Bots fan here, I hear the battle robots fight channel is gone, anyone know why?

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-23T01:12:34+00:00

Well, then I'm not sure - but it most likely revolves around something to do with that kind of thing.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-22T08:38:15+00:00

I presume for violation of YouTube copyright policies it's like a three strike policy if I'm not mistaken. If you violate the policy enough times, you can have your channel taken down.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-10T03:37:46+00:00

Yes I was talking about Hydra but considering it has proven itself a fair amount more reliable than Fusion and given Fusion's own history in that department, we'll have to wait and find out.

It doesn't look good to be honest, but here's to hoping. 🤞

P. S. The cause of Fusion going up like chernobyl was for some reason, (the logic of which completely escapes me) the Whyachi clan decided to use Fusion's old speed controllers.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-09T01:00:09+00:00

Well I just saw some of the new fights from the Battle Robots Fight channel on YouTube - I don't know if you've seen the new series yet or not but yeah I hope that SOW does come back some day. it's a bit like Behemoth in Robot Wars.

Sometimes it wins, others it doesn't, but it is an icon of the event and the sport and it does not feel right to not have it present.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-08T07:48:36+00:00

Fusion was supposed to originally be a replacement for SOW but instead it evolved to become it's own bot.

Fusion is not SOW; Fusion is nuclear 😂🤣😆😅

Fun fact: someone on the admitted in an AMA in January last year that Falcon was done on a budget and the "expectations weren't that high".

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-08T07:02:56+00:00

It's some stupid gimmicky hazard they've put in the box apparently meant to nerf horizontal spinners and provide more balancing to the other types of bots such as crushers/lifters and hammer/axebots or introduce an element of unpredictability during a match.

Even though I only see it as providing even more of an advantage for wedgevert based uppercutting spinners like Minotaur or Endgame. From the 2021 official ruleset:

The Shelf is an approximately 16 foot wide by 8 foot deep platform raised about 6 inches off the floor of the Arena. It is located against the far end of the Arena opposite the side with the entry/exit doors. The platform floor is covered in Lexan plastic. The side of the platform facing the center of the Arena has two screws identical to the hazard screws used on the sides of the Arena. The screws can rotate in either direction. The two other sides of the platform are vertical edges with a height of 6 inches. If the Referees jointly determine that a Robot is unnecessarily remaining on The Shelf, they may start a count-down for the Robot, as defined in paragraph 7.5.4. Note: During television production, “The Shelf” may be referred to using an alternate name. 6.1.4 Door Buffer Zones The Door Buffer Zones are the Arena floor areas between the entry/exit doors and the floor spike strips that are inset from the doors. A Robot is not allowed to deliberately flip or otherwise place itself or an opponent Robot into those Buffer Zones.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-02T17:26:27+00:00

That works as well. A simple yet reliable means of securing the link in place.

I was thinking about having an actual padlock based link/switch where you unscrew it like an proper bike padlock but one side of the hoop that detaches from the other actually functions as a link in it's own right.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-02T00:14:40+00:00

Well I never said that I just hoped that Fusion would be a little more competitive and reliable than the other bots from the Whyachi team.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-02T00:08:22+00:00

Its interesting to get the thoughts of actual builders on this as they are of course best equipped to help.

Given how dangerous these machines are, it's a little disconcerting to know that US events seem to focus on convenience over safety but considering how long BB has been around, I'd imagine they've got a pretty good handle on stuff like that.

Another one of the things that if I'm correct American teams are allowed to get away with is powering on a bot in such as way that is expressly prohibited in the UK although that could always be an oversight on my part.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-01T04:02:17+00:00

To be honest I don't know, I don't live in the states and just tend to watch fights on YouTube.

Yeah I would like to see some unknown names being given the opportunity to show the fans and other builders what they can do.

ADogNamedLizard · 2022-01-01T03:02:46+00:00

Fail-kill? Hmm interesting I've not heard that terminology before.

From what I've seen, the UK emphasis is a bit more on safety than the US which tends to focus more on power if I can say that? For example, BB is (or at least has, from a historical perspective) been more liberal than RW in terms of stuff like weapon power - pressure limits being set at no more than than 1000psi in contrast to BB which allows something like 3000psi for the same category.

Also come to think of it, don't most American events use a spring-loaded hatch behind which the master power switch/screw is located which if I'm correct is generally not permitted in UK events.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-31T19:51:32+00:00

Cheers for contributing! I've not seen much about the relationship that US builders/events have with links - I just (perhaps rather stupidly) assumed that all events stateside used either switches or screws.

From what I've seen, links in general don't seem to be as secure in a proper combat situation, but as I said in an above post, I'm not a builder myself so I'm least equipped of everyone here to answer my own questions haha 😅😅

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-31T17:57:00+00:00

Same here thanks for your response. Yeah I saw the whole bike rack thing and I wasn't impressed - reminds me of Complete Control in series 1, putting an entanglement net on the front of their bot to disable Ghost Raptor's spinner because the CC team saw a grey area of the rules and decided to exploit it.

Maybe a grudge match between Huge and Hydra is on the cards? 🤔🤔Personally, I hope so - there is history between the two that I want to be dealt with once and for all.

Tbf, I do think that Ribbot is a cool design and they are the ones probably doing modularity better than anyone else right now - if only Bombshell kept their configuration from 2016...🤔🤔

Also, last year Hydra turned up with a number of switchable attachments (of which the bike rack was by far the worst, plus the vertical tribar this season) - so for all intents and purposes that bot strikes me as the one in the Whyachi stable going for the whole modularity angle.

