Author Topic: Robot Wars Series 2 Discussion Thread (Read 24788 times)

wakkydude · « **Reply #20 on:** October 13, 2016, 10:08:58 AM »

But does this mean we'll never get to see the drum in action? When asked whether Extreme Robots' new arena would be Grade 1 for spinners, John said he was "considering options". I'd love to see it myself, but if he can't practically make it work he would have spent a lot of money on a useless addition....

cephalopod · « **Reply #21 on:** October 13, 2016, 10:20:08 AM »

"considering options"

Philippa · « **Reply #22 on:** October 13, 2016, 10:23:04 AM »

I thought the drum was to drag stuff up on top.

firestorm999 · « **Reply #23 on:** October 21, 2016, 10:18:32 AM »

I have to say, if the Overdozer and Sweeney Todd teams return, I would love to see what they have done to improve their robots. In Overdozer's case, I actually admire their attempt to build a robot in the limited time and money they had, plus they had fun while they were at it. Maybe with a bit more experience and time, they may roll something a bit more competitive in the 2017 series?

Plus Sweeney Todd's Mecanum wheels really intrigue me and I suspect that it could be a very maneuverable robot should they fix the reliability issues. Also, is it just me, or because of the short span of time the team had to build, that they focused on the wheels rather than the weight and weaponry? Maybe with a bit more time and money, these problems can be rectified and Sweeney Todd 2 could be a very dangerous robot.

cephalopod · « **Reply #24 on:** October 21, 2016, 10:23:46 AM »

I know the Overdozer guys have re-applied at least. Looking forward to whatever they're cooking up :)

Philippa · « **Reply #25 on:** October 21, 2016, 10:28:49 AM »

Hopefully it's still like the first Overdozer. I like the amateur feel to it.

R01 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 21, 2016, 10:36:41 AM »

Quote from: Kurt on October 21, 2016, 10:28:49 AM

Hopefully it's still like the first Overdozer. I like the amateur feel to it.

I have a feeling that's why they're announcing stuff late like that as well, but it doesn't fully work out and will just lead to low reliability on the bots.

cephalopod · « **Reply #27 on:** October 21, 2016, 10:59:24 AM »

Anyone that has been wise and was prepping since the first series is ready. Lots of bots are ready, and lots of teams that should've known better are not.

TheRoboteer · « **Reply #28 on:** October 21, 2016, 11:21:37 AM »

Quote from: Craaig on October 21, 2016, 10:59:24 AM

Anyone that has been wise and was prepping since the first series is ready. Lots of bots are ready, and lots of teams that should've known better are not.

I don't really agree that the teams "should've known better". Nobody even knew if a second series was going to happen. It would've been quite a gamble for them to start investing the money to build a new bot for a second series that they didn't know was going to happen.

cephalopod · « **Reply #29 on:** October 21, 2016, 11:45:49 AM »

These are experienced teams who build robots anyway. Other teams started in hope, they did not. End of. The teams that were prepping weren't secret about it either, it was a choice made by teams not to prepare.

TheRoboteer · « **Reply #30 on:** October 21, 2016, 11:51:41 AM »

Quote from: Craaig on October 21, 2016, 11:45:49 AM

These are experienced teams who build robots anyway. Other teams started in hope, they did not. End of. The teams that were prepping weren't secret about it either, it was a choice made by teams not to prepare.

It's still a big investment to build a new bot or upgrade an existing one for TV. The teams who didn't prepare likely didn't choose to because it's a big gamble to start preparing for the second series before you actually know it's going to happen. Imagine if you'd started investing all this money to ready Neutron up for a second series for it to never happen. It'd be pretty awful, especially considering that Neutron is a spinner and therefore couldn't even compete in live events to recoup some of the costs.

cephalopod · « **Reply #31 on:** October 21, 2016, 11:57:22 AM »

We had plans for Neutron if Series 2 didn't happen, in both spinner and non-spinner variations, so your point is kinda moot there :P

Tweedy · « **Reply #32 on:** October 21, 2016, 12:05:14 PM »

Quote from: TheRoboteer on October 21, 2016, 11:51:41 AM

Quote from: Craaig on October 21, 2016, 11:45:49 AM
These are experienced teams who build robots anyway. Other teams started in hope, they did not. End of. The teams that were prepping weren't secret about it either, it was a choice made by teams not to prepare.

