUL... and it can, SOMEHOW, pull off something resembling a suplex. Ghost Raptor loses part of its blade early and Razorback takes it by pinfall.

Tombstone (1) vs. Escape Velocity (32)

...Well, at least it was more interesting than Escape Velocity's first fight. Tombstone crushes EV in an utter squash match. Try to hold your surprise.

Son of Wyachi (6) vs. Poison Arrow (27)

...Witch Doctor vs. Red Devil might just be dethroned for the upset of the season. It's not even CLOSE. S.O.W. goes flying literally ten feet in the air on the first real contact and doesn't get back up. It's a shocker, and a mighty impressive one at that. Poison Arrow just went from "that bot won because Mega Tento using a plastic sandbox for a weapon was a laughably terrible decision" to a terrifying contender in its own right.

So, yeah. Another fantastic night of fights. I highly recommend catching the VODs when they come up, because aside from the third fight, they're all pretty spectacular.

[BannedInSchool]

Razorback (15) vs. Ghost Raptor (18)

...Okay, how did I not know about Razorback before this match?

In their preliminary match they ran a drum spinner on the front but couldn't maneuver around their opponent's front scoop and just got pushed around all match without doing much damage. They did break the opponent's main weapon, so got the decision.

Spoiler: That Prelim Match

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[tomandtish]

Another episode's in the books, and boy, was this a doozy.

Spoiler: July 21st Results

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Complete Control (10) vs. Warhead (23)

The night starts strong with a HELL of a match between two of the IMO coolest bots in the bracket. It's a close one, but Warhead wins after pulling off a move that NEEDS to be seen to believe. This is one for the history books.

Razorback (15) vs. Ghost Raptor (18)

...Okay, how did I not know about Razorback before this match? That design is BEAUTIFUL... and it can, SOMEHOW, pull off something resembling a suplex. Ghost Raptor loses part of its blade early and Razorback takes it by pinfall.

Tombstone (1) vs. Escape Velocity (32)

...Well, at least it was more interesting than Escape Velocity's first fight. Tombstone crushes EV in an utter squash match. Try to hold your surprise.

Son of Wyachi (6) vs. Poison Arrow (27)

...Witch Doctor vs. Red Devil might just be dethroned for the upset of the season. It's not even CLOSE. S.O.W. goes flying literally ten feet in the air on the first real contact and doesn't get back up. It's a shocker, and a mighty impressive one at that. Poison Arrow just went from "that bot won because Mega Tento using a plastic sandbox for a weapon was a laughably terrible decision" to a terrifying contender in its own right.

So, yeah. Another fantastic night of fights. I highly recommend catching the VODs when they come up, because aside from the third fight, they're all pretty spectacular.

Agreed some good fights.

Complete Control (10) vs. Warhead (23)

Spoiler: undefined

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The fight LOOKED very impressive, but Warhead still seems to have control problems. You can tell from their shouts that the move they made occurred because they couldn't get back upright, and not because they intended this to be a move in their arsenal. Warhead was really imoprerssive in the old days, but I'm not sure how far it will go this time.

Razorback (15) vs. Ghost Raptor (18)

Spoiler: undefined

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First, credit to Razorback. They drove well, got in close, and did what they needed to do. But Ghost Raptor was smoking early and it turns out their repairs from the damage they took in qualifiers didn't hold, which caused problems as well. In his qualifying match, Chick Pitzer didn't learn the lesson from Tombstone last year, "Don't showboat". He decided to show that he could take the hits from S.O.W., and turned out he couldn't. That meant he was starting at a disadvantage in this fight. I don't know how much of a difference it would have made, since Zack was driving VERY well, but it's still la lesson EVERYONE needs to learn.

Tombstone (1) vs. Escape Velocity (32)

Spoiler: undefined

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Speaking of learning the lesson, Ray obviously has. Tombstone went in, did enough damage to immobilize EV, and then pulled out and waited for the countdown. He's not taking the risk of damaging his bot just to inflict extra damage. And that's the smart play. Assuming he keeps doing that, Tombstone just became a lot more likely to make it all the way.

