Arena shape

earthwormjim · Post by **earthwormjim** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:11 am

Would this shape be within the rules.
About 1m x 1.2m maybe.
This is the best way I could come up with to incorporate 4 corners with a 50% drop off area.
I wanted 4 corners,but only 50% is allowed as side wall,if I understand it right??
Or do they have to be square?
Cheers Jim.

daliad100 · Post by **daliad100** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:34 am

I think the fighting area has to be above 900 square inches and can be any shape you want.

Square arenas give a nice open fighting area but with an 1800 square inch arena you shouldn't worry too much about that

joey_picus · Post by **joey_picus** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 1:36 pm

I think one of Peter Waller's arenas had that setup, with the short side walls, so it'd be allowed for sure - it'd be good to have a nice long area for fighting in, would be a bit like jousting

earthwormjim · Post by **earthwormjim** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:36 pm

Cheers Chaps. Nice one.

Post by **BeligerAnt** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:03 pm

Section 3 of the rules tells all there is to know.

There's nothing I can see with this arena that falls outside the rules.

The problems with larger arenas are:
1) Cost, particularly of the battlebox roof, which needs to be self-supporting and made of polycarbonate.
2) Transport, unless you have a large van and/or trailer.
3) Storage, unless you have a big shed/garage and understanding family

4) Bigger arenas give robots more room for manoeuvre and/or avoiding each other so a "fight" could degenerate into a "chase"!

With a 1.2 x 1.0m arena, the total perimeter is 4.4m, so each wall would be 1.1m, giving only 50mm of wall on the long sides.

I would suggest reducing the width to maybe 800mm. This would still give 50% more fighting area then PeteC's arena and about 20% more than PeterW's. The walls on the long sides would then be 100mm.

It is possible to have an 800mm square arena with 4 corners, as long as the sides at the corners are 200mm long. This gives a 400mm gap in the middle of each side. See various options for my "modular" arena: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/g0xan/robots/arena.htm

Bear in mind that it is almost impossible to drive, let alone push, a 100mm-wide robot through a 100mm gap, so gaps should be at least 200mm (IMO) to give pushers a fair chance. In fact, most types of robot usually win by pushing the opponent out!

HTH

earthwormjim · Post by **earthwormjim** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:29 pm

Great info.I didnt realise that my plans were so big! I will try to reduce it a bit,as I dont have tons of space.Thanks alot.

I was planning on making a basic construction MDF arena,for something to practice on,but figured that if I am making one,it may aswell be officially useable!

Jonny · Post by **Jonny** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:50 pm

i've got one that's just 3 peices of wood attached together

Pongo1471 · Post by **Pongo1471** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:25 am

can allways put a curve on the drop off's to increase permimmiter with minimal distance actualy coverd allowing for what would feel like a more inclosed areana within the rules?
if that makes much sence

earthwormjim · Post by **earthwormjim** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:16 pm

Pongo1471 wrote:can allways put a curve on the drop off's to increase permimmiter with minimal distance actualy coverd allowing for what would feel like a more inclosed areana within the rules?
if that makes much sence

Was just thinking the same thing!