I've just seen a few videos of quadrotors doing incredibly nifty things on youtube. Robot Wars (Battle Bots, etc etc) was great for a while but became a bit boring. It turns into stored-energy weapons in a game of rock paper scissors: flipper beats whirly, whirly beats stabby, stabby has long slow fight with flipper.

I say take a few teams, give them a standard base of 2 quadrotors (formation flying!) and let them make their own additions and load their own firmware. Permit a few types of projectile. Then let them fight.

The arena can be a perspex box if there are projectiles, or a chickenwire mesh. Put lights in the rotors (like those PC fans with lights in) for ease of identification and coolness.

I think autonomous flying would be the most spectacular; it would permit very fast combat and allow a bit of game AI tactics flying in confusing patterns, sitting on the wall etc.

Could even have missions like build a tower while trying to thwart your opponent's attempt to do the same (see the tower link).

Let the buzzing fury begin!
-- imagin8or, Apr 04 2012

(?) Aggressive quadrotor maneuvres http://www.youtube....v=MvRTALJp8DM&lr=1
[imagin8or, Apr 04 2012]

Quadrotors build a tower http://www.youtube....V2s&feature=related
[imagin8or, Apr 04 2012]

Is gun type weapons allowed on the Bot? or is it essentially a knife duct tapped to a quadrotors type of affair?

Maybe we can still allow for certain types of 'guns' as long as they are the 'trap net' or 'tangle wire' type?
-- mofosyne, Apr 04 2012


Akimbomidget, I think projectile weapons would be fine, as long as they are compatible with the arena enclosure. If the enclosure is netting, then the projectiles would need to be too big to get through.

I think one of the best ways to do it would be to provide these components off the shelf for the entrants; if they want to pay the weight/maneuvreability cost of more weapons, then go with that. This way the weapons can be tested separately and rigorously, without having to test each entrant bot, significantly lowering the costs of the series.

Could even have real suppliers competing at a range of price points to give the competitors better computer vision/weapons/etc. Think of all those games where you get to upgrade your ship with new weapons etc.
-- imagin8or, Apr 10 2012


Also, if you find the video of quadrotor fails, when they collide, they tend to drop to the floor; their balance is down to careful matching of the thrust from the counter-rotating propellers, so if the propellers are hit, the craft tends to flip over due to the sudden thrust imbalance.

So on one hand, an excellent strategy is to climb above your target bot and drop in on it. If the rule for the round is to be the last to hit the floor, then gravity should ensure your opponent hits first. Cue electronic floor sensors.

A better collision detector and emergency recovery AI would perhaps foil this attack in some circumstances; if you know that rotor A was hit, then adjusting the other propeller speeds immediately could save you from meeting the floor.

Slow-mo replays abound of bots nearly hitting the floor, rotors flailing, near misses, etc. Cam bots configured to evade contact, anyone?
-- imagin8or, Apr 10 2012


Kite fighting is quite popular around here, or was up until recently when it was banned in public parks. I was hoping to see kite fighting advance into something like this.
-- rcarty, Apr 10 2012



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