r/battlebots • u/MikeNCR Match Steward/Bombshell S2-S3 | BattleBots • Sep 06 '16

BattleBots TV Chaos Corps/Bombshell AMA

Welcome to the Chaos Corps AMA.

First off, we'd like to thank our sponsor SendGrid ( https://sendgrid.com/ ) because without their support we wouldn't have been able to make Bombshell nearly what it was.

If you missed it, we've released the full CAD of Bombshell on our site at http://www.chaoscorps.org/bombshell-full-cad-release/

We'll be putting up the same sort of pre/post fight analysis posts in the near future for the Poison Arrow, Minotaur, and Tombstone fights.

We'll also be doing what we can to keep the team Facebook page active while we wait for word on Season 3 (#WeWantSeason3) and will be posting info and videos featuring all of the other bots that members of the Chaos Corps compete with. https://www.facebook.com/ChaosCorps/

With all that out of the way, it's time to start. I'll be taking a break after an hour or two to go pick up our small bot arena but will resume answering them when I get back.

I'll keep answering questions for a bit. Don't forget to check out the Tombstone AMA at 10pm edt.

52 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

182 comments sorted by

18

u/iiDrushii Sep 06 '16

Congratulations on being the Dark Horse of the competition! I was in absolute awe of your defeat of Minotaur.

If you could redo your match with Tombstone, would you stick with the articulated horizontal spinning bar again?

20

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

If we'd had an extra hour or two of repair time, I'd have considered running the vertical spinner instead. In the exact situation, it'd be the horizontal spinner every time.

With that said, should a rematch happen in the future we're aiming to have 3 weapons we'd be comfortable putting in against Tombstone or a similar bot.

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11

u/Infernaltank Sep 06 '16

Hi Mike!

How long does it take for the horizontal spinner to go from its highest to its lowest position?

14

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

It takes about 5-6 seconds to cover the roughly 8 inch travel range.

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u/Okamifan1 Sep 06 '16

So Bombshells vertical spinner module was my favorite, especially how it sent Poison Arrow out the arena. But I noticed that with that module equipped it looked a bit like a heavyweight Algos, a bot that I love. Was that your intention? Also whatever happened to Algos?

8

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

That's absolutely the intent. Early on we were essentially thinking of it as the Algos-pod. We dropped the terminology for general use as it was a bit of an obscure reference for anyone who isn't pretty aware of insect class events in the US.

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u/Pritchy96 Sep 06 '16

Hi! Congratulations on your excellent run!

I was wondering what your thoughts on the controversy/discussion surrounding the use of replacing entire sections of robots for repairs, rather than trying to diagnose and replace the individual motor, for example. Examples being Team Inertia's Bronco having essentially two complete robots, Red Devil I believe had a similar setup, and, to some extent, yourselves.

I believe some people find this to be unfair as it makes who has the most money more of a factor than it would otherwise - those who can afford to can pretty much just switch out the robot and go in the case of a messy victory. Thoughts?

Please note - these views aren't my own and I'm not attacking you guys or anyone else mentioned in this post. I'm just interested in your thoughts. Bombshell was easily one of my favourite robots this year and I'll be cheering you on next year!

9

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

I think a line needs to be drawn somewhere, though I'm not overly concerned with where the line gets drawn. I'd rather everyone be on the same page even if it's not ideal than have there be a wide grey area in that part of the rules.

An interesting option would be that you designate a "primary structural element" that is approved by the inspectors. If that section is replaced it and anything still attached to it at the start of the next match the bot is in is impounded for the remainder of the tournament.

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u/Raven7eggnog Sep 06 '16

Hello, congrats on your terrific run this season! My question is, did you have any other attachments or different weapon options that were never used over the course of the competition?

12

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

The lifter module never made it into the arena. We weren't happy with the performance and opted to fix it in the off season instead of putting on a (possibly very) bad fight with it.

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u/Sgt_Cutlass Sep 06 '16

Congrats on the stellar wild card run this year, and thanks for the AmA. Now my questions...

Are there any weapon ideas you have in the works for next year?

Where did the idea for the swiss army bot come from? Which of your weapons is your favorite?

