[bigbangrobotics] Big Bang Robotics: New Orleans Report
- From: Jay Johnson <tallyjay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Free List <bigbangrobotics@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 10:09:57 -0700 (PDT)
?Robot Revolutions? in New Orleans over the July 4th
weekend was an awesome competition with over 100
robots in attendance. Some of the nation?s most
fearsome competitors, including heavyweight bots
Megabite and Warrior, showed up to shake the arena
with amazing acrobatics as they fought for dominance.
The fact that we were also able to enjoy a muffaletta
and some beignets from the French Quarter in New
Orleans and some waterfront fireworks contributed to
an all-around great event!
Our robot, Heavy Metal Noise, put in a good showing in
the middleweight bracket with 2 wins and 2 losses,
finally being eliminated by ?Red Square?, a low
profile flipper-bot that got a couple of good flips on
us with his unique spring-steel flipper. We are happy
to report that all systems on HMN were working well
during this event ? we seem to have finally solved our
drive train response gremlin. For us the highlight of
the event had to be our fight versus Paper Cut, a
pizza-box shaped robot sporting a fearsome tool steel
blade spinning on top (think upside-down lawn mower).
Paper Cut?s blade had snapped in the previous fight so
when they lined up to fight us they had replaced their
steel blade with a six-foot long 2x12 ? an incredibly
massive piece of lumber reinforced with steel channel.
We never anticipated facing a 6-foot long weapon in
the middleweight class! There was a lot of
anticipation of this fight ? no one knew quite what to
make of such an outlandish, yet oddly awesome weapon.
Fortunately we were able to show the crowd that steel
and titanium are a bit stronger than wood as we
quickly chopped their 2x12 into hundreds of small
souvenirs. Our opponent did have their revenge though
- we are still picking wood splinters out of our
robot!
The winner in the MW class was ?Falcon?, a robot with
a fearsome spinning drum that overcame the full-body
spinner ?The Revenant? in the finals. There were a
good number of robots with flamethrowers in the 12 and
30-pound weight classes and they put on quite a show.
The most awesome robot at the event, Team Whyachi?s
?Warrior?, demonstrated the proper technique for
tossing its 240-pound opponent into the arena ceiling
? absolutely amazing technology!
In non-robot news, peripheral effects from Hurricane
Dennis brushed Tallahassee and left us without power
Sunday night. As of lunchtime Monday we are still
without power, but anticipate restoration later today.
It could be another long hurricane season...
Jay and Valerie
www.bigbangrobotics.com
********************
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS!
It takes more than a great idea to compete in robotic
sports and we are fortunate to have the support of a
great company: Fenner Drives. They?ve supplied new
Trantorque GT units for Heavy Metal Noise and we
continue to be impressed with their entire line of
power transmission products: www.fennerdrives.com
Thanks also to Rapid Response Products, a Fenner
Partner. They have sent us a generous shipment of
custom pulleys and belts to complete the drive train
of our newest robot -- BrainStorm:
www.rapidresponseproducts.com
********************
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