Riptide driver is a douche and this was just extremely bad sportsmanship. It’s so costly to build and repair those robots- a lot of people do this as a family hobby and sport and there is just no need to go this hard. I was so happy when riptide finally got destroyed.
Riptide's driver is an asshole. Zero sportsmanship. It's an unspoken rule in BattleBots not to do more damage to your opponent after you've clearly already won. It's just a dick move. They've also been suspected of cheating by altering their build after weigh-in.
Yes, gyro is a massive issue for vertical spinners. Recently some teams have started putting counter rotating spinning masses on their robots. It reduces the amount of weight they can sling in their weapon, but allows them to actually turn while the weapon is spinning.
Shredderator seems to be going backwards. A lot of dominant names like Tombstone have languished in stagnation but Shredderator has actually dropped capabilities it used to have and has become progressively less capable. The driver is also one of the big whiners - he complained after this match that his opponent kept attacking after a clear win, but *he kept moving* meaning he wasn't knocked out. This season introduced an avoidance rule - you need to engage if your opponent is still active.
Stone_Paper_Scissors logic is in place here. When your bot concentrates on spinning, a flipper bot becomes your nemesis. Respectively, a 'top smasher' bot (that can jump back on it's feet) becomes the nemesis of a flipper.
I'm a few seasons behind, but I'm the last one I watched I was thinking this the whole time Tombstone was on. It used to be the bot to be feared, but nowadays it really needs some serious upgrades or it'll just get taken apart, even by newbie bots.
Tombstone has become its own worst enemy. Everyone who has any real chance is built expecting to survive a hit from Tombstone, but Tombstone is not built to survive the recoil when they do.
It's really one of the last two full body spinner bots in the game and neither of them are as dominant as they once were. It's a design that can't keep up with the damage of brushless motor driven spinner weapons. The designer of Capt Shred just refused to admit the "sport" has moved beyond that design being viable.
It's a shell spinner. If everything worked right (which it rarely does for that team) the entire outside of the robot spins making attacking them from any direction basically driving into their weapon.
The point is to knock out the other robot. What Riptide did is equivalent to a boxer continuing to punch an unconscious opponent in the face. These machines cost tens of thousands of dollars and there's an understanding between competitors that, even though they're there to destroy each other, there's no need to cause unnecessary and expensive damage once one robot can no longer fight back and the match is clearly over. It's bad sportsmanship.
I miss when tech nerds used their smarts for stuff like this Instead of brute forcing people into thinking that Large Language Models are the next big innovation in tech. They aren't.
I thought the disk might have had a chance until it came down hard on its own blade. That was pretty much the end, the rest was just bullying that poor bot.
I hate this show. I was slated to be on the second season of Robotica, but it got cancelled over this stupid WWE-like bullshit. I never got my chance, but *coincidentally*, the wedge design I submitted to Robotica circa 1999-2000 (complete with articulated front and rear slopes) was copied almost exactly by one of the heavily-sponsored Battle Bots teams. No credit to me, of course.
Robotica was awesome, the different tasks and obstacles ensured boring flat robots (like in the video above) would not by default win. Wish there were good rips of that show.
This is why they regularly change the rules or add things to the arena. They let a trend run for a season or two because its cool, then after its had its time they chift the circumstances to force evolution elsewhere.
I agree, but, this is just how evolution works: the robots gradually changed to best adapt to their ecological niche. Until that niche changes - until the rules of Battlebots change - the robots will continue to be refined to best do what the rules tell them to do.
For anyone who's interested, this is one of the most controversial moments. Ethan did NOT need to keep attacking. As soon as Shrederator was upside down most opponents would have just left it to be counted out because it cannot self right and it cannot drive inverted. There was no need to cost the team tens of thousands of dollars in repairs.
Also, Riptide is financed by Ethan's dad who made his money selling lollipops to cure autism (no joke, sadly).
The match is only over when one bot stops moving for a ten count or the full three minutes are up. Most competitions have a "tap out" rule where you can quit if you figure there's no path to a win and you want to save damage on your bot. If you like this kind of stuff, check out the NHRL on Youtube, and the smaller weight classes are very approachable with easy to build kits coming in at just a few hundred dollars. Local competitions www.robotcombatevents.com are usually free to spectators too.
