LEGO ROBOT WARS

Series 6 has begun!!

Well, the qualifiers are filmed and on youtube, and the poll is on this site's homepage.  I have no idea how long you'll get to vote for,  but if plans go well then not more than a few days.  The reason for this is I need to get going filming the rest of LRW6. Me and my other driver are going to be quite busy during the rest of August, so we'll have to see how things go.

If the qualifiers are anything to go by, it shall be worth the wait anyway!
The most enjoyable fights so far. They're entertaining, not short, destructive, sometime close, and don't end with incredably bad driving! Some of the new robots are great. Speaking of which you'll notice some noobs didn't make it.

The Synergist simply didn't have enough power in it's weapon; neither the claw or lifting arm. Sure it could lift up Fast-Forward - but that was a deliberately tiny and light robot. Which incidentally I deemed pointless and also destroyed. A lucky win against Earthquaker in it's test match wasn't enough to secure Negative Feedback (rubbish weapon, not very good-looking) a place in the qualifiers.

Sadly Burnout - my frist front-hinged flipper - was completely wrecked by Chop Suey! Whilst it was being mashed from all directions it was also damaging itself. Getting the weapon "go back" into place put a lot of pressure on the chassis. I've got another front-hinged planned but I'm really not sure about these guys.

If you suggested a name that was picked but the robot was dropped there will be opportunity to use them again when I make some more robots.

The plan for Series 6 was to have an all-new and far simpler however superior camera set-up, a lower arena wall, an arena hazard and a better quality of competitor.
However, due to that terrible thing "money" not all has been realised.

My brother - who you'll know as the other driver in LRW - has cut 4 inches off the arena walls.  However, I didn't make them lower so as to make OOTAs (out-of-the-arena) frequent. It is now of course far more possible, I just didn't want every match to end that way. As the cameras focus on what happens inside the arena, anyone going out won't actually be seen! Also, now the cameras can get a better view of the action.

I was going to put a spinning disc/flywheel in the corner opposite the pit, but so far haven't come up with anything I like. I may abandon this idea.  But this shouldn't be an issue if the competitors are better than ever. Having done the test battles upgrades and new robots will be of better quality than in previous wars. I've had a chance to iron out issues before the series starts.  Currently, there are three untested new robots...

Bad news - I've lost an 8887 battery charger. I don't know how. It never left my bedroom so I'm completely baffled. It'll make waits between fights longer if I can't find it soon.

I looked at CCTV kits, multiple webcam recording, even buying four compact digital cameras! All options where pricey and all had potentiol setbacks. As you may already know "somehow" my Samsung s1065 burnt out. I also wanted to avoid using camera phones (mine is of poor quality, my brothers is okay) that left me one very old camcorder. However, I've managed to get hold of two Samsung s1065's and decided to use my brother's camera phone. I've also bought a tri-pod and I will be buying memory cards and power supplies  and I will have a camera system! Huzzah! Not quite what I was aiming for, but halfway there and good enough for now.

My brother returns to university soon, so as soon as these items arrive I will begin...
Lego Robot Wars: Series 6!

The last test battle posted on youtube is about as far as I got with preparations for Series 6. I have since then got a full time job and a full time girlfriend and have been very busy with loads of other things too. I therefore haven't been able to dedicate a single second to LRW. Hopefully, this won't last, but this will mean less updates.

However, there are plenty of wicked dudes out there who are doing their own series' now. Go and watch them, support them and if you can do it yourself too! The more we support each other the bigger and better all this can become!

Should anything happen with LRW I'll keep you posted. Thanks for your support so far. I'll still be checking youtube regularly if you want to get in touch, but best not to ask when the next update/episode will be... ; )

Although I have a couple of weeks to film I only have one decent camera operational at the moment. Therefore, I'll probably just film some test battles as I've built a few more new robots for Series 6. Infact, I've practically filled all the slots I wanted (good thing too as I've run out of bricks!!).

I'm thinking of investing in a better camera system to make everything a lot easier to film and then edit. This won't happen for a while as I currently have no budget for LRW. So this update is mainly an excuse to post some pics! Click to enlarge, but sorry two of the pics aren't very clear...

Join the Facebook LRW page by clicking here. This page wasn't set up by me and isn't run by me, so it's purely made by and for fans!

I've added some LDD files made by Scorge120 to the How To page. Check 'em out!

In other news I'm having trouble with uploading videos from my very very very old camcorder. I have four test battles filmed that I wanted to show but it's just not happening at the moment.  I may have to invest in some new cameras. Anyone reccomend a very good but cheap digital?

Thinking of doing some awards to pass time. Interested?

Last night I updated some robots. Pics! Click to enlarge:
Armageddon - I tried to upgrade the weapon. Nothing worked as well as the original weapon mechanism, so I put it back together. The chassis has changed slightly, the armour is now grey and the receivers better attached. I think it self-rights more effectively too.
Twister - Faster weapon, batteries now on their side rather than standing up. No front ramp
B2 - Is now a bit faster than before. Added name on top of the robot
Blade II - The chassis near the wheels kept letting the robot down so I've strengthened that.
Mayhem - I was about to destroy Mayhem for good... but I couldn't do it! I'd already attempted to fix the slipping gears issue, and so I move the green panels around a bit, stuck the receivers on top of the batteries in the middle of the robot (they seemed to take a battering when on the other side of the actuators.