EVENTS FROM 2017 | teamluna

PREVOUS EVENTS

Extreme Robots, Gloucester 21-22 October 2017

I set myself the dead line of this event to finish the Heavyweight, well at least get it working, enter the arena have a decent fight and just survive. However, this becoming a reality was a challenge, as we unloaded HW Luna-Tic into the event we were still had work to do. Attach side panels, attach the main wedge to the lifting arm and find someone weld the side wedge lets to the main wedge. Unfortunately we missed the safety check in the morning and had to wait until the break to be given the okay. Massive thank you to John Lear and Alex Shakespeare for welding the wedge together and it was finally ready for the PM show.

We desperately tried to get our first fight with a couple of new robots and the now infamous Two Headed Death Flamingo. But due to show reasons, we ended up against Robot Wars champions Eruption. No worries, I wanted the robot to have a good shake down before the event was over anyway. So we knew our first victims Up-Vote & Vortex along with Eruption, with all being newbies and new machines we agreed to all go after Michael and Eruption first.

As we lifted Luna-Tic onto the loading bay, the nerves just hit. Okay so I’ve been driving the Feather for a few months now, but this is totally different. This is what it’s all about, the best of the best, 100kgs of metal bashing. Vortex had to pull out as Up-Vote entered the arena, followed by Eruption then Luna-Tic was announced to a cheer from the crowd. I cannot put into words how proud and scared I was as I drove into the middle of the arena doing a little spin before backing to the side to take my starting place with a massive crash to the arena side wall.

Lights to down, “Roboteers are you ready?” Nope!!!!! “3. 2. 1. Active active!!!” Hoping Up-Vote would still gang up with me against Eruption I drove forward and turned to immediately lose power. Forward and Backward still worked, but very slowly and I had no left and right. All that hard work and months building for about three seconds of fighting. I can remember feeling so disappointed and would not to have liked to see my face. I was able to slowly bash into Up-Vote and Eruption and it soon looked like Up-Vote wasn’t having much luck either. I got flipped over and yet it still limped back and to, before Eruption flipped us both out the arena.

As we waited for the arena marshals to rescue the two robots from outside the arena fence both Lorna and I looked at each other, “Chains!!” The drive chains had previously been a bug with this robot and it was a logical explanation. We got Luna-Tic back to the pits to discover three of the four chains had fallen off. One thing I do love about the Robot Community is how everyone helps each other, we had various people coming over asking how it went and suggested ways to help keep the chains on. As we set about fixing the damage, (okay, just the chains. Everything else worked and was holding up really well) One thing that makes me laugh to how difficult the chains are to get on, but can fall off in a instant. We replaced a section of the chain guide that we thought would keep it on a little longer and enjoyed a few battles with the feather that still works and performs brilliantly.

Sunday morning with nothing to do until the start of the show we mingled, got pictures and asked people to sign the new Robot Wars book. As the white board went up again, we put our names down and would end up against Vortex (now fixed), Touron, Manta (Current UK champion) and finally the Two Headed Death Flamingo. Less nervous second time round and more confident the chains would last a tad longer than 3 seconds, we loaded up, drove into the arena fine and waited as the other drove in too. Hats off to the Two Headed Death Flamingo, a brilliant and fun design just to a pleasure watch. So “3..2…1… Active!” Drove forward and got under Manta as they flipped Touron and as we pushed them, the chains fell off again and mobility was cut to almost nothing. I did a bit of slow driving back and forwards again and got two massive flips from Manta. But it still worked but eventually lost drive completely and sat in the corner until the fight was over.

Gutted doesn’t come close, 10months building for 10seconds of fighting. I had to have a stern telling off from Lorna as I went full on stroppy and annoyed. She said this weekend was a test, so see what needs sorting and to concentrate the good side of the fights. Surprisingly everything else works great. Even Rory Mangles (Team Nuts) said, get the chains to stay on and you’ll have a half decent robot. We packed up the heavy into the car and Felicity finally felt confidante enough to have a go diving the feather during one of the melees. To be fair, she didn’t drive into the pit like I normally do and got stuck in, really proud of her. The final fight I wanted to drive and within about 30seconds the lipo fell out followed by a mighty hit from the house robot Major Damage and his hammer. It smashed right on the motor and I lost drive to one side. So with going in circles and a high explosive lipo battery hanging out I kept to the side wall out the way.

