Spinnerproof

By Sam Hutchins and Ryan BratleyTechnology

Spinnerproof episodes

October 28, 202291: Legally Compelled To Fight
This episode is pointless
Rules and judging! Yay!
Rule changes
You should read them and not just trust what we say: Design rules, Tournament rules, Judges’ Guide
Safety!
Power lights you can see [Design rules: 3b]
Cradles that cradle [Tournament rules: 3.4.2]
Fires are bad [Design rules: 16]
Minibot battery limitations [Design rules: 4b]
No more OotA disqualification threat
But a higher wall
Lifting/pinning/grappling timing changes [Tournament rules: 7.5.6/7/8]
Separation procedure [Tournament rules: 7.5.9]
Mobility & count-outs
If you’re moving, you’re moving [Tournament rules: 7.6.2]
Even if you’re only using your weapon to do so
Reducing the chances of people getting angry at officials
Unsticks [Tournament rules: 7.6.3/4]
We won’t see nearly as many unsticks
More fights will end early, but they’re more likely to end ‘fairly’
Time savings for production?
Minibots get removed after a second unstick
Engagement avoidance [Tournament rules: 7.6.7]
Judging changes
Post-match functionality displays [Tournament rules: 7.6.11]
Aggression - circling is more aggressive than staying faced up [Judges guide: Aggression FAQ]
Control - Robots which get their weapon and the hazards into play better than their opponent should win a control tie [Judges’ guide: COntrol matrix]
Appeals [Tournament rules: 2.4.7]
1 minute window to lodge your appeal, requiring a specific reason for appealing
A failed appeal removes your right to appeal
Should there be a mid-ground?
Sam explains why this doesn’t apply to refereeing decisions
Experimental UK judging system
The system!
Already used at BBB’s ‘Subterranean Showdown’ and in use for the upcoming BBB Beetleweight Champs
Intended to give all robots fairly equal access to every category
Damage is dead, long live weapon effectiveness!
Not all weapon types can be expected do damage, so judging them on damage is dumb. Everyone with a weapon should be able to use it effectively
Lifters lift, grabbers grab, flippers flip, spinners do damage just like before
Wedges are a blind spot for the system. They were also a blind spot in the existing system, but the name we’ve used makes the issue more visible
Active weapon rule?
Aggression is still aggression
Free a stuck opponent? ALL OF THE POINTS!
Control & Strategy
Control - control your robot well, get your weapon into play, use the hazards
Strategy - make smart choices
Think of strategy as a place for judges to add points, but not a place where we really take them away
1 hr 23 min
May 24, 202290: Things that Exist, Exist
We’re back!
Back-ish
Editing sucks and we’re not doing it.
BEVs
Northdown Havoc
Sportsman feathers are dope
Judging
Judging is hard
Coin-toss fights
Let The Good Times Stroll vs Crossblow III vs Head for the Exit
Battlebots…
This community sucks as talking about this stuff
The system doesn’t seem that ‘broken’
Do we need Battlebots?
What now?
No Battlebots episode reviews
Robot building?
Events?
Clickbait awfulness?
Hoping Sam doesn’t die
1 hr 12 min
August 16, 2021 89: The Fallibility of my own Everything
We went to the BBB summer showdown with Split Decision 2
We’re a little rusty, and failed to record a proper outro. I hope you can come to forgive us.
Here are the pictures! https://imgur.com/a/TVheEHJ
1 hr 5 min
March 21, 202188: Have My Love
Follow Up/Front Matter
There is a bingo winner. We haven’t worked out who yet
A quite vast amount of information about brushless motors and ESCs
Sensorless still involves some small degree of sensing/feedback, and this is important
Dual brushless hammer fun
Stripped grub screw threads
Ryan made a fuss
Fake spinner test
The real testing setup
Battlebots and stuff
General thoughts
A very strong season, especially under the circumstances
A slightly underwhelming end result
Robot by robot
Hydra
The journey
Vs Gigabyte - a fight for newcomers?
Whiplash
Mad lifts vs Valkyrie
Sam’s sympathy for Valkyrie
Ribbot
Not a joke bot.
Tantrum
There are no words. Except the words we speak.
