I like how in the Burnout video you guys were off in the corner out of camera view and all you'd hear were sawing noises and then sparks and parts would come flying out. Hilarious. Good job on the competition, the build, and the design.
"Don't want to hear me talk" would be like a physicist skipping bits of an Einsteinian lecture to get to the pretty explosions. Congrats on your success, love the vids especially production quality.
Nicely done all around! I like the way you shared these fights, it makes a very cohesive story about the entire thing. Can't wait to see it back in the ring!
I think this video is a good example of how matchups and strategy can factor into victory in robot combat. Sometimes your bot design is just going to struggle against what your opponent brings. An undercutter like Crippling Depression is just going to have a hard time against a full dustpan like Megatron. The defensive top-mount from the first match was a very interesting strategical adjustment to that bad matchup, but unfortunately a bot that's built around weapon damage is going to struggle with control against a control bot. I do appreciate the "win by build quality" approach against certain other bots- where you knew your design was likely more durable than your opponents, and in lieu of a proper strategical option, had them break themselves against you. I especially liked the gyroscopic stabilization trick against Marathon, that was cool.
I wonder if a big CBN tooth would be an advantage? I know S7 is a shock resistant material (I assume you chose it for toughness), but a replaceable tooth could give you bite against competitors like Megatron. A sharp tooth spinning at 10,000SFM would take a chunk out of any material, and with authority. I'm thinking something from the mining industry, or from a wood chipper. Might be difficult to find CBN (which is tougher than PCD or carbide).
Awesome video! Man, who'd have thunk a wedge could accelerate like that!? Also, you weren't kidding about the gyroscopic forces, the first time I saw it happening I figured you had driven over a big ol' chunk of tire or something.
Robert I'm really enjoying your videos. I like the format and content very much. Thanks for sharing with us. As I type this I'm looking forward to seeing your Battlebots 2019 episode. Good Luck! (I know it's already happened but hey, what the heck.)
Wait... This is also the beginning of Emulsifier, which if im correct... (spoilers to fans of Norwalk Havoc Robot League) Emulsifier won NHRL in its weight class
Megatron is really great at steering, he never not face at the front, so you can't get to it's wheels. Both of you looks so nimble! Also the little dances crippling depression did at the end is cute :)
Thanks! I'll be doing a video like this for all the competitions now, and planning it out a bit better as well. I want to take before and after pics of each bot for each fight.
Huge and Overhaul were just smaller versions of their Battlebots representatives. Marathon was kinda like a mini Minotaur and Megatron is like a mini Sawblaze. So much battlebots here. 👍 if you agree.
Great robot, and great fights. I know this is years old, but it was a shame that you revealed you placed second right at the beginning of the video- I much prefer not knowing how a fight will go.
Why did the weapon rub against the frame though? Is there something you could try to make stronger so the weapon doesn't go off-kilter? I don't think the casual wear made it so off-balanced, since the tooth looks fine.
I'm not sure. It wasn't off-balance, it was just loose somehow. The weapon block could have been loosened from the frame. "make something stronger" is what everyone tries to do :-)
It just looks... crooked. Like, at 0:34 the side to the right (Robert's left) of the top flat looks to be almost vertical while the side on the left of the top flat looks to be at roughly 45º. Of course, manufacturing a crooked nut might be more trouble than it would be worth... I guess the person making it might not have mated the nut flat onto the placard, but it seems like that would have been an easy thing to avoid. ... I dunno... it looks weird to me, and if it's intentional: I like it!
WHAAA YOU ALSO BATTLED HUGE AND OVERHAUL!?!?!?!? Wow this is their old form. Huge also battled in BATTLEBOTS as a very big bot. THIS IS GETTING interesting. But, i really wanna see you in BATTLEBOTS i think you will have fun there!!!
The bots in battlebots are 250 pounds, these are a mere 12 pounds I believe, he did fight remakes of battlebots competitors though which is cool Also he is a member of team copperhead from the 2019 and 2020 season of battlebots
This is a really hard question to answer. I would say the materials and such were around $1500, including spares. However, I did almost all the labor myself (machining and such). I only had to outsource the weapons for waterjet and heat-treating. But I had to buy quite a few new tools (end mills, keyway broach, lathe tooling, etc) to make everything.
not gonna lie i wasn't super convinced at first by how damaging that disc was, that piece of Overhaul's front being ripped and hurled into the lexan quickly proved me wrong XD
yeah fairly sure a fair bit of people underestimated that thing at first and going "it's just a box with a small disc, that's not gonna do anything", until you realise that this thing has a really effective and strong drivetrain and can push you all over the goddamn place, has a weapon that never really dies, and it's not screwed if the disc is dead or not up to speed like say Burnout because it can still just slam you around the box with it's strong drive
i suggest some form of wedge attachement would be useful in some cases, potentially could prevent wedges and dustpans from getting right under you and carry around like what Megatron did
@@RobertCowanDIY COPPERHEAD!!!! But, as I said in another video, I think that the under cutter would work well, if you shave off the front to make it sharp, like Valkyrie. plus, the weight can go to a bigger weapon... Sorry, I like big weapons. If this sounds stupid, I apologize, I am teaching my self combative robots from UA-cam, so thank you
I can't help but think a toroidal outer shell would be more resilent to your foes. No corners for them to hit, and a convex surface would deflect blows better.
