Bone Dead Robotics

The first NHRL event of 2024 begins with a solo run by Vorion.

For this competition, the overall pace was far slower due to the change in registration for this year’s NHRL events. For this year, there was a ballot system instituted so the “initial rush” phenomenon that occurs at very popular events where spots are not determined until after the registration period. Unfortunately, Mind Flayer was on the low end with being positioned second to last on the registration list, only above Saiko! Though every other machine was able to escape, Mind Flayer and Saiko! remained on the list, ultimately unable to fight. This ended up being for the best though previous week testing was unsuccessful and packing for the trip very tight.

Because of this, I had to break my normal convention of bringing 2 robots to every competition to ensure I’m still in it by the end. Even so, having Vorion as the one robot entered was certainly a fair compromise.

Friday

Friday arrival was very uneventful as the prep highlighted in the Vorion’s channel has led to the machine becoming very reliable over time and the shape not requiring much modification. Though I did receive a note during safety about switching away from the direct plug method, very little of Vorion was adjusted, just twitch tests. There was however one little twist…

In expectation of fighting Emulsifier, I asked Liam of Honey Cracked for use of his minibot as back up in the event of drawing him. I preferred 1v1 combat and in most fights I will opt for that type of battle. However, because Emulsifier is prolific for its use of minibots, I made an allowance specifically for him. The directions for Liam are simple: use the minibots to stop the other minibots so I can turn the fight againt Emulsifier into a true 1v1 battle.

For fighting Emulsifier I prepared TPU forks with steel bases. You can see it during testing at The Hive.

The details of construction will be recorded more on Vorion’s 2024 page, but the goal is very simple: ablative tips that don’t eliminate full usage of the forks in the event of them hitting the other robot’s weapon and transfer no energy to the main robot. When they get ripped off, the steel lower body continues to function. These two adjustments were going to be my secret weapons to fight against the reigning champ so time to see how they work…

Saturday

Though this photo was taken from NHRL All-Stars in December 2023, it drives home the very slow pace of Saturday. Because Vorion was 2nd seed (so it had a 1st round bye) and 30lbers started later than the other two classes, I had to think of ways to keep myself sharp and burn off the nervous energy from waiting. The best example I could think of was playing fighting games, namely Dragon Ball FighterZ as I both love the series and played many hours of it with friends. The sharp focus and hand-eye coordination keeps the mind active and hones focus. Preparation allows for new ways to enjoy the event!

I noticed some overlap between the newly welded blocker (after Pepe Silvia better the previous one at Motorama) and the lifter base so I cut it down. A nearly invisible detail to most, but enough to completely beach the robot in a bad scenario. Fortunately all the horizontal spinners were knocked out before I could fight them so this wasn’t critical for now so it saves prep for the future!

Vorion vs Plasma Gun

The first fight of the day (which happened around ~1:30pm due to a bye) was against Plasma Gun. I listened to The Havoc Rundown on the way up to the venue and learned a little bit about how Plasma Gun was run by LeagueLBT Robotics (the team behind Railgun Max) some years ago in international events so I knew it was an experienced robot that would have to be wailed on.

The fight itself was fairly brief with Vorion scoring an early knockout. The learning from the fight was a little disheartening for some of the small changes on the robot. The TPU forks ablated a little too easily in the match so I began to worry about their effectiveness in the later rounds. Additionally, the hardfaced tooth was completely obliterated leaving only a very narrow point for contact. Additionally, the fork mounts had also failed with one’s welds being cracked and the base bent while the other was functional but a little bent. Ultimately nothing a few spares and elbow grease couldn’t save and the bot itself still functioned well. Kudos to Plasma Gun + team for the hard hits!

Vorion vs Catalyst XXX

Photo of Catalyst XXX (blue) fighting Animosity from JCRB Photography

Vorion’s 2nd fight (and first fight of the main bracket) was against Catalyst XXX, an enormous vertical spinner that had incredible reach and power. I was following the development of this bot closely and hoped its fight against Emulsifier earlier in the day would cripple the champ but unfortunately it was not enough. Even so, Catalyst was to be respected like any opponent. Since there were some concerns with the TPU forks, I opted to use the solid long forks to ensure reliable engagement during the fight.

The fight itself was fairly brief with Vorion being able to catch Catalyst’s side and inverting the robot leading to a count out. It was quick & efficient with minimal damage compared to what could have been, but damaging all the same.