Looking back, it was a mixed weekend. Pleased the heavy made it into the arena but so gutted about how the fights went. It held up really well after being thrown about like a tin can and still works (once the chains get put back on). Really happy Felicity now has the Robot wars bug as she now wants a feather for herself. Lorna never ceases to amaze me; she helped Team Toon with writing their charity cheque to be handed over during the event and again proved herself fixing the robots and me, when things got bad.

Looking forward to 2018!!!

Featherweight International Championships. NEC - 25th August - 28th August 2017

Before the Event

I was in two minds whether to apply for the International Championships. I knew Luna-Tic couldn’t take a beating by spinners and didn’t want it trashed as it already had a special place in my heart. On the other hand, what better way to met and greet everyone and be a part of the robot community and gain valuable experience. I applied and would let that be the decider. I had an email back few weeks later, saying I wasn’t in. To be honest I was slightly relieved and cancelled my holiday with work. About three days later had another email, asking if I was still available and interested in going. I replied asking if it was for the main event or as a reserve? And to my surprise I was in if I wanted it. Despite not being fussed before, I realised the error of my ways and rushed back to work to see if I could still have my holiday, as I had just cancelled it.

Armed with a Moon-Bug and the robot itself as a bribe, work somehow forgot to cancel my holiday and I was still off work. So one very excited me, stocked up on what spare parts we could afford, drill motors, wheels and bike tyres and off we went, into the unknown.

Friday 25th August 2017. (day1 of Insomnia 61)

I half knew what to expect from talking to people online, today was just testing and tech checks with a few white board fights (friendlies). I went by myself, leaving Lorna and the kids at home, knowing they would get very bored with no actual fighting going on the first day. The tech check I feared more than any spinner, they can make you weekend few short and there is not a lot you can do about it. As I rolled up with as much stuff as I fit onto the heavy LT sack trolley I bumped into Javis (Vulture) as we tried to figure out how to get into the hall itself. Once we finally got it, I noticed the Robochallenge Arena I had seen so many times on YouTube videos and the empty rows of tables behind. Its getting real now!!!!!

As I looked around, it was a case of who’s who from Robot Wars, Michael Oaks, Rory Mangles, Jamie McHarg, Tom Brewster and Tim Rackers. I was a kid in a sweat shop. Soon a familiar face said hello and it was Rory Chalesworth I had met at Manchester with his Robot Aegis. We set up our pit tables and got settled in looking at everyone’s robots and feeling how unfortunate we were. Spinner, Vertical spinner, another spinner, OMG a very nasty spinner. David Moulds came round with a camera crew and talked to myself and Rory about our new machines, (if anyone knows where this is please say, I haven’t seen it). Then came my time for a tech check, One of the Coopers (no idea which one) had a detailed look inside, asked a few questions. Quick weight on the scales, yep, passed. The commentator came round taking a few details so he knew what he was talking about when the fights where going on and the one thing he loved was the fact I had named Luna-Tic after the wife.

The day itself was fairly uneventful, Rory and I seemed to be the only two that had turned up with robots ready to go. Everyone else was still working. Had we done something wrong!?!?!? Lots of talking, catching up and admiring everyone’s robots. Even got to chat with the Legend that is John Reid of Terrorhurtz. Alasdair Sutherland (Blunt Force Truma) and I even got a chance to nag Alan Young about needing more live shows further north and NOT ‘London’. LT had a quick drive in the arena, making sure everything was good for the next day. Once all the spinner testing had been done, they allowed a few white board fights.

Myself and Rory jumped straight in with LT and Aegis. Followed by Rory mangles with his Robot Richie and another new builder with Battleaxe. This was great to settle the nerves after a long day of not doing a lot and see how the arm up procedure went. The nerves soon went as LT dominated most the fight, Aegis flipped Richie before ending up in the pit, followed by being let out again. But as Aegis was trying to right Richie, LT got Aegis stuck on the side wall leaving just Battleaxe to beat. My new modded wedge was perfect for getting under and bounced Battleaxe from wall to wall before something inside came loose and stopped.