There are a few problems with this. 1) I don't have the overall height for this (it would either lose the ability to drive while inverted, AND there's no extra space inside), 2) that would mean 2 weapons of half the weight/power.
Robert Cowan what I mean is that it's extremely interested that they brought the same design as the huge battlebot and you were able to beat it, along with the can't believe it's not overhaul. However when I commented I did not realize that they were also competing. But in short im meaning to say that it's incredible that you are capable of beating battlebot calaper teams that are using the same design and technique they would use in battlebot competitions
Ah, yeah. There is a LOT of luck, chance, and variability in this sport. Some designs just scale better than others. One day I'll make it to the big leagues!
Robert Cowan i would hope so, and yeah many forms of robotics are a lot of luck and variability. I compete in Vex EDR and almost all of the matches our based on who your teammates. Such as a competition we had in January, where our robot won an award for consistancy, however a team of girl scouts who only scored during autonomous ended up beating us due to the team they were drafted to as they were drafted in round 3 by the 1 seed, while we were drafted 1st round by the 3rd seed.
your "large" bite weapon doesn't actually have very large of a bite because the opposite side has a very similar diameter to the toothed side. this will be a problem with all of your weapons based on the way you locate and skeletonize the weapon. you need to skeletonize first, on the weapon tooth side, THEN locate the center of mass and mounting holes.
about half the amount of bite that it SHOULD have though, for that design. you want the whole tooth to engage, not just the very tip of the tooth. since the weapon pushes them away at first due to the off-tooth side, the tooth doesn't bite as much as it should, unless the initial impact is on the tooth side. It's possible to keep the weapon balanced but also not compromise on the off-tooth geometry.
Robert, I really enjoyed this new long format for battle reports. The commentary gave awesome insight and made me feel more involved.
Yes u totally agree
I like how in the Burnout video you guys were off in the corner out of camera view and all you'd hear were sawing noises and then sparks and parts would come flying out. Hilarious. Good job on the competition, the build, and the design.
"Don't want to hear me talk" would be like a physicist skipping bits of an Einsteinian lecture to get to the pretty explosions.
Congrats on your success, love the vids especially production quality.
Nicely done all around! I like the way you shared these fights, it makes a very cohesive story about the entire thing. Can't wait to see it back in the ring!
I think this video is a good example of how matchups and strategy can factor into victory in robot combat. Sometimes your bot design is just going to struggle against what your opponent brings. An undercutter like Crippling Depression is just going to have a hard time against a full dustpan like Megatron. The defensive top-mount from the first match was a very interesting strategical adjustment to that bad matchup, but unfortunately a bot that's built around weapon damage is going to struggle with control against a control bot. I do appreciate the "win by build quality" approach against certain other bots- where you knew your design was likely more durable than your opponents, and in lieu of a proper strategical option, had them break themselves against you. I especially liked the gyroscopic stabilization trick against Marathon, that was cool.
This was a blast to watch... After watching you build the robot, amazing payout for us viewers as well.
thanks!
I wonder if a big CBN tooth would be an advantage? I know S7 is a shock resistant material (I assume you chose it for toughness), but a replaceable tooth could give you bite against competitors like Megatron. A sharp tooth spinning at 10,000SFM would take a chunk out of any material, and with authority. I'm thinking something from the mining industry, or from a wood chipper. Might be difficult to find CBN (which is tougher than PCD or carbide).
Thank you very much Mr. Cowan, I enjoyed watching CD ko Burnout, yet another Tombstone derivative. Regards Karl CD SuperFan
Awesome, love the strategy commentary!
Those were some epic battles. Thanks for sharing. You make me want to build a robot... maybe at least make it to one of those competitions.
Great Job, Robert! I really enjoyed the video. Looking forward for the next version.
Great work!
I really want to bring some of my bots to the US some day.
Maybe later this year, or Motorama next year
Thanks for this video!!! I live on the West Coast, and love to see the footage!! Well produced, love the strategy!!!
Thanks!
Awesome video!