Cool thanks, for the info! I used to watch this show all the time but I always remember the matches ending in somewhat of a timely fashion before more damage could be done. I’ve also read just now in other comments that there’s a “gentleman’s agreement” not to do unnecessary damage since the robots have to be repaired so they can compete more. So I can see what the fuss is about. Thanks for the link too!
Yeah, no worries! I've been building 1 and 3 pound bots for years now and it's a ton of fun! Very little in the way of specialized skills needed, knowing how to solder helps, and CAD is useful if you want to design your own, but both of those can easily be learned. Check out /r/battlebots on reddit for a thriving community of builders and fans, good place to ask questions too.
Right on! Seems like a fun and useful hobby. My nephew was on the robotics team in grade school and now he’s gone on to study engineering at a great university. Closest thing for me is maybe messing around with RC cars. Cool stuff, I’ll check it out!
Mr Psycho was also great. The WEIGHT of that hammer was monstrous, and you could feel it in just the SOUND it would make every time he brought it down.
Have a look at the NHRL https://www.nhrl.io/ We've got flamethrowers, last year someone ran a flying bot with an air pistol and someone else used a straight up nail gun for their bot's weapon. And then we've got a few bots that are infamous for wrecking the inner layer of the cage (Depth charge springs to mind) that are or would be considered too dangerous by Robot Wars and Battlebots.
If they develop force fields yes, or insurance that isn't afraid to pay out for a spectator death or few. The shrapnel was punching through the lexan bullet resistant walls of the arenas. The problem is insurance won't cover battle bots anymore, too much risk. That bot launched 15 feet across the arena probably weighs a few hundred pounds, match that with the high velocity kinetic weapons they all use, and you're looking at actually explosive forces.
There's a Battle Bots arena in Vegas and you can go watch the show live. Tickets are pretty inexpensive and shows are scheduled all the time. https://battlebots.com/tickets/#dates
I mean, it's not an unreasonable explanation. People getting injured from death Bots is sure to make insurance tricky, but I guarantee that they can get insurance. It's just super expensive because of the potential exposure.
It's not even a matter of getting insurance, it's a matter of designing your cages well (ie, multiple layers of protection) so a cage breach won't cause injuries or deaths and can be repaired quickly. And of course, your ventilation system such that the inevitable battery fire doesn't necessitate shutting the venue down and evacuating everyone.
Thank you! I hated that he did this when I saw the episode - just bad sportsmanship- it’s so costly to rebuild these things and breaking it beyond reasonable repair was a dick move
Battlebots don't allow tap outs formally in their rules. However there is a very strong "gentleman's agreement" amongst the drivers not to be a fuckwit and keep attacking after its over. Dude did this multiple times as well as other crap and has been basically ostracized totally from the community.
I’m glad to hear that. It’s a competition but it’s also meant to be fun. That little douche always struck me as a spoiled little rich kid who didn’t have to actually build the robot
In battlebots usually once a robot is no longer mobile and doesn’t have use of their weapon they usually do a count down and then the battle stops. He didn’t even give it a chance to see if there was mobility and just destroyed it beyond anything- so clearly yeah he beat the other robot, but he probably had already beaten it way before he destroyed it beyond salvaging. .
We're talking about sportsmanship here... Which in this case involves seeing your opponent has clearly lost, (incl. to the judges) and choosing not to be a cunt.
In battlebots usually once a robot is no longer mobile and doesn’t have use of their weapon they usually do a count down and then the battle stops. He didn’t even give it a chance to see if there was mobility and just destroyed it beyond anything- so clearly yeah he beat the other robot, but he probably had already beaten it way before he destroyed it beyond salvaging.
In battlebots usually once a robot is no longer mobile and doesn’t have use of their weapon they usually do a count down and then the battle stops. He didn’t even give it a chance to see if there was mobility and just destroyed it beyond anything- so clearly yeah he beat the other robot, but he probably had already beaten it way before he destroyed it beyond salvaging.
In battlebots usually once a robot is no longer mobile and doesn’t have use of their weapon they usually do a count down and then the battle stops. He didn’t even give it a chance to see if there was mobility and just destroyed it beyond anything- so clearly yeah he beat the other robot, but he probably had already beaten it way before he destroyed it beyond salvaging. .
