First off I'd like to thank all those involved with the set up, judging and organization of this event as well as all of the competitors. This was a fantastic event, the best I have yet attended. It was held at the Best Western Philliadelphia on August 17th and 18th 2002 for 1lb, 3lb and 12lb robots. Everyone involved was amazingly cool and I learned a whole lot from this event and I was actually able to win a couple of matches this time around. Check below to see how my bots did.
Pic's will all be up soon, as I'm working under no internet at home conditions, and the laptop doesn't like Photoshop too much :)
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I got to the hotel on Friday night and set up in the hotel room. I went down and helped out putting up the arena. The room was a bit tight but was just large enough to contain all of us and our gear. Here's a shot of both of my bots sitting in the hotel room ready for action the next day. Morningstar was upgraded a bit from last time with faster drive and some new cells to power the weapon. The cobalt 400 I had ordered had not come in yet so I was unable to put it in, but instead went into battle with 7 cells and an ounce or two to spare. After we set up we all went down to the local Bennigans for a couple of drinks. Me, Jr. Rob M. and Dan D sat at the bar talking bots till they kicked us out, it was so cool. Not only does Dan make some awesome robot gear, but he is a awesome guy as well. |
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The next day I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for some combat. I can't really remember how the two bots fights were ordered so I'll just break them into separate sections. This shot is from my pit area right near the door. You can see how tightly packed we were in there. I should note here that the fight observations below come from my own memory and are therefore subject to the constraints of the medium. If you think something I posted is grossly inaccurate please e-mail me and I'll do my best to make it accurate. |
Morningstar |
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Morningstars first fight was against Mostly Harmless II, by Chris Gilleski. It was the first bot I've seen from him that was not entirely comprised of duct tape! It's a shame it had to be destroyed :) In any case the fight started and he tried to get those forks underneath me from the front. This was a mistake as Morningstar's blade comes very near the floor and he was pushed aside. I then removed his wheel and flung it across the box destroying his servo in the process. Then I think I knocked him off of the platform. KO to Morningstar, my first ever win! |
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Next up was Kung Fu Cow from Jr. at Team Mad Cow . I had planned to challenge him to a grudge match had we not met in the brackets so I was sort of ready for this. I had added the Ti "Cow Catcher" bumper to the front just for him. The fight started and we both walked towards each other, spinning up our weapons. The "Cow Catcher" was at just the right height and caught his blade, throwing us both backwards. To my surprise I didn't disintegrate on contact as I had seen him do already to Clockwatcher. We hit a couple of times, just bouncing back. Then all of a sudden I went dead. Greg graciously let me tap out, a KO for Kung Fu Cow. Upon inspection it was determined that the receiver just died, I signed it and gave it to Jr. job well done. |
| Rob Masek was kind enough to lend me a receiver even though he was on Greg's team, so I was back in business, big thanks to Rob. The next fight was against Mini Chaos (sorry no pic) an AW multi bot comprised of a lifter and a wedge. The fight started and I attacked the nearest bot to me, the wedge. One hit destroyed it sending the wedge and batteries flying. I thought I was done as I had killed half of it, but the lifter actually had more mass so it was the one I really had to kill. We tangled up and he got the lifter under me. The judges asked if he could separate and he said yes. He held me with the lifter for well over 30 seconds and we eventually fell over the edge. I said that he held me for too long and then lifted up both bots by holding his to show that he was stuck in my legs and could not release even if he wanted to. The judges then put 30 seconds back on the clock and I was able to win by decision, I forgot the actual score. | |
| The next fight was against Zip Tie Bot. A quote from Jim, "I'm not even going to change my batteries for this, because I know I'm not going to use em!" I came at him and cut into him a bit. Either I pushed him or he backed out over the edge (I'm not sure which) for a KO. He later said that he just didn't want me to spin the blade back up. | |
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Up next was Tin Mandy. We had left these semifinal/final fights for the next morning. Tin Mandy was an Aluminum lifter with very cool purple sparkly wheels. Alan came at me and I ripped off the lifter and flung it across the box. He then came in and we danced around for a while with him almost getting me off the platform several times. I'm really not sure of the exact sequence of events but somewhere in there I ripped into his wheels several times sending purple glitter all over the place. I won the match by decision I seem to recall it being 25-20 for Morningstar. Alan fought really well and it was a great match. He even gave me the remains of the wheel which now hangs on my trophy, thanks Alan! In the bottom shot you can see the arena after the fight, covered in purple glitter. |
| The final match was against Kung Fu Cow again. I knew that even if I beat him I would have to fight him again as the double elimination would require he lose twice to really lose the title. Alan even offered to help me build a "poker" for the front to get under him, but since I feared he would put the lower blade on KFC I decided against it as it would have been a liability in that event. This fight went almost the same as the first except at one point I actually stopped his blade for a second but was unable to capitalize on it as I couldn't move in fast enough. The fight ended as he smacked me off the arena. It was a great fight and Jr. totally earned his win. I took 2nd place in the Ant division, which I am not at all disappointed with. From having not ever won one match to second place is not too shabby. Morningstar went 4-2 for this with 2 KO's. It will return even with the rule change, just a bit lighter and hopefully a bit more maneuverable. | |
