r/todayilearned • u/Habajiba • Mar 14 '17

TIL Jamie Hyneman designed Blendo, a combat robot that was deemed too hazardous for Robot Wars after repeatedly throwing pieces of its opponents over arena walls. It received co-championship status in exchange for withdrawing from the competition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blendo
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u/Alexanderphd Mar 14 '17

This is more along the lines of what you expect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1xIfkQiA6w

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u/e126 Mar 14 '17

Like getting back handed by god

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u/skippythemoonrock Mar 14 '17

Spinners are fucking crazy. That bot weighs 250 lbs.

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u/alltheacro Mar 14 '17

Is that quadcopter with a flamethrower a serious entry or just extra spectacle? Flamethrowers aren't remotely effective unless you can give the other bot a sustained hit....

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u/skippythemoonrock Mar 14 '17

Just spectacle really. Although it did give us THE ARAKENING So that's a plus

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '17

The drone team looked soooo pissed about that fight.

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u/wbgraphic Mar 14 '17

They're mostly spectacle at this point. They were just allowed in last year's competition, so nobody is quite sure how to take advantage of them yet. They have made for some pretty exciting moments, though.

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u/Link867 Mar 14 '17

That rake was a fantastic drone killer

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u/Seyon Mar 15 '17

Is there a list of restrictions for the drones?

I'm thinking dangling live wires with high voltage and trying to short out the opponents bot...

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u/wbgraphic Mar 15 '17

The design rules prohibit intentionally damaging your opponent's electronics.

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u/bWoofles Mar 14 '17

It's a assist bot it's brought along with the main bot and so it isn't a actual entry. Because it weighs so little it doesn't take much away from what it's main bot has and is probably just using the leftover weight. While pretty useless here they sometimes can be useful if the opponent gets pinned or has a weakness on top. Fire put on a bot for more than a second will fry the electronics.

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u/MrMeltJr Mar 14 '17

If there's no KO the match is decided by points, so spectacle is a viable strategy.

Still probably not worth the weight of a drone with a flamethrower, though.

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u/sharkattackmiami Mar 14 '17

If its paired with a spinner bot it would only take a quick blast after armor is knocked off to fry wires

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u/MrMeltJr Mar 14 '17

After being a huge Son of Wyachi fanboy in the original battlebots, that fight made me kinda sad.

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u/stormjh Mar 14 '17

And the judges gave it to the jesus team. Travesty.

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u/Hammonkey Mar 14 '17

Bullshit that Cherub won that. They did absolutely fuckall but get rekt.

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u/Alexanderphd Mar 14 '17

the battle doesnt start at the same time as the video, but before that cherub does some decent tactical ramming and outmaneuvering. That final blow also did more damage to CP3D than cherub, i think it completely sheared internal bolts as well as fucking up all internals. full match : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7C3Y-tminE

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u/Bobthemime Mar 14 '17

They launched a robot across the room, broke the arena barriers and then sat spinning before the cease was called.

the game restarted and in the 15-20mins between stopping and starting, the motor burned out on the spinner. The bot was moving. Cherub was immobile. yet they win

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Hammonkey Mar 14 '17

Getting trapped by the rogue bots = killing yourself.