The mythbusters bot proved to everyone that you just need to spin a dome at as much rpm you possibly can to win. Nothing can stop it. It was so devastating and dangerous it was banned from all competitions.
The last couple seasons have seen huge diversification in successful designs but the ground game was just silly. Hydra and Cobalt losing fights due to fucking clipping errors.
Issue was as optimal designs came out and rules needed to adjust there was a repeating trend of one style of robot dominating more often, the rules have outright ended some good bots, whole vertical spinner/drums have demonstrated an extremely deadly and capable weapon, since it can impart all its force on the other bot, pushing off the floor, as opposed to a horizontal spinner which also throws the bot attacking on impact.
Look up ant and beetle weight bots. They're smaller and thus can have a better variety of clever designs with largely 3d printed parts to keep costs down. There are some good unique designs that just are too expensive to try to scale up and try at the larger sizes.
oh fair enough. in my mind old battlebots had a lot of wedges and lifters and weaponless rammers. i'm thinking about aces and eights, biohazard, vladiator. the current meta being low wedge + vertical spinner has its own problems but i think its at least a little more entertaining
Oh that's not going to be a problem. The BattleBots design rules section 1 rule F defines a MiniBot as any bot weighing no more than 20.0 pounds, and a team is only allowed to use one (1) MiniBot in any given match. A nano cloud would exceed the MiniBot quota and therefore be disqualified.
You start out with one nanobot, and they make more out of the enemy. Due to the exponential growth it takes 30 hours before it's noticeable but after that it really picks up.
Ooo, I think that only works if the nano cloud is non-autonomous. Since a single nano cloud is one hive mind working in tandem it might get around this. Also, the nano cloud doesn't care and has dissolved the rulebook and the lawyer.
Section 1 rule B specifies that you must have reliable remote control over all bot functions and positions. Section 1 rule D covers configuration for bots working in tandem (designated Multi-Bots) so it would indeed be classified as several bots rather than a single one.
I mean, I haven't watched for a few years, but when I was watching there was a lot of variation. Compact vertical spinners were winning, but it wasn't a guarantee. Valkyrie, Yeti, Huge, Overhaul. Shoot, even Ghost Raptor and Free Shipping had a few good matches. Bronco and Tombstone were still threats, but they were losing steam. But yeah, Witch Doctor and Yeti will probably always be my faves.
There was that other team that always stuck a stuffed animal in the front for good luck. The bot and animal rarely survived. It was also one of the few times the flamethrower boys were somewhat effective.
Have you watched much in recent years? I know this is hyperbole, but there is a *lot* of diversity in design nowadays. It's certainly not all flat, low, robots. Though you can still always put money on the vertical spinners.
No. Somebody even tried a few years ago. It didn't work well enough for the general competition and there was no way the team could handle the repair turnaround after a fight but they did an exhibition fight against a robot with a crusher and flamethrower and a stylized dragon skull design.
My favorite design of recent years is Pepe Silvia in the NHRL. Not the most consistent fighter, but boy is it fun to watch. It's got so much character to how it moves around.
There's lots of great designs that fly in the face of the meta and still do really well at NHRL, Mako, ChonkIV, MegatRON, Slam Plan, Jelly Baby, and Kazaa Lite, just to name a few.
I haven’t: admittedly it has been a long time since I watched - I stopped after the ____th winner in a row was an inverted dinner plate. That was very early on
You should check out the NHRL on Youtube, there's a ton of events, they run 3 weight classes, 3lb, 12lb, and 30lb, and there's a huge variety among successful bots.
Full body spinners haven't won in a long time. Vertical bar spinners do dominate currently, but not all major contenders are bar spinners and there's incredible variation even within them.
Damn I thought these things were actually closer to the size of dinner plates lol. Idk how I've never seen a pic to put them into perspective like that
Some of them are that small. There are weight classes ranging from ounces to over a thousand kilograms. The current iteration of the Battlebots show has a single 250 pound weight class, but the sport is very diverse and many of the builders on the show have larger and smaller versions for other events.
live2dyec4
Ziggo is my OG battle bot
astromoondoggie
That’s what happens when you bring a Simon game to a robot fight
Thekindofkindlyman
mrsidog1
The American stock market vs current projections.