Son of Wyachi (6) vs. Poison Arrow (27)

Spoiler: undefined

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Speaking of S.O.W., that was a heck of a hit by Poison Arrow. In the commentary before the fight, Zack said the goal was to use the drum spinner to send S.O.W. airborn, and boy did it work! They do need to be careful as they went in for a few extra hits after counting started. That makes fans happy, but it is how you damage your bot. But they do have a good bot and could be a contender.

[BannedInSchool]

Okay, last night's fights are up on YouTube now, except for Ghost Raptor vs. Razorback which is being held for processing by YouTube.

Edit: Oh, and that playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...E1vIFA0IA2PsTP

[pendell]

Indeed! let's walk through 'em.

Complete Control (10) vs. Warhead (23)

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Like the announcer said; this was like the end of Rocky II when the boxers knocked each other out , and it was a race to see who could climb back to their feet first. I'm still not sure exactly what happende in that first clash, but it looks like both bots were only partially controlled for most of the match.

I'm really surprised; this is the first time I've seen a bot actually catch fire from another's flame weapon. Had Warhead opened up CC to make that possible?

Some cool ingenuity from warhead to show some movement at the end there; they earned this victory.

Razorback (15) vs. Ghost Raptor (18)

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WHOA! Razorback just charges right in before the Ghost can get its blade spun up, and never lets up even for a second!

Looks like Ghost Raptor still managed to chop some pieces off before all is said and done.

That flip from Razorback ended the fight. Doesn't everyone have a self-righting mechanism these days? Didn't help Ghost Raptor.

Some cheap shots at the end of the fight. Guess he didn't learn Tombstone's lesson last year; this ain't WWF. Do a victory dance or something, Don't damage your bot.

Tombstone (1) vs. Escape Velocity (32)

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What's there to say ? Escape velocity isn't nearly solid enough to resist that blade. It was a wild card; had no business here. Tombstone steps in , slices just enough to render EV helpless, then that's it. Just another day at the office.

Back in the day, there was a stock car driver called Dale Earnhardt. Fans and racers alike called "The Intimidator". He drove a black car with the number 3, took no guff from anyone, won a lot of races and championships.

Tombstone is Battlebots' Intimidator.

Son of Wyachi (6) vs. Poison Arrow (27)

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This was a lot like a wild west gunfight, or a samurai duel; that first hit decided it all. If poison arrow missed, SOW would probably have sliced him to bits.

RRRRRMMMMM.. .dang! Has PA got a jet engine in there or something? That's gotta be one nasty spinner.

All in all, I like this match the best, because as brief as it was it seemed like the closest. Even though PA's drone still seems useless decoration.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[tomandtish]

Indeed! let's walk through 'em.

Complete Control (10) vs. Warhead (23)

Spoiler

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Like the announcer said; this was like the end of Rocky II when the boxers knocked each other out , and it was a race to see who could climb back to their feet first. I'm still not sure exactly what happende in that first clash, but it looks like both bots were only partially controlled for most of the match.

I'm really surprised; this is the first time I've seen a bot actually catch fire from another's flame weapon. Had Warhead opened up CC to make that possible?

Some cool ingenuity from warhead to show some movement at the end there; they earned this victory.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Actually, in watching that match very closely, I think here's what happened...

Spoiler

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Warhead damaged the gas tank for CC's flame weapon. Notice that at the instant of impact there's also a gush of flame outwards and CC"s flame weapon immediately goes out. I suspect CC sprung an internal leak that was lit by Warbird.

In short, Warbird provided the spark for CC burning itself.

Edit: Update from the source...

Spoiler

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CC posted this in a comment on their Facebook page (Direct copy so spelling errors remain):

Commenter: Tough loss against Warhead. Looks like the hit the drive and the tank for the flamethrower.