It's still a big investment to build a new bot or upgrade an existing one for TV. The teams who didn't prepare likely didn't choose to because it's a big gamble to start preparing for the second series before you actually know it's going to happen. Imagine if you'd started investing all this money to ready Neutron up for a second series for it to never happen. It'd be pretty awful, especially considering that Neutron is a spinner and therefore couldn't even compete in live events to recoup some of the costs.

Hi, I'm the guy that has plowed every penny I have into Neutron to get it ready. I have been doing this regardless of whether there was a series 2 or not. Robot wars isn't the end all be all of robot combat, there are other places and other events that we can fight machines at and yes that includes spinners as well.

The point I'm trying to make is that it makes sense to build as quickly and as soon as possible, it both means that you're not just sending in a CAD as an application and that you don't have to build in such a massively constrained time frame.

TheRoboteer · « **Reply #33 on:** October 21, 2016, 12:18:40 PM »

Quote from: plazmic inferno on October 21, 2016, 12:05:14 PM

Quote from: TheRoboteer on October 21, 2016, 11:51:41 AM
Quote from: Craaig on October 21, 2016, 11:45:49 AM
These are experienced teams who build robots anyway. Other teams started in hope, they did not. End of. The teams that were prepping weren't secret about it either, it was a choice made by teams not to prepare.

It's still a big investment to build a new bot or upgrade an existing one for TV. The teams who didn't prepare likely didn't choose to because it's a big gamble to start preparing for the second series before you actually know it's going to happen. Imagine if you'd started investing all this money to ready Neutron up for a second series for it to never happen. It'd be pretty awful, especially considering that Neutron is a spinner and therefore couldn't even compete in live events to recoup some of the costs.

Hi, I'm the guy that has plowed every penny I have into Neutron to get it ready. I have been doing this regardless of whether there was a series 2 or not. Robot wars isn't the end all be all of robot combat, there are other places and other events that we can fight machines at and yes that includes spinners as well.

The point I'm trying to make is that it makes sense to build as quickly and as soon as possible, it both means that you're not just sending in a CAD as an application and that you don't have to build in such a massively constrained time frame.

I understand what you're saying. But take the Hypno Disc team for example. They said that they wanted to compete if there was a series 2 of Robot Wars. We now know that to be true, but they had no idea whether it was going to happen and how much time they would have when they said that. It would have been stupid for them to start building back then for an event which they had no idea if it was going to happen or not, especially as their bot revolves entirely around a weapon type that is nigh on outlawed in the UK apart from a very small amount of events (Robot Wars being one of them). While you may have the time and money to invest based completely on speculation, not everyone does, and a short time window like the one that has been provided has absolutely no benefits over giving teams longer to prepare, which would allow use to see more bots, better bots and have flippers actually be effective.

cephalopod · « **Reply #34 on:** October 21, 2016, 12:27:37 PM »

Tweedy's an apprentice, the Hypno boys have their own company iirc. I don't think spare money comes into it :P

Tweedy · « **Reply #35 on:** October 21, 2016, 12:30:14 PM »

Quote from: TheRoboteer on October 21, 2016, 12:18:40 PM

Quote from: plazmic inferno on October 21, 2016, 12:05:14 PM
Quote from: TheRoboteer on October 21, 2016, 11:51:41 AM
Quote from: Craaig on October 21, 2016, 11:45:49 AM
These are experienced teams who build robots anyway. Other teams started in hope, they did not. End of. The teams that were prepping weren't secret about it either, it was a choice made by teams not to prepare.

It's still a big investment to build a new bot or upgrade an existing one for TV. The teams who didn't prepare likely didn't choose to because it's a big gamble to start preparing for the second series before you actually know it's going to happen. Imagine if you'd started investing all this money to ready Neutron up for a second series for it to never happen. It'd be pretty awful, especially considering that Neutron is a spinner and therefore couldn't even compete in live events to recoup some of the costs.

Hi, I'm the guy that has plowed every penny I have into Neutron to get it ready. I have been doing this regardless of whether there was a series 2 or not. Robot wars isn't the end all be all of robot combat, there are other places and other events that we can fight machines at and yes that includes spinners as well.

The point I'm trying to make is that it makes sense to build as quickly and as soon as possible, it both means that you're not just sending in a CAD as an application and that you don't have to build in such a massively constrained time frame.