BellsTheorem
Donald Trump vs my 401K
BellsTheorem
The disk may have lost but it did it spectacularly.
Zzzinthevalley
Riptide driver is a douche and this was just extremely bad sportsmanship. It’s so costly to build and repair those robots- a lot of people do this as a family hobby and sport and there is just no need to go this hard. I was so happy when riptide finally got destroyed.
FriendlyNeighborhoodGrammarPerson
Riptide's driver is an asshole. Zero sportsmanship. It's an unspoken rule in BattleBots not to do more damage to your opponent after you've clearly already won. It's just a dick move. They've also been suspected of cheating by altering their build after weigh-in.
Goddamnitmisterrnoodle
Was so happy when Riptide finally got taken down.
straha242
When it lifts when turning, that's gyroscopic precession right? Or something else?
valen00
Yes, gyro is a massive issue for vertical spinners. Recently some teams have started putting counter rotating spinning masses on their robots. It reduces the amount of weight they can sling in their weapon, but allows them to actually turn while the weapon is spinning.
PapaJoeNH
Captain Shredderator has been at it a long time and seems to do nothing but get shredded
statelessnfaithless
It's evolution. Each new generation ups its game and you have to keep up.
Hevach
Shredderator seems to be going backwards. A lot of dominant names like Tombstone have languished in stagnation but Shredderator has actually dropped capabilities it used to have and has become progressively less capable. The driver is also one of the big whiners - he complained after this match that his opponent kept attacking after a clear win, but *he kept moving* meaning he wasn't knocked out. This season introduced an avoidance rule - you need to engage if your opponent is still active.
PorcNoStar
Stone_Paper_Scissors logic is in place here. When your bot concentrates on spinning, a flipper bot becomes your nemesis. Respectively, a 'top smasher' bot (that can jump back on it's feet) becomes the nemesis of a flipper.
Dpatgotbanned
They haven't learned from any of their matches. Same with tombstone and that's why he gets picked apart now too.
Trassation
I'm a few seasons behind, but I'm the last one I watched I was thinking this the whole time Tombstone was on. It used to be the bot to be feared, but nowadays it really needs some serious upgrades or it'll just get taken apart, even by newbie bots.
Hevach
Tombstone has become its own worst enemy. Everyone who has any real chance is built expecting to survive a hit from Tombstone, but Tombstone is not built to survive the recoil when they do.
Strategicgnomer
It's still a hell of a fun watch though
Vebrandsson
It's really one of the last two full body spinner bots in the game and neither of them are as dominant as they once were. It's a design that can't keep up with the damage of brushless motor driven spinner weapons. The designer of Capt Shred just refused to admit the "sport" has moved beyond that design being viable.
mward1984
Then there's the UK version with house robots. But everyone is terrified of Carbide.
satanslittleposter
Good old Sir Killalot
ToonamiT0M
ZephyrusAsmodeus
What exactly was the plan for the other one, to breakdance?
neptix
spin up to speed, have blades on the side to rip into things. Flat spinners are a technically complicated, but very destructive design.
valen00
It's a shell spinner. If everything worked right (which it rarely does for that team) the entire outside of the robot spins making attacking them from any direction basically driving into their weapon.
hotrodny
I thought the point was to destroy eachother
TheCarpe
The point is to knock out the other robot. What Riptide did is equivalent to a boxer continuing to punch an unconscious opponent in the face. These machines cost tens of thousands of dollars and there's an understanding between competitors that, even though they're there to destroy each other, there's no need to cause unnecessary and expensive damage once one robot can no longer fight back and the match is clearly over. It's bad sportsmanship.
Vercury
I miss when tech nerds used their smarts for stuff like this Instead of brute forcing people into thinking that Large Language Models are the next big innovation in tech. They aren't.
Fighting robots? Now THAT is innovation.
Leithoa
Don't worry. They're using LLMs to pilot drones armed with hellfire & RX-9 'knife' missiles.
LupusLilium
Use LLMs to give the bots fighting lines?
