Robot Combat League

[nerdalert]

Greetings EN World...this is my first post (obviously). I was one of the contestants on RCL (the robotech for Team Thunder Skull). I found this thread because I have a google alert setup, and it just notified me about this post. I like to read what the viewers are saying about the show, however, I don't usually respond. Most threads don't warrant a response However, there is great information on this thread, and Janx offers a very interesting view about how things are shaking out in the competition.

Janx, your theory was a theory discussed by several of the robotechs while we were filming the show and we agreed that the unseen damage might be playing into the results of the fights.

Some other factorswithout giving too much away)

The fighting movements of the jockeys!
The amount of fluid on the floor
A solid dose of luck

But most significantly, the armor. Every armor was crafted differently.

If anyone has any other questions, please feel free to ask I am under contract, so there is only so much I can say, but I'll try to answer anything I can!

 

[Mark CMG]

Greetings EN World...this is my first post (obviously). I was one of the contestants on RCL (the robotech for Team Thunder Skull). I found this thread because I have a google alert setup, and it just notified me about this post. I like to read what the viewers are saying about the show, however, I don't usually respond. Most threads don't warrant a response However, there is great information on this thread, and Janx offers a very interesting view about how things are shaking out in the competition.

Janx, your theory was a theory discussed by several of the robotechs while we were filming the show and we agreed that the unseen damage might be playing into the results of the fights.

Some other factorswithout giving too much away)

The fighting movements of the jockeys!
The amount of fluid on the floor
A solid dose of luck

But most significantly, the armor. Every armor was crafted differently.

If anyone has any other questions, please feel free to ask I am under contract, so there is only so much I can say, but I'll try to answer anything I can!

Thanks, Brandon, and welcome to the boards (unless you're actually Janx in disguise! )!

So, my first question would be if teams were allowed to trade out actuators even if they weren't destroyed in the twenty minutes they had between rounds? If so, did any choose to replace some working actuators, perhaps based on their position behind some armor that had definitely received a hit, for instance?

 

[nerdalert]

Thanks, Brandon, and welcome to the boards (unless you're actually Janx in disguise! )!

So, my first question would be if teams were allowed to trade out actuators even if they weren't destroyed in the twenty minutes they had between rounds? If so, did any choose to replace some working actuators, perhaps based on their position behind some armor that had definitely received a hit, for instance?

To my knowledge, no one changed out a working actuator. We had one that had been heavily scraped by our damaged armor that we left in place. It was working. 20 minutes is not a lot of time, and it took every bit of that to replace one actuator, much less replace a working one. If you didn't have any damaged actuators, there was at least armor or cleaning off the fluid from the feet and legs that needed to be done.

The actuators were put in place as an intentional point of failure. With all the force being exchanged between blows, something had to give...better a replaceable part than a frame bending or major joint failure! (not too different from the human body really )

 

[Mark CMG]

To my knowledge, no one changed out a working actuator. We had one that had been heavily scraped by our damaged armor that we left in place. It was working. 20 minutes is not a lot of time, and it took every bit of that to replace one actuator, much less replace a working one. If you didn't have any damaged actuators, there was at least armor or cleaning off the fluid from the feet and legs that needed to be done.

The actuators were put in place as an intentional point of failure. With all the force being exchanged between blows, something had to give...better a replaceable part than a frame bending or major joint failure! (not too different from the human body really )

Thanks again. So, the time dictated parts replacement and it wasn't a restriction in the rules, if I am reading you right.

 

[jonesy]

Hi, Brandon. Welcome to the forums. I really like the little gifs you have of you and Heather 'practicing' on your recap:
http://www.nerdalert.com/2013/03/12/thunder-skull-vs-brimstone-what-just-happened/

 

[jonesy]

If anyone has any other questions, please feel free to ask

Here's a question I just thought of: in the initial power up challenge to determine the rankings did the numbers on the target board on the dummy robots chest have any significance? Like, did you get time added for hitting anything other than the center?

Edit: actually, I just realized only the other practise bot had the numbered target board. Nevermind.

 

[nerdalert]

Thanks again. So, the time dictated parts replacement and it wasn't a restriction in the rules, if I am reading you right.

TBH, I don't recall if the rules allowed it or not. What I do know, is that if it was working, there was no reason to risk replacing something. The armor wasn't exactly easy to get off and back on, so there is no way someone would risk the time on a working part.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hmmm...

Sounds to me that if this show survives to Season 2, they might want to hire 2 skilled, dedicated pit crews to do the between-rounds repairs to avoid this problem that is weighing so heavily on the minds of some...

 

[Deset Gled]

Sounds to me that if this show survives to Season 2, they might want to hire 2 skilled, dedicated pit crews to do the between-rounds repairs to avoid this problem that is weighing so heavily on the minds of some...

You're assuming its a problem they want to solve. It's important to remember that these bots are designed to break. If they take away one source of failure, they'll probably have to add in another.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm just talking about toning down percieved swinginess- they could still have limitations on what could or could not be changed. Heck, with dedicated pit crews, the time between rounds could be chopped to 10 or even 5 minutes.