On October 25th and
26th, 2003, Saurobot competed for the first time in MechWar 7, in
St. Paul, MN. Dave, Steve, and Eric, along with Dave's son Bryan
and Eric's family, operated Saurobot at MechWar 7. Although our
overall success was less than we once imagined it might be, we had a
blast and learned a lot.
In its first battle, Saurobot went up against a strong veteran named Millipede. Millipede loosely interpreted the rules (soon to be changed) and devised a hoist attached to the ceiling of the battlebox. When the fight began, he hoisted himself out of harm's way so that he could spin his weapon up to full speed before lowering down to do battle. The photo below shows Millipede spinning on his tether and crashing into Saurobot while Saurobot was stranded on the flame pit.
In its first battle, Saurobot went up against a strong veteran named Millipede. Millipede loosely interpreted the rules (soon to be changed) and devised a hoist attached to the ceiling of the battlebox. When the fight began, he hoisted himself out of harm's way so that he could spin his weapon up to full speed before lowering down to do battle. The photo below shows Millipede spinning on his tether and crashing into Saurobot while Saurobot was stranded on the flame pit.
During its first battle, Saurobot
was stranded on the fire pit when Millipede, swinging from a tether,
struck him from the side..
The battle ended with
Millipede again in the air. Saurobot's operator lost control of
the bot, and it drifted into one of the arena hazards - a heavy bar of
steel spinning at over 1000 RPM. The damage was mostly
structural, with dramatic flinging of armor plates across the box, but
two connectors came lose from the controller and disabled Saurobot,
giving Millipede the match.
Saurobot was given a "bye" later that first day (the format being double elimination), and so had a shot at fighting again the next day. Late night work resulted in fixing the connectors. Using duct tape and borrowed bailing wire, the bot was readied for more competition.
On the second day, Saurobot fought against a somewhat similar bot, G1 by team Gator. G1 was another reptilian-inspired bot, with a hammer on a chain as a tail weapon. After somewhat lengthy deliberation, Saurobot was given the match by the judges. They highlight of the fight may have been when Saurobot again got stuck on the flame pit, and several of the smoke bombs that had been taped to its perimeter went off.
Saurobot against G1. The flame pit has set off several of Saurobot's smoke bombs, much to the amusement of the audience.
For it final fight (the semifinals for its weight
class), Saurobot was pitted against another veteran, Norbert.
This experienced wedge had placed 4th last year, and managed a 2nd
place showing this year. Although we think we put up a good fight
against Norbert, Norbert managed to pin Saurobot against the side of
the box near the end of the fight, giving Norbert a clear win over
Saurobot. Congratulations Jeffrey!
Saurobot and Norbert nose-to-nose in combat.
Norbert on its pit table (our next-door neighbor).
When all was said and done, MechWars posted these
final standings for our weight class at MechWar 7:
Saurobot was given a "bye" later that first day (the format being double elimination), and so had a shot at fighting again the next day. Late night work resulted in fixing the connectors. Using duct tape and borrowed bailing wire, the bot was readied for more competition.
On the second day, Saurobot fought against a somewhat similar bot, G1 by team Gator. G1 was another reptilian-inspired bot, with a hammer on a chain as a tail weapon. After somewhat lengthy deliberation, Saurobot was given the match by the judges. They highlight of the fight may have been when Saurobot again got stuck on the flame pit, and several of the smoke bombs that had been taped to its perimeter went off.
Saurobot against G1. The flame pit has set off several of Saurobot's smoke bombs, much to the amusement of the audience.
Saurobot and Norbert nose-to-nose in combat.
Norbert on its pit table (our next-door neighbor).
120 pound class
1. Al
2. Norbert
3. Stanley
4. Floor Jack
5. Saurobot
6. Dixie Wrecked
7. Millipede
8. Focal Spot
9. Whitey
10. G1
11. Rumincoke
12. Grimace
13. Spare Parts
1. Al
2. Norbert
3. Stanley
4. Floor Jack
5. Saurobot
6. Dixie Wrecked
7. Millipede
8. Focal Spot
9. Whitey
10. G1
11. Rumincoke
12. Grimace
13. Spare Parts
Fifth place for a
rookie isn't so bad! Additional good news is that all the
electronics, including the PXI computer and data acquisition system
from National Instruments, survived all three intense fights, a
mangling by the Spinner, and roasting over the flame pit. Now
it's
time to rebuild Saurobot and try again. We're looking forward to
MechWar 8!