Sawblaze
Mammoth vs Copperhead
Judging…
The judging is made of judgment
The whole AMA is very much worth checking out
Shatter!
Making bets
Shatter! shirts
Since recording this episode, shipping to the UK has been made available.
Trying not to believe and believing anyway
End Game
M E T A
Variety and length of forks
Not being Biteforce
Being Biteforce
Aftershow: Sam’s computer troubles
1 hr 16 min
February 21, 202187: Tickling my Eyeballs
Front matter
Lockdown finally made Sam build things
More on that later!
Ryan doesn’t know what tools he owns
Bugglebots 4K special
Vote here! (may require time machine)
Watch here!
5 episodes of Battlebots 2020 in <40 minutes
P1
The robot is very good
Accidentally discussing the top 32 selection
A hypothetical 0-3 making the top 32?
Is 3 wins a lot of wins?
Beta
The hammer is very good
Magnets!
E F F I C I E N C Y
Firing while moving?
What have they actually proven in their 3 fights?
Kraken vs HUGE
The fight is very good
Effective flamethrower-ing
Kraken’s forged teeth
Tombstone vs Skorpios
The countout is very bad
Tombstone still seems to have a lot of mobility
Tombstone is still being attacked
Unaired fights
Fights less TV-worthy than Perfect Phoenix vs Extinguisher?
Spinnerproof’s robot building exploits
Ryan has access to CNC now
How and why - work stuff
The ‘real’ use of the machine vs the fun use of the machine
CNC ant spinner frame
Trying to avoid CNC-creep
The ease and fun of designing digitally vs designing as you build
The satisfaction of taking a hand-built robot to an event
The ’training’ given by just watching CNC-based content online
Sam has been developing a weapon setup
“A more assertive hammer”
PVC - prototyping wonder-material
Using cogs, because they are cool
Initial brushed setup
The brushless setup
Thanks Joe <3
Brushless motor/gearbox setup
Thanks Alex <3
1806 brushless outrunners
Adding a gearbox
Running multiple brushless motors
P R E C I S I O N
The power of using the correct screwdriver
PoziDriv vs Phillips (Spoiler: Posidriv wins)
1 hr 29 min
January 14, 202186: Shalice
Front Matter
Sliding slowly an inexoribly towards The Fight
Bounty Hunters
How do you cover something which has no formal air date?
Is it good?
Bronco the “legend”
The team? Yes. The robot? Eh…
Lack of attention to spoilers
Episodes 4 & 5
Good things!
Slammow working
Chomp working
Gamma 9 working
Shatter! vs Malice
Short memories
Expecting Malice to take the decision
Because it deserved it? Because we’re used to spinners winning these decisions?
Clickbait
Hydra vs HUGE
Yes, there are still 45 minutes of the episode left
Playing Ultimate
We promise this is far more relevant than it looks when you see it written down
Sport vs TV
The attachment
It’s a good attachment
Exceptional driving skill
Questionable driving choices?
Similarities to Warrior Dragon vs Chomp
Communication with the ref
Timings in the edit
3 seconds in reality -> ~10 in the edit
Exploiting the weaknesses of HUGE
Are production to blame for the dull fight?
The team claim to have warned production about their plans
Not using your weapon
Ideas for preventing fights like these
Time outs to deal with disputes?
Forced weapon demo pre-fight?
Changing nothing?
Ryan did not make the diagram
Kraken vs Witch Doctor…
…in exactly 25 seconds
1 hr 34 min
December 24, 202085: Stick It In There
Front Matter
How Spinnerproof is covering Battlebots
What we want, when we want
Fights and topics which interest us, released sporadically
Battlebots 2020 - episodes 1-3
Bloodsport vs Skorpios
The power of managed expectations
Bloodsport’s improvements
Shatter! vs Ghost Raptor
Shatter! is amazing and if you disagree you are wrong
The best hammer?
How to use a hammer
Shatter!’s driving style distilled
Omnidrive all the things
HUGE! vs Mammoth
The dream match?
Are non-meta robots as fun when they aren’t facing the meta?
Witch Doctor vs Hydra
Long main events are good main events
Hydra starting with a flip charged
Black Dragon vs Kraken
A coin-toss or a theft?
