BattleBots - IT'S ROBOT FIGHTING TIME (probably spoilers)

[Auntie Fester]

It'll be interesting when Biteforce comes back. Vertical spinners have been the meta for a few years but proven designs in S1 like Bronco and Tombstone are having trouble this season or arn't competing due to the corona restrictions and a more diversified field with the likes of Rotator, Huge and Whiplash. This allows the bots that were considered "Middle" of the fighting card to push up into having a chance at the top 32, which is how End Game won last year.

Tombstone is essentially a victim of its own success. People were so terrified of it that they worked as hard as they could to counter it, while Ray mostly kept the bot the same. A robot like Bite Force is more successful than Tombstone, but doesn't invoke the same level of fear with its destructive potential, despite being more well-rounded.

I'm not sure what's going to break the vertical spinner meta (namely the 4WD wedgelet design of Bite Force, End Game, Mad Catter etc), but I could see some counters developing to dislodge the mechanisms or otherwise jam the disc. I really like the new lifter design Whiplash showed against Bloodsport, so something around those lines has potential, maybe a hardened spear similar to Vladiator from the original series, so long as it isn't hit from a side-on angle.

 

[ShoFuKan]

It seems like a chill sport in general.

It's a hobby where everyone knows everyone, veterans that have been around since the Comedy Central days, the teams that show up every season now and new teams just coming in. Teams will gives other teams spare parts for them to make a match, even something expensive like motors if there's have burnt out. It's got a 90s wrestling feel where everyone looks out for each other and puts on a good show for the audience.

Tombstone is essentially a victim of its own success. People were so terrified of it that they worked as hard as they could to counter it, while Ray mostly kept the bot the same.

Yeah, you can say that. Ray's been experimenting with different bars and the backside of the bot and that's what has caused recent trouble. Teams will also go in with a plan for Tombstone and not Bite Force just specifically of the damage Tombstone can do.

I'm not sure what's going to break the vertical spinner meta (namely the 4WD wedgelet design of Bite Force, End Game, Mad Catter etc), but I could see some counters developing to dislodge the mechanisms or otherwise jam the disc.

There's a few designs already breaking the mold. Sawblaze with it's overhead saw cut straight into Minotaur's motors and Huge is about half a meter of the ground, making for good defense simply because it's out of reach. It's nice that BB has so many seasons to see a meta like VS appear and then counters to that from other bots.
Some damage from the recent fights, Whiplash with Bloodsport:

Remember that front shield is 5mm thick of Ar500 grade steel.
Yeti and Madcatter:

>YETI DAMAGE PHOTOS! We did a number on Yeti. We tore a huge chunk out of their weapon pulley and sheared all six shoulder bolts in the process. Their drum has also seen better days. The hit that tossed yeti flipping through the air also left a huge gash in the armor. The front got split wide open too. And check out that 1” TITANIUM axle! It got bent to 45 degrees! The team behind yeti was great and didn’t go down without a fight. Thanks to our sponsors sendcutsend, botkits, Monterey machine products, and Mt SAC!

 

[ShoFuKan]

S06E03 fightcard here:

Some big hitters this week, Valkyrie might go a full 3 minutes again, Huge enters, Icewave is back and Cobalt is from Team Carbide in the UK. You also have the vert spinners of Black Dragon, Witch Doctor and RC car Hypershock. Copperhead as the main event might be a bit weird but it's always put on a good show. Lockjaw is also a vert spinner this year, so here's hoping for some sparks.

 

[mr.moon1488]

Are there any weapons completely against the rules? I recall a failed less than lethal weapon which was a very sticky expanding spray foam. It failed because a couple of people almost died after being hit in the face with it, but that obviously wouldn't be an issue with robots.

 

[ShoFuKan]

Are there any weapons completely against the rules? I recall a failed less than lethal weapon which was a very sticky expanding spray foam. It failed because a couple of people almost died after being hit in the face with it, but that obviously wouldn't be an issue with robots.

