Plus, I would be running my own 1 lb robot, Algos
at Motorama.
My teammate at the time had never driven a
fighting robot before — let alone put one in an
arena and competed with it. With a new driver
found, the bot was dubbed Eleos, and packed up
for the drive from Atlanta, GA to Harrisburg, PA
for Motorama.
With the way things worked out, there wasn't
enough time to get in any real driving practice.
With a control focused weapon, good driving is
critical to doing well, which resulted in Eleos
finishing Motorama with a 0-2 record after facing
a fast wedge and another Finger Tech Robotics’
Viper kit — instead of the lifter add-on, it was
running the spinner add-on.
The Finger Tech spinner add-on proved to pack
quite a punch, and the driver of that Viper kit
managed to take some massive chunks out of the
foam wheels and get a few bites on other parts of
the bot before hitting the wheel hard enough to
lock up the gearbox on one side.
Even going 0-2 at Motorama, there were
some insights that could be gleaned from what
happened.
First, the new kit itself was quite durable.
Beyond the damaged gearbox, there was very
little damage, and with a spare Lite Tread wheel or
two, Eleos could have been back in the box and
fighting again in just a few minutes.
Second, there's no substitute for practice. It's
rare to see a poorly driven bot do well
consistently, and it's quite common to see well
driven robots outperform expectations. This
applies to an even greater extent when dealing
with weapons like lifting arms where you're trying
to act with a degree of precision.
If you're looking for a good target to practice
with, I'd suggest a Weazel ball or similar with the
tail removed. It'll randomly wander around the test
area which can pretty accurately simulate trying to
chase down another robot.
Third, the ease of assembly and minimal
safety concerns make the Finger Tech Robotics’
Viper kit with the lifter add-on a great starting
point for a new builder.
With the lifting arm, you can safely practice
on almost any surface that won't get scuffed up
by the leading edge of the lifting arm, while with
spinning weapons, you really do need some sort
of test box or similar that can protect you from
flying parts. SV
34 SERVO 05.2015
Freshly assembled.
Post Moto 1.
Post Moto 2.