Rules not rewarding what fans see as dominating a fight
RotatoR vs Beta
Decision not rewarding what the rules appear to priorities
Enforcing weapon usage?
Better hammers firing straight into weapons
Shatter! vs Ghost Raptor
Shatter! vs Kingpin
Blue vs Crossfire
Blacksmith vs Biteforce
Chomp vs Biteforce
Competitors no longer feeling that they can rely on the rules being applied consistently
The quality of online discourse
How the presentation of the show influences this
Robocast #79 - listen to it
Listen to it somewhere other than youtube
Actually judging the match
How the judges scored it
The 2020 Judges’ Guide
Beta can’t score 5 points for aggression
Giving Beta damage points because…reasons?
Assumed damage?
Penalising RotatoR for their damage being unintentional?
Loose rules vs rigid rules
Blame falling on people or falling on a system
Unnecessary and possibly unhelpful maths
Format
Bit different, innit
Crowd noise
Less suppression of audience reactions?
Dud fights
No basement tapes
Generally good handling of the rough fights
1 hr 24 min
December 05, 202084: Heat, Fuel, and Oxygen
This episode was recorded on November 28th, 2020
The cards can be seen in all their graphic glory here
The teams:
Mike - Mystrsyko
Sam - Robocast
Sam & Ryan - Spinnerproof
Charlie - Good Robottal
Ned - Spoiler Alert & ESC
Oliver - ESC and No More Spinnahhs
David - David of Smeg
Jevan - World of Woodrow & No More Spinnahhs
The cards:
Mike
Puff the Magic Dragon
A LiPo fire in the box
The Atomic Bomb
Atom#94 catches fire
Lotsa smoke or visible flames
The 2020 Dumpster Fire
A returning competitor flops HARD
EG Bombshell in 2018, Bronco in 2019, or any robot designed to win fights which fails to
Let it Rip!
Captain Shredderator vs Gigabyte (1v1)
Improvise, Adapt, Overcome
Swiss-army bot makes the top 32
Swiss-army bot = multiple weapon types
Jumping in the Grave
A robot is dubbed ’the new Bite Force'
Does not include the new champ once they are champ
A Surprise, to be Sure
Half of the top 8 are ’new'
New = no team members have reached the top 16 before
What Would You Like on Your Tombstone?
Tombstone loses its first 2 fights
Mr Flibble’s Very Cross
A team quantining on entry to the USA is mentioned
Thank God for the Arena
A robot is flung into the Lexan
Ice Ice Baby
ICEWave tears another robot in half
No bonus points!!
Close Quarters
A fight is restarted due to an unstick
Might not be shown in the edit
They’re Good Dogs, Bronco
The dog from the Pain Train team photo is acknowledged on the show
Shocker!
A rookie makes the top 16
Rookie = new robot with a new team, even if some members have competed with other teams
Crowd Favourite
Chomp scores a OHKO
‘OHKO’ = first hit from the weapon
Clusterfunk
Gemini fails to get a win
Sam
For Grant
Grant Imahara mentioned directly
Rocky Balboa
Tantrum works
Working = weapon spins, hits as well as other similar weapons, and the punching mechanism is clearly helpful
Just Like The Simulations
An AGWWAPTBABF fantasy matchup happens, and the result is the same
David Attenborough
Two or more animal themed robots fight (each other)
Animal themes must be part of the bot’s aesthetic
Absent Audience
Attention repeatedly drawn to the lack of audience
Repeatedly = at least 10 mentions
Lithium Polymer Armament
A LiPo fire occurs
Old Farm Derby
Bale Spear vs Black Widow (1v1)
Split Personalities
A robot is split in ~2
The Steel Chair
Slammow manages a suplex
Hammer to Fall
Beta vs Chomp (1v1)
A Game of Two Halves
A robot gets split apart
Look at Me, Pa!
Two robots with minibotds fight, with their minibots
Pink is Sus
A predominantly pink robot makes the knockout stages
Axolotl, Sporkinok, and HiJinx are all predominantly pink
Extinguisher by Name…
Extinguisher puts out a fire
That’s Not 30 Seconds!
