[kdmorse]

BattleBots Season 6 discussion thread. Spoilers permitted for all aired episodes as of the moment they air.

As far as I can tell, all the fights were filmed in 2021, airing starting Jan 2022. Premiers tonight (1/6/2022) at 8pm on The Discovery Channel.

 

[Worf]

That upper stage adds a whole new level (hah) to the strategy it seems. Not only because of its higher nature, but what it did to the corners. I didn't realize it until Gigabyte was careening around the corner instead of flying to the other side of the arena. I think it offers interesting opportunities and countermeasures. Bots that have a lot of kinetic energy like full body spinners need to be careful in that corner because they can get trapped.

I say it's got potential, but I'd like to see more fights to see how people use it. I see some bots close to using it as an escape route because they got slammed into the side and suddenly pop over. This could nullify a lot of timewasting strategies where one bot grabs another and just hangs on to wear down the clock - if the grabbed bot can suddenly escape, it can put some energy back into the match.

 

[Steveknj]

I haven't seen it yet, but the first time block on Discovery is 3 hours but they were repeating it later that night and it was only 2 hours (and no third hour separate episode) which I thought was interesting. I was going to move my recording slot to the later episode until I realized it was shorter. At the risk of missing anything, I left it.

 

[kdmorse]

I haven't seen it yet, but the first time block on Discovery is 3 hours but they were repeating it later that night and it was only 2 hours (and no third hour separate episode) which I thought was interesting. I was going to move my recording slot to the later episode until I realized it was shorter. At the risk of missing anything, I left it.

For some reason, I think the third hour on the original airing includes an episode of last seasons BattleBots BountyHunters. (Which was originally only on Discovery +, but then aired anyway on Discovery). I don't know if it was a standard issue guide data error, or of they're deliberately trying to bundle the two into one program.

 

[Steveknj]

For some reason, I think the third hour on the original airing includes an episode of last seasons BattleBots BountyHunters. (Which was originally only on Discovery +, but then aired anyway on Discovery). I don't know if it was a standard issue guide data error, or of they're deliberately trying to bundle the two into one program.

When I watch over the weekend, I guess I'll find out! I saw BountyHunters already so no interest in watching again.

 

[heySkippy]

So happy to see this back!

 

[Tobashadow]

Random opinion comments on bots so far -

Blacksmith - The new sawblaze style hammer is a very much needed upgrade and might be a threat this year if they can keep it going.

Deep Six - Did they not pay attention to fixing their instability??

EndGame - I think the long tongs hurt more than helped and they could have raised havoc if the weapon could touch more.

Gruff - I see this being a judges decision every fight unless they are knocked out due to them not really having knock out ability.

Switchback - sloooooowwww and even tho it's got a huge weapon I don't think it has any power and I am waiting on it to be thrown on it's side.

Tombstone - did anyone else start seeing the left wheel start throwing sparks every time he tried to turn 30+ seconds before the BBQ?

Pain Train - more like Spare Parts dang that was a hit...

And Lipo battery fires galore this year LOL

I feel lifting bots (not throwers like Bronco and Hydra) are going the way of wedge bots and hammer bots of the past, and with no active weapon your just a pusher till knocked out or you outlast the other persons equipment failures.

 

[cheesesteak]

Surprised to see Tombstone and Minotaur lose.

Kinda funny that I kept thinking "Get Captain Shredderator off this show! That bot sucks!" Then it beats Tombstone.

For the life of me, why are bot with no self righting mechanism allowed? I think it was Switchback that was stupid and didn't have one.

 

[Jonathan_S]

Deep Six - Did they not pay attention to fixing their instability??

They're slightly more stable than the old version, because they shrunk their weapon a little. But the instability is inherent in their basic design - having that enormous gyroscope (aka weapon) means any attempt to turn while the weapon is spun up is going to try to turn them over; plus all that mass up so high makes them tippy when not spun up to. It's just the tradeoff for getting the power they wanted out of the weapon; because the length of the blade is what given them the impact they want while still staying under Battlebot's tip speed limits.

(There's a reason that their old design sliced a slot into the battlebox floor whereas even Tombstone landing blade down never did that kind of damage)

 

[Tobashadow]

Surprised to see Tombstone and Minotaur lose.

Kinda funny that I kept thinking "Get Captain Shredderator off this show! That bot sucks!" Then it beats Tombstone.

For the life of me, why are bot with no self righting mechanism allowed? I think it was Switchback that was stupid and didn't have one.

Switchback seems to be a bot that can flip the weapon head 180 over the top to the opposite side which should work as a self righting setup... But it seemed to die with the rest of the bot the first time it was knocked over. But it doesn't seem to have a way to flip back from being laid on it's side tho.

