[TC11 Related] Lego Robot Wars; The Lightweights

[Bubbleman]

Around seven years ago, I was bored. I didn't have much to do with my time, considering I was around eleven years old, so I'd just sit at a laptop and browse the vast collection of entertainment resources known as 'Youtube'. It happened one fateful day, where I was watching old videos of my favourite show, Robot Wars. Razer had just dispatched it's third victim for the day, and I was looking for the fourth, when there was a curious sight in the suggestions;

Someone had made working, radio-controlled robots out of lego. I was astonished. Every other 'Lego Robot Wars' video was just generic MOCs made to slam into eachother in imaginary battles controlled by mysterious forces known as 'hands', however here I'd found the gold mine of actual, motorised lego robots.
I was instantly hooked. I immediately ordered power functions, built frames, and seven years later I have 25 unique creations made to fall apart and look cool doing so.

Presenting: Lego Robot Wars; The Light Weights.

All weighing in at under 500g with electrics installed, and running on one li-poly, 1-2 IR recievers and 2-4 M motors each, these were some of the most fun I'd ever had. I ordered a camera, I found a tripod, I gave each one a unique or inspired name, and I was ready to film an entire series. However, I couldn't find a second driver to pilot an oponent, and so a series was never made.

And so, for the last two years, every single one of these frames has been sat gathering dust. I can't bring myself to dismantle them. Maybe I could, if I were to build again, but circumstances have killed any and all motivation I ever had.

So, with that said, I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed playing with them, years ago.

If you want pictures or demos of individual robots, let me know and I'll provide them. Also, depending on the response I get, I may just have a last try at getting this done.

[Sylvian]

Awesome,. 2 bad you cant find a second driver :(

[PKW]

Hi bubbleman!! Really happy you start a topic here, hope your work will gain more visibility, you should post some more detailed pictures of your best bots :)

 

-Paolo

[Bubbleman]

Well okay this got relatively ignored

It's fine though because I can provide some video as well as some general advice to people wanting to build one of these:

Spoiler

 

1) Focus on one weapon. If you spread your weight around two or more active weapons, they will be less effective. I'd rather hit someone with a sledge hammer than tickle them with some meat tenderisers. This also includes spinners, as one tooth on a spinning blade will allow you to get closer to the opponent before said tooth strikes, meaning more damage can be caused. If you do this, make sure to balance the blade properly on both sides.

2) USE WHEELS. I cannot stress this enough. As robot combat doesn't take place on carpet, plastic tracks will have no purchase and you will be at the mercy of a robot with more traction. Alternately, those small rubber tracks are fine and arguably better than wheels if you can properly support them. You'll probably have to work around slip-steer issues with wheels, but it's worth it for the added traction.

3) Piercing weapons (like the spikes on the end of some spinners/hammers) will not work in lego. There is nowhere near enough force in them to properly work as intended. Instead, go for blunt, concussive weapons to shake parts loose (or possibly break them; this is robot combat though, so you shouldn't care about broken pieces). Or, keep with a light weapon to make quick hits rather than heavy ones.

4) Build your weapon system strong. Bricky wedged robots are the bane of almost every active weaponed robot, as they can take hits and keep coming back. Hits from your weapon will always transfer some amount of energy back into your own robot, and if your weapon system isn't built to be able to dish out repeated hits this will end up breaking your own robot before you break theirs.

5) Have a Self Righting Mechanism, unless your design can't fit one or your robot is invertible. Flippers/Lifters will get underneath, turn you over and not let you back on your wheels, rendering your robot immobile. Damaging weapons are pointless if you can't get to the opponent to use them.

6) Spinner speed is just as important as weight. This works for hammers as well, because if your spinner/hammer takes a long time to get up to speed/swing there is a large window of opportunity for the opponent to run in, take a soft hit and stop your weapon. They then get full control. Basically, either make sure your robot can spin the weapon properly or don't make it so heavy.

7) Make sure your lifter is properly supported/counterbalanced. If you lift a robot, you place weight in front of the front axle/bodywork. If there is no counterbalance or you're not supporting the area below your lifter, your robot will tip forwards, usually off its wheels, which means you gain no useful control over the robot you have lifted.

8) Have control over your weapon. I burnt out a good amount of motors by making them continuously spin a spinner, as in an impact they would be stalled for up to 10 seconds at a time. Please don't make the same mistake I did.

Anyway with that out of the way, have a couple 2-year-old videos of my past builds in action:

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2017 by Bubbleman

[PKW]

unfortunately the current has no limit on weight but only on size, so is is the opposite of modern robot wars, buti really hope one day lego robot wars will be something like trial trucks races, with defined rules and dedicated meetings.

btw post the video out of the "hidden contents click to show" part, EB forum recognize youtube link and auto embed  them so just write the link (http not https) and the magic is done! good work so far!

[agrof]

I really like the job You brought to us, thanks for sharing the experiences and the story behind!

Might dark age is coming, but once one is infected by MOCing, it remains in the blood.  I know, I have...

[Captainowie]

I am surprised you couldn't find _one_ eleven year old keen to drive a robot around. I would have loved to do that as a kid (heck, I'd probably still get a kick out of it at 35!)