The rules exist for this reason. Section 6 for construction, Section 8 for weapons. Ribbot changed from the styrofoam they used when they debut to plastic because the pit crew got sick and tired of cleaning it up. There was the net used by Complete Control against Ghost Raptor one year, entangle devises are against the rules. But generally, anything that can harm or damage the box. It has 3 inches of ballistic grade Lexan glass that's designed to stop anything that flies but sometimes that's not enough. Weapons are generally throttled, like with Deep Six, even though it could spin faster.
The bots themselves have to be wired with control switches, because if those fail when a bot burns out the crew have to wait 30 minutes for the smoke to die down and the weapon to stop spinning before they can get in the box. Lithium fires are no joke.

 

[mr.moon1488]

The rules exist for this reason. Section 6 for construction, Section 8 for weapons. Ribbot changed from the styrofoam they used when they debut to plastic because the pit crew got sick and tired of cleaning it up. There was the net used by Complete Control against Ghost Raptor one year, entangle devises are against the rules. But generally, anything that can harm or damage the box. It has 3 inches of ballistic grade Lexan glass that's designed to stop anything that flies but sometimes that's not enough. Weapons are generally throttled, like with Deep Six, even though it could spin faster.
The bots themselves have to be wired with control switches, because if those fail when a bot burns out the crew have to wait 30 minutes for the smoke to die down before they can get in the box. Lithium fires are no joke.

Well, I guess it would absolutely be against the rules then. This shit was known to take hours to get off someone and was basically like concrete once it set fully.

 

[Crunchy Oats]

hey, a lot of you in here talk just as autistic as the announcers, lol

 

[GrammaNazi]

I can't believe we're up to episode 3 and there hasn't been an "upper decker" joke yet. For fuck's sake, we even had a win tailor made for it. Dumping your disabled opponent on the raised platform and then claiming the win.

Spoiler: fight name

Whiplash vs. Bloodsport, episode 2

What has been everyone's opinion on the new upper deck? I'm against it on principle but will give it a chance to shine. I don't like the way it creates barriers and, in theory, give an advantage to frontal weapon bots like Tombstone, Valkyrie, and Icewave. to control the center of the box. The reverse is also true if you can corner one of those full-body type spinners. They can never spin up and become a punching bag to a vertical spinner wedge. The hammers, sawblades, and screws were enough hazards to make each part of the arena interesting.

My prediction on tonight's match: Valkyrie vs P1 comes down to who can keep their weapon actually working, Cobalt destroys Fusion and possibly damages the battlebox, and Duck! manages to survive the full 3 minutes. Again.

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

I actually got introduced to this through Robot Arena 2: Design and Destroy.

The DSL total conversion mod features many BattleBots classics and I highly recommend you give it a try.

 

[Polyboros2]

Private Video - Dailymotion

This video is private.

www.dailymotion.com

Episode 3 with the fluff edited out came out the other day.

Was largely a week one sided fights, still some good hits, feelsbadman for Huge getting stuck so quickly

 

[Mr Zhukov]

I remember watching Robot Wars back in the day, loved they brought it back but wasn't very keen on the reboot
Just felt stale and didn't have the charm of the old one IMO.
It was nice, just felt...clean and neutered down.
Where was good old Craig Charles.

Might give BattleBots a shot though given it seems like its the only thing left of its kind.

 

[GrammaNazi]

Ep. 3 was a snoozefest compared to the first 2 episodes. Much more competitive in the beginning, although that may have been to lure in the viewers.

Most of Huge's losses are getting one wheel caught on the other side of the barrier/obstacle. They need to find a way of getting out of that. Something like a folding arm or extending spike from a wheel spoke. Huge will forever be a mini-boss until they can get themselves off the wall.

 

[ShoFuKan]

I remember watching Robot Wars back in the day, loved they brought it back but wasn't very keen on the reboot
Just felt stale and didn't have the charm of the old one IMO.

A 100kg robot like Apollo flipping over a 300kg house robot like Matilda. Love it.

