Servo - May 2015

wrapping paper. Strangely enough, End Result proved to be remarkably effective.

With the blade spun up and its one drive wheel, it could gyro dance with pretty good directional control, and the blade hit with surprising effectiveness. The five Ratbots fought round-robin, with End Result being the clear winner.

In the Sportsmans class, again we had more bots than last year. The usual winner of the class — pneumatic flipper, Upheaval — was absent and that left a group of regulars and some newcomers competing for the first place prize.

Back was the other pneumatic flipper, Phoenix (Figure 28); acrobatic flipper, Überclocker Advance; and kinetic energy flipper, Magneato (Figure 29). There was also the adaptable Nyx (Figure 30) with its multiple weapon choices, and the reliable Power of Metal (Figure 31) with its bar of rotating teeth.

There were some interesting newcomers, as well. The tracked Clawed Crawler (Figure 32); the hydraulic crusher/shuffler Fission Product (Figure 33); conventional motor driven crusher, Lock-Jaw (Figure 34); Spanky (Figure 35) with its saw blade or chain saw; Swordfish 2

(Figure 36) with its giant drill bit; and Hortinator (Figure 37), which used a tire as armor and a tire iron as a hammer.

Sadly, Phoenix and Magneato were knocked out early; Phoenix due to mediocre flipping power, and Magneato due to an unlucky judge’s decision and a late failure to self-right. Clawed Crawler did pretty well; its tracks proved to be remarkably tough. Given a little more speed and agility, it could prove to be a serious competitor next year.

Crusher Lock-Jaw was effective but got knocked out when one side of its drive failed against Power of Metal. Überclocker Advance looked unbeatable, until losing drive first against Nyx and then in the loser’s brackets against Power of Metal.

In the first finals, Nyx used its hammer against Power of Metal but lost in what must have been a very close judge’s decision, then lost again in a cloud of smoke in the second finals, giving Power of Metal first place.