Regional Superteam

But as a chassis alone it can be quite sufficient.

Jeff L wrote:

But as a chassis alone it can be quite sufficient.

Depends on what is used for armor.

There is going to be MASSIVE stress on the frame when it is gluing itself to the floor and getting hit by a 50 lb drum at the same time...

Maybe it will work, but then again it may get absolutely destroyed by that sort of hit.

Actually, now that I've read the RioBotz tutorial through the scaling section, that chassis is horrendously overkill. A 12 lb robot made to scale of that one would have unpocketed chassis plates 1/2 inch & 3/8 inch thick.

We were discussing cuddlebunny amongst our pit, and Alan's kind of suggesting what we had talked about... Cuddlybunny's "secret" weapon will work wonders against wedges and push bots and stuff like that, but against an active-weapon bot it could be a negative:

more force is imparted to a rigid body than an elastic one. If an active weapon hits it, it'll take more shock than if it just let go and went flying across the arena. I know you have your frame super-reinforced cause I'm sure you've thought of this, but still... we were thinking.

I did like what it did though... :]

Trust me, they've got something in mind. The basic design has actually been in the works for the past three years, and this fall it finally bore fruit. Besides, I've actually seen some drawings of what the end product will finally look like. There's more to it than just an assload of aluminum.

Although to be perfectly honest, I don't know any exact plans much beyond the chassis, they kept me in the dark on some things for a reason. But Will has already hinted at more on this forum; it's just a matter of someone else here figuring it out.

Dan Curhan wrote:

We were discussing cuddlebunny amongst our pit, and Alan's kind of suggesting what we had talked about... Cuddlybunny's "secret" weapon will work wonders against wedges and push bots and stuff like that, but against an active-weapon bot it could be a negative:

more force is imparted to a rigid body than an elastic one. If an active weapon hits it, it'll take more shock than if it just let go and went flying across the arena. I know you have your frame super-reinforced cause I'm sure you've thought of this, but still... we were thinking.

I did like what it did though... :]

Well, the reasoning behind this is that every force has to have an equal and opposite reaction...but my robot doesnt move when hit in the air. SO something has to happen. And if the vacuum is strong enough, the robots with the spinning weapons (drums, rings, saw blades) shold be flung into the air and possibly have their weapon broken.

Sean Rubin wrote:

Well, the reasoning behind this is that every force has to have an equal and opposite reaction...but my robot doesnt move when hit in the air. SO something has to happen. And if the vacuum is strong enough, the robots with the spinning weapons (drums, rings, saw blades) shold be flung into the air and possibly have their weapon broken.

Consider Copperhead's drum.

It spins upwards. And the floor is right there so we don't get pushed down... It is a 50 lb drum spinning at 3500 RPM's during a match... Strategy for the past 3 years with that drum has been to keep it in between us and the other bot because it is pretty much indestructible. Teeth have some pretty big welds and are not going to just snap off...

The chassis will need to be extremely sturdy

Something to consider.

Sean Rubin wrote:

Dan Curhan wrote:

We were discussing cuddlebunny amongst our pit, and Alan's kind of suggesting what we had talked about... Cuddlybunny's "secret" weapon will work wonders against wedges and push bots and stuff like that, but against an active-weapon bot it could be a negative:

more force is imparted to a rigid body than an elastic one. If an active weapon hits it, it'll take more shock than if it just let go and went flying across the arena. I know you have your frame super-reinforced cause I'm sure you've thought of this, but still... we were thinking.

I did like what it did though... :]

Well, the reasoning behind this is that every force has to have an equal and opposite reaction...but my robot doesnt move when hit in the air. SO something has to happen. And if the vacuum is strong enough, the robots with the spinning weapons (drums, rings, saw blades) shold be flung into the air and possibly have their weapon broken.

Keep in mind that the chassis in the 'SpiderPig Exists!' thread is pretty clearly only 2 inches tall. This is considerably thinner than most 120 lb robots in competition today, and that will make for a beastly wedge/plow. Considering this along with what Sean said, this is a robot specifically designed to run into weapons in every single match. Dan's saying exactly what the team realized from the beginning with SpiderPig, so the entire robot is built with that explicitly in mind.

Quote :

If ANYTHING is going to give in that situation, it will be your aluminum chassis. At the very least, you would be torn off the ground.

alan, back off a little. you're being pretty confrontational... everyone else here has more experience than you... just let people do what they're doing and don't make such black and white predictions. I'm sure that spiderpig's team knows exactly what they're doing, and they have a plan in mind.

remember, we're trying to foster inter-team relations, not start fights.
:]

Dan Curhan wrote:

Quote :

If ANYTHING is going to give in that situation, it will be your aluminum chassis. At the very least, you would be torn off the ground.

alan, back off a little. you're being pretty confrontational... everyone else here has more experience than you... just let people do what they're doing and don't make such black and white predictions. I'm sure that spiderpig's team knows exactly what they're doing, and they have a plan in mind.

remember, we're trying to foster inter-team relations, not start fights.
:]

I didn't mean it that way...
Sorry if I came across that way.

i didnt see you saying anything wrong. just letting us know our possible weaknesses which might actually help us. And Jeff is no longer on our team as he is in College so i dont think it will start a fight at all.