A team is reminded they can only hold for 30 seconds
Oh Lawd She Comin!
Chomp ends the season with a positive record
Spinnerproof
The Killshot
An axe/hammer scores a KO
Any big overhead hitty thing, but not a ‘hammer saw’ or similar, and not Rusty
We Die Together
Gemini only uses the multibot config
A Noticeable Absence
Bite Force not being present is mentioned
Apologies to Craig Danby
Slammow makes the top 16
OOTA is OOTA
‘Proper’ OOTA from a non-spinner
‘Proper’ OOTA = not behind the screws or stuck elsewhere
BLUE TEAM, READY?
Button hit with something other than a finger/hand
Non-starters
A robot with a website profile doesn’t have a fight
Out With Win and You’re In
No places in the top 32 are decided by a play-in fight
Stop the count
A robot comes back to life during a countout
My Leg!
Chomp loses a leg
We Get it Already
The cast avoids saying “Covid-19”, “Pandemic”, or “Coronavirus” for the entire season
Cast = not competitors
LiPo Fire 2
A LiPo fire happens
Why Why Whyachi?
2+ Whyachi robots face each other in any kind of match
Don’t Bring Wheels Into the Arena
A horizontal spinner snipes a wheel
‘Snipes’ = a single hit disabling or removing the wheel
Not in my Lexicon
The term ‘forward thrust flipper’ is used to describe a front-hinge flipper
The Bigger They Are…
Chomp’s hammer causes significant damage
Charlie
Pulverizer Pete
Multiple pulveriser hits to one robot in a single fight
Be Trans, Throw Hands
Sporkinok receives needless online hate
We’ll know it when we see it
Slammow Fails to Work
…as intended, through the entire season
The Saviour is Here!
Rusty takes a fight to the judges
Wee Woo (No, Not That One)
Extinguisher puts out a fire
The One True Hammer
Shatter! outperforms all the other ‘pure’ hammerbots
‘Pure’ hammerbots = Beta, Chomp, maybe Rusty. ‘Outperforms’ = better record and/or lasting longest in the tournament (“down to the second”)
Free Parking
Non-Bite Force champion
Can only be ticked after the grand final
The Future is Now
No robots from the 2019 top 8 make the 2020 top 8
Tears in the Gears
A competitor cries on camera
Sorry About Your Bike
Jenny Taft segment involves smashing up a household object
Double Kill
Simultaneous KO
Hide and Syk 2
Despite the lack of live studio audience, world-renowned youtuber MystrSyko is somehow still spotted
The Bot Whisperer
Footage of pre-reboot BB used in reference to Peter Abrahamson
Not Even the Younglings Survived
Perfect Phoenix doesn’t win a fight
Pobodies Nerfect
The champ will have lost a fight along the way
Lights, Camera, Smash!
One of the lights gets broken
Ned
Everything is Fine
An entire episode doesn’t mention the pandemic
Spiderman Pointing Meme
Sawblaze vs Skorpios (1v1)
Hammer Time
Two hammers fight each other (1v1)
Chomp, Shatter!, and BETA are hammers. Mad Catter & Extinguisher count if they use their hammer setup in the fight. Rusty may or may not be a hammer.
Tropical Storm BETA
BETA KOs a vertical spinner
Hammer saws don’t count. Mammoth doesn’t count
Careful, Icarus
A previously successful robot crashes HARD
Previously top 16/play in, failing to make the top 32
VERTS REEEEEEEEE
4WD verts make up at least half of the top 8
If the website photo is a vert, its a vert. Mad Catter counts if they use the vert more than the hammer
Now There Are Two of Them!
RotatoR uses the dual disc setup
In the Blue Hex
A HexBug toy appears in the box for a robot’s introduction
Third Time Lucky
Whiplash fights and beats Tombstone
This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Someone is seen wearing a mask incorrectly
Nose not covered, hanging off one ear, constantly readjusting, etc
Screwed
A robot is KO’d due to being stuck in/on the screws
Up and Away
A whole robot hits the ceiling
Flawed Floor
The new floor still takes fight-influencing damage
Proof in the Pudding
A new build has teething trouble
THAT’S A HUGE HIT
Kenny or Chris say ‘HUGE HIT’
Noob Force
A new robot takes the Giant Nut
Oliver
An Open Field
A BB rookie makes the top 8
Rookie = new machine, even if the team have experience as a team or individuals
The Same, But Different
A 4WD vert wins the season
Bot 56
A previously confirmed entry doesn’t make TV
Confirmed = publicly by the team, by Battlebots (eg. via the website), or by associated media. SUpporter content doesn’t count.