That’s it, I had won my first fight of the weekend, I turned to Rory and said, “that’s revenge from Manchester”. LT was in perfect shape and I was more than happy to have another fight. Aegis needed a quick blast from a heatgun to fix his wedge and Battleaxe had some solder that came loose. I left one happy chap, ready for what ever challenge awaited the next day!!

Saturday 26th August 2017 (Day2)

There was little to get ready in the morning, as the robot, tools and all the spare parts I left the day before. But we still managed to leave with a car full of stuff. We arrived with plenty of time before the hall opened to get settled in to discover, under 18s weren’t allowed inside until it officially opened. So I went in to prepare, leaving the rest outside. Good job I did as we had the briefing and the list of fights for the next two days where put up for us all to see. Upon viewing the list , my VERY first fight was against Hardwire3 and Neon. Everyone laughed and said good luck. Why?? In came Ellis Ware (Pulsar) with his brand new monster Neon. Complete with a massive 6kg spinning bar. (give or take).

“Oh…)(*&)&%%£$)^^$*%$%$...”

Fitting that the person that inspired and taught me exactly 12months ago to build robots, I would now face and most likely get ripped apart before it began. On went the Hardox wedge and after another hour of crapping myself and trying to bribe Ellis with a Moon-Bug, it was time. As we loaded up the robots everyone from the pits came to watch the fight. Would Luna-Tic survive, would Neon work oh yes and Hardwire 3 was there too. A vertical disc!!!!!!!

3..2..1.. Activate, I straight away move on Neon, the biggest threat and stop the bar from getting up to speed. This is where experience comes in handy, Neon and hardwire3 seemed happy to go after each other but I wanted to play too. A got a massive slam from Neon for my trouble and it knocked the wedge buckling it. “No biggy, it still on!” As Neon moved away, I went straight head on to Hardwire3 and Neon came up behind shredding one of my wheels. Quickly followed by the disc of hardwire3 flipping me over. LT can self right, but I didn’t want to risk internal components and with the damage done to my wheel I couldn’t get any traction on the floor. I had enough grip to turn on the spot so I kept the wedge towards the other two. But every time I moved Neon came in again knocking more bits off. The golden rule with robot fighting, if there’s no movement, don’t attack. So I stopped dead, I could hardly move anyway and it wasn’t worth more damage and I was soon counted out.

My first competitive fight was done, as we got LT back to the pits we we’re swamped by people checking the damage. To be fair it looked worst than it was, the arms that attached to the wedge where bent by almost 45degrees. Nothing a big hammer couldn’t fix. We had a good three hours until our next fight so kept calm and Lorna helped change batteries and we tried to straighten out what we could. We also chatted to Ellis and his Dad, Peter with us all living in Shropshire and just savoured what we had just done.

Our next fight was against Drive Train (a feather clone of Battlebots Series1 champion Bite Force) and Dutch champions Equinox. Both machines perfectly CNC built and both teams clearly had money and plenty of experience. Oh, and Equinox had a nasty drum spinning at stupid RPM’s. Alex Botwright (Conker3) offered me some sound advice before the fight, “feed Drive Tran into Equinox’s drum”. I was less nervous with this one, Equinox didn’t look quite as nasty as Neon and Bite Force just had a lifter, so good chance I would leave in one piece.

3..2..1.. activate! Again I went straight for the spinner, I knew any spinner attack other than on the wedge would be very costly so I just ploughed straight at Equinox. The drum didn’t seem to do much, just lots of noise and sparks. Then soon, the drum connected properly and LT did a summersault, the wedge looked buckled again but LT landed on its wheels and I just ploughed straight in again, followed by another loud bang and the wedge plus top section of armour flew off. Drive Train saw an opportunity and pushed Equinox into the side wall, followed by another crash as both bots ‘fell’ out the arena.

Cease was called and every looked at each other not knowing what to do. Some one shouted that Luna-Tic should win as it was the only one still in the arena. "Yep, I would be happy with this!!" After a few minutes of the judges discussing what to do, it was deemed an arena failure and the fight would re-start. So Equinox and Drive Train where put back in the arena. Pete the head Judge asked if I wanted to remove LT as I had been counted out, bit unfair I thought as I was still mobile. But as I went to collect LT one of the Coopers asked if I was happy to stay in? I Replied that I had been counted out, but it was a mistake, the decision was mine. “ahhh, sod it!!” I fully expected to be taking LT home in a bag anyway. So I put the link back in and took my position ready for the re-start as the other machines armed up again. The presenter made sure I knew what I was going and pointed out the lid and wedge was only being held on my the actuator wire. “In for a penny, I for a pound!” I can remember saying to someone!!

