Spooki

Spooki
Year of Creation	2019-2020
Versions
Current Version	1.0
Update Year	2019-2020
Wins/Losses	2/2
Information and Statistics
Weight Class	BeetleWeight
Weapon Class	Vertical Bar
Combined Wins/Losses	2/2
Weapon Speed	Who knows?(RPM)

Spooki is a bot with a spooky name but isn't very much itself (unless you have trypophobia). Its adventures and sufferings are the actual spooky things that the name has induced. Its namesake is the word "spooky," a commonly used word among RoboJackets members when describing weird or scary things.

The most obvious pattern that Spooki has is its skids propping out on both sides, hoping to scoop up the opponent before uppercutting them. Rather, the skids tend to scoop up the arena floor. Spooki is also designed to be invertible and drive on both sides, yet it often ends up standing on its head.

All issues aside, Spooki is a worthy bot that managed to snatch 2 wins from other fierce competitors in Motorama 2020. It utilizes a taco-shaped back to cushion attacks from unfortunate angles, a long piece of HDPE to guard its wheels, a pair of sandpaper rings around its wheels that helps with gripping the ground, and a wide aluminum bottom plate to hold itself together and allow more room for its electronics.

Competitions

Motorama 2020

• Results:
  • Bracket Style:
    • [(Video Link) W vs Off Track]
      • Won by KO - The opponent lost its right side drive. It was a bit of a lucky win since earlier in the match we were sent flying by their weapon and our armor on one side broke into two.
        

        It gets old pretty fast, bruh
      • (observations))
    • [(Video Link) L vs LDB]
      • Lost because we're stuck standing on our weapon upside down within the first few seconds. This is how the smart Spooki spared itself from further attacks by LDB.
      • (observations))
    • [(Video Link) W vs Underdoge aka "I Don't Know"]
      • Won by Judge Decision. Underdoge's weapon (which was a vertical bar in its configuration, not the saw-shaped thing in buildersDB) stuck on our armor. The two bot got entangled. Spooki also lost its weapon belt, but luckily the other bot lost its weapon as well due to some spooky magic. After an arena staff separated both bots, both bots started flexing at each other weaponlessly. Spooki appeared more aggressive and won.
      • (observations))
    • [(Video Link) L vs Talos]
      • Lost due to the same reason: Standing on our weapon upside down. This time the match (against Talos) lasted much longer before ending up in that unfortunate position.
      • (observations))
  • Grudge Match:
    • W vs Hibachi
      • Hibachi stopped attacking us while not realizing that the timer was still on. Somehow we won?

Version

Spooki V1.0

Created by: (Names of Builders/Group Members of aforementioned version of bot)

Drive Motors	(Drive Motor Name)
Drive Motor Controllers	(Drive Motor Controller Name)
Weapon Motor	Vijay's secret sauce (Weapon Motor Name)
Weapon Motor Controllers	James' secret sauce (Weapon Motor Controller Name)
Receiver	Hobby King 2.4Ghz Receiver 6Ch V2
Remote Control	Hobby King 2.4Ghz 6Ch Tx and Rx V2
Battery	(Battery Name)
(OTHER:)	👻

Problems

• We get KO'd in the same position all the time. The geometry of the design is flawed.
• Belt keeps slipping off, which is a prevalent problem among 3lb bots. But using a V-belt would be weird, and other fixes for heavier weights don't apply to 3lb bots. In the last match, we ended up slapping a piece of plastic on the other side of the pulley, so that it tries to hold the belt back. However, once the plastic bit got hit, the plastic would bend inwards, cutting into the belt, making our weapon down. Thus we won't want to have the pulley wall be so long in the next iteration.
• The "wedge-like" skids can get stuck in arena cracks, and didn't actually serve their purpose.
• Weapon probably also interrupted with driving due to gyroscopic effects. The gyro force lifts up the bot's back, and adds pressure to the skids, so that the skids make the bot harder to move forward.
• Skidding, because not enough friction between the floor and wheel.
• We had to change our plates into cheese graters to save weight in the day before we left for the match... which worked, but isn't the best.
• When we were building the bot, we fried a motor controller because we mixed the red and black wires. The reason? The heat shrink of the red wire was black, and the ring terminal clamp of the black wire was red. When one grab both wires, it's easy to have them mixed up.
• The alunimum rear support bar was hard for us to fit other parts in. In the end we just got rid of it, even though it would help hold both parts of the bot together.

Good aspects

• The wacky sandpaper fix on the wheel actually worked during the competition.
• Our electronics rocked, thanks to previous years' experiences.
• We also had a lot of space for electronics. Wire packing was a breeze.
• Armor placement was useful. In both fights where we won, the armor broke the opponents' hits.
• We didn't start the fire, because there wasn't a fire this time.
• The top plate, made from HDPE, was very sturdy. The taco belt design worked (partially because it never got hit).

Changes/Improvements

• Change the skids into sleds, i.e. make it point backwards instead of forwards.
• Remove points of contact on our front plates by making the plates round or sharp, so that we can't once again stand upside down on the ground.
  • Note: This would require change in outer side plates as well.
• Remove the alumininum rear support bar, because it's a pain in the, well, rear. We will just rely on the entire alumnium bottom plate.
• We can try to see if Nylon belt works. It'll most likely slip, but who knows.
• Less zipties.

Notes:

(random joke, optional)

(Naming inspiration, optional)

(Names of original builders)

If you move your mouse over some of the "Spooki" words, you'll see its actual name.

(Spooki helped Apachi slash a pumpkin and win a rumble later in Motorama 2020. The win came from audience's decision through cheering.)