wow. i just looked at the rules, and i’m not impressed. we need to start another league that has no such rules.
but since this is all we have to work with, i’d like to make some comments on the weapons we’ve seen so far.
spinning blades:
for all i can tell, these a re damned near useless. as mentioned above, they tend to throw the other bot away from the damage, and even when contact is made, the damage is suprisingly minimal.
spikes and ramrods:
even worse than the blades since they tend to miss or hit a non-vital part of the target.
hammers, etc:
these also tend to cause little damage, but they have demonstrated the ability to get a lot of scoring hits in. but lets face it, we’d all rather destroy the enemy than win on ‘points’.
spinning bot:
i like these. you know the round bots with the spinner on/around them that knocks an enemy away reall hard, and causes a decent amount of impact damage as well. i think that with some design modifications, these could be the best weapon since aiming isn’t an issue.
wedges:
obviously the best, and it only emphasizes that driving skills are more important than weaponry. that bothers me a little, since it means your design isn’t as important as your control. i want to win because my design is cool, not cuz i can drive better. then it just becomes glorified rc racing, and i hate that.
i like the camera idea, and i think the only reason it hasn’t been done is that it would be very vulnerable, and you’d have to hold the screen in front of you. potentially very expensive.
i still think a projectile type weapon could be very cool, especially if it can pull the enemy bot into some nasty close combat weapon.
maybe one of those cool spinners could have a turret with a camera/grapple launcher. this way you could bring the other bot into you and aim through the camera.
11.2 Forbidden Weapons
The following weapons may not be used:
Electricity - The use of electricity as a weapon shall be forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
Stun Guns/Cattle Prods
RF jamming equipment, etc.
EMP
Liquids - The use of any liquid as a weapon shall be forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
Water and other liquids
Liquefied gasses
Chemicals or corrosives
Foams, Adhesives, etc.
Explosives or Flammable Solids - This includes, but is not limited to the following:
DOT Class C devices
Gunpowder/Cartridge Primers
Military Explosives, etc.
Lights - Lights that are bright enough to obstruct an Official, Entrant, or Judge’s vision shall be forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
Lasers over 5mW output.
Any Strobe Light
Flood type lights
Visual Obstruction - Any attempt to impair the vision of another Entrant shall be forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
Visible smoke
Lights/lasers directed at the Entrants, etc.
A BattleBot that smothers/covers another BattleBot is permitted.
Projectiles - Untethered projectiles are forbidden. Tethered projectiles are allowed. Tethered projectiles can carry a tremendous amount of energy, the restraints must be strong enough to absorb this energy without sustaining any damage. The length of the tether as measured from the body of the BattleBot to the tip of the projectile must be less than 10 feet. Entrant may be disqualified for intentionally using a tether as an entanglement device (see #8).
Heat/Cold - Heat or cold specifically generated to damage an opponent is forbidden.
Flame Throwers
Plasma Torches, etc.
Liquid Nitrogen
Entanglement Devices - Any device specifically designed to entangle another BattleBot shall be forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
Any type of net.
Fishing Line, String, etc.
Tape
A grappling hook type weapon is not considered an entanglement device.
I think we should use transportation as part of the weapon. A vehicle that is oblivious to the kill saws and other obstacles would be able to make straight line attacks against its opponent.
What about a spring-loaded wedge? Drive under the opposing bot and pop him up into the air. You could use a pneumatic piston or a motor-driven pinion gear to re-set the spring after every “launch.” A fast battlebot with this feature would be really tough to beat.
But that’ll only compensate for the force of the firing itself. If the weapon actually hits its target, it might not penetrate if the path of least resistance is the attacking bot sliding backwards. I suppose it might work if the bot simply dragged underneath it a liftable apparatus with a ribbed rubber “foot”; when moving forward, the foot would have no effect, but the bot couldn’t be pushed backward against the “ribs”. It’d have to raise for the bot to move in reverse, and if that malfunctioned, it’d be a major bitch…hmmmm…
Flyp’s given me a few new ideas. Imagine if you will an old-style paddleboat, with the paddles at the stern rather than the side. You know, the kind that kinda looked like an old unpowered lawnmower? Place one of those lawnmower-style blades at the front of the bot, spinning such that it’ll scoop other bots up and over itself. I’m still pondering how to maximize damage with this design…
Y’all excited about the new season? It looks like, from the ads, that Voltarc has changed the single tooth on his lifting arm to three spikes. That should work much much better. Oh, this is gonna be sweet…
Yeah, see?!? I think if we could get ahold of another bot by either grappling or using a magnet on a line, we could drag the enemy into the killsaws and stuff . . . Just a thought.
