Everyone must read this.

http://combots.net/guide-to-winning.php

As the guy who was running around getting robots into the arena I really wish you guys would please pay attention to the first rule

Who's bots weren't finished before the competition?
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Farnsworth - "I hate these nerds. Just because I'm stupider than them they think they're smarter than me."

Well I am currently watching the live stream and so far the first round of the feathers has been going for 30 minutes and there has been one fight. Demon wasn't able to start, BodgieBot's weapon wasn't working and Sidewinder hadn't been wired up. 3 fights had been sent into the arena and then pulled out and I had to change to the next. Very boring to watch.

yeh but they were pretty small issue's that stoped demon and bodge bot,that had nothing to do with not being ready

"Ensure that all components are securely mounted. They're going to get knocked around. I long ago lost count of the number of battery packs that I have seen flying across the arena because they got knocked out of the bot in a big hit. If you lose your batteries, you lose the match. It's that simple.
"

Should be read.

I think the weapon recommendation is stupid, a powerful drive-train behind a low wedge is just a much of a weapon as anything else, and recommending two weapons is stupid.
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YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

well said angus

the event ran smoothly minus a lil bit of time on the second day but that was due to alot of bots being unable to continue

the finalists being asked to be back in the arena barely 10 mins after there last match was plain foolish and that bit of wait time could not be avoided and should have been filled with rumbles/ants/whatever else.

All around the event ran real smooth and anybody bringing up stuff like this is just bringing negative viewpoints to a successful event
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Andrew Welch, Team Unconventional Robotics

The main problem that I saw was that there was nobody marshalling the bots - the only prompting we got was the MC calling out their names for the next match. It would have been really useful to have someone coming around to check which bots were ready and give time warnings. Something I really liked at Robogames was that you had to be ready and queued at the arena door or risk a forfeit. Its hard to do that with only 3 classes, but worth trying.

quote:

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Originally posted by andrew:

All around the event ran real smooth and anybody bringing up stuff like this is just bringing negative viewpoints to a successful event

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I do agree with nick you really need someone who is not competing and is who's only job is to marshall. I had my bots + all the other shit to cover, however the bots were only really entered to bump up the numbers. I think we still need a few more numbers before we can have people around just marshalling.

I had intended to do this for last two events but we sorta always need those few extra bots and I have to deal with all the other random stuff that goes wrong on the day. Really need a few people who are there to organise.

Also I think we are just about at the stage where we need a day for registration, testing and safety inspections. Which would solve a lot of the first day teething issues.

We could also be a lot harsher about what happens if your bot doesn't work as in just automatic loss no chance to fix anything up which might help. But once again we need more people before we can start doing that.

Steve
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

Yeah no one was expecting Marto to do more, but there was a stage there where I had to tell Nick of impending matches. Not coz Nick is disorganised, just that no one had told him his match was going to be first up after the ants finished. The transitions between the classes was worst for notice obviously. Once the matches were happening you could see where you were at. Also the first round of the second day was sort of sprung. Lots of nothing happening and then "why isn't your robot in the arena".

But like others have said, great event. I'm just defending my viewpoint that a lot more delays were caused by lack of marshalling than 'robots not being complete'.

Also if you do the whole line up before the round, you have to be more stringent with the 30mins between bouts rule as well. Which might slow things down in the long run. As it would be unfair for the guy who fought last not to be given enough time for repair before the next draw. Especially since the ant round were taking like 20 mins on the second day.
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Farnsworth - "I hate these nerds. Just because I'm stupider than them they think they're smarter than me."

I'd just like to point out that at the last robowars vic event everyone had to have their bots ready to go and lined up in a certain area before the next round commenced.
If you werent ready by the first fight, you either forfeited the round or if it could be ready in the next few minutes ppl would go and help them get it done, but ony if it wasnt much work (final bolts/screws put back in,battery put in,ect...). It seemed to work well.
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http://au.youtube.com/user/crustydemonsully

The day I stop giving 100%, is the day I stop competing

But at the last RoboWars the the rule wasn't enforced. It worked for the first round but after 3 rounds there was only 2 robots that were put in the que before the round started.
There was also no place to put a que at the the Edge.

The only big delays that weren't expected was in the the first round of the feathers. Everything else, including the finals, ran as we predicted. Maybe we need to set aside 30 minutes before the first round where every robot needs to be brought into the arena one at a time and given a quick 1 minute test in front of the audiance. The builder would be confident everything would work, have time to fix any mistakes, and we'd get the audiance a bit pumped up.

These things are easy in theory very hard in practice.

I don't think we did too badly on the day, but there is room for improvement.

Steve
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

daniels idea sounds like a good one to minimise first round delays. In fact its basicly what we did in melb one year, Effectively ours was just failsafe testing but that included proving the robot drove and testing the weapon if there was one. think it was 45min before the first round or something. This way you know the bots are safe and the builders know the bots work. and the audence gets a teaser if they are there a bit early.
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Remember to trust me, I am an Engineer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp8hvyjZWHs