4 ms·

I think that the optimal spinner would be basically impossible to defeat. You win by building up a ton of kinetic energy and dumping it into your opponent. Con

I think that the optimal spinner would be basically impossible to defeat. You win by building up a ton of kinetic energy and dumping it into your opponent. Consider what ziggo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuyG3FmixRI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuyG3FmixRI) could do as a lightweight. Now make it 100kg with tungsten teeth instead of steel and two counter-rotating hemispheres to cancel out the torque and let it turn on a dime. Put gear teeth on the inside of the shell and run multiple drive motors so that you can rev it up to full speed within the first few seconds of the match and then switch off drive motors as necessary to save power. With a heavyweight bot you have a big weight budget for powerful batteries and motors so I think you could fit several kilowatts of power for both the drive system and the wheels, which are important for a spinner since you need quick acceleration to outmaneuver your opponent and attack its weakest point. To protect from getting flipped, you could design the tooth lowest to the ground to be on a horizontal hinge with a linear actuator running through a hole in the shell, so that during the match you can lower it to the necessary angle to hit anything trying to slip underneath. Napkin math: A 25kg shell, 1 meter diameter, spinning at 1000 rpm has about 17 kJ of rotational kinetic energy, (roughly equivalent to a .50 BMG bullet) so several kilowatts of power for a few seconds should be enough to rev up fully if friction is kept sufficiently low.

eckza 4y ago
Do you think that this hasn't been tried already?
- tgv 4y ago
  Just look at Tomb Stone: won several seasons, but then other people built better bots or knew how to use them more effectively.
- voldacar 4y ago
  Yeah I don't see anyone using tungsten or counter-rotaying halves. And the heavy spinners are often slow to rev up
Someone 4y ago
I don’t think there’s a global maximum. For example, to beat such a robot, build the same body without the spinner motor (or, if the rules disallow that, a much slower one). That gives you room to make it sturdier and/or faster. Without that heavy spinning mass it also likely will be easier to maneuver. Now, when that hits its spinning counterpart, that spinner doesn’t only dump kinetic energy into its opponent; it also dumps it into itself, potentially more so if the enemy is heavier, so on an empty battlefield, the sturdier engine will (on average) win. On a battlefield with hazards, the better maneuverability should tilt the favor more into the direction of the non- or slow-spinning version. It has more control over where and when the hits take place, so it can (statistically) push its opponent towards hazards. I think the best strategy for the fast spinner would be to try and stay working, as the jury might give it a points victory on aggression.

eckza 4y ago

Do you think that this hasn't been tried already?

tgv 4y ago
Just look at Tomb Stone: won several seasons, but then other people built better bots or knew how to use them more effectively.
voldacar 4y ago
Yeah I don't see anyone using tungsten or counter-rotaying halves. And the heavy spinners are often slow to rev up

Someone 4y ago

I don’t think there’s a global maximum. For example, to beat such a robot, build the same body without the spinner motor (or, if the rules disallow that, a much slower one). That gives you room to make it sturdier and/or faster. Without that heavy spinning mass it also likely will be easier to maneuver. Now, when that hits its spinning counterpart, that spinner doesn’t only dump kinetic energy into its opponent; it also dumps it into itself, potentially more so if the enemy is heavier, so on an empty battlefield, the sturdier engine will (on average) win. On a battlefield with hazards, the better maneuverability should tilt the favor more into the direction of the non- or slow-spinning version. It has more control over where and when the hits take place, so it can (statistically) push its opponent towards hazards. I think the best strategy for the fast spinner would be to try and stay working, as the jury might give it a points victory on aggression.