Never did get to flip over Sir Kill-a-lot.
I can get your reasoning as to why the new one doesn't stack up. I thought it had gotten pretty good by the 3rd season but then BBC cancelled it again.

Might give BattleBots a shot though given it seems like its the only thing left of its kind.

China had King of Bots in 2018 and 2019 but that was only 2 events and on the second one, alot of the international teams that competed didn't get paid. But yeah, Battlebots is the only one of it's kind left on TV and I'm guessing that's because they've been aggressive in seeking deals and sponsorships. They jumped for ABC to give them 2 seasons and then went to Discovery to say how good their ratings were. And since they're the only game in town, their ratings are high for a small network like Discovery.

hey, a lot of you in here talk just as autistic as the announcers, lol

As I said, this is my Sportsball. So I want to know the technical details behind this and that drives my autism for it.

Distracted this week but here you go:

The fights:
Hypershock vs Slammed!

Hypershock really is an RC car with a vertical spinner attached to it. Because it has that wide tire base, it allows it to run all over the arena. Not a real big surprise that it ran straight at slammed and knocked it out. Too fast for the grabber.

Valkyrie vs P1

Valkyrie finally got their blade working, hope that can continue. P1 they say has a chance for the nut. I'm unconvinced.
Valkyrie burnt out a weapon motor, no surprise against rubbing up that front shield. Then it became a 2 minute pushing match. P1 wins with more control and damage indirectly caused to Valkyrie.

Huge vs Riptide

Huge to me is a successful design, mimicking Gabriel from Robot Wars. There has been complaints that because it's such a high centered bot, the use of the bike rack by Hydra you could accuse of cheating but how is a flipper like Hydra supposed to flip Huge apart from it's wheelbase? Riptide is a new drum bot, so let's see how well it does.
Oh snap. Riptide's beater is alot wider than usual, making up alot of the front face of the bot. Going weapon to weapon on Huge, it forced it into the screws where Hugh couldn't get out due to the wheel bending. The screws tried to reverse but Huge got counted out. Good start for the rookie.

Fusion vs Cobalt

Fusion is a Whyachi bot with bot a vertical spinner and horizontal bar. From memory the bar worked more than the spinner but it did catch fire a few times. So we'll see how it does.
Cobalt or Carbide as it's known in the UK is a damaging bot. It going against Minotaur and that sharpened blade on top can shred a bot if it connects. I think it'll do good.
Well, was a UK bot. Wasn't aware it had gotten sold to Gigabyte.
Fusion seems to have fixed it speed controller problems. Scoring multiple hits on Cobalt and getting it in a position where it was counted out. Maybe there's something to this design afterall.

Black Dragon vs Icewave

Dogged Black Dragon is. Winning a match on fire for 2 minutes is a spectical. They'll do good this year I think. Icewave, welcome back. It's an effective design and with most if not all the other competitors going for electric engines, the conventional petrol engine of Icewave is what allows it to do so much damage. The re-design will hopefully be effective.
Few good hits from Black Dragon, especially that first one that knocked out it's weapon and it's over for Icewave. Damn, was hoping for a good start this year.

Witch Doctor vs Duck!

Has been around since the beginning and they've come really close to the nut. A fan favorite, it's good to see them back. We'll see how they do this year.
Duck's always been a durable pusher but with no main weapon, it's hard to score points for the judges.
Witch Doctor has has some mechanical problems over past seasons, it's weapon no moving 30 seconds in results in this being another push match. Win to Witch Doctor for being the one with an actual weapon.

Copperhead vs Lock-Jaw

Copperhead has been sort of unnoticed, another drum spinner but then it actually battled something and produces good results. It'll probably do good this season. Lock-Jaw is a design I still don't think quite works, Hudson has added a vertical spinner and still has the lifting forks. The slightly curved wheels are a nice idea and do seem to help at least.
Weapon on weapon and then Lock-Jaw's on fire. After that it's just Copperhead going to town on it.
Split decision that went to Copperhead. Kinda surprised it was split.