Dun Dun Da Da Daaa Daaa
Flight of the Valkyries is sung
#GetHype
Hypershock makes the top 4
Spider Chomp, Spider Chomp
Footage of a classic Battlebots walker is used
Includes shufflers
Always on the Scene
Extinguisher puts out a fire
Ghost of Toad
A Team Toad sticker appears
The Future is Now, Old Man
Donald Hutson is reminded of how long he has been competing
Directly to him, eg in an interview
Home Field Advantage
No non-US teams make the top 16
Thank You, Johnathan, Very Cool
Presenters say something blatantly wrong, or something in a graphic is clearly incorrect
You Only Got One Shot
A fight is ended in a single exchange
Salt of the Fans
A JD causes online backlash
Maxwell Edison
The Pulverisers score a KO
Grabbing Defeat From the Jaws of Victory
A robot which is clearly winning dies for any reason
Wait For It!
John Reid says ‘good hit’
David
Mortal Coil
Ghost Raptor gets split in 2
Large and in Charge
All 3 ‘oversized’ robots (HUGE, SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, and Mammoth) finish with a combined win rate of at least 2:3 (0r 66.6…%)
The British are Coming
BETA makes the top 16
We somehow missed reading this one out…
Unprecedented
The word ‘unprecedented’ is used to describe the pandemic
Armchair Engineer
Fan makes comments about how a robot sucks and they could do it better
FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!
Two robots with flamethrowers fight (1v1)
Not in my Lexicon 2
The term ‘drum’ is used to describe something which is clearly a drisc
See ’the diagram’, courtesy of Jevan
It Is Wednesday My Dudes
Ribbot makes the knockout stages
Stay Froggy
Ribbot’s vacuum-formed top survives a fight
Rusty in Pieces
Rusty gets a win
Spin Dammit!
Axe Backwards wins a fight
The King is Dead
Tombstone fails to make the bracket
Derby Match
Slammow vs Big Dill (1v1)
Ow, My Head!
Chomp’s hammer snipes a robot
‘Snipes’ = accurately hitting a critical part which immobilises the opponent
Knife Roomba
A Mowbot autonomous lawnmower appears on screen
Not just in the background, intentionally featured
What if its an ad segment?
What Other Weapon?
A robot with interchangeable weapons doesn’t change weapons
Jevan
Frenemies
Skorpios vs HiJinx (1v1)
…The Harder They Fall
Chomp’s legs take significant spinner damage
Legs are removed or their function is impaired
I Don’t Think So, Chief
A team refuses a fight
EG. Shredderator vs Cobalt
The Eyes Have It
HUGE wins the Giant Nut
Should’a Stayed Electric
BETA runs out of gas
Weapon stops or can’t self right due to lack of gas
Sorry About Your Ceiling
An entire robots hits the ceiling/lighting rig
Weeeeeeeeeeedge
SMEEEEEEEEEEE wins a fight
Can be an exhibition/other non-tournament fight provided it is aired on Discovery
I’m A Fire Starter
20+ fires across the season
Large amounts of smoke or visible flames
No More Apologies
Slammow makes the bracket
Game of Clones
A robot is likened to another in looks alone
Beat the Clock
A robot comes back to life during a countout
David vs Goliath
Mammoth fights a robot with a minibot
Tis Just A Flesh Wound
A badly damaged robot makes it to the judges
Stop, Stop, He’s Already Dead!
A clearly dead robot keeps getting hit
Yeeted-er
A robot hits the ceiling
Includes minibots
Age of Rust
Rusty goes undefeated during Fight Night
2 hr 2 min
November 29, 202083: The Last Roll
Front matter
How you doing?
