Match #2 Moebius vs. Heavy Metal Noise
Well, it was kind of a let down not getting into the box the
first time. So, we are about to get another chance. But if you
have read the FAQs and read about the four D's then you would
know that we just got paired up with the only bot in our division
that could exploit a particular flaw in Moebius.
When we sent the titanium to the welder he welded it all on
the outside of the shell. This left an 1/8" lip all the
way around the top of the shell. Heavy Metal Noise has dual
vertical disks and his bot knockers were the the exact height
of that lip. Jay Johnson and I were talking in line and I told
him if he was going to beat Moebius it would be because of that.
How prophetic!
Since this was the first time that I had ever been on the driver's
platform I didn't even know if Moebius would fire up in the
arena because I had heard so many horror stories about radio
interference in the box. The match started and I flipped the
weapon switch and WoW! Moebius was alive and... WHAT IN THE...!
Before I knew it Heavy Metal Noise was screaming into my side
of the arena. I was so concerned on wheter or not Moebius would
turn on that I didn't pay attention to the opponent. In a panic
I jammed Moebius forward and there was a tremendous clash. Moebius
jumped three feet into the air from HMN's disks. But, due to
gyroscopic effect he went straight up and straight back down,
maintaining horizontal the whole time.
I went to the left and then came back and we collided again.
And again, back into the air. This time with a little wobble
because the shell had slowed a bit. Then a third meeting and
this time the wobble in the air was very pronounced.
Moebius' shell was now down to an rpm that would not create
enough gyroscopic effect to help and HMN came in for the kill
and flipped Moebius over. Moebius was as helpless as a turtle
on his back. That 1/8" lip killed us. Jay had the better
strategy, better driving skills, and a weapon that was perfectly
suited to Moebius.
Our season had ended just like that. Had I more practice in
the box with a previous opponent I might have driven better
(or I could've lost to the first opponent :-p) Heavy Metal Noise
didn't come out unscathed though. We bent then shaft that the
weapon disks were mounted to and broke all of the collars. In
the end, Jay was only able to use one of his disks thanks to
our meeting in the arena. He went on and did very well and we
were his biggest fans. Congratulations to Jay on a great win.
photo courtesy of Jim Smentowski
and RobotCombat.com