And Jester, maybe yer just too slow on the trigger.
Another problem with grappling hooks, other than the lack of penetration, is that they really don’t do much. Sure, you can hook a bot. Then what? Not all bots are gonna be trying to pull away from it. If you get a wedge bot of some kind, it’ll be out to hit you anyway, and will just drive at you, thus causing slack in the grappling line if the motor isn’t fast enough, and smacking into your bot. Or, if the motor IS fast enough, you’ve got another problem, since the bot is now coming at you with increased velocity.
I like the idea of an escalator/lifting wedge design. What if you could design the wedge to be out in front, then, once you have the bot on the platform, have a motor bring it back over the top of your bot and smashing the enemy, on it’s back, into the ground? You’d basically be doing a suplex. Put a pneumatic spike in back, to hit the disabled bot, and you’d be king.
Battle Platform
o____o <- winch
:| |:
:| |:
__:|__|:__
|__________|
O O <- track or wheels
___o__o___
|__________|
O | | O
| |<- cylinder, steel
___|__|___ <-square plate for stability from attacks
(part of base of robot)
Ok, blimps may be impractical, but what about a robot that winches itself up a bit, then does various harpoon attacks from that height?
It could lower itself and remaneuver if necessary too.
I always though you could easily mount a tank of compressed air, and use it to run a jackhammer. I have a handheld pneumatic, that will cut through steel plate, the repeated percussions alone would certainly raise hell with an opponent’s electronics.
How about a 'bot that would anchor itself firmly to the arena floor, using vacuum, on will ?
Wedge-type opponents will have a hard time tipping it over, and a turret design for the weaponry will let you fight the attackers.
Or perhaps Kyberneticists descending platform (of doom) design ? Catch your opponents between the floor and the platform and grind away with your tungsten/carbide drills ?
I’ve been thinking about this: a shallow dome with a ring at floor level. Not an inch above, but right at floor level. Like a wedge, you could drive right at an opponent and strike, or when you are adjacent to them, with the ring under their machine, a lifting mechanism flips the bugger. The difference between this and a forklift type machine is that is has a ring that elevates, rather than a uni-directional device. And as someone mentioned before, the advantage of the dome versus a wedge is that direction is a non-issue.
Incorporated with this, or with Kyberneticist’s platform, as Spiny mentioned, a vacuum or magnetic hold to the arena floor, and you’ve got a machine that can’t be flipped or speared (as weapons should glance off or over the dome) yet can potentially flip it’s opponent. ‘Course, arcing or descending weapons could be dangerous to the thing.
Another variation could be the dome, or even a wedge, with retracted spikes. Drive under the opponent and spring the spikes ::snikt::
Another sort of “death-from-above” idea: a large box with various equipment mounted on the top (jackhammers, spikes, blades, etc.) with a central lifting device. The box raises, waits for the opponent to strike/ram, and drops onto him, smothering the machine. Once trapped, the tools of destruction come down. Visually, it’d be great, as the viewers would see only the one machine, but also see the weapons descending upon the hapless opponent inside. Obviously, this’d have to be a large machine, capable of taking various hits, but once you’ve got the opponent smothered, it should be time for the fat lady.
thinksnow’s ring could also act to hold another 'bot on top of yours. If you had the low dome shape, they’d tend to drive right over you. You raise the ring, and they can’t easily drive down the other side. Then, your top-mounted saws and drills can attack their underside.
While they’re all good ideas, has anyone thought of using two facing grappling hooks mounted on arm-like appendages that can rotate up and down to insure best angle of penetration. Once the hooks have penetrated the bot, just spread the arms apart with a hydraulic or pneumatic pump and slowly draw the arms apart, ripping the opposing bot either apart or even in half. That is if you don’t spear anything vital with the grappling hooks.