LupusLilium
I thought the disk might have had a chance until it came down hard on its own blade. That was pretty much the end, the rest was just bullying that poor bot.
FrogBotherer
It sucks when people continue to cause damage to the opponent *after* they've already clearly won.
TheRicM
Is there a ref or something to stop the contest when there is a clear defeat, to avoid additional damage, just like in regular MMA marches?
FrogBotherer
No, more damage makes for better TV.
TheRicM
True
TK421isAFK
I hate this show. I was slated to be on the second season of Robotica, but it got cancelled over this stupid WWE-like bullshit. I never got my chance, but *coincidentally*, the wedge design I submitted to Robotica circa 1999-2000 (complete with articulated front and rear slopes) was copied almost exactly by one of the heavily-sponsored Battle Bots teams. No credit to me, of course.
JustAnotherRabidToaster
Robotica was awesome, the different tasks and obstacles ensured boring flat robots (like in the video above) would not by default win. Wish there were good rips of that show.
CyberHexx
Okay, that air time was fucking sick...
supertigerlamp
Remember when these things had giant "fuck you" walloping arms and cool stuff like that? Now it's a coked-up roomba vs. a coked-up electric typewriter
Sargonas
This is why they regularly change the rules or add things to the arena. They let a trend run for a season or two because its cool, then after its had its time they chift the circumstances to force evolution elsewhere.
FallingStar7669
I agree, but, this is just how evolution works: the robots gradually changed to best adapt to their ecological niche. Until that niche changes - until the rules of Battlebots change - the robots will continue to be refined to best do what the rules tell them to do.
supertigerlamp
They need to find a battlebot mate to pass along their Battlebotenetics to the next generation. /nod
MightyZephyr
And the weight limit on these guys is like 200 lb. It's a lot of energy transfer happening
FriendlyNeighborhoodGrammarPerson
250 lbs*
SithElephant
nsfw? Sound on.
GaoFighGar
A weapon to surpass Metal Gear...
MagnumRadhard
"Hit him again."
"Good idea."
whycanttheygetgirlfriends
Announcer: "Like that! Just like that. Oh Godddddd!"
ForceAwakenWasLame
“Prepare to know why they call me the 'Shredder’
mypepperonihasafirstname
Some of those rounds are kinda crazy.
BANANAFLAKE
I completely lost interest in the show after the Huge vs Hydra “battle.”
CelestialSea
For anyone who's interested, this is one of the most controversial moments. Ethan did NOT need to keep attacking. As soon as Shrederator was upside down most opponents would have just left it to be counted out because it cannot self right and it cannot drive inverted. There was no need to cost the team tens of thousands of dollars in repairs.
Also, Riptide is financed by Ethan's dad who made his money selling lollipops to cure autism (no joke, sadly).
TheRicM
Is there a ref or a whistle or something to stop the action? Why is the match still going then if the contest is over?
CelestialSea
The match is only over when one bot stops moving for a ten count or the full three minutes are up. Most competitions have a "tap out" rule where you can quit if you figure there's no path to a win and you want to save damage on your bot. If you like this kind of stuff, check out the NHRL on Youtube, and the smaller weight classes are very approachable with easy to build kits coming in at just a few hundred dollars. Local competitions www.robotcombatevents.com are usually free to spectators too.
TheRicM
Cool thanks, for the info! I used to watch this show all the time but I always remember the matches ending in somewhat of a timely fashion before more damage could be done. I’ve also read just now in other comments that there’s a “gentleman’s agreement” not to do unnecessary damage since the robots have to be repaired so they can compete more. So I can see what the fuss is about. Thanks for the link too!
CelestialSea
Yeah, no worries! I've been building 1 and 3 pound bots for years now and it's a ton of fun! Very little in the way of specialized skills needed, knowing how to solder helps, and CAD is useful if you want to design your own, but both of those can easily be learned. Check out /r/battlebots on reddit for a thriving community of builders and fans, good place to ask questions too.
TheRicM
Right on! Seems like a fun and useful hobby. My nephew was on the robotics team in grade school and now he’s gone on to study engineering at a great university. Closest thing for me is maybe messing around with RC cars. Cool stuff, I’ll check it out!