Sean Rubin wrote:

i didnt see you saying anything wrong. just letting us know our possible weaknesses which might actually help us. And Jeff is no longer on our team as he is in College so i dont think it will start a fight at all.

That is how I meant it, but it can easily be interpreted as something else...

I am just reminding you guys that there are some extremely powerful active weapons out there. Not just Copperhead either...
BuildersDB ha one bot with a "1100 lb Catapult" as their weapon. Not sure if that is accurate, but if it is that is a TON of force, something even Copperhead needs to watch out for.

Fuchsia Fusion looked pretty gnarly when we saw it sitting in the warehouse in Miami. Appeared to have a painted Titanium Shell. So that is something to watch.

The Blender will be there

Nationals should be interesting because just about every bot registered looks relatively impressive. Some more than others, but in general, competition looks to be there.

if the carrollton girls put fuchsia fusion together right, it should be pretty good. Just remember, the most impressive looking bot can be driven badly, poorly designed, or badly constructed. There is usually some hope when going against everyone.

Not making predictions or anything...

But I'm excited. :]

Sorry we're at the Best Western, not the Mariott, but it's only a few blocks away...

Anyone else think we should move everything from page 4 onward to "SpiderPig Exists!"?

Jeff L wrote:

Anyone else think we should move everything from page 4 onward to "SpiderPig Exists!"?

i believe we shld. it is off topic.

For Sure.

godughifu wrote:

On the other hand, since the active weapon is not forcing the robot out of its path, unless it cuts clean through it, the active weapon itself the weapon drive could take some SERIOUS damage.

There are ways to ensure that it doesn't affect the weapon drive. We have a few with Copperhead.

Also, some of the guys on our team have basically said that if someone manages to break Copperhead's drum, they deserve to win. So, if your chassis + vacuum setup manages to break our drum, we will concede and admit total defeat. You guys will have earned it if you pull that off.

Some how, I have a feeling we AREN'T gonna do that. BUT, if we do, don't concede, just keep going.

I would be amazed if Copperhead's drum was broken by SpiderPig. Heck, the worst damage I'd expect the drum to take in ANY match would be to either lose a tooth (which could just be welded back on), or have something go horribly wrong with the belt.

On another note, it seems aluminum is actually pretty popular for making the chassis of 120s - Touro had an inner frame that's actually a bit less reinforced in some directions than SpiderPig's (along with more pocketing & thinner pieces of aluminum). As armor it's a horrible choice though, unless you intend for it to ablate.

Jeff L wrote:

I would be amazed if Copperhead's drum was broken by SpiderPig. Heck, the worst damage I'd expect the drum to take in ANY match would be to either lose a tooth (which could just be welded back on), or have something go horribly wrong with the belt.

On another note, it seems aluminum is actually pretty popular for making the chassis of 120s - Touro had an inner frame that's actually a bit less reinforced in some directions than SpiderPig's (along with more pocketing & thinner pieces of aluminum). As armor it's a horrible choice though, unless you intend for it to ablate.

The drum won't break.

Strategy for defense in the past 3 years has been to keep the drum between us and the other bot. Worst the drum has ever seen was a gouge made by Knightrous. And we completely obliterated Knightrous's weapon at the same time as when we got the gouge.

Even if it means giving up chances at huge hits always keep the drum in between us and the other robot, the drum will do the work for us. That is one thing I have gathered talking to Jeff, Dan and Eddie. Something that, if I end up driving, I will always keep in mind.

I wasn't saying the drum will break - I was just saying the most damage I would ever expect to see is trivial and can be fixed in 15 minutes.

Jeff L wrote:

I wasn't saying the drum will break - I was just saying the most damage I would ever expect to see is trivial and can be fixed in 15 minutes.

Yeah. I was sort of elaborating on that.

Back to the original topic.

I'd suggest you guys take a good look at the heavyweights attending the National competition for ideas about how to make either a single robot or a multibot for that weight class. Also: take pictures [of the insides of the robots {if the builders let you}]! Some of the tricks they use are likely to be very helpful. Additionally, some very rare weapon designs are on display (eg: Warrior SKF), and very few people have ever seen how they work up close. Take full advantage of the opportunity to see these robots up close.

warrior skf is crazy! I've been DYING to see how it works!

So, any ideas about how this should be set up? One possibility is people from one team could remotely do the design work while farming out machining to a well-equipped team (at least for some parts), and meet up at the competition location. The easiest way to try this out would probably be initially with a 15-lber, since they're [usually *COUGH*WILL*COUGH*] less of an investment than a 120. For example, Pine View could commission a superteam robot by creating a design which is critiqued and perfected by the other superteam members. They then pay for raw materials which arrive [for example] at RE Robotics or Carrolton [starbot] for machining, and are then sent across the state for assembly at Pine View. Alternatively a few members from several of these teams could get together and design a robot, pick who's going to drive it and serve as the "home" for the robot (who keeps what's left of it after competition [or what parts even, if one group pays for electronics]). Another alternative is to share full designs across the board and/or share repair materials & equipment at competition to reduce overhead, while keeping each team relatively independent of one another. The last one is by far the easiest to get going, and is actually almost a reality due to this forum.