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Spockie-Tech
Site Admin
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 3160
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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some replies to the various questions..
The hold/release rule is 30 seconds.
As far as "completely free" goes, at a guess, I would say anything that results in complete
seperation
of the robots would be considered "free" - there is nothing in the rules that I know of that requires someone to move away a significant distance giving a spinner a chance to spin-up again or anything like that. If they can keep you cornered without "pinning" you (physical contact), good for them. Does anyone else know otherwise or think this should be interpreted differently ?
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The countdown for an imobile robot is 10 seconds to demonstrate movement
from when the judges decide you are disabled and start a count against you
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Speaking officially, Robots are not allowed to be powered up in the pits *at all*. This is to keep the insurance companies happy. Other Event Operators may have different opinions according to their willingness to accept liability for pit-accidents.
In practice, we know everyone does it for testing purposes, and may not "officially" notice provided you do so in a safe manner.. Wheels off the ground, Dangerous weapons disarmed etc etc. If your 'bot is of a particularly dangerous nature (Hi pressure flipper, Hi powered spinner etc), then you could expect this rule to be enforced more tightly.
Also, as we grow as a sport, these sort of things will gradually get stricter since we wont "all be friends" and cant expect "peer group pressure" to harass some competitors into behaving safely..
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As far as Scoopy goes, the tray is *not* designed to catch and hold robots in the sense of an "entrapment device" any more than a wedge or spikes are an entrapment device. There are no one-way catches, clamps or anything like that to actively hold onto a bot that would require "releasing"
If you consider the tray an entrapment device, then you would also have to consider the spikes on the front of Hell-bringer (for example) the same way, since it is just as possible for your bot to get stuck in between them if they ram you from the side.
If you drive into (or are scooped into) Scoopy's tray forwards, you can just as easily reverse out of it, provided your Bot doesnt get high centered due to low ground clearance or something similair.
If you get scooped from the side and cant go back and forwards enough to get free, then after 30 seconds, Mel would be required to make an attempt to reverse away from you, and if she was unable to do so, she will say "I'm stuck" then the robots would be considered jammed together and a pause would called to seperate them.
If she refused to make an attempt to seperate or failed to advise the judges that she was stuck and unable to seperate, then she would be liable for disqualification after 30 seconds.
At the recent Rye event, Mel *tried* to back away from Tim (Hell Raiser) and was unable to do so, due to a wheel coming undone on Scoopy, in which case Rick (Moth) judged them stuck, paused the match and seperated them manually.
At this point, Scoopys wheel fell out meaning she could only drive in circles, but Hell-Raiser was unable to move at all thereafter (thanks to an Antenna-Amputation) and Scoopy was judged the winner because Hell -Raiser was immobilised first and worst.
Scoopy is modelled after a Battle-Bots Robot called S.O.B. (Or "That Darn Dustpan") which has competed in 3 BattleBots tournaments and many other U.S. events and has never been called "against the rules" by any of them, so I consider your opinion as to the designs legality to be incorrect Angus.
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As far as the accidental saw activations go.. I stand Guilty-as-Charged and accept the criticism. I will endeavour to lift my game safety wise in the future.. If anyone sees me doing something unsafe, feel free to kick my butt (figuratively speaking), since I can be just as stupid as anyone in the rush to repair & recharge before the next round, and we all have to help remind each other to be aware of the danger of these machines.
I dont remember why it happened at RoboWars 1 now. At RoboWars 2, it was caused by me reprogramming the Radio Tx and being unaware that Mel had plugged Scoopy's batteries in.. (The danger of having more than 1 person working on a bot at once). _________________ Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people
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Tue Apr 26, 2005 11:58 pm |
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