And that's it, preview should be up in a day or two.

 

[ShoFuKan]

Ep. 3 was a snoozefest compared to the first 2 episodes. Much more competitive in the beginning, although that may have been to lure in the viewers.

Most of Huge's losses are getting one wheel caught on the other side of the barrier/obstacle. They need to find a way of getting out of that. Something like a folding arm or extending spike from a wheel spoke. Huge will forever be a mini-boss until they can get themselves off the wall.

Excuse the double post.
Huge does have spikes on the side. A point of the design is it can end up sideways and not able to move if it gets too damaged, the spikes allows it so if it gets hit on one wheel and that flies up, the other wheel will sink and stop when the metal bar hits the floor.
That is a flaw of the design and pretty much the only way you can combat a bot with as much vertical clearance as Huge, to use the outer edge of the area along with gap in the screws.

 

[GrammaNazi]

The side spikes on Huge only seem to be a passive self-righting mechanism, preventing him from being tipped 90 degrees onto one wheel. I was thinking of something along the lines of a trident or pitchfork. 3-4 spikes splayed out in a 45 degree angle that could get caught by the outside walls instead of the wheels.

I've loved Huge's design from the start. The rubbery wheels and raised main body buck the meta in a good way. I've been praying for something to break the powerhouse of low body, vertical spinner design. I also love Shatter's use of the omni wheels. If they got rid of the pickaxe and added a vertical spinner to go with the wheels, they could have a kickass bot.

 

[ShoFuKan]

S06E04 fightcard here:

Tombstone vs Mammoth seems an easy win for him. Sawblaze and Madcatter are headlining this week.

 

[ShoFuKan]

Here is this weeks episode:

Malice vs Jackpot
Malice has already lost once this season. Needing to win this match to stay in. Jackpot is from Vegas, so hometeam and that vertical spinner should be able to do some damage.
Malice's main tactic is weapon on weapon and as Kenny would say "Jam it up." Malice's left drive went, and some debris from that hit rained down into the box. Look like another light got hit. Jackpot lost their weapon because a motor burnt out and Malice got counted out because it could only crabwalk.

Ribbot vs Overhaul
Ribbot's already won a match this season so they're looking good. Overhaul is one that hasn't been around since 2018 or S3. They're a former MIT team that broke apart to work on other bots, Sawblaze being one I think. Now the original is back in Hatsune Miku teal so we'll see what it can do.
Few hits from Ribbot and Overhaul is out. Sturdy bot it may be but once those internals get out of place and you can't move, it's over.

Blade vs Skorpios
Blade is a bot from South Korea, the first from that country. Competed in King of Bots in China and now he's competing in Battlebots. Blade is a simple Tombstone like design but it should prove effective It's looks like a Romulan designed it.

Skorpios has always been a "middle weight" of a battlebot, drawing enough attention and doing good in matches but hasn't done a serious run at the Nut. It did beat Icewave in the bounty hunter tournament and beat tombstone, so we'll see how it goes.
Pretty much one sided in Skorpios's favor. Went to the judges and they agreed.


Tombstone vs Mammoth
So the fire against Captain Shrederator was new batteries for the back of Tombstone. They wanted more power, got too hot and lit the foam insulation on fire that consumed the bot. They've swapped that out for this match with a more simple bar so hopefully that works.
The swingset that moves will have a hard time against an actual combat bot.
And that's proven correct, 3 hits later and it's right wheel is gone. But Tombstone's left wheel is also gone. Ref wants movement from both, doesn't get it. Declares double KO. Win goes to Tombstone on damage.
Side note, if you want to buy stuff from Tombstone, Ray is selling stuff off of Ebay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144389811313
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144389812097
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144389808207

Lucky vs Tantrum
Ah, Lucky. perhaps UnLucky. Flipper failures, bad matchups and simple not wanting to work. What's there to say about it other than it's Canadian and it keeps trying again each season, hoping the next one is better. Tantrum has already won this season, so hopefully it'll continue it's streak.
The new driver of Lucky is an RC race car controller, so this is just stepping up in terms of weight ratio. Lucky gets a few good flips early. Tantrums low ground clearence though, allows it to get under Lucky and push it around while delivering jabs, removing wheels and getting the KO. Another bad season start for Lucky.