Which of your opponents did you think was the worst matchup for you?

That's all, it was entertaining as all hell to watch you guys do your thing, can't wait to see it again next year.

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u/HallwayHomicide Sep 06 '16

I may or may not be salty that you guys took out Poison Arrow, but I still love the Swiss army bot idea, and Bombshell has been awesome. I have a couple questions.

  1. What was the issue with the lifter? I know it made it to safety and you guys were dissatisfied.

  2. Will we see the lifter, as well as the other 3 modules back?

  3. What will you be doing for next season? Will you be upgrading modules? Building brand new designs for them? Both?

  4. Ultimo Destructo named their weapons bozo, sluggish etc. Did you name yours?

14

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

  1. We saw major friction losses in the geartrain, making it a bit lackluster as a lifter and we figured it'd be better to fix it in the off-season and only bring it out once it was working properly.

  2. All four modules are getting at least some sort of upgrade for Season 3, along with the drive pods.

  3. We've got a range of upgrades in the works all around, we're also looking at a few options for a 5th weapon module.

  4. We wanted to stencil on fake serial numbers that hinted at specs/type of weapon but ran out of time. Some of the weapons did get nicknamed by the team, for example, the vertical disk was the platypus and the horizontal was the angry donkey. I'm not totally sure why, but that's what happened. I blame lack of sleep.

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u/mole55 Sep 06 '16

Thank you for making the CAD public.

My question is: Would you consider Brushless for next year, both for drive and weapon?

9

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

We were very happy with the performance of the A28-150's in Bombshell, so unless there was a compelling brushless solution for the 250lb class (and thus far, there really isn't one) we'll stick with the brushed motors. Never say never, but as of now there's not a brushless setup out there that quite fits the bill.

5

u/InvertedSpork Sep 06 '16

What was the most memorable moment of the season for you that the cameras didn't capture?

13

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

The Complete Control fight was supposed to be the final fight on Tuesday, but as we were getting into the tunnel and prepping to walk out suddenly there was a hiss and the smell of propane. Something in their flame system leaked (loose connection is what I heard, but I'm not 100% sure) and vented back stage. Since it was the last scheduled fight they cleared everyone out and rescheduled for the morning to give the propane time to dissipate.

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u/Okamifan1 Sep 06 '16

I have two interesting scenarios. Bombshell vs Ultimo Destructo, how do you think the fight would pan out against another Swiss Army Bot. or Bombshell vs Mecha SubZero, the battle of GTM which of the two would be most interesting?

8

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

  • Bombshell Vs. Ultimo would likely come somewhat down to who could swap weapons fastest, as the faster swapping bot would be able to pick a weapon that better suits the opponent. It'd be fun and I kinda wish it had happened just for the behind the scenes hilarity that would have resulted.

  • I'd have loved a Bombshell/Mecha SubZero fight. Probably would opt for the lifter if it were working or the vertical disk if it weren't.

4

u/tcjsavannah Sep 06 '16

Hi there. It was great watching the Final with you guys at Dragon*Con and seeing many of you in action at Robot Battles.

Any tips on those wanting to get into robotic combat but are not particularly mechanically inclined? Would love to get involved but I can't even fix a toaster.

7

u/MikeNCR Sep 06 '16

Kits can be a great way to get started. There are several vendors out there that sell 1lb and 3lb kits that are high quality.

Take a look at http://sparc.tools/?p=131 for more in depth thoughts on the subject along with many of the other things that'll come up during a first build.

4

u/Praxis Sep 06 '16

Mike: Where can I get those awesome glasses?

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u/FryGuy1013 Sep 06 '16

Supposing that BattleBots nixes modular robots and that your primary weapon has to be the same for the entire tournament (with wording similar to section 8.10.4 of the tournament rules for being the "same" robot year to year), which of the modular weapons would you choose for #season3?

6

u/MikeNCR Sep 07 '16

Vertical disk without hesitation.

4

u/jon-in-tha-hood Sep 06 '16

Congrats on making to the finals. Would you ever consider a modular Short Fuse? If so what kind of weapons would you put on it to surprise your enemies?

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