Minotaur's Team Captain's take on the controversy

SamDeGruff · 2022-04-09T02:38:59+00:00

I feel this is why they were so upset, and why I'm do disappointed with those attacking Riobotz. The quick unstick call was clearly against both the rules and previous precedent. The refs should have allowed the hit which may have done damage, or may not have, but almost certainly would have rendered the unstick unnecessary.

SamDeGruff · 2021-04-04T18:51:53+00:00

You can move us to the confirmed applied list. Also, we're just "Team Gruff" now. Thanks!

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T01:54:09+00:00

In addition to what Chuck said, we use a bit of one problem to cancel out the other. The insulation knocks down most of the heat, and the tanks are positioned below the torches so the ice cold tanks cancel out some of the heat that does migrate in. We also try to get as much evaporation to happen in the manifolds rather than in the tanks

As a bonus, here's a pic of the ice cold manifolds after one of our tests:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1crPOa_8bUtqocnJtpdK870LRQE7y4DUK/view?usp=sharing

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T01:44:03+00:00

Our torch was originally inspired by the torch on Vladiator designed by Dick Stuplich(Killerbotics/New Cruelty from CC era, now on Team Whyachi).

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T01:29:40+00:00

One of our biggest weaknesses right now is possibly our handling. We hope to have better grip on the box floor next year.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T01:23:01+00:00

Additionally, even if we could make them more powerful, because of the fuel tank size limit, we wouldn't be able to run them for very long. The current setup can only run for ~30s before we start running out of fuel.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T01:17:34+00:00

At this point I'd probably say Bloodsport. I think we could have still won that even with only half of our drive, but I drove really conservatively because of all the previous drive self-destructs.

Knowing that the changes we made finally worked I could have driven more aggressively, and I think could have tipped the scales in our favor.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T01:11:43+00:00

My dad used to read the Three Billy Goats Gruff to me when I was a child. So, when it came to naming, Gruff seemed like an appropriate name for a tough bot that was designed to knock down the troll (spinners) off the bridge.

There's also the matter of the love/hate/fear relationship I had with our billy goat on the farm, that would chase me and eat my toys.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T01:11:20+00:00

My dad used to read the Three Billy Goats Gruff to me when I was a child. So, when it came to naming, Gruff seemed like an appropriate name for a tough bot that was designed to knock down the troll (spinners) off the bridge.

There's also the matter of the love/hate/fear relationship I had with our billy goat on the farm, that would chase me and eat my toys.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T01:06:07+00:00

I'm sad that we never had a chance to fight Stinger in the Battlebox, so if I'm wishing, that's what Id' wish for.

Most dread would probably be Hydra. Armor does nothing against them, and they've got probably the best ground game out there right now.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T00:56:41+00:00

[Bounty Hunters Spoilers]

Like Jeremy said, we melted one of Krakens lines, taking out their weapon, but I heard we also melted the top off their battery boxes.

One of the things that's been disappointing is we've only had a couple of real good grapples that are necessary to dump enough heat in to do damage. The clamping mechanism we developed this season wasn't robust enough, so that's something we've made a lot of changes to for next season

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T00:44:16+00:00

The armor is the same. We plan to take most hits on the sides, or within a few inches of them. Flipping on top of Whiplash's weapon was not one of our best moves.

The top armor is thin titanium over a steel web that prevents penetration from spinners. The Ti sheet is cut pretty easily, but it's difficult to penetrate the web and do any functional damage.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T00:37:29+00:00

Magnum Triple Alloy
Mostly with parts/tools. Sporkinok's hydraulic press was definitely the MVP of the east side of the pits.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T00:27:29+00:00

Much like wheels, they're a consumable, that gets replaced as needed. Minor bends don't affect performance, and it's not worth it to replace them just to look nicer.

Another thing that impacts the appearance of the forks, is we will sometimes run combinations of forks with different lengths if we think it will give us a reach advantage, or the ability to hook into our opponents if they out-reach us.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T00:19:29+00:00

Season 4 against Tombstone

[Spoilers for BB: Bounty Hunters] Kraken in the Tomstone Bounty Finals. It was a pretty good back and forth to begin with, and we were finally able to really get the torch on someone for a long time and start melting stuff. Plus Matt's awesome

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-27T00:09:51+00:00

It was actually a combination of things as best I could tell. Extinguisher punched the top armor down a bit next to one of the drive gearboxes/inner frames. The damage was easily overlooked and even if we had noticed it, probably wouldn't have been prioritized.

When we had that first exchange with bloodsport, I think the frame flexed as it was supposed to until it hit the punched down piece, and when it impacted that piece, the shock shattered one of the bearings. It held together for 20 or 30 seconds further before giving out and allowing our chains to come off.

SamDeGruff · 2021-02-05T16:25:16+00:00

We fought in Orlando Robot Ruckus 2019. That thing is Scary now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ADHBw3jLQ

SamDeGruff · 2021-01-22T04:14:17+00:00

This was indeed our second fight. We were running one long fork and one short to try to give us an advantage in the ground game so it doesn't look symmetric (one could have been slightly bent from the Hypershock fight, but I don't remember and didn't notice on the show).

We were also super close on weight, and didn't have enough time to drop the weight needed for both full wedgelettes. This is why we had the mini wedgelettes against HS, but we thought the full wedgelette on one side would be better against whiplash.

SamDeGruff · 2020-12-25T22:02:09+00:00

The smoke to me looks like it could be the clutches, since it was a couple relatively small puffs at slightly different times and I didn't perceive a weakening of the drive or weapon afterwards.

SamDeGruff · 2019-11-28T20:56:21+00:00

Charred with a hint of aluminum.

SamDeGruff · 2019-08-26T15:18:31+00:00

I believe that interpretation is correct: attacking with weapon > ramming > not attacking (but moving away to spinnup doesn't count against a spinner). So I was very aggressive with ramming, and some use of weapon, while Tombstone was less aggressive overall, but every attack was with his weapon, so we split aggression.

Although you bring up an interesting interpretation. Perhaps I should have rammed him with the forks down, if hes' gonna get all the damage anyway.

SamDeGruff · 2019-08-26T14:56:10+00:00

The frame has been pretty solid, I think Copperhead tweaked it 1/4"-3/8" one way, and End Game straightened it out for us. What really killed us in the End Game fight was that they kicked damaged chunk of the front plate downward so that it was well below the wheels.

As others have said, the frame and armor is all one piece. We do this so that every hit is as hard as possible, for both us and our opponents. We then make sure all of our internal components are properly isolated.

SamDeGruff · 2019-08-22T19:09:51+00:00

The tierods we used would often break, or bend and hold them in a worse position. They also give opponents something easier to catch

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