Artificial daylight lamp build
Youtube is becoming garbage
Follow Up
Lockjaw does not have a wedge
The Malice team are awesome
RTNCTI
Upcoming fights:
Quarter finals
Lockjaw vs Apollo
Tombstone vs Expulsion
Minotaur vs RAPID
SOW vs Biteforce
Semi-finals, final, and 3rd place
!!!RATHER LARGE SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Lockjaw vs Apollo
Easy-ish rides to the quarters
Battlebots arena
Tombstone vs Expulsion
Minotaur vs RAPID
Minotaur’s forks vs Rapid’s front edge
SOW vs Biteforce
Biteforce’s wedge diverting SOW’s weapon into its own weapon?
Differing spinup times
Power of the box rush
Lockjaw vs Tombstone
It happened, but it didn’t happen
Ass-plow
Minotaur vs SOW
Interactions between a drum and a horizontal
Lockjaw vs SOW
Sam may be biased towards SOW
Ryan may be biased against SOW
Tombstone vs Minotaur
It happened, but would it go the same way again?
Tombstone.pptx
55 min
November 16, 202082: Strongly in Favour
Follow Up
Sam did a Minotaur oopsie
Not the oopsie Ryan expected
Ryan has a pillar drill/drill press now
Battlebots news!
Air date!
Trailer!
Other good things!
Robocast’s 2020 preview
Thursday broadcast
RTNCTI
Mistakes!
BETA vs DUCK! should not have hapened
Hypothermia vs BETA and DUCK! vs SOW should have hapened in its place
These fights will happen now
If any of you actually read these shownotes you would have already know all of this
Upcoming fights:
Do-overs
Hypothermia vs BETA
DUCK! vs SOW
Round of 16
Valkyrie vs Lockjaw
Apollo vs Red Devil
WAR Hawk vs Tombstone
Whiplash vs Expulsion
The Four* Horsemen vs Minotaur
RAPID vs Complete Control
Hypothermia vs SOW
Biteforce vs Storm 2
!!!VERY MILD SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Hypothermia vs BETA
BETA’s potential to damage Hypothermia’s weapon
Similar to Thor vs Coyote
Yes, we forgot to justify this. We’re sorry (Ryan’s sorry). We’ll make up for it later. (maybe)
DUCK! vs SOW
Chances of a SOW weapon failure?
Lockjaw’s ass wedge
Valkyrie vs Lockjaw
Over-rating Valkyrie?
Smokey Lockjaw
With an ass wedge
Apollo vs Red Devil
The last remaining RW champ
WAR Hawk vs Tombstone
Wedge
Whiplash vs Expulsion
The Four* Horsemen vs Minotaur
RAPID vs Complete Control
Flipper geometry is hard
Hypothermia vs SOW
Biteforce vs Storm 2
SUBSCRIBE
Upcoming fights:
Lockjaw vs Apollo
Tombstone vs Expulsion
Minotaur vs RAPID
SOW vs Biteforce
Semi-finals, final, and 3rd place
Aftershow - the Battlebots 2020 field (edited highlights)
BETA
It’s different
F’kin magnets
Pneumatic vs electric hammers
Black Widow
Walker? Roller? Hovercraft?
(The answer is roller…)
LOGO robot
Chomp
Yes
Yes
Yes
Autonomy?
Extingisher
Fire extinguisher
Replacing the siren
Witch Doctor vibes?
Old Extinguisher
Fusion
Gyro?
Gemini
Lieutenant Commander Data - a robot? Or not?
Case closed
One bot or two?
Malice
Not a drum
‘Pancake drum’
A cool way iof getting a compact, high-inertia horizontal
Black Dragon-esque wheels
Rusty
A R T
More whimsy please - Ryan
Shatter
D O U B L E A R T
Slammow
Please work
Sharing a sponsor with the show
Potential fan unrest?
Sir Clips
SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Straight SMEEEEEEE vs bendy SMEEEEEEE?
Variable spellings
Tower of Power
Tantrum
Tracer
Monsoon-esque, but also not
Awesome minibot
The Big Dill
vs The Krusty Grab
This fight is laargely an advert for The Krusty Grab rather than The Big Dill
1 hr 42 min

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