Man, who'd have thunk a wedge could accelerate like that!? Also, you weren't kidding about the gyroscopic forces, the first time I saw it happening I figured you had driven over a big ol' chunk of tire or something.
Fantastic video as always! Look forward to more of this robot.
Robert I'm really enjoying your videos. I like the format and content very much. Thanks for sharing with us. As I type this I'm looking forward to seeing your Battlebots 2019 episode. Good Luck! (I know it's already happened but hey, what the heck.)
Man, your robots can DANCE!
Wait...
This is also the beginning of Emulsifier, which if im correct... (spoilers to fans of Norwalk Havoc Robot League)
Emulsifier won NHRL in its weight class
Lets do a check list:
Make a bot smoke ✔
Win a trophy double ✔
Fight a dude who appeared on tv ✔
You gonna end up on fandom or what
Compliments to your engineering. You did an amazing job!
Megatron is really great at steering, he never not face at the front, so you can't get to it's wheels. Both of you looks so nimble!
Also the little dances crippling depression did at the end is cute :)
. . . what a honest, informative and helpful Video !
A great wrap-up/fight presentation!
Thanks! I'll be doing a video like this for all the competitions now, and planning it out a bit better as well. I want to take before and after pics of each bot for each fight.
I've been waiting for this video!
Huge and Overhaul were just smaller versions of their Battlebots representatives. Marathon was kinda like a mini Minotaur and Megatron is like a mini Sawblaze. So much battlebots here. 👍 if you agree.
always great to see a new video.
Great robot, and great fights. I know this is years old, but it was a shame that you revealed you placed second right at the beginning of the video- I much prefer not knowing how a fight will go.
You might want to see what second thing you might be able to put in the weapon pod.
Why did the weapon rub against the frame though? Is there something you could try to make stronger so the weapon doesn't go off-kilter? I don't think the casual wear made it so off-balanced, since the tooth looks fine.
I'm not sure. It wasn't off-balance, it was just loose somehow. The weapon block could have been loosened from the frame. "make something stronger" is what everyone tries to do :-)
Is that a non-hexagonal nut on the 2nd Place trophy? That's pretty cool!
It looks like a normal hexagon nut to me. Unless i'm missing something you're seeing? o.o
It just looks... crooked. Like, at 0:34 the side to the right (Robert's left) of the top flat looks to be almost vertical while the side on the left of the top flat looks to be at roughly 45º. Of course, manufacturing a crooked nut might be more trouble than it would be worth... I guess the person making it might not have mated the nut flat onto the placard, but it seems like that would have been an easy thing to avoid.
... I dunno... it looks weird to me, and if it's intentional: I like it!
WHAAA YOU ALSO BATTLED HUGE AND OVERHAUL!?!?!?!? Wow this is their old form. Huge also battled in BATTLEBOTS as a very big bot. THIS IS GETTING interesting. But, i really wanna see you in BATTLEBOTS i think you will have fun there!!!
The bots in battlebots are 250 pounds, these are a mere 12 pounds I believe, he did fight remakes of battlebots competitors though which is cool
Also he is a member of team copperhead from the 2019 and 2020 season of battlebots
@@typhoon7914 whoahhh tthats impressivee, i was also a fan of copperhead before when i watch battlebots, like the latest onee
@@oreos12345 I agree, the new copperhead is really impressive
@@typhoon7914 i mean, the performance of the bot really shows in fights on how strong it is for its damage
Any videos on kamakazi coming up?
Eyyy, it's mini huge
Interesting recap!
Wondering where you find these competitions and where I can look to find them. Any particular sites? How you get started?
Good place for event hosting. Hopefully there is one near you.
www.buildersdb.com/
Just watching this back, what are your wheels for this robot? You've probably said somewhere before, they look like they could be custom?
They're from Banebots, check the drivetrain video, it goes into all the details.
Best videos ever. How is Sgt. cuddles doing?
Cuddles is doing well. I actually went to a competition yesterday and brought the Sgt. and came in first place, and went undefeated.
This was the event in CO?
what was the total budget for this robot?
This is a really hard question to answer. I would say the materials and such were around $1500, including spares. However, I did almost all the labor myself (machining and such). I only had to outsource the weapons for waterjet and heat-treating. But I had to buy quite a few new tools (end mills, keyway broach, lathe tooling, etc) to make everything.
Wow huge before the big ranks(battlebots)
You broke baby HUGE. YOU MONSTER
Congrats!!!
Was that the real huge team from battlebot? Or a copy?