I understand what you're saying. But take the Hypno Disc team for example. They said that they wanted to compete if there was a series 2 of Robot Wars. We now know that to be true, but they had no idea whether it was going to happen and how much time they would have when they said that. It would have been stupid for them to start building back then for an event which they had no idea if it was going to happen or not, especially as their bot revolves entirely around a weapon type that is nigh on outlawed in the UK apart from a very small amount of events (Robot Wars being one of them). While you may have the time and money to invest based completely on speculation, not everyone does, and a short time window like the one that has been provided has absolutely no benefits over giving teams longer to prepare, which would allow use to see more bots, better bots and have flippers actually be effective.

The fact you think I have more money and time than most roboteers is quite amusing, I'm making less than minimum wage and I can manage to get a heavy spinner done in time. Why is that? Because I'm building before and don't have to fork out £2000+ in a matter of six weeks to get a machine ready.

As I said there are other events that you can fight spinners at, Robogames for example, if someone can afford to build a heavy, regardless of timescale then they can afford to either pay to go to Robogames, or save to pay for that trip.

If you want to get a machine in and ready in time build it early, people have been saying that since the first episode aired. If people don't want to do that then they have nobody to blame when they can't complete a bot in the timescale that Mentorn have given.

Also, flippers being effective has absolutely nothing to do with timescales, the issues that were caused at the event were based on temperature. They could literally pluck any 4 flippers from the live circuit and the problem would persist because it's an inherent issue with pneumatics.

TheRoboteer · « **Reply #36 on:** October 21, 2016, 12:32:23 PM »

Quote from: Craaig on October 21, 2016, 12:27:37 PM

Tweedy's an apprentice, the Hypno boys have their own company iirc. I don't think spare money comes into it :P

It's not the amount of money I'm talking about. I'm talking about willingness to spend it on something that you don't know is going to happen or not. You may be willing to spend money speculatively, but others likely aren't. Preparing for Series 2 before it had been announced would basically be a form of gambling.

Quote from: plazmic inferno on October 21, 2016, 12:27:37 PM

]The fact you think I have more money and time than most roboteers is quite amusing, I'm making less than minimum wage and I can manage to get a heavy spinner done in time. Why is that? Because I'm building before and don't have to fork out £2000+ in a matter of six weeks to get a machine ready.

As I said there are other events that you can fight spinners at, Robogames for example, if someone can afford to build a heavy, regardless of timescale then they can afford to either pay to go to Robogames, or save to pay for that trip.

If you want to get a machine in and ready in time build it early, people have been saying that since the first episode aired. If people don't want to do that then they have nobody to blame when they can't complete a bot in the timescale that Mentorn have given.

Also, flippers being effective has absolutely nothing to do with timescales, the issues that were caused at the event were based on temperature. They could literally pluck any 4 flippers from the live circuit and the problem would persist because it's an inherent issue with pneumatics.

I don't think you have more money. I think that you're willing to invest what money you do have more readily. Building a bot for series 2 before it had been announced essentially amounts to gambling, and while you were successful this time there was no way to know if you would be defore S2 was announced

And pneumatics effectiveness is tied (if indirectly) to timescales. If they'd have given Roboteers until May to prepare rather than December then builders would have had longer to make their bots and Pneumatics would have been more effecive due to them not filming in the middle of winter.

cephalopod · « **Reply #37 on:** October 21, 2016, 12:43:42 PM »

He was spending it on a robot not Robot Wars.
Plus if you look at the teams who've pulled out
Tornado, Storm 2, Gravity... Definitely bots that need RW to be commissioned to have an event to run at

TheRoboteer · « **Reply #38 on:** October 21, 2016, 12:46:33 PM »

Quote from: Craaig on October 21, 2016, 12:43:42 PM

He was spending it on a robot not Robot Wars.
Plus if you look at the teams who've pulled out
Tornado, Storm 2, Gravity... Definitely bots that need RW to be commissioned to have an event to run at

The issue of spinners is just an added issue on top of the main ones: Money and Time.

Tornado and Gravity were going to be completely rebuilt for series 2. This cannot be done between now and December. Your counter point to this is that they should have been building before now. My point is that building before now would have been gambling with their money as there was no confirmation that a second series was going to happen.

Badnik96 · « **Reply #39 on:** October 21, 2016, 12:48:18 PM »

Is there a list anywhere of teams that have applied?