Ultimate Killer Robots!!

[Wrecked944]

So I'm looking at the rules for the various Robot War tv show contests and I see that some things are expressly forbidden - namely anything fun like projectiles and fire. Okay, that sucks, so I want to know what innovative things can be done to bend the rules - you know, sort of like how Norbert Singer raced the 962 as a "street car" in the 1993 Le Mans. So here are the rules...

SAFETY RESTRICTIONS

All explosives, corrosives, flames, pyrotechnics and untethered projectiles are prohibited.
Sighting/pointing lasers are allowed up to 5 mW. Any laser above 5 mW is prohibited.
Compressed gas is limited to 1000 psi.
Fuel capacity limited to 8 oz. or 6 minutes operating time.
Fuel tanks must be adequately protected against penetration.
Robots will be inspected for safety and reliability before being allowed to compete according to guidelines that require and insure safe construction and operation. This means that tethers, blades, arms, levers, air cylinders and all other mechanical parts and weaponry must be strong and secure.
Contestants must be able to transport the robots to and from the combat arena quickly and safely.

OTHER RESTRICTIONS
The following is a list of materials and practices that are prohibited.

All forms of radio jamming.
All electronic weaponry (stun-guns, tesla coils, etc.)
All liquid weaponry (water, glue, etc.)
All physical interference between contestants. This includes obstruction of sight-line and destruction of equipment.

Here are some starting ideas...


1) Electromagnmets: One of the key tactics in robowars is to control the movement of your opponent so they can't escape your primary weapon. Lots of them try to latch on with teeth, claws etc. But I figure a powerful eletromagnet could do the job and yet remain almost entirely undetectable. A great tactic might be to stand opposite the opponent's robot with a burning pit in between and then switch on the magnet to draw them into the pit.

2) Heat probe: So you aren't allowed to use fire. But what about heat? I'm thinking once the opposing robot is captured with the electromagnet, a superhot probe (like a solder gun but way hotter) can be deployed to carve a hole right through the opponent's armor and into the electronic bits. Or even into the tires. Of course, most of today's bots have titanium armor and so it might require a lot of heat. Any ideas how to develop such a device? Or even better, an arm or blade that was super heated could slice right through the opponent like butta.

3) EMP Pulse: Not sure if this would fall under the category of "electronic weaponry". But I guess it doesn't matter if you don't get caught, right? I like this one a lot because it would disable the opponent's bot without touching them. Of course, you'd need a way to keep your own bot running - maybe a mechanical restart device? Of course, in order to avoid detection, the bot would still need some sort of obvious "primary weapon" as a decoy - like a big hammer. The big hammer can hit the opponent just as you hit the EMP. So when the opponent's bot mysteriously dies, it looks like it was killed by the hammer blow. Then one would hope the physical switch would trip and restart your own bot to capture the glory. Or if that didn't work, there could even be a wind up motor to spin your robot around in a victory dance to pretend it was still functional.

4) Lasers: Okay, this is maybe bending the rules a bit too far but think about it. Again, the trick is to not get caught. Instead of trying to disable the opponent's robot, you disable the DRIVER by firing a laser beam from your robot into his/her eyes. While the person at the controls is (temporarily) blinded you could have your way with their robot. The problem is doing it in such a way as to not get caught. So can one use infrared lasers, perhaps?

5) Impact tools: This seems so obvious to me I am amazed nobody uses them. It says you can have compressed gas up to 1000 psi. This should be more than enough to drive an impact chisel or impact drill clear through any opponent. Again the electromagnet from option 1 would be critical in holding the opponent's bot in place for the assault.

Okay, I know you folks can think of other ideas. Maybe some sort of sonic device? They don't prohibit sound-based weapons. Interesting that they specify "untethered" projectiles as illegal. Does that mean "tethered" projectiles are okay? I've never seen anyone try to use a spear gun. That could be cool. A 1000psi blow gun? BAM. Dead robot. And they say you can't use a high powered laser - but what about a high powered light source and a fresnel lens to burn holes in the opponent's armor? THAT would be exceedingly cool.

