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Spockie-Tech
Site Admin
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 3160
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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^ Word..
THE #1 tip for winning. - *Finish your robot ASAP, and practice, practice, practice.
Dont aim to have it finished a week, or even a month before the competition. Aim to have it finished *as soon as you possibly can* (without compromising the build quality), and then work the hell out of it.
If you havent put
at least
5 or 10 *full battery charges through it before you hit the area, then you are very likely to suffer an unexpected failure. If you do well, you will probably have to fight at least 5 or more matches at the event, and how can you know if you can do that if you've only run the bot for a few easy driving minutes beforehand ?
Expect to have to replace a worn out or failed motor or two, perhaps a battery. Maybe an ESC will smoke because your drivetrain jammed. Much better to discover the weak spots *now than in the arena.
Something *will go wrong (if you are practicing properly), and you need time to redsign and repair it, and then practice some *more to make sure your repairs are *stronger than the failed part.
Also, if something fails when practicing, you have plenty of time to strip down the bot (gaining valuable experience at taking it apart, repairing and reassembling it), which you will likely have to do *quickly at the event.. *and you will only have to replace the failed part...
If something fails in the arena, you will possibly have a *lot more repairs to do because of the damage your opponent may inflict on your ineffective machine. so in the long run, you are saving yourself work by eliminating weak spots first, even if it seems like more work than just building it once and then trying to compete.
Driving Skill is the secret sauce. A killer weapon is of no use to you if the opponent can dance around you and easily avoid it, and you need to be able to avoid whatever weapon the opponent has.
From dodging wedge-charges, to getting hits on the *back of a drum or vertical disc spinner, or spoofing a bar spinner into driving into the wall (hurting them without your getting hurt).
I used to practice driving my bot in precise figure-8s getting faster and faster each circuit and trying to maintain exactly the same track on the ground, first clockwise, then anticlockwise, back and forwards..
That way you get used to the constant stick reversals (right = left when coming towards you) as the robots orientation changes, and how its cornering changes as you speed up. (Guess who would usually win the Wacky Races ?)
Then get a basketball, put it in an enclosed area with a kerb or net, cricket practice nets, empty swimming pool, whatever, and chase the basketball. gives you practice at keeping on something that is wildly zooming around the place and hones your chasing skill.
At the time, there were probably only 2 other drivers (You guys can guess who they were ), that were at the same driving skill level, and I always could tell when I was in the arena with them.. (Obviously, but you know what I mean), sheerly from the intensity of the feeling that they were *on you.
As a benefit, the event organiser will love you, because you will be far more likely to actually show up at the event with a sorted well working bot that will make a good showing, rather than partly assembled bot with a "just a couple of little things left to do" that will really take hours, and no idea how well your batteries are going to hang in there, how long they will take to recharge and all the other things that come from *real driving practice.
Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
That is the first thing you need to remember. _________________ Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people
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Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:15 am |
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