Dave26 wrote:I think a 4" limit is practically that anyway really Rory. I doubt fleas could get much better than that without some silly extra long pokey bits or something.
Did someone say silly extra long pokey bits?
I think this is a good idea, it could make for some more interesting designs.
I might be a bit of a stick in the mud but I think we should stay with the 3 inch cube.
When we started it was a challenge to get an ant inside 150 gms and a 4 inch cube.
But as smaller an lighter technology and materials have become available some of that challenge has gone.
Thats why I like the fleas as they still require some carful design to meet the existing rules.
Having built a cluster bot that weighs in at 14gms weight is not that much of a constraint and if we relax the 3 inch cube we will in my opinion lose most of the difficulty.
I think changing the rules to make things easy is a slippery slope we don't want to go down.
It wasn't about making things easy Peter, more about making it more interesting. Sometimes things can be TOO restricting. But I do agree with you too, its why I was hesitant. Fleas are still very much their own weight class, with different challenges, and changing the cube would diversify the designs but lose some of the other current attractions of the class.
It also lets robots designed to be clusters, that may be larger than the 3" cube etc fight in their weightclass. These robots are generally tougher as they have to take on antweights so it could be a nice boost in levels of competition.
Dave26 wrote:I think a 4" limit is practically that anyway really Rory. I doubt fleas could get much better than that without some silly extra long pokey bits or something.
(you say that, but ChocolateBot is 5 and a bit inches across and weighs 74g )
I've also built another very interesting flea weight which fits in the 3" cube; I'm fine with keeping the rule as is..
To be honest, flea weight rules are fine as they are, asking to increase the size here would pretty much be the same as asking to increase the size limit of the ants as they both have the size limits that they were originally intended to have, which should be fixed rules. The size limit is just as much a part of the challenge as the weight limit and should therefore be met with ingenuity rather than trying to move the goalposts.
I must say I agree these are the rules that define a flea weight in just the same way as the 4 inch and 150 gms define the antweight and should be unchangeable unless there is some overwelming reason.
As Dave26 says in the antweight discussion :
You may as well say you want the cube rule removed or the weight limit changed. These rules are set in stone