Complete Control: That's right. Jammed the drive chain, and sliced through the propane hose. The entire bottle vented very quickly, culminating in a beautiful, fiery demise!

[Traab]

Actually, in watching that match very closely, I think here's what happened...

Spoiler

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Warhead damaged the gas tank for CC's flame weapon. Notice that at the instant of impact there's also a gush of flame outwards and CC"s flame weapon immediately goes out. I suspect CC sprung an internal leak that was lit by Warbird.

In short, Warbird provided the spark for CC burning itself.

Yeah that was my theory too. But wow, what a collection of fast and BRUTAL fights. Just the whole lot of them were NASTY hits. It just goes to show you that spinner battles dont last long. One way or another they tend to end quickly.

[Yora]

Finally got around to watch it. Man, this was amazing!

Three really impressive fights in one go. I'm pretty sure it was the fuel of Complete Control that caught fire and it seems to have been disabled even before that. But that fight also showed that a weapon can have too much power. Warhead seemed barely controlable for most of the fight.

Warhead against Minotaur will be brutal.

The robot judo throw was also damn cool.

[Spacewolf]

So Robot Wars has also returned back to UK screens with the first episode Containing past world cup winners Razor and Behemoth, first round was abit of a mess like all free for alls are but pretty good otherwise.

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A shame about Razor but at least Behemoth is gone I always disliked that robot.

[tomandtish]

Can't find anything to indicate Robot Wars will be showing in the USA anytime soon....

[Spacewolf]

Really I'd have thought BBC America would be showing it now they don't really have any Top Gear to show. I'd have been interested to compare how the British Robots fair vs the American ones after so long without much activity. Doubly so considering 4 of the robots in this one looked identical to how they looked however many years ago.

[BannedInSchool]

Another prelim match:

Spoiler

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I guess theoretically SubZero could have immobilized Icewave somehow even without a fully-functioning flipper, but after both bots' weapons were disabled I was thinking they could voluntarily end the match rather than nudge each other around for minutes.

[Traab]

Didnt ice wave have a similar problem with his weapon breaking last season too? It seems like his design really needs some more robustness to keeping its weapon running. On the plus side it was powerful enough to do some fairly heavy damage, on the negative side it wasnt powerful enough to truly get the kill and eventually took so much recoil damage it wrecked itself. On the other side, that was a pathetic flipper bot. Maybe im spoiled by toro or something, but that was not a very powerful looking flipper. Its only strengths was it was clearly a well armored bot considering the hits it took and kept functioning. (mostly) It took a lot of damage early on and kept on driving which is impressive. But it just didnt do much.

[BannedInSchool]

Didnt ice wave have a similar problem with his weapon breaking last season too? It seems like his design really needs some more robustness to keeping its weapon running.

Icewave's weapon is ICE (Internal Combustion Engine)-powered, so it possibly didn't break so much as just stall. But then they obviously have a remote starter and looks/sounds like a centrifugal clutch, so I don't know what their problem was. Maybe they chose not to restart and play it safe for the pretty-assured decision?

And another sad, sad prelim:

Spoiler

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I guess ChromeFly did enough damage to Bucktooth Burl's drive to get the decision. BB was smoking at the end and maybe couldn't drive in a straight line any more? Sigh.

[Traab]

Wow that was sad, buck tooth got a good hit in, then apparently forgot how to drive. It has a great pivot speed which is huge for these positioning style fights, but it seemed to be more than he could compensate for while driving. Chrome fly apparently decided weapons are fun chumps so he packed one made of balsa wood and silly string. I have no freaking clue what the drone was going for with that detachable piece it dropped on buck.

[BannedInSchool]

Wow that was sad, buck tooth got a good hit in, then apparently forgot how to drive. It has a great pivot speed which is huge for these positioning style fights, but it seemed to be more than he could compensate for while driving.

Nearer the start BB was stuck on one half of CF's broken weapon for a while. After that I think it had taken some damage on one side that was giving it some problems driving.