So 3..2..1.. activate, I think everyone expected me to just stay away from Equinox but I just ploughed straight in again. Even with the wedge dragging behind me, still the best place to be hit was the front as I had a secondary wedge. Drive Train finally started to get involved in the fight and flipped Equinox on its back and I drove straight in again. Their drum was mm’s away from my motors and ESC’s, but a good push from Drive Train and a small tap from me and Equinox went down the pit. Drive Train turned their attention to LT looking for a nice easy KO. I have to hold my hat of to LT, they tried flipping, pushing and slamming me all over the arena but it just kept on going. We both ended up near the pit and a lift from them turned themselves up onto the chassis of LT, I turned and dumped them into the pit too. A massive cheer roared from the audience and EVERY roboteer watching behind me. Drive Train tried desperately to get out before the 10seconds timed out but couldn’t. I had to put the transmitter down, otherwise I would have dropped it. I was just speechless! I turned to see Tim Rackers who gave me a high five, “that was awesome!!” I saw Felicity and hugged her then Lorna came around hugging me too.

The next few minutes is a blur, the presenter got me over to for a quick interview. I can remember saying “Speechless” and “How?”. Getting LT back to the pits and this time it was as bad is it looked. After being swamped every everyone again in the pits we got a chance to see the damage. The Linear actuator that powered the lifter was ripped from its pivot point on the chassis, the top hinges of the lid where also ripped off, another wheel tyre ripped off and the wedge brackets where again bent. After taking a few minutes to calm down and try to process what I had just done, we started to take the damaged parts off. Luckily, I had spare scraps of metal at home and with this being our last fight of the day we had time to get it fixed. We left the pits and had a good chat to Pete the head judge and his wife and the kids got to see the New House Robots on display next to the arena.

Sunday 27th August 2017 (Day3)

Woke up still not quite sure how I had won that last fight, we gathered all the bits of metal we could and headed off back to the NEC. But with 5 minutes of our journey left to go I stalled the car and it wouldn’t restart. Long story short, we had to call the AA out to help. I contacted one of the Coopers let them know of our troubles, luckily our first fight was around 1am, so we still had time. But with the amount of work LT needed to be ready it didn’t look good. The AA arrived and we got into the pits about 11am. We had 2 and a half hours to get LT ready!!!!!!

Quite quickly we got LT movable again, the but the spare actuator was longer than the original. Alex (from Bruiser) next to us suggested a way and hats off, it worked. We spent the rest of the time trying to get the wedge as flat to the floor as possible as the older brackets I had made before the ones Neon bent we’re too short. But with 5montues to go LT was as good as ready. We then had time to see who we we’re up against. GERTY a simple 2-wheel drive wedge and Take Cover, A melty brain spinner (who had been having problems all weekend).

3..2..1.. Active, I had to keep Take Cover from spinning up and every time they did I just smashed into them. GERTY was more of a problem, their wedge was flat to the ground so getting under them was a difficult. I did however, have plenty of pushing power over both of them and quickly asserted my dominate in the fight. I somehow managed to wedge GERTY between the floor and side wall immobilising them and a good push into Take Cover and they disappeared down the pit. A massive “Come On!!” A nice little spin on the spot turned into a proper celebration as LT somehow break danced. I had won a second fight and with the troubles of the morning and re-building LT it was another moment I just couldn’t get my head round.

With no added damage, we set about fixing the rest from Equinox and getting LT ready for our 4th and last league fight later in the day. Bit of confusion over our next opponents, but it was eventually Sting built by Gabriel (Sabretooth). Again they had problems all weekend and where struggling. Slightly relived but I still wanted LT 100% ready. I’ve seen too many Robot Wars fights where the favourite lost because they were over confidante. We went in expecting a fight but straight from the off, they had traction problems. I pushed them about and tried to keep the fight going as long as possible. Even got them on top of LT with the plan to carry them to the pit release and them dump them into the pit , but they fell off. Sting ended up grounding themselves and where counted out. I had won three of my four fights, a total of 13points and with being told 12 was the cut off point for the last 16 on the final day. I was into the finals. We left again over the moon but still unsure how we have a robot in the last 16, built from a bit of plastic and with my bad craftsmanship.