KingORedLions
I do love me some good smashy robots, but I think I always preferred Robot Wars to Battlebots.
Vercury
It's like trying to compare the WWE to WCW. Both were good but for different reasons!
BlazeMarshall
The House Robots were always delightful. Gotta love Sir Killalot.
SergeyPrkl
Haha yes :D
BlazeMarshall
Mr Psycho was also great. The WEIGHT of that hammer was monstrous, and you could feel it in just the SOUND it would make every time he brought it down.
Zeckenschwarm
Man, I wonder if the next season will ever stop getting delayed...
Remmon1
Have a look at the NHRL https://www.nhrl.io/
We've got flamethrowers, last year someone ran a flying bot with an air pistol and someone else used a straight up nail gun for their bot's weapon. And then we've got a few bots that are infamous for wrecking the inner layer of the cage (Depth charge springs to mind) that are or would be considered too dangerous by Robot Wars and Battlebots.
Raziel420
If they develop force fields yes, or insurance that isn't afraid to pay out for a spectator death or few. The shrapnel was punching through the lexan bullet resistant walls of the arenas. The problem is insurance won't cover battle bots anymore, too much risk. That bot launched 15 feet across the arena probably weighs a few hundred pounds, match that with the high velocity kinetic weapons they all use, and you're looking at actually explosive forces.
TheBlueMuppet
Wait till you see the Russian version. I'm pretty sure one of those fuckers was the size of a small car.
BabeAfett
There's a Battle Bots arena in Vegas and you can go watch the show live. Tickets are pretty inexpensive and shows are scheduled all the time. https://battlebots.com/tickets/#dates
DaPopeM
Seen some of the bots at work, hella fun and highly recommend seeing them if you can
Raziel420
I guess the show producer was full of shit in that interview than.
BabeAfett
I mean, it's not an unreasonable explanation. People getting injured from death Bots is sure to make insurance tricky, but I guarantee that they can get insurance. It's just super expensive because of the potential exposure.
Remmon1
It's not even a matter of getting insurance, it's a matter of designing your cages well (ie, multiple layers of protection) so a cage breach won't cause injuries or deaths and can be repaired quickly.
And of course, your ventilation system such that the inevitable battery fire doesn't necessitate shutting the venue down and evacuating everyone.
beerdeer
That Riptide pilot is a tool.
iGotFOLDERS
.
Zzzinthevalley
Thank you! I hated that he did this when I saw the episode - just bad sportsmanship- it’s so costly to rebuild these things and breaking it beyond reasonable repair was a dick move
quzar
Isn't there a mechanism by which the Shedderator team could have 'tapped out'? Or did they do that and it was ignored?
valen00
Battlebots don't allow tap outs formally in their rules. However there is a very strong "gentleman's agreement" amongst the drivers not to be a fuckwit and keep attacking after its over. Dude did this multiple times as well as other crap and has been basically ostracized totally from the community.
Zzzinthevalley
I’m glad to hear that. It’s a competition but it’s also meant to be fun. That little douche always struck me as a spoiled little rich kid who didn’t have to actually build the robot
heyletsbefriends
shouldnt it be on the losing side to yield?
Zzzinthevalley
In battlebots usually once a robot is no longer mobile and doesn’t have use of their weapon they usually do a count down and then the battle stops. He didn’t even give it a chance to see if there was mobility and just destroyed it beyond anything- so clearly yeah he beat the other robot, but he probably had already beaten it way before he destroyed it beyond salvaging. .
jeffois
We're talking about sportsmanship here... Which in this case involves seeing your opponent has clearly lost, (incl. to the judges) and choosing not to be a cunt.
Zzzinthevalley
In battlebots usually once a robot is no longer mobile and doesn’t have use of their weapon they usually do a count down and then the battle stops. He didn’t even give it a chance to see if there was mobility and just destroyed it beyond anything- so clearly yeah he beat the other robot, but he probably had already beaten it way before he destroyed it beyond salvaging.
Zzzinthevalley
In battlebots usually once a robot is no longer mobile and doesn’t have use of their weapon they usually do a count down and then the battle stops. He didn’t even give it a chance to see if there was mobility and just destroyed it beyond anything- so clearly yeah he beat the other robot, but he probably had already beaten it way before he destroyed it beyond salvaging.
