30 SERVO 08.2016
Idon’t know if it’s a sign of global warming, but this was the warmest Motorama that I can
remember ... a sweatshirt was enough
outside, and t-shirts and some shorts
inside. It was a nice change from the
record cold and snow of last year.
While Motorama is primarily a
car/motorbike/go-kart event, the
Northeast Robotics Club (NERC,
www.nerc.us) has organized a major
robotic conflict event there for more
than 10 years.
The numbers entered (114) and
competing (94) were down a little
from last year, but that was mostly a
reduction in the number of
Antweights.
We travelled up on Friday
afternoon and evening, so missed all
of the Antweight and Fairyweight
competitions, but last year’s
champion, Algos had triumphed again
after a tough final against horizontal
bar spinner, Vile Ant. The damage to
Algos brings us to the main theme of
this year’s event report: The bots were
involved in some of the toughest
fights ever, and there was plenty of
damage done.
While it’s true many fights result
in little damage — especially in the
Sportsman class — the true combat
classes contain many fearsome bots
that can do real destruction to their
opponents. Two-time champion, Algos
has been retired after Moto; not
because of the damage it received
(which is repairable), but because its
builder, Mike Jeffries is moving up a
weight class to the 3 lb Beetleweights,
hoping to repeat the success he has
had in the Ants.
The main event gets going on
Saturday. There were the usual last
minute repairs and last minute builds
like that of Wedge of Allegiance: a
Kitbots kit that only just got finished
— and indeed named — right before
the safety tests were completed.
Safety consists of a weight check
(no, it doesn’t matter what your
EVENT REPORT:
Motorama 2016 – Teeth and
Consequences ● by Pete Smith
glued into the weapon shaft in Figure
8.
While none of the design changes
I completed on Glasgow Kiss were
that large, I believe they will make the
bot far more competitive, and it will
be interesting to see how it does. The
updated drive ESCs in conjunction
with the smaller contact area of the
weapon axles should allow me to
have much more control while driving
the bot, which will let me be quite a
bit more aggressive in fights.
The updates to the weapon
system should allow me to spin the
blade up to top speed much faster,
and the reversible speed controller will
always allow me to go tooth-to-tooth
against the inevitable rematch against
Triggo.
All in all, I am satisfied with the
updates to the design, and I am
excited to go against some tough
competition at Motorama.
You can see the fully updated
Glasgow Kiss ready for Motorama in
Figure 9. SV
Figure 8: Weapon
axle with hex rod
inserts.
Figure 9:
Glasgow
Kiss,
ready for
Motorama.
Safety check line.
