LimaHotel wrote: ↑Tue Dec 14, 2021 10:19 am
That won't fix it. I love the "we allow one bit of each weapon type". That's amazing. It gives people a reason to build axes, spinners, flippers, AND something off the wall (like a grabber). I love it.
Then you just gotta go ruin the ride. By forcing these robot categories to only fight their own groups until a few finalists of each enter full combat? Lame.
I don't build a flipper hoping to fight flippers, or an axe hoping to fight axes. Yes I did build a grabber hoping to fight grabbers, but even then I don't want to fight exclusively the same weapon type! Keep the 1 bot per weapon type (cos I love it) but PLEASE Drop the split competition and have a standard mixed one and I'll go. As it stands I'm not gonna.
Ive spent the day thinking about what you said, its taking my original idea of encouraging different weapons in a direction I hadn`t considered
and its still going to encourage new designs. I don`t want to alienate core roboteers but I also want to keep diversity alive.
If I change the format to up to four robots per team, each must have a different weapon, and go to one tournament throughout, then I think thats a suitable and innovative solution. If you could all let me know what you think, sounds good to me.
I`m still concerned about covid restrictions affecting the event but thats something no one is sure about yet.
I think that is an excellent compromise. Wholeheartedly support. One tournament - but each entry on a team has to be in a different 'weapons category'.
The basic premise for encouraging robot diversity is a good one (it's already prompted me to start work on a couple of 'percussive weapon' designs and an overhead sawbot) but as others have said, the like-versus-like format for the initial rounds was just somehow less appealing.
On a more practical note though, I'd be tempted to push it back a month or two (avoiding Easter hols) to be on the safe side. Still unclear how the Omicron curve is going to go but I'll wager restrictions will still be pretty heavy in early Feb. Anthony & I are both dead keen to attend this time - but it takes a lot of planning (long train journey and a couple of nights in a hotel) so would prefer it to be when there's less risk of risk last minute cancellations.
But either way - thank you for taking on board the criticism and coming up with this solution.
Well if you push it back a couple of months - which may be prudent - then won't it need to be "Ant Thaw"?
Mark
Robots: Betsie - RaspberryPi controlled flipper bot with gyro stablisation - too clever for her own good? Stacie - tidy flipper; 4wd driven by hair bands
This sounds good, anything that promotes diversity of entries is good with me.
One thing though, I think it might be good to clarify what counts within a specific weapon type now, just to avoid any confusion on the day. For instance, do drill & saw bots count as spinners? Also, would a grab & lift type count exclusively as a grabber, a lifter, or could they count as either?
Yes the beginning of Feb looks iffy, I’ve thought that for a while and it’s likely going to get put back.
It’s more a case of when to rather than if I think.
If people are building robots that are going to be debatable then it’s probably a good idea to get the designation agreed before turning up on the day.
MySolderIsOlder wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 8:48 am
I think that is an excellent compromise. Wholeheartedly support. One tournament - but each entry on a team has to be in a different 'weapons category'.
The basic premise for encouraging robot diversity is a good one (it's already prompted me to start work on a couple of 'percussive weapon' designs and an overhead sawbot) but as others have said, the like-versus-like format for the initial rounds was just somehow less appealing.
On a more practical note though, I'd be tempted to push it back a month or two (avoiding Easter hols) to be on the safe side. Still unclear how the Omicron curve is going to go but I'll wager restrictions will still be pretty heavy in early Feb. Anthony & I are both dead keen to attend this time - but it takes a lot of planning (long train journey and a couple of nights in a hotel) so would prefer it to be when there's less risk of risk last minute cancellations.
But either way - thank you for taking on board the criticism and coming up with this solution.
If it gets pushed back are you going to consider a name change?
Spring - Ant Melt or Ant Melted or Ant Meltdown
Summer - Ant Roast or Ant Fry or Ant Broil or Boiled Ant
Fall - Ant Harvest or Ant Fall