Zzzinthevalley
In battlebots usually once a robot is no longer mobile and doesn’t have use of their weapon they usually do a count down and then the battle stops. He didn’t even give it a chance to see if there was mobility and just destroyed it beyond anything- so clearly yeah he beat the other robot, but he probably had already beaten it way before he destroyed it beyond salvaging. .
yamamasyamaha
Early battlebots was sick before it became all flat low robots
Silverbananahorse
I watched the first season and loved it so many years ago, couldn't even stand season 2
Glenalth
And then people started playing specifically against that meta. See "Huge" for an example.
ToonamiT0M
Modern BattleBots has a huge variety of bot designs.
macgerdo
Real life meta sucks ass.
Howlingowl
The mythbusters bot proved to everyone that you just need to spin a dome at as much rpm you possibly can to win. Nothing can stop it. It was so devastating and dangerous it was banned from all competitions.
AnAverageBoxEnthusiast
before saftey and people dying
whatsisname
I was also never a fan of the spinning type robots either.
Hevach
The last couple seasons have seen huge diversification in successful designs but the ground game was just silly. Hydra and Cobalt losing fights due to fucking clipping errors.
DWandRFaremyspiritbeings
The "wedges", with or w/o a flipper, right?
intashu
Issue was as optimal designs came out and rules needed to adjust there was a repeating trend of one style of robot dominating more often, the rules have outright ended some good bots, whole vertical spinner/drums have demonstrated an extremely deadly and capable weapon, since it can impart all its force on the other bot, pushing off the floor, as opposed to a horizontal spinner which also throws the bot attacking on impact.
Often this forces optimal similar designs.
intashu
Look up ant and beetle weight bots. They're smaller and thus can have a better variety of clever designs with largely 3d printed parts to keep costs down. There are some good unique designs that just are too expensive to try to scale up and try at the larger sizes.
DatDarthCaedus
Only seen the British version "Robot Wars". Hypno-Disc was my favorite as a kid:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypno-Disc
Kukabuksilaks
Same here, hypno-disc was a beast
sfrinlan
All competitions start to get kind of lame when the meta seems solved, but that's the perfect opportunity to shake things up!
AnonOmis1000
You should check out NHRL. They had some innovative bots.
Burnamite
Wait till they see Monkfish ಠ____ಠ
AnonOmis1000
Or depthcharge
Burnamite
Haha, such a treat. Smashing arenas left and right.
copperhead
Their rule set really encourages innovation, and the meta changes constantly. Melty brain spinners are bonkers.
Borsche88
this was literally from the most recent season lmao
yamamasyamaha
Yeah I was saying, watching that makes me miss the old battles
Borsche88
oh fair enough. in my mind old battlebots had a lot of wedges and lifters and weaponless rammers. i'm thinking about aces and eights, biohazard, vladiator. the current meta being low wedge + vertical spinner has its own problems but i think its at least a little more entertaining
HypatiasLament
Everything evolves to crabs.
B99Reactions
Sir this is a Wendy's
OnlyCrabs
Leviosoooohhhh
"Are you crabs yet?" An ominous, alien voice asks through a signal that took the best minds of Earth months to decipher and decrypt.
"Uhm.. No?" We hesitantly respond.
"Oh, sorry to bother you then"
The signal is instantly lost.
OnlyCrabs
crypticorb
That’s some hilarious creepy pasta mixed with HFY right there
aShogunNamedMarcus
Nightmare was my favorite from that era
JonWallace1985
And Mauler.
williamfny
That one was always so cool to me. I loved everything about it. Simple design but man would it fuck up your day if you looked at it wrong.
MaybeIllDisappear
It got even worse when the AI introduced nano clouds in 2032. All you can see is the other robot falling apart.
Vatafeo
But then in 2041 it will become insane again because then our AI overlords will use humans modified with weapons as hands as bots
MelfsAcidArrow
Takeshi?
WoopDeFrickenDoo
of course, we're all long dead by that point
supertigerlamp
at that point the still-living envy the dead. It's nothing but ads and flat battlebots with ads on them, for products no one can afford
Thekindofkindlyman
Don’t you do that. Don’t you give me hope.
