The first move of 2023 was to work on the wheel game again. After so many fights of this machining ultimately falling to wheel damage, I tried forming custom wheels using TPU hubs and Vytaflex 30 for the tread. With the use of Spun Spoon as a mixing tool, the green MICA powder was added and turned the wheels a brilliant green. Even if they didn’t prove themselves as resilient as the previous wheels, they were definitely the prettiest wheels this bot has ever seen!
NHRL May 2023
May NHRL 2023 proved to be a hard wake-up call for Demogorgon. Though I added some nice wheelguards that added some style to the robot, the day was still ominous. The day began with a legendary fight against Blue Cheese which was incredible with Demogorgon being thrown into 2 of the 4 walls in the arena. Unfortunately it landed upside down, putting the blade in its weakest orientation which allowed Blue Cheese to tear the disc straight up, utterly obliterating the bearing. With one weapon down, I had only one more disc stackup after only one fight. It managed to survive a fight against Axis of Evil even without a working weapon going into the fight through shear driving alone. The electronics were fixed (it just unplugged itself from the receiver) and prepared to fight Baka, a rookie team from the University of Cincinnati. Demogorgon’s weapon stack had become so bent over time that the robot had almost no control, turning the robot all the way around. This allowed a free shot for Baka directly onto the output shaft of the gearbox, blasting the robot and instantly killing it. After the event, the bot was taken apart and examined.
There was a nasty gash from Axis of Evil that was very close to the weapon ESC but ultimately no heavy damage. The ‘Wang’ drive gearboxes, the same that have run in the robot for years, finally gave up the ghost and were obliterated. After a thorough trouncing, it was time to retire the valiant frames and move on. A new design for this bot will come at some point, but for now it rests and waits for a new day.
Bone Dead Robotics 