Belladonna |
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Belladonna is my first entry into the 12lb class. My first fight was against TC12 a lexan wedge. When I entered the box John asked everyone to "take a step back from the arena" and then, "everyone who just took a step back, go ahead and take another step back". That was so cool, a total validation of the countless hours spent building and designing this thing. That right there made it all totally worth it. The fight was very quick, I hit Ian once in the back of the bot, apparently hard enough to knock his killswitch off and the bot was dead. KO for Belladonna. |
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My next fight was to be against Fling, basically a wedge with kiddie car gearboxes and victors for control. Unfortunately for Fling, it wasn't working propperly. I gave the Miles Pekala a couple of chances to get it all working, but he wasn't ready by the end of the bracket, and so therefore had to forefit so that the fights could go on. Maybe next time Miles :) |
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The next fight was against Al's G-minus drum bot with a wedge in the back shown here on it's back charging. The fight started and Al just sat there in the corner. I fell for his ruse and came out of the corner hoping to get some aggression scores. That was where I went wrong. It was all Al needed to get under me and carry me accross the arena chewing off my traction strips and denting up the bottom armor. Al won by a landslide judges decision and boy did he earn the best driver award. Had I been faster I might have been able to do some damage, oh well I learned several lessons from this fight, mistakes not to repeat. |
| Ixion. I had seen this killer at every competition I had been to, and seen what it did to other bots. Alan is an awesome guy and had even given me a bunch of advice during the design and construction of Belladonna. Out of every bot there his was the one I did not want to fight. I had figured there would be one hit and then it would be over, little did I know this would be one of the most awesome fights I could imagine. At the beginning of the fight he began to mauler and I prayed he would go over. I was so hoping for this I forgot to move in and then logic finally kicked back in. I went towards him and we collided sending sparks everywhere. I kept hitting him and kept the blade pointed in. One side of the drive went out but I was still able to keep the blade towards him. The fight went the entire 3 minutes with the two of us locked in like this and me praying that I didn't fall apart. At the end everyone started yelling, "Three more minutes!, Three more minutes!" My heart was beating so fast I could hardly stand up. That was fight was truly the reason I build robots. I was honored to have taken part in something that cool. As soon as I can get the video of it I will post it here. The judges awarded the fight to Belladonna. It was so close I could not have called it myself. I gave Alan the front blade that he chewed up. Great job Alan and once again thanks for all your help and the opportunity to participate in such an awesome fight. I look forward to the next one! | |
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That last match took a lot out of me and a lot out of Belladonna. The right side drive was gone, a replacement motor solved that neatly, and there was something massively wrong with the EV. I tried to take the weapon shaft off but was unable to. Kevin Fey lent me his hacksaw and I sawed the shaft off the EV, it was bent and stuck in the weapon shaft. Thanks Kevin! I got the bot back together and got some food, hung out with Dan D., Rob and Jr for a while, and then eventually went to bed and waited for the next morning. First fight of the day was against John P's Super Naut, a vertical spinner he built the day before. This thing was really cool looking and featured a really scary looking blade. He came at me and tried the same trick Al did, but I wasn't buying this time. He got in front of the blade and I ripped his wheel off actually going through the gearbox and showering the gears everywhere. Al screamed "Mabuchi!, Mabuchi!" from behind me. I then caught a piece of his baseplate and flipped him over, KO for Belladonna. He gave me the wheel which you can see to the left. |
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Next up Chrobbot, a lexan wedge which previously had a saw on the front which Jim removed saying it was useless against me. I hit him a couple of times and took some bits out of his lexan, then he stopped moving. Another KO to Belladonna. |
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Finally I fought Short Order, a box with a wiper motor lifting arm. Ed had a camera mounted in the bot ala "slam cam". The fight began and he came at me. I hit him in the arm and by the force of the hit flipped myself into the one position that I can't get out of, on the back with the flower folded over. He said I "hit me so hard my cell phone fell off" which apparently was true, he jumped back as we hit and his phone fell off. In any case the camera in his bot happened to catch Gilleski sitting by the judges table in the most awesome pose after seeing me stuck, you can see it at left. Also shown is the wiper gear that I cracked in 3 with one hit and the lifer arm which was also destroyed. KO to Short Order, excellent fight, and awesome camera shots. Belladonna placed fourth overall which I am totally pleased with, not too bad for a rookie bot. |
All in all I was quite pleased with the results, Second for Morningstar and Fourth for Belladonna. Both robots also won "Coolest Robot" for their weight classes. Many thanks to all that voted for me, it means a real lot to me to know that my fellow builders appreciate all the hard work I put into these things. Both robots will be back soon, albeit a bit lighter to comply with the new rules. I had a blast at this event, you guys are all awesome, great sports and great people to hang out with. I can't wait to see you all again!
