Team Ignition

[Badnik96]

Robots:
FireArrow (1lb)

Competitions:
Bot Blast 2013 (5-2, third place, best driver)
Pennbots Downtown Dogfight 2014 (4-0, champion)
Bot Blast 2014 (6-1, champion)
MIT Mini Maker Faire 2014 (3-2, third place)
Motorama 2015 (2-2)

Win record: 20-7

Still the best robot I've ever run, as well as the first. (well to be fair this was back when my dad made 99% of the robot so i can't really say I "built" this) but damn was it solid, and a tough bot to beat. I've been toying with reviving it at some point because it was just so good, and the frame is in remarkably good condition. hell i could run it as soon as i get another set of tinyescs.

Nocturne (3lb)


Competitions:
Pennbots Downtown Dogfight 2014 (0-2)
MIT Mini Maker Faire 2014 (1-2)
Motorama 2014 (1-2)
Bot Blast 2015 (2-2)
Motorama 2016 (1-2)


Win record: 5-10

This thing is cursed. It really is. It started life as a shell I bought off ebay for about 3x the amount it was worth, then got bodged together in the pits at its first event before a motor jammed and I ended up losing. Second battle it bounced into the pit after the only good hit it ever got. Then sold to Tweedy (it currently exists under the name Tactical Nuclear Penguin). Plans were to rebuild it in time for Bot Blast but due to time constraints it didn't happen and it instead made it to the Mini Maker Faire where the weapon wouldn't spin up for crap. It demolished a duct tape robot before losing to Robo Rooter and forfeiting to Spongebot. It remained in existence for another year and a half or so before I gutted it for parts. probably won't be coming back any time soon.

FireArrow v2 (1lb)


Competitions:
Bot Blast 2015 (2-2)
Motorama 2016 (1-2)
Franklin Institute 2016 (1-2)

Win record: 4-6

Milled from a big block of UHMW, FireArrow was me trying to "improve" FireArrow - with mediocre results. My choice of drive (11.1:1 Sparks with the sumo motors) were not only too fast to drive, but also made it difficult to drive while inverted, where it ended up often. I downgraded to 22.2:1 sparks for the following event, where it was too slow with the sumo wheels. It also suffered some super bizarre issue with one of the bearing blocks not retaining motor screws, which cost it at least one match. After running out of time to finish a scrapped FireArrow 3 concept, I threw bigger tires on it and brought it to its third event, Franklin 2016, where it did decently for being a flawed design. I can't be upset with losing to the top two bots at an event. It's retired now for the new 4wd FireArrow.

Landshark (6lb)

Competitions:
Bot Blast 2015 (1-2) (2 forfeits)
Bot Blast 2017 (0-2)

Win record: 1-4

Landshark was me going "hey the mantis class is pretty small let's make a wedge for it" and then doing so. about 75% of the weight of this robot is in the thick steel wedge, which ended up putting the robot overweight by a bit. fortunately we were able to pocket out the wedge and get it within weight, and then win its first match against Brandon's CATAPULT. Unfortunately the relatively obscure drivetrain we were using (ebay gearboxes mated to larger generic motors) ended up breaking, and there weren't enough parts to scrounge together a spare, so i had to forfeit. if i can find more gearboxes and/or another drive solution i'll bring it back for this year.

credit to Craig C for the Mr. Snappy eye decals

Spinjitsu (3lb)

Competitions:
Motorama 2017 (0-2)
SWORD Fights March 2017 (1 win, 1 second-place, 1 loss)
Bot Blast 2017 (0-2)
Franklin Institute 2017 (2-2)
SWORD Fights November 2017 (2-2)

Win record: 4-8 (2 forfeits)

An FBS that has gone through more name changes than something with a lot of different names. I wanted to finish it for Franklin 16 but started too late, it should be at Moto.

FireArrow v3 (1lb)

Competitions:
Motorama 2017 (0-2)
SWORD Fights March 2017 (0-2)
Bot Blast 2017 (2-2)
Franklin Institute 2017 (5-0, champion)
SWORD Fights November 2018 (1-4)
Motorama 2018 (4-2)
Bot Blast 2018 (1-2)
Franklin Institute 2019 (0-2)

Win record: 13-16

all new 4wd FireArrow with all the fancy tech the new kids are using. very very excited to finish building this.