Monday 28th August 2017 (Day4 and final day)

We arrived later than expected, trouble waking up. Three very long days and LT was ready to go anyway. We arrived to be told we had drawn Blunt Force Trauma, driven by Alasdair, who we had been next too all weekend chatting and become good friends. His robot had a very nasty vertical disc that had already caused a few problems but I watched him fight Explosion (Michael Oaks) so I knew LT could out mauve BFT and I had a plan. I also discovered, LT had finished 6th in the whole league aspect (the fights over the Saturday and Sunday). But this is we’re it all mattered now.

As we got our robots into the arena and armed up. The lifter refused to lift (again) it kept catching on the secondary wedge (damage from Equinox). I had grinded it to an inch of its life, but it kept catching from time to time. I kept quiet, as my only other option was to forfeit and I didn’t want Alasdair to know. I wasn’t as aggressive in this fight, I knew the damage the disc would do and despite being very aggressive in all my others fights, I held back. But I somehow got a good push on BFT into the side wall but with no lifter, there was nothing I could do, so backed off and turned as BFT came full speed into the side.

LT went flying into the pit release and BFT rammed LT under the type. I couldn’t move, but soon wiggled out to discover I had lost drive to one side. I started to get counted out before another smash and I ended up on the side wall of the arena. The lifter was now free and worked so I started to self-right off the wall as smoke bellowed from the robot. Cease was called, in fear of a lipo fire, but I knew it was the speed controllers. LT was carried outside in the fire box and left to cool down. Somebody had finally killed my Luna-Tic! During the interview, I couldn’t be more proud to get as far as I had. My first event with a bit of screwed together plastic, limited experience and funds. “If your going to go out, go with a bang!!!”

Alasdair on the other hand felt rather bad, we had become friends, helped each other over the event and said how lovely me and my family we’re and now he’s just destroyed my robot. With BFT now facing David Moulds 722 drum spinner, I was more than happy to leave the competition at this point. Once we got LT back into the pits, it stank, two of the ESC’s we’re black and it had burnt all the foam padding too. We had a spare ESC so soldered up the connectors and it was good to go again. But we only had one spare ESC, so we were now without the lifter for any remaining white board fights and the EPIC gladiator fight at the end of the day. The 100amp fuse also blew too.

We chilled for a few hours still trying to comprehend what had happened. Rang parents to let them know the latest news as they we’re all on tender hooks waiting for our call. We missed the only non-spinner white board fight so just waited for the highly anticipated Gladiator fight. No words can do this justice, 20-robots in one small arena to the death. No time limit, last robot moving wins. It took an age to set up but boy was it worth it. With lots of nasty spinners in there I just tried to avoid them as much as possible, there was no where to hide but soon a little graveyard of lifeless robots began to build and I caught Equinox falling into the pit. But “NO PIT” and back up they came and slammed straight in LT’s side sending me flying towards the graveyard. To make matters worse, the lipo fell out too. So a highly explosive battery was casually laying to the arena floor with spinners flying around. Thankfully no one hit it and Rory Charlesworth with Aegis held on against Tom Brewster’s Straddle for a moment 'HE' will never forget.

Got back to the pits, plug the battery back in and LT still lived. Honestly, HOW!!!!!?

We stayed for the awards ceremony before being asked to leave due to us having under 18’s as the hall was now officially closed and deemed a construction site. We quickly packed up and said our good byes.

As I write this 6 months afterwards. I just can not understand how ME..!!! yes. ME!! Someone who built a plastic robot in the garden with basic tools and very limited knowledge and with the help of Lorna got it to the last 16 in the international championships. Every day we left in disbelief at what we had done with our days’ work and I will properly NEVER have another fight like the Equinox one again. What I leant was invaluable and the weekend although very tiring, I will never forget. It was indeed A highlight of my life and I wish to thank every person who was there for making it so awesome. Luna-Tic made a name for itself and will be back next time (application pending), improved and hungry for more.