Don't forget we still have Ice Wave and Perfect Phoenix coming up, neither one in the past had self righting systems. I know they are pushing hard on the "genius kid" aspect for ratings but Perfect Phoenix is just a washed up bought not built bot and it is irritating for them to push the look what the kid did thing.

 

[Worf]

Bots without a self-righting mechanism are allowed because why wouldn't they? If your bot gets flipped and you have no way to flip back over, then you lose. If that's a possibility you're willing to risk, then so be it, Everyone knows there's a risk to being flipped, and everyone gets to make the calculus of the added weight and complexity of a self-righting system against the risk of losing if you are flipped.

It's a design consideration. By now everyone knows if you can't self-right, then you risk losing the match.

 

[cheesesteak]

Bots without a self-righting mechanism are allowed because why wouldn't they? If your bot gets flipped and you have no way to flip back over, then you lose. If that's a possibility you're willing to risk, then so be it, Everyone knows there's a risk to being flipped, and everyone gets to make the calculus of the added weight and complexity of a self-righting system against the risk of losing if you are flipped.

It's a design consideration. By now everyone knows if you can't self-right, then you risk losing the match.

Yes, my "why are they allowed?" question was the wrong question. It should have been "Why design a bot that can't self-right?" You've basically created and submitted a turtle. It's not like self righting mechanisms are a new and unique thing.

 

[mattack]

yeah the 3 hour recordings are annoying, but IIRC it finally did fix the season/episode # to actually be correct.. that was wrong in previous days of guide data..

 

[Worf]

Yes, my "why are they allowed?" question was the wrong question. It should have been "Why design a bot that can't self-right?" You've basically created and submitted a turtle. It's not like self righting mechanisms are a new and unique thing.

Well, like I said, there are weight, complexity and other challenges involved with a self-righting. It's a balance between taking the risk that you'll turn turtle and lose versus spending weight and power and everything else on a better weapon.

Battlebots isn't a robot competition, it's an optimization problem. do you add a self-righting mechanism at the expense of having a lighter weapon? Or how about added complexity if you have to design it in, at the expense of more things that go wrong? Plus, if it adds structure to your bot, it could get damaged anyways so you're still stuck.

And sometimes, if you do the calculus, you figure that the only way you could be upside down is because of say, a flipper bot, then maybe it's not such a bad thing in the end to lose than to be destroyed. You still lose either way, just one costs a lot more to fix.

 

[LoadStar]

All I have to say is: 2/17’s episode, Cobalt vs Ghost Raptor… holy cow.

 

[kdmorse]

You're a patient man, watching live, or even close to live.

Have you noticed that the farther you get into the show, the longer the gap between fights? Ok, last fight.... segment... segment... aww, commercial break right before the fight! Ok, back from break, ready, ready ... about to fight... another commercial break! son of a...

(Heck - I'm taking time to make this post, just to build up a recording buffer)

All I have to say is: 2/17’s episode, Cobalt vs Ghost Raptor… holy cow.

Yup, they got a pretty ideal hit in there. Caught a leg of GR, between their weapon and the wall, at high speed.

 

[cheesesteak]

My fast forward button gets a serious workout on this show. There's only about 20 minutes of show worth watching in two hours. This show's delays must be hell on the studio audience with all the between match delay. I also wonder how good their view is with being a good distance away and having to look through the safety glass.

 

[LoadStar]

You're a patient man, watching live, or even close to live.

Have you noticed that the farther you get into the show, the longer the gap between fights? Ok, last fight.... segment... segment... aww, commercial break right before the fight! Ok, back from break, ready, ready ... about to fight... another commercial break! son of a...

Evenings from 7 to 9 are dinner and "play with the dog" time, and the dog demands the vast majority of the attention. The TV is mostly on in the background, not being paid attention to. I'll pause briefly and look up when a fight comes on, but shortly after I'll get a toy shoved at me incessantly until I grab it and throw or tug with it and give her 100% attention.

 

[series5orpremier]

All I have to say is: 2/17’s episode, Cobalt vs Ghost Raptor… holy cow.

I've never seen that kind of structural transformation before on Battlebots. Ghost Raptor disintegrating from a robot into a pile of rubble in an instant.

 

[LoadStar]

I've never seen that kind of structural transformation before on Battlebots. Ghost Raptor disintegrating from a robot into a pile of rubble in an instant.

I kind of liked the reaction shot from Ghost Raptor's driver as he was being counted out, as if to say "Um, yeah, we're done, you can probably skip counting us out."