Both? It's the same team/builder, but a smaller version of the same design.
wow, you won against some guys that play for the real deal. Like on TV for the show battlebots, that impressive
It's good
not gonna lie i wasn't super convinced at first by how damaging that disc was, that piece of Overhaul's front being ripped and hurled into the lexan quickly proved me wrong XD
It's not meant to be flashy, it's meant for people to underestimate it. There are bigger and better weapons, but this is reliable and does the job ;-)
yeah fairly sure a fair bit of people underestimated that thing at first and going "it's just a box with a small disc, that's not gonna do anything", until you realise that this thing has a really effective and strong drivetrain and can push you all over the goddamn place, has a weapon that never really dies, and it's not screwed if the disc is dead or not up to speed like say Burnout because it can still just slam you around the box with it's strong drive
yep, that was the plan! although, I need to be careful during the next competition, I can't use the same tricks.
i suggest some form of wedge attachement would be useful in some cases, potentially could prevent wedges and dustpans from getting right under you and carry around like what Megatron did
so we've seen huge in battlebots is it possible we also see a crippling depression in the future aswell?
I really want to enter Battlebots, but I'm not sure if it would be a bigger Crippling Depression, or something different/new. But we'll see!
@@RobertCowanDIY COPPERHEAD!!!!
But, as I said in another video, I think that the under cutter would work well, if you shave off the front to make it sharp, like Valkyrie.
plus, the weight can go to a bigger weapon... Sorry, I like big weapons. If this sounds stupid, I apologize, I am teaching my self combative robots from UA-cam, so thank you
How much did it cost to make
It's hard to say since it went through numerous versions and there are spare parts, but ~$1500 is a good estimate.
I just subscribed because of the beard. Everything else is a bonus.
I can't help but think a toroidal outer shell would be more resilent to your foes. No corners for them to hit, and a convex surface would deflect blows better.
Yeah, but most people don't have the capability or money to machine that.
Is Megatron just a mini Sawblaze?
Yep, megatron is the 30 pound version.
Is that the BotFC emulsifier?
Yep! This was the first version of it I believe.
@@RobertCowanDIY So cool to go back in time and see the early starts. Of course before Shatter ect
you should name it "pissed off VCR"..lol
Also congradulations
Thanks!
You need red and green LEDs on the front and back, like a quadcopter, so you know which was is front!
I never thought about it, but I've never had an issue knowing which side is the front.
even crippling-er depression idea: spinner on the top AND bottom.
There are a few problems with this. 1) I don't have the overall height for this (it would either lose the ability to drive while inverted, AND there's no extra space inside), 2) that would mean 2 weapons of half the weight/power.
@@RobertCowanDIY plus, the weapons on double jepordy both keep breaking or falling off
Crippling depression can hover?
I think that's the gyroscopic effect he talked about
lol yeah
I just re-watch the video with my brother, I get what you're saying now : )
Rexus King Yeah 😂
Huge fought in battlebots too didnt it?
Yep, Huge is in the current season of Battlebots that's airing right now on Discovery channel.
The fact that u beat it is so kool
The moment you relize huge is a battlebot
What do you mean?
Robert Cowan what I mean is that it's extremely interested that they brought the same design as the huge battlebot and you were able to beat it, along with the can't believe it's not overhaul. However when I commented I did not realize that they were also competing. But in short im meaning to say that it's incredible that you are capable of beating battlebot calaper teams that are using the same design and technique they would use in battlebot competitions
Ah, yeah. There is a LOT of luck, chance, and variability in this sport. Some designs just scale better than others. One day I'll make it to the big leagues!
Robert Cowan i would hope so, and yeah many forms of robotics are a lot of luck and variability. I compete in Vex EDR and almost all of the matches our based on who your teammates. Such as a competition we had in January, where our robot won an award for consistancy, however a team of girl scouts who only scored during autonomous ended up beating us due to the team they were drafted to as they were drafted in round 3 by the 1 seed, while we were drafted 1st round by the 3rd seed.
Yknow i think 30haul should get undercutter wedges (or blocks)
Probably. At 9:05 you can see one of the wedges get rapidly disassembled from the frame.
Robert Cowan exactly what i mean
Wow good vid
i have crippling depression
TIL; Emulsifier tears smell like lithium
your "large" bite weapon doesn't actually have very large of a bite because the opposite side has a very similar diameter to the toothed side. this will be a problem with all of your weapons based on the way you locate and skeletonize the weapon.
you need to skeletonize first, on the weapon tooth side, THEN locate the center of mass and mounting holes.
As long as I'm moving towards the opponent or they are moving towards me, it does have bite.
about half the amount of bite that it SHOULD have though, for that design. you want the whole tooth to engage, not just the very tip of the tooth. since the weapon pushes them away at first due to the off-tooth side, the tooth doesn't bite as much as it should, unless the initial impact is on the tooth side. It's possible to keep the weapon balanced but also not compromise on the off-tooth geometry.