[}{arlequin]

LOL, I like the way you think...

as far as the electro magnet, you may not even have to hide it since it's not technically an *electronic* interference. It's more of a mechanical one that is electrically activated.

Instead of "pulling" the opponent w/ the magnet into a hole, it'd be easier to "attach" yourself to him and then "direct" him towards the hole and turn off the magnet.... he's at your mercy and unable to detach himself until you say so...

Physical interference is a bit vauge since later it is described as obstruction of sight line.... maybe driving your bot in front of the opposing team's booth and setting off some smoke would be good... it's a sight line obstruction but not really *physical*.... they may not go for it for tv reasons. They want to see all the action from all the cameras.

Since gas is allowed, you could use liquid nitrogen to disable/freeze the robot's drivetrain. Liquid is not allowed, but when it comes out it's a gas soooo...... maybe

[ae1969]

How about a plasma cutter.....

[golfnow]

Robots are cool

can you use a gang of robots

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Robots vs. Zombies would be an event I would pay money to see!

[}{arlequin]

what about a snake-like robot?

You could surround your opponent and keep pummelling him somehow, or just "drive" him towards a pit.

You would be rather vulnerable when uncoiled though...

[Saintly]

Hi,
1) Electromagnets, not all enemies are metal. Plexiglas and Perspex are common. also the magnet could wipe or distort the radio receiver and would therefore be classed as electronic warfare / not allowed
2) heat probe... that is an interesting idea... as long as the enemy is Perspex or simular... don't think it would have much effect on a metal robot
3) emp pulse... heavy!!! weight restrictions and electronic warfare rules.
4) lasers.. under 5mw would be useless as a weapon but could be good for targeting. blinding the driver is obstructing their view of their bot.
5) impact tools... like picks etc?? been done a lot.. needs to be fast and penetrating.. repeated hits in the same area to drive an opening or a slower squeeze with a lot of force.. like raptor

the keys seem to be either be fast and have a quick flipper / wedge, to be able to grab the bad guy and inflict damage with a pick or blade or to had something that causes damage that you can drive into the bad guy.
the two most effective bots that I can think of at the moment where:
chaos2, a fast, manuverable bot that was built like a wedge with a very quick and powerful flipper that lifted the entire top surface. this would also flip the bot over if it got turned. I have seen this bot flip heavier bots out of the arena.
And another bot that I cannot remember the name for at the moment but it was round and the out side of it spun very fast, it had a lot of weight in the spinning top to carry a lot of momentum and a fierce pair of gouging blades. it didn't matter what direction the enemy attacked you or you attacked it.. pieces of bad guy where going to fly. very effective. actually another bot that had a simular principal weapon was hypnodisk, but its disk was in front of the bot so it could be attacked from the side or behind.

how about suction?? could you latch on with a big sucker and lift the bad guy up and then drop it in a hole? or use the suction to hold onto the bot while you disassemble it?
how about gas?? use nitrogen to freeze the enemy and then hit it with a hammer? actually, that's a liquid isn't it?

how about a heavy sledge hammer head spinning around your bot? the enemy gets close and BAM it's flung across the stadium with it's nose missing!

just some thoughts on a slow morning.

[}{arlequin]

what about that foam stuff that's used in home building for filling in holes, minor insulation etc.?

That stuff is *ultra* sticky.... could really goo-up an entire bot w/ it.

[Saintly]

Originally posted by }{arlequin
what about that foam stuff that's used in home building for filling in holes, minor insulation etc.?

That stuff is *ultra* sticky.... could really goo-up an entire bot w/ it.

"OTHER RESTRICTIONS
All liquid weaponry (water, glue, etc.) "

[}{arlequin]

that's right, damn

[Wrecked944]

Originally posted by Saintly
Hi,
1) Electromagnets, not all enemies are metal. Plexiglas and Perspex are common.

Yeah, but even if just part of the opponent were made of metal, you could probably make use of a sufficiently powerful magnet. As for being classified as "electronic warfare", I'd say there must be a way to get this one in under the radar. Like shielding it so it would not interfere with radio?

A powerful electromagnet dangling from an arm (like on a wrecking crane) could latch on and lift an opponent off the ground - thereby disabling them. At that point, I think you'd win according to the rules. Or, as }{arlequin points out, you can just hold him in place while applying some sort of low tech woopass on his bot. Now I'm really amazed nobody has yet tried it.

