I don't know about you, but I've always wondered what made wedges like Neglected Waterbug's or Rabid Pit Bull's so much better than the ones on my bots. Well, we know that a lot of factors can affect wedges, and many theories exist as to what makes some wedges better than others. But there is very little hard evidence other than people's personal experience in the bot lab and the arena. Well, I'm going to take a look at all of these factors and lay it all out on the table for everyone to see. If anyone sees an issue with something I've posted here or has something to add please let us know.
I'm no expert on wedges or really anything having to do with RA2 when compared to some members of our community (I'm an average builder at best,) so basically this is a learning experience for me as well. I know Clickbeetle has tested a few of these things himself in the RA2 Mythbusters thread, but I'm going to attempt to cover all of the bases in this instance.
Part One: The Wedge ComponentSo the first thing that comes to mind when working with wedges is the wedge components themselves, and that is the first thing I tested. I used the same robot for all of these tests, changing only the extenders and the wedge itself. Here is the bot:
I tested 4 different wedge bot setups:
1. A small wedge
2. Chassis wedge with ballasts (the snapper and all extenders were removed to make room for ballasts. This is the only bot where a motor was moved.)
3. An Emergency wedge
4. A bracket wedge
Results indicate that just as expected, the small wedge easily gets under all of the other wedges. The next best was the Emergency wedge, which got under both the ballast and the bracket wedges. Third was the ballast and finally the bracket wedge.
Part Two: The Mounting MotorWe all know that a wedge mounted on a burst motor is better than one attached to a stationary component (or do we? possible test later to verify perhaps?) But which burst motor makes the best attachment point?
Again, I used the same bot for all tests. This time only changing the burst motor. I made sure to line up the attachment point on the rotating arm with the same line in the chassis each time as close as I possibly could.
Results verify what Pyscolone stated below... DDTs absolutely make the best wedges, consistently beating out all the other kinds. Next was a green snapper mounted parallel to the chassis. Third, the green snapper mounted perpendicular to the chassis with the rotating arm at the bottom. And surprisingly, a tie occurred between the blue snapper and the perpendicular green snapper with the arm at the top.
A rock-paper-scissors effect was created between some of these motors... This is more easily explained in this diagram:
So there you have it. DDTs make the best wedges, so if you can afford the weight, use them. I'm sure somebody will have something to say regarding the blue snapper, so if you can get some testing to disprove mine, please do so.
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