SparkPlug (150g)

Competitions:
Motorama 2017 (3-2)
Motorama 2018 (5-1, champion)

Win record: 8-3

3-hour fairyweight which was spurred by "demise has won too many times, let's change that". its wheels are probably way too big for a fairy. it probably won't last more than two fights. but who cares it's a fairy lol

Early Grave

Competitions:
Motorama 2017 (0-2)
SWORD Fights March 2017 (1 second place, 2 last-place finishes)
Bot Blast 2017 (3-2) (1 FF win)
Franklin Institute 2017 (3-2) (1 FF win)
SWORD Fights November 2017 (0-3)
Motorama 2018 (0-2)

Win record: 6-11 (2 FF wins)

it's a vertical spinner! and probably my most competitive beetle design yet. will the brushless drive hold out? find out at moto

Nitro Hornet

Competitions:
SWORD Fights November 2017 (1-2, Coolest Bot)
Motorama 2018 (4-2)
Bot Blast 2019 (0-2)

Win Record: 5-6

Newest build, a super-wide drum spinner. I've been very happy with it so far.

[Badnik96]

Nocturne is just about ready to go for Moto. Gonna decorate it a little but then we should be good.

FireArrow just needs soldered motors.

Very excited for Friday. this is gonna be awesome

[Badnik96]

We're all set. Can't wait for Friday.

[zacodonnell]

We're all set. Can't wait for Friday.

How was the blade made on Nocturne? It looks different than anything I've seen before.

-Zac

[Badnik96]

It's a milled aluminum bar with two sharpened high speed steel teeth held in with two large setscrews.

[Infernaltank]

can we see a close up of the bar?

[Badnik96]

Back from Moto. Things did not go entirely to plan, but I had fun so it worked out.

Plans for whatever my next competition is:

-Rebuild FireArrow entirely
-Get Nocturne's bar to work properly
-Maybe build a second ant? (if I have enough money) Debating between a shell spinner and a dustpan saw. Just something fun to screw around with while FireArrow wins everything :V

[Badnik96]

Okay, since Rage in the Cage isn't running ants, I've decided to put together a mantis wedge instead. That way I'll have three robots to bring to Bot Blast this year.

Tentative name is Master Assassin. Once I figure out what motors I want to use I'll put together a parts list and hopefully get building.

[AlexH]

550's 16:1 at 3s would be a very good 6lb wedge drivetrain

[zacodonnell]

550's 16:1 at 3s would be a very good 6lb wedge drivetrain

I'd be amazed if you could get enough traction to make 550s worth it, and at 3S you're basically undervolting them. You could use long can 400s and get just as much power to the ground and a lot less space and weight.  I use 550s to run my 30 pounders (both of them) and they don't even get warm. Having traction is likely to be a bigger problem than enough torque.

-Zac

[AlexH]

550's 16:1 at 3s would be a very good 6lb wedge drivetrain

I'd be amazed if you could get enough traction to make 550s worth it, and at 3S you're basically undervolting them. You could use long can 400s and get just as much power to the ground and a lot less space and weight.  I use 550s to run my 30 pounders (both of them) and they don't even get warm. Having traction is likely to be a bigger problem than enough torque.

-Zac

i'm assuming this is for rage in the cage, and magnets would be involved

[zacodonnell]

In that case 550s would make more sense I guess. Still think you could get most of the power you needed out of 385's at 3S instead of 550s at 3S. You'd need at least 4S and preferably 5S to get the best benefit.

-Zac

[Badnik96]

I was planning to run it at both Rage in the Cage and Bot Blast. And yes, I was going to try to get magnets for it.

[zacodonnell]

I was planning to run it at both Rage in the Cage and Bot Blast. And yes, I was going to try to get magnets for it.

Just remember bot blast is a wood floor.

-Zac

[Badnik96]

Of course :V

My dad had an idea while after my second fight last weekend, and today we got needle bearings in Nocturne's bar as opposed to the bushing we had in there before. However, with how bent up the robot is after fighting Grande it's kind of hard to tell if anything's changed. I'll keep you posted.