2) heat probe... that is an interesting idea... as long as the enemy is Perspex or simular... don't think it would have much effect on a metal robot

Well, it would have to be VERY hot, right? I don't see anything in the rules that excludes using extremes of heat and cold. Like the liquid notrogen idea. If you only used the liquid nitrogen to freeze a weapon prior to using it on the opponent's bot, then maybe it would be legal? Likewise, something that superheated a spike or blade might prove quite effective. A blade made from a metal with a very high melting temperature - like titanium - could be superheated using electricity and then used to burn right through any steel, aluminium, rubber or perspex on the opponent's bot.

5) impact tools... like picks etc?? been done a lot.. needs to be fast and penetrating.. repeated hits in the same area to drive an opening or a slower squeeze with a lot of force.. like raptor

Exactly - like this guy...



I bet something like that backed by 1000psi could put a serious hurting on to your average killer robot...maybe even with a chisel or instead some sort of pneumatic hammer drill...

how about suction?? could you latch on with a big sucker and lift the bad guy up and then drop it in a hole? or use the suction to hold onto the bot while you disassemble it?

HA! Yeah, now yer talkin'. I also see a lot of battles in which they are having a shoving match. If you could put a strong suction cup on the bottom of the bot holding the ground, then you could "shove" the other bot for quite a distance - like straight into the fire pit.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Would dumping a bucket of sand in the guts of your opponent be considered an "untethered projectile"? Nothing like a little grit in the gears to gum up the works.

[golfnow]

this may work



Low cost
and could possible have the ability to think on it’s own

[Saintly]

they need a weapon..

[bell]

i have a whole box full of r/c goodies from my planes.......maybe it's time to buy a welder

[golfnow]

Originally posted by Saintly
they need a weapon..

I don’t know if I would give a weapon to this set of robots








Looks like a direct hit

[cstreit]

Hmmm...

Okay how about this:

Two ideas I REALLY like here.

You attach a number of projecting nodes to your robot that have strong electromagnetic devices, grab them, a plasma-cutter on each one... THing is, this only works for metal robots.

Suction for the plexi ones would be too hard, no good surface to grab onto, or would only work once because then people would start dimpleing the surface to prevent latch....

[Wrecked944]

OH MY GOD!! Check this out. I just learned about some tank armor designed by the British (but obviously secretly intended for KILLER ROBOTS!!) formed in layers that uses an electrically grounded bullet proof exterior followed by an insulating core and a powerfully charged interior layer. So if anything penetrates the armor it completes the curcuit and WHOOSH!! Vaporizes!! Here is an excerpt from an article on it...

The new electric armour is made up of a highly-charged capacitor that is connected to two separate metal plates on the tank's exterior. The outer plate, which is bullet-proof and made from an unspecified alloy, is earthed while the insulated inner plate is live.

The electric armour runs off the tank's own power supply. When the tank commander feels he is in a dangerous area, he simply switches on the current to the inner plate.

When the warhead fires its jet of molten copper, it penetrates both the outer plate and the insulation of the inner plate. This makes a connection and thousands of amps of electricity vaporises most of the molten copper. The rest of the copper is dispersed harmlessly against the vehicle's hull.

But despite the high charge, the electrical load on the battery is no more than that caused by starting the engine on a cold morning.

In a recent demonstration of the electric armour for senior Army officers, an APC protected by the new British system survived repeated attacks by rocket-propelled grenades that would normally have destroyed it several times over.

Many of the grenades were fired from point-blank range but the only damage to the APC was cosmetic. The vehicle was driven away under its own power.

This seems surprisingly low tech. Two sheets of metal separated by an insulating layer and a big freaking capacitor. Heck, if it weren't for my biologically derived survival instinct, I might try to make some of this stuff at home . And once your killer robot has this armor, why even bother attacking your opponent? Let him attack you and get his sorry butt vaporized. Now THAT would make for some damned good TV.

[}{arlequin]

wow! That is some amazing tech. Using electricity to destroy/melt projectiles.... cool stuff.