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STAFFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY ROBOT  FOOTBALL 2000

Back in March 2000, TSM made a visit (As The (Un) Professionals)  to Staffordshre University to take part in their Robot Football championships  for Science Week. We took some pupils from Weston Road High School year 9 with  us, but we were split up between other teams because we were older than everyone  else. So me and Charles wound up in different teams, which meant two teams had a  small advantage (David wasn't with us then). My team was made of 10-14 year olds  from various schools. We started to design our robot, and finally chose to fit a  front scoop to a simple rectangle. However, we hit trouble. Firstly, nobody told  me that we had brackets for mounting the motors [which were modified servos] so  we fitted some balsa wood blocks, which was the only material we had, other than  a box of bits. After replacing the blocks, they were then used to hold up the  sides. We then had to run the robot the other way up. Because we had chosen to  use the wheels that were meant to be for the front wheels, we didn't have enough  clearence. We fitted the sides and connected them using elastic bands [the glue  didn't hold]. The electronics were simple receiver packs, with the motors  connected. We had to be careful testing it, as we couldn't re-charge the  batteries. After about 2 hours of work, we had a robot that looked like it had  been thrown together in a short time by a group of idiots. Oh, hang on. It  was...

Above: I work, whilst Steve (our old helper) looks  on.

While we were building, Charles was having trouble with his team.  One of them had been to the Stoke tourament the week before, and was convinced  he knew what he was doing. Good but one problem. He didn't. He also thought he  was the best driver. Good, just one problem. Yes, you've guessed. He wasn't.  However he still managed to get a working robot together. They used the CD  wheels, like we were meant to. We were the only team who didn't. They needed  more time, so we were the first to go, with our robot Poly Killer [which was  renamed 'Thrasher' by Steve. 'Trashers' was the team name.]

Round 1.

 

Thrasher vs Giga Byte

Result: First half: Total disaster. We are slow enough to allow Giga Byte to  score. But our torque allowed us to return fire and fight back, by scoring.  Second half: No goals, but lots of fighting. We push forward and Giga Byte's  wheel drops off. Here are the photos:

Our robot, Thrasher. This  was the only robot built with small drive wheels, giving lots of torque, but low  speed. Also, as these were meant for the front wheels, we had no front wheels.  We planned to use skids, but the glue didn't hold so we had no front support. So  we kept getting stuck on the joins in the arena floor. 

Giga-byte. They used  the CD wheels with rubber treads for drive and the small wheels for support at  the front.

 
Victory! One down, two to go, and we were in the final.

Next, Charles team.

Striker vs Thunderbot

Result: Striker is very quick, as is Thunderbot (with Charles on the team).  Thunderbot's wheel falls off, and the match was stopped for repairs, as they  hadn't been knocked apart by Striker. Striker then turns over Thunderbot, which  is then righted by someone [cheat]. As Charles wasn't driving, they couldn't  really win. The judges [including me, to a certain degree] said 'Over to the  audience'. We were playing Striker.

Striker. With CD driving wheels and a single small wheel in  front and behind, this was a fast class robot.

ThunderBot, and the team  make some last minute adjustments. The drive wheels were staggered slightly, so  driving was very difficult.

3rd Place Playoff:

Giga Byte vs Thunderbot

Result. Good battle, but Thunderbot hit problems, including the loss of the  rubber belts on the wheels. Finally the servo lead on one wheel came off, and  they were left going round in circles.

The  start. This turned into a fight until ThunderBot broke down.

The Grand Final

Striker vs Thrasher.

Result: Most of the first half was spent in the corners, but we had enough  time to score twice. The second half started badly for us. Striker made use of  our lack of speed to score. But we then pinned them to the wall for a minute and  a half, until someone split them. They went for the ball, which was just by our  goal. So we pinned them against the wall again. And we had won. Which wasn't bad  considering even the most optomistic member of our team thought it would fail  after a few seconds.

Pinned! In Robot Wars  you have to release the opponent after thirty seconds, but that didn't apply  here. Who cares if it did...

The Grudge Match [We couldn't resist]

Striker vs Thrasher

Totally unoffical, and played on a table. I was driving, rather than our  normal driver. We won again, when Striker drove off the table! Then we both  joined...

The Melee [We couldn't ... you know!]

No real winner. They had said we couldn't have a melee, but we did after  everyone else had left! I spent most of the time either helping get Giga Byte  working [There was a problem wth control] or chasing after Thunderbot (now under  the command of Charles and the team was regreting its driver choice earlier) or  Striker. When Giga Byte was running again, we fought on and were the last two  running. But Steve stopped us, and we had to stop.

On the whole a fun day. Thrasher II has been built, but has no workings yet.  I don't know if the event is on this year, but Thrasher II will be a house robot  if it is.

Gallery. View  all the pictures.

The Victors!