WoopDeFrickenDoo
and there will have been a lot of shareholder value created
Colopty
Oh that's not going to be a problem. The BattleBots design rules section 1 rule F defines a MiniBot as any bot weighing no more than 20.0 pounds, and a team is only allowed to use one (1) MiniBot in any given match. A nano cloud would exceed the MiniBot quota and therefore be disqualified.
GWJYonder
You start out with one nanobot, and they make more out of the enemy. Due to the exponential growth it takes 30 hours before it's noticeable but after that it really picks up.
MaybeIllDisappear
Ooo, I think that only works if the nano cloud is non-autonomous. Since a single nano cloud is one hive mind working in tandem it might get around this. Also, the nano cloud doesn't care and has dissolved the rulebook and the lawyer.
Colopty
Section 1 rule B specifies that you must have reliable remote control over all bot functions and positions. Section 1 rule D covers configuration for bots working in tandem (designated Multi-Bots) so it would indeed be classified as several bots rather than a single one.
HaberdasherInGold
I mean, I haven't watched for a few years, but when I was watching there was a lot of variation. Compact vertical spinners were winning, but it wasn't a guarantee. Valkyrie, Yeti, Huge, Overhaul. Shoot, even Ghost Raptor and Free Shipping had a few good matches. Bronco and Tombstone were still threats, but they were losing steam. But yeah, Witch Doctor and Yeti will probably always be my faves.
HaberdasherInGold
Sawblaze! I forgot Sawblaze. Also a great design, and very fun to watch.
FriendlyNeighborhoodGrammarPerson
Poor Ghost Raptor lol
FallingStar7669
Remember that one guy who kept bringing in like... mobile art pieces? He always lost, but damn were they beautiful to look a t.
VictusVonGuyver
There was that other team that always stuck a stuffed animal in the front for good luck. The bot and animal rarely survived. It was also one of the few times the flamethrower boys were somewhat effective.
16bitStarbuck
Have you watched much in recent years? I know this is hyperbole, but there is a *lot* of diversity in design nowadays. It's certainly not all flat, low, robots. Though you can still always put money on the vertical spinners.
SploogeMcDuck316
Are there regulations preventing someone from making like a humanoid robot with a stick?
Hevach
No. Somebody even tried a few years ago. It didn't work well enough for the general competition and there was no way the team could handle the repair turnaround after a fight but they did an exhibition fight against a robot with a crusher and flamethrower and a stylized dragon skull design.
aGoshDarnTravesty
My favorite design of recent years is Pepe Silvia in the NHRL. Not the most consistent fighter, but boy is it fun to watch. It's got so much character to how it moves around.
CelestialSea
There's lots of great designs that fly in the face of the meta and still do really well at NHRL, Mako, ChonkIV, MegatRON, Slam Plan, Jelly Baby, and Kazaa Lite, just to name a few.
yamamasyamaha
I haven’t: admittedly it has been a long time since I watched - I stopped after the ____th winner in a row was an inverted dinner plate. That was very early on
CelestialSea
You should check out the NHRL on Youtube, there's a ton of events, they run 3 weight classes, 3lb, 12lb, and 30lb, and there's a huge variety among successful bots.
iceynyo
Dinner plate wasn't winning this time
Hevach
Full body spinners haven't won in a long time. Vertical bar spinners do dominate currently, but not all major contenders are bar spinners and there's incredible variation even within them.
yamamasyamaha
I just meant the low flat ones. I like the ones that look like mechs - that usually die to simple designs lol
Colopty
Here's one of the highest ranking robots in the latest season then.
yamamasyamaha
What beat it?
TheAngryMarineBiologist
Colopty
This one.
rattymcfatty
Damn I thought these things were actually closer to the size of dinner plates lol. Idk how I've never seen a pic to put them into perspective like that
Hevach
Some of them are that small. There are weight classes ranging from ounces to over a thousand kilograms. The current iteration of the Battlebots show has a single 250 pound weight class, but the sport is very diverse and many of the builders on the show have larger and smaller versions for other events.
bestscarface76
Nature will always evolve a crab, but we forget that nature will then evolve something meant to kill crabs.
SithElephant