Even so, the robot did take some damage. The already chipped tooth got further smushed by the effect of colliding with Catalyst’s weapon and armor. Additionally, one of the long forks were bent which once again validated my intuition on the long TPU forks. The mount it was on sheared two bolts which were removed via using the MIG welder on site to form slabs of steel that I could cut a groove into to use a flat head. The fork was then bent fairly straight via the hydraulic press. Thanks for the workshop NHRL!

Vorion vs Beast

Beast was a very solid 4WD vert made by a college team from Arizona. Its a very stout machine that handled battle well, but the team noted that the bot was already struggling some. Even so, all opponents must be respected especially when the great showdown is so close!

Great photos of the fight courtesy of JCRB Photography.

The fight itself wasn’t too spectacular, but it was very decisive. Near the end of the fight when Vorion was grinding Beast’s shell, the weapon did overheat some forcing it to spin down. After a few seconds I twitched it in the box and it still worked so ultimately it was fine.

With two Vorions ready to go the main event had arrived and the great showdown was on the way.

Vorion vs Emulsifier

All of the prep, all of the planning, and all of the fear crashed together as Vorion and Emulsifier arrived in the box. This fight has very key moments which I’ll breakdown here.

Moment 1: Minibots

Within the first few seconds of the final we have this moment showing the inherent difficulties of minibots whose primary abilities are to get stuck. Let it first be known that these machines were passed by safety and therefore within the rules of NHRL but you can see the inevitable difficulty here. Not pictured is my minibot which is also stuck under Emulsifier. While everything in the fight worked out in such a way that both bots were freed at the same time and effectively reset the match, I can only hope that moments like these cause multibot/minibot rules to be affected in some way. These machines do have their place and to remove them outright cripples some previous and potentially incredible innovations in the sport but if not properly balanced it can lead to more harm than good. Something like Beemo (pictured below) would be good since it could lift a 30lber off itself and avoid needless pauses in actions. I don’t have the power to enforce this difference so I will continue to play this side as well to level playing field in matches that require it. Minibots/multibots aren’t inherently bad, the rules just have to be tuned like all sports.

Moment 2: So Close

In this match I confirmed that Vorion is more maneuverable than Emulsifier. After being freed, Vorion got to the side of the machine multiple times and was so close to biting into the treads. Unfortunately the center area was not wide enough to get a full corner of Emulsifier in and the TPU forks’ larger profile kept Emulsifier from riding up them into the weapon.

The pain was maximized here by the fact that my idea did work in its idea as the forks ablated and flexed away when Emulsifier touched them avoiding the same failure mode against it last year and against Nautilus at Motorama. The solution worked, but not fully.

Moment 3: Geometry

When Vorion and Emulsifier did eventually go nose-to-nose, the longer reach of Emulsifier managed to clip the edge of Vorion’s front right bracer, tipping the robot over. It was a very small touch as the largely flat face kept the robot from getting any extreme purchase, but that’s all it takes. Normally the forks would keep the blades from direct contact, but the bent TPU tips allowed Emulsifier’s fork to tilt Vorion up slightly and allow the blade to make contact. It was near imperceptible to the eye but enough to do it during battle.

Moment 4: The Self-Righter snipe

As Vorion tumbled over, Emulsifier (despite ironically being pinned by its own minibot) was able to catch the edge of the self-righting arm’s motor guard and motor can slightly denting the rotor and keeping it from getting up to speed. Again, near imperceptible during combat but it was this tiniest of touch which ultimately caused Vorion to be knocked out of the fight. Though the robot was incredibly resilient it doesn’t matter if you can’t move.

Despite all this damage, Vorion still works. It was fully driving and the weapon had only lost one belt; the second still allowed it to spin up at the end. The lifter gearbox ultimately took the blow that would most certainly have torn up the battery/electronics so I would call it a successful ablative. You can even see the little mark on the can of where Emulsifier skimmed it and crippled it from function.

Though bots like Yahoo and especially MegatRon remain daunting opponents, we all have eyes on defeating Emulsifier. For Emulsifier in particular I believe Vorion has the power to take it out, but it will require a level of gamesmanship with minibots/multibots that goes beyond my orthodox belief of 1v1 combat and geometry optimization that could change the shape of Vorion in a serious way. With all these in mind, Vorion stands fully qualified in the Grand Finals with its 2nd place finish so it will retreat to the lab for some time to hone itself further as other ideas come out to play.