[Yora]

Generally I very much approve of the technical advancements compared to last year, but I really wonder if we're going to see much more of flyers and minibots in the future. I think so far none of them ever did anything except exploding. At least with the current weight and weapon limits it's all about high power impacts and traction.

Flyers can't make physical contact without being instantly annihilated and fire only works when you can get the opponent to stand still. In which case it's much more efficient to put the flamethrower into the main robot.

But I think it's interesting that the two most dangerous and scary robots by far are both basically ancient designs. Tombstone and Bronco just have gotten more powerful and durable over the years, but the design really hasn't evolved at all.

[Traab]

Even extended flame time doesnt seem to ever do much. I mean, there was that one fight where complete control had, well, complete control over his opponent and basically bathed him in flame for 30 seconds straight, and aside from some minor smoke/steam or whatever, it still didnt do any good. It just looked awesome and scored judge points. And yeah, drones suck. Minibots suck too. They just arent powerful enough to do anything but give free points to your opponent when they inevitably get smashed or crash or otherwise break. As for bots like tombstone or toro, I compare it to the spear. Simple design that does its job so well that they remained in use for thousands upon thousands of years. Thats what we have here. Two basic designs that dont really need embellishment because they already do the exact job they are meant to do.

In fact, embellishments often get in the way. Remember the earlier qualifying match with, I think minotaur and blacksmith? Mino had the drum weapon that tore blacksmith apart, but he also had these two stupid spikes on either side of his drum weapon that meant he could only land a hit if he connected in exactly the right direction. Adding that bit of extra flair gained him nothing, but dragged out the length of the battle because it took him that much longer to land a solid shot. There have been several bots with amazing looking complicated weaponry, but the problem with that weaponry is it gave too many points of failure. Having a scorpion tail with a buzz saw blade attached is really cool to look at, but now you have about a half dozen ways that weapon can become useless with a single hit. Whereas someone like tombstone has realistically only one point of failure, hitting you so damn hard it breaks his own weapon as well as your entire bot. KISS is the order of the day if you want to win.

[Scowling Dragon]

KISS is the order of the day if you want to win.

Clearly it isn't.

[Rakaydos]

Even extended flame time doesnt seem to ever do much. I mean, there was that one fight where complete control had, well, complete control over his opponent and basically bathed him in flame for 30 seconds straight, and aside from some minor smoke/steam or whatever, it still didnt do any good. It just looked awesome and scored judge points. And yeah, drones suck. Minibots suck too. They just arent powerful enough to do anything but give free points to your opponent when they inevitably get smashed or crash or otherwise break. As for bots like tombstone or toro, I compare it to the spear. Simple design that does its job so well that they remained in use for thousands upon thousands of years. Thats what we have here. Two basic designs that dont really need embellishment because they already do the exact job they are meant to do.

In fact, embellishments often get in the way. Remember the earlier qualifying match with, I think minotaur and blacksmith? Mino had the drum weapon that tore blacksmith apart, but he also had these two stupid spikes on either side of his drum weapon that meant he could only land a hit if he connected in exactly the right direction. Adding that bit of extra flair gained him nothing, but dragged out the length of the battle because it took him that much longer to land a solid shot. There have been several bots with amazing looking complicated weaponry, but the problem with that weaponry is it gave too many points of failure. Having a scorpion tail with a buzz saw blade attached is really cool to look at, but now you have about a half dozen ways that weapon can become useless with a single hit. Whereas someone like tombstone has realistically only one point of failure, hitting you so damn hard it breaks his own weapon as well as your entire bot. KISS is the order of the day if you want to win.

While for the most point you're right, drum and vertical spinners like Minotaur and Knightmare need a bit of a wedge in front of their weapon to get the best effect. If they hit too low on the spinner, they miss out on the launcher effect of the vertical weapon.

