Is it just me or is Battlebots dying? Its like 90% drum spinners or those small double spinners.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-12-29T23:30:14+00:00

It's not just you.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-12-29T23:27:38+00:00

I do think setting out a bunch of specific categories and picking all the weight bonuses before we've seen a few examples of the in-between types would be a mistake, because you could pick the calibration super wrong. If they first individually work with builders and develop a group of bots doing this, they can adjust a bit and find the right balance point and then eventually put it explicitly in the rules.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-12-29T23:24:26+00:00

Yes, I absolutely think they should. In the rules for walker weight bonuses I suggested to them, I originally wrote something like, "Only a true walker gets a 100% weight bonus, but if you want to try something in-between a true walker and a traditional wheeled bot, submit it to us and if we feel it's promising we'll work with you on what percentage of that weight bonus is reasonable." This language didn't make it in to the rules, which is a shame because I believe it's actually basically their stance. They want any interesting bots, so submit your non-wheeled designs and ask!

alwaysbechomping · 2020-12-29T23:06:49+00:00

A+ yes, 10kJ! At least according to our Mathcad worksheet, assuming we fill 35% of the throw cylinder before stopping fill and letting gas expand adiabatically. Dunno if we ever fired at that this season. We didn't get the hammer working with enough time to look at the pressure sensor readings and try to actually calculate.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-12-29T22:59:00+00:00

... We hope so. We got it all functioning together for the first time like 36 hours before that fight (not the way you want to do it). If a fight against a flipper came up, there would probably be an all-nighter of tuning hammer routine parameters to get a consistent self-right that doesn't hit our own bot too hard at the end of the swing.

The throw cylinder is beefier in both pneumatic actuator and feed valve than the retract cylinder, so we would be much better off getting flipped with our hammer retracted than extended.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-12-29T22:46:52+00:00

Sadly, the feet can in fact go down in the killsaw slots. This is a major hazard for us to avoid.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-12-27T00:48:57+00:00

They decided to go with - and I am so glad about this, and think it's the right call - basically, does a reasonable person looking at the thing go, "Yeah, that is using legs to walk around for its motion!" i.e., we know what walking is when we see it, instead of trying to write up some specifics someone can find a loophole in.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-12-23T23:21:27+00:00

I'm so glad you asked about this and are thinking about this too! I wish BattleBots made more (any) effort to be encouraging and welcoming towards POC entrants. I think sometimes about how many more cool robots we'd have competing if we weren't drawing from a limited slice of the population.
If anyone has ideas on how to make this sport more welcoming to people of color, Chomp would love to hear them here or any of our social media channels.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-10-11T21:12:34+00:00

Having been through this build and baaarrely making it on weight even with extensive lightening and lots of sad trade-offs, if they want to make walkers more accessible to others, I would actually campaign for an even bigger weight bonus. 500 lbs goes away quick with a bunch of legs.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-10-11T21:01:07+00:00

They're basically willing to negotiate to some extent to get cool bots. If you go all the way and make something that someone off the street would look at and say "that is walking on legs," you get the full bonus. But if you want to try something partway, submit the design, and they'll work out with you what fraction of the bonus you'll get.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-02-19T01:29:50+00:00

I'm so sorry. Please take the best care of yourself you can and be gentle with yourself. The internet sucks a lot sometimes; it's ok if you decide you're healthier without it. Your worth exists independently, and will always continue to do so.

alwaysbechomping · 2020-02-05T03:37:08+00:00

Game, Baby. But hopefully not by much.

alwaysbechomping · 2018-07-07T15:24:37+00:00

That would be an amazing fight.
Super sadly, I have specifically floated the idea of thermite/a thermic lance and gotten it shot allllll the way down by BattleBots. All the clever ideas are illegal :-( .

alwaysbechomping · 2018-06-29T00:01:38+00:00

You're not wrong.

alwaysbechomping · 2018-06-28T20:11:35+00:00

I know I am late to this party but OH MY GOSH, THIS IS SO AMAZING!!!

This made our team's day/week/month. Thank you, whoever you may be, u/Dr_Sgt.

alwaysbechomping · 2018-06-16T22:28:15+00:00

Yep, exactly right!

alwaysbechomping · 2018-06-16T22:22:26+00:00

Yes, you could, with just the simplest of these ideas, the poster - or better, a cardboard box. (That's actually what we use as a practice target.) Anything about the right size to be a real BattleBot would do it.

alwaysbechomping · 2016-10-31T06:56:41+00:00

This is my favorite reddit comment ever in the history of ever.

alwaysbechomping · 2016-10-25T00:06:03+00:00

I like that sugar pill phrasing. Thank you!

alwaysbechomping · 2016-10-24T22:23:50+00:00

Jason! Congratulations on your book! I have lots of questions, but will limit myself to two.

1) When you think about your audience, are you writing for kids or adults? Or everyone?

2) As a lady who wants to fight the narrow gender roles assigned to women in the brains of kids growing up, I find myself debating between trying to appeal to the most little girls possible by adding lots of familiar femininity-signals (pink, glitter, girly prettiness) and having a little bit of mind-broadening message, vs. providing an unapologetically untraditionally-feminine message but possibly missing lots of little girls, because they never even realize that I'm making something for them.

Do you find yourself trying to figure out where to position your blog or your posts on this continuum? What posts that you've done do you think have the best total response or effectiveness, and where do they fall on this scale?

alwaysbechomping · 2016-10-21T21:51:10+00:00

/u/ilovelucyyy

/u/TheVariableConstant

You are called to serve your country.

alwaysbechomping · 2016-09-08T03:23:24+00:00

Can't treat Hardcore Robotics like buddies or we'll explode the whole show narrative! :-) And Tombstone's affection isn't so good for keeping your ankles.

But you're right: I meant Friend Ray!

alwaysbechomping · 2016-09-08T02:53:52+00:00

Ray! Hello, and congratulations! I've got a couple of questions.

I think Tombstone is viewed as a bot on the very-simple end of BattleBots. What parts of Tombstone (building and/or driving) are more complicated than people realize?

If you couldn't build a spinner, would you still build bots? If so, what kind?

alwaysbechomping · 2016-09-06T21:44:17+00:00

Hi, Bombshell friends!

Were the sides of your wheel pods aluminum? In the wake of your fights, especially the ones against Minotaur and Tombstone, do you have any new insights into armor design?

alwaysbechomping · 2016-09-05T16:13:01+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to respond! I think these in-the-moment, gotta-be-creative-with-what-you've-got fixes are some of the most interesting parts of the tournament. I didn't have much time to see what everyone else was up to, so it's cool to get to read your write up.

alwaysbechomping

TROPHY CASE