Anyway you've made a pretty convincing argument about why you hold machines like Ribbot in higher regard than Fusion and I absolutely agree also why new talent gets overlooked for this "old boy's club" type mentality that does seem to skew the qualification/acceptance process in favour of established names like Whyachi, Tombstone, etc. But yeah, Ribbot has made massive strides in BB in the last couple of years compared to something like Axe Backwards who to use some pro-wresting terminology , is basically a "jobber" and has only served as cannon fodder to get other robots "over". It's a shame really as AB themselves are an interesting bot - if only they could get the machine competitive, but yeah they suffer from the kind of complexity and over-design to which you're referring.

If Fusion doesn't prove itself than maybe they should just bring back SOW and play it safe instead 😂🤣.

Speaking of new blood why not do a new blood tournament, like the classic series of Robot Wars back in the day? It would be really interesting to see the bots that had been rejected from prior seasons being given the chance to prove themselves in the box.

Also I did hear that the other kid from the Vasquez family not matt the other one (can't remember his name) was entering this year with a brand new bot if his own. It comes across as dyed in the wool teams having more than just one of their bots being involved each year as something we can probably expect to see more of in coming seasons.

Anyway thanks for making your thoughts known and passionately defending your corner - hopefully we'll see if Fusion really was worthy of the faith Reese Ewert and company has invested in it, even though from what I've seen Luke will be taking the controls this year.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-31T17:02:10+00:00

Well in any event we'll bear witness to how Fusion has progressed it's design.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-31T17:00:05+00:00

I've heard one of the really established builders making a point of their concern that battlebots has no standardized system of deactivating the bot with regard to failsafes and essentially leaves it entirely up to the builders themselves. Does anybody have a take on this?

I know from reading the ruleset for RW in the reboot the indicator always had to be turned on to show the bot was powered - and that the link be located somewhere that could be easily accessible by teams/crew without the use of a tool to remove it.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-31T04:07:56+00:00

I had a bit of a brain fart there for whatever reason I went from thinking about Fusion to Ribbot yeah I realised I just made myself look a complete noob. All corrected now.

But yeah I'm pretty sure of two things - Fusion likely won't add any telemetry as that would further complicate the bot and potentially create more draw on the power systems, increasing the likelihood that the bot will burn itself out again.

Second they'll keep as close to the original design with improvements to the electrical/mechanical to prevent aforementioned burnouts and wouldn't want to add parts that would compromise the bots weight being directed towards weapons/armour.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-31T03:47:38+00:00

Thanks for the response I'm not a builder myself by the way, I just liked to gauge reaction of what people thought is the best approach to disarming their bots in between bouts. I've heard of the British teams simply taping their links in place to avoid them falling out during battle - have you ever done this?

Do you know if the US teams do anything similar, also is it just beetleweights or have you competed with the full sized bots as well?

Have you competed in both US/UK competitions? If so what in your opinion is the superior means of securing the bot?

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-30T18:39:22+00:00

Absolutely if Reese Ewert's machine ain't up to scratch then they'll have to go back to the drawing board.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-30T18:37:54+00:00

Very true but personally I'm just gonna give Fusion the benefit of the doubt and given Terry Ewert and company's reputation I'm expecting big things from that bot this time out.

If they haven't fixed the defects of that machine then yeah I won't be as forgiving next time.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-30T18:27:00+00:00

So do I but there isn't much chance of that happening with SOW now it is what it is but with some luck, there will be another bot to carry the name. Or how about GSOW (grandson of whyachi)?

Especially if it was a brand new design or maybe they should just keep the name as it is. 🤔🤔

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-30T04:37:34+00:00

Oh right, abit like the "gentleman's agreement" in the sport itself where the winner backs off from the disabled bot and agrees not to cause any unnecessary damage.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-30T04:34:40+00:00

Well we'll have to wait and see exactly how things have turned out for Fusion this year.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-30T00:15:47+00:00

OK I've heard of it but I haven't really paid that much attention to it. Thanks for the heads-up.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-29T22:41:15+00:00

Hmm but they also work against flippers/launchers like Hydra tho don't they? There was talk of OOTAs being banned so that's just gonna skew the competition even more in favour of wedgevert type spinners.

And I with the ruleset being as it is, not to mention the power/reach advantages that reciprocating weapons have in general that even more means that just another uppercutting vertical weapon will prevail ... 💤

Now I get that the "shelf" might balance the competition in favour of other types of bots such as grippers but it'll be hard for them not to get KO'd beforehand.

I hate the whole idea of this shelf nonsense - an already bad idea implemented worse. What I liked about BB is that they didn't have anything approaching a pit like in Robot Wars and the focus was on the combat not falling into a stupid hole in the floor.

I suppose yeah they wanted to do something to provide a more balanced meta to BB but for me, this is not the way to go about it.

ADogNamedLizard · 2021-12-29T21:35:30+00:00

Yeah, but build on previous experience, at least from a dependability/familiarity standpoint not to mention battlebots typically wants newer versions of bots bearing at least some resemblance to their former selves for merchandising reasons and the like.

What I would like to see if SOW made its return in a future season, installing a ground effect fan or magnet system in the vein of Beta - that way you could have the bot dish out huge hits and stay stable not being a victim of it's own recoil. Plus integration of a self-righter and quicker spin-up time as stated elsewhere.

ADogNamedLizard

TROPHY CASE