[Yora]

Is there any ballpark estimate how much power was behind Blacksmith? It looked interesting and I believe tended to jump a little bit when hitting the ground, but it didn't look like there was a lot of force behind the hammer head. Beating on other robots didn't seem to do anything. The impact recoil might possibly have just been the motor continue to push down after impact and pulling the main body up instead of actually bouncing back.

[BannedInSchool]

Another prelim that goes to decision, but not all that sad this time. Both their main weapons broke before someone was KOed, but there was some action:


I do kind of like Splatter's all-in-one scoop/lifter/spinning disc, but it did get entirely disabled fairly early, no lifting or spinning.

[Yora]

Wow. The flyer had some crashes even without ever getting in contact with the opponent. Why was it even there?

[Traab]

Warrior had a really nice design, ultra low without getting hung up on the floor, he did a GREAT job of getting underneath splatter on a regular basis. That floor issue is a big one, you see it a lot with the low riders. They keep getting jammed up on the panels in the floor, but when its done just right, you are insanely tough to get underneath which really negates a lot of attackers. Especially if you have a long low body. The spinners and such often have a hard time connecting with you because there isnt a surface high enough for them to make contact with before they are driving up your ramp.

[tomandtish]

Is there any ballpark estimate how much power was behind Blacksmith? It looked interesting and I believe tended to jump a little bit when hitting the ground, but it didn't look like there was a lot of force behind the hammer head. Beating on other robots didn't seem to do anything. The impact recoil might possibly have just been the motor continue to push down after impact and pulling the main body up instead of actually bouncing back.

Did some looking but can't find anything. Even if it hits as hard or harder than a pulverizer, it is too slow to really be effective unless it can corner an opponent for an extended time. When you add in the fact that the head of the hammer came off in both fights, I suspect there needs to be some modifications.

Whereas someone like tombstone has realistically only one point of failure, hitting you so damn hard it breaks his own weapon as well as your entire bot. KISS is the order of the day if you want to win.

Actually, we've never really seen Tombstone take a solid hit from anything EXCEPT backlash from his own weapon. The body doesn't look as tough as some of the others. Looks like he gave up armor for speed and the massive blade. If someone (Minotaur or Poison Arrow for example) could hit him a few times on the back end, I suspect there might be a glass jaw there. But you have to get around that blade first....

[Traab]

Did some looking but can't find anything. Even if it hits as hard or harder than a pulverizer, it is too slow to really be effective unless it can corner an opponent for an extended time. When you add in the fact that the head of the hammer came off in both fights, I suspect there needs to be some modifications.



Actually, we've never really seen Tombstone take a solid hit from anything EXCEPT backlash from his own weapon. The body doesn't look as tough as some of the others. Looks like he gave up armor for speed and the massive blade. If someone (Minotaur or Poison Arrow for example) could hit him a few times on the back end, I suspect there might be a glass jaw there. But you have to get around that blade first....

Bronco managed a couple of decent flips but mainly yeah. I dont think he is precisely fragile or anything, but he might take less damage to break. But I was mainly talking about his weapon. There are some bots out there with incredibly complex weapon setups, so there is more room for something to go wrong. Take complete control as an example. He is a grab bot, with a lifting arm, and a flamethrower. That is a lot of moving parts that all need to work in order to avoid being useless in a fight. Tombstone basically just needs to keep his blade spinning.

*EDIT* Here is a better battle, tombstone was getting slapped silly by witchdoctor. He was getting launched all over hell and creation. Eventually his blade even broke. It was pure luck witch doctor landed upside down and was immobilized, because tombstone was busted. But he was still able to drive around. So im guessing his body isnt that fragile.

[Arcane_Secrets]

Flyers can't make physical contact without being instantly annihilated and fire only works when you can get the opponent to stand still. In which case it's much more efficient to put the flamethrower into the main robot.

What about making a drone that used pincers to dig into a robot, and then have the flamethrower mounted downwards so it could hang on while it was using the flame to do damage?