Ghost Raptor vs Glitch
Ahh, Sabercat. What's there to say about this bot, it was in the original 2015 S1 but hasn't performed well since. Maybe a redesign and different competition will help. Glitch is a vertical spinner made by a 19 year old using omni-drive wheels.
Glitch kind of works. it's big to compensate for it's weapon. Ghost Raptor hurt itself on Glitch's drum trying to drive him into the screws, which resulted in the loss of it's weapon. Glitch ends up winning, due to Raptor throwing itself onto Glitch's weapon. They need to work on their driving.

Sawblaze vs Madcatter
Main event time. Each bot is 1-0 at this stage so a loss here could end their season. But before that.
"I gotta teach remote."
"Hey kids, I just wanna say how awesome it is to be at Battlebots. Now your homework."

"My team is entirely made up of past and present students not receiving a dime in compensation but instead receiving valuable practical engineering experience. If my bot fails, I blame my students."
I love this guy.

The fight itself starts with basic hits. But Sawblaze scoops Madcatter up and gets in a few good hits. It's mini bot starts smoking and Catter is picked up and flipped over. Sawblaze now 2-0 pretty much assured a spot in the round of 32.


It's interesting to see Madcatter pick up the meta of vertical spinner and go up against Sawblaze that's anti vert spinner with it's dustpan design.

 

[MugolEx]

Sucks seeing Tombstone keep having technical Issues. I feek like if Tombstone didn't have these issues, he could still be considered a bot not to be messed with. Now it seems like people pity the blade instead if do fearing it.

Also, I was shocked to see hypershit do so well. Maybe more to come?

 

[ShoFuKan]

Sucks seeing Tombstone keep having technical Issues.

Anytime Ray has modded Tombstone it's had issues. It's an effective bot when used correctly but against Bite Force/Rotator/Captian Shred, they have a thick enough forward wedge that most of the energy from the hit goes back into Tombstone, which flies and wobbles about. The Rotator and Shred fight both used the bar with "teeth" on it, it seems to be a design flaw maybe. I dunno.

Also, I was shocked to see hypershit do so well. Maybe more to come?

This is the best start for Hypershock since S4 in 2019. Both in S3 and S5 it started the years with losses. So maybe the longer config of the race car is working for them.
Fought the tranny bot in the bounty hunter tournament, fight was unaired but it did win.

 

[MugolEx]

Anytime Ray has modded Tombstone it's had issues. It's an effective bot when used correctly but against Bite Force/Rotator/Captian Shred, they have a thick enough forward wedge that most of the energy from the hit goes back into Tombstone, which flies and wobbles about. The Rotator and Shred fight both used the bar with "teeth" on it, it seems to be a design flaw maybe. I dunno.

It's pretty obvious at this point competitors come in knowing that they are likely going to fight a bot with a kinetic weapon. A thick wedge is the most effective defense against horizontal spinners. However, vertical spinners tend to use wedges (and even horizontal spinners) to their advantage. The past couple seasons have seen bots getting flung in the air by vert spinners like they were being flung by a flipper bot. I think this is why Tombstone hasn't had a good run sense the second season and why bots like Malice (which should be dominating) lose to fusion.

This is the best start for Hypershock since S4 in 2019. Both in S3 and S5 it started the years with losses. So maybe the longer config of the race car is working for them.
Fought the tranny bot in the bounty hunter tournament, fight was unaired but it did win.

As if the tranny bot is any sort of challenge. The thing's battery was already 41% dead when it started fighting. Even best bot Rusty managed to defeat it. It's a lousy excuse for a control bot.