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| Nightmare competed at the May 22-28, 2001 BattleBots! |
Nightmare 2001 - Version 5 for Season 3.0 of BattleBots
(click on the 360 Spin Image)
Here is the full scoop on how Nightmare did for each fight at San Francisco 2001 BattleBots:
Fight 1: vs. Slam Job
Nightmare's first fight was against a rookie bot named Slam Job, buit by Scott Kincaid.
Slam Job is a large 4-sided wedge with a pneumatic axe/spike and a powerful drivetrain. I had watched Slam Job in earlier fights, and was concerned about his speed, so I knew I needed to get the weapon spun up before he got to Nightmare. (Nightmare takes about 5 seconds to reach top speed, and is deadly after about 3, but there are many bots that could get across the box in that time).
I had a bit of a scare coming into this fight- while standing in line waiting to get into the BattleBox, I discovered that Nightmare's receiver battery switch had somehow been left on, and the small battery pack had died! No time to charge, so a last-minute modification, and a loaned battery (thanks, Andy Miller!) hastily taped in, Nightmare was ready to go. Whew!
The fight began. Nightmare was able to get his weapon to top speed as Slam Job approached, so I edged Nightmare out of his square and towards Slam Job. Slam Job backed off and tried to come around the side of Nightmare, but I turned to face him. Slam Job pulled back once again and attempted to come in again from the other side. This time, Slam Job had cornered himself between the wall, the killsaws, and Nightmare's disc, so I moved forward, and...
WHAM!
I had expected that I might hit Slam Job on one of his sloped panels, but remarkably, Nightmare's disc went right into the center of Slam Job, impacting the large steel shaft that Slam Job's weapon was mounted to, the result was a terrific explosion of parts and Slam Job flipped end over end and landed upside-down in the corner.
While the hit was spectacular, Nightmare had actually done some damage to himself. It is said that spinner bots defeat themselves, and this is very much the case. In the impact, the tremendous downward force sheared four of my motor mount bolts, actually tearing the threads from the motor itself.The impact also popped loose the hastily taped-in receiver battery, and as a result, Nightmare stopped moving.
On TV, they announced the fight as ending in a KO, but because both bots technically were disabled at the same time, the judges awarded Nightmare the victory.
Total time: 34 seconds
Fight 2: vs. Son of Whyachi
Nightmare's next fight was against another rookie bot named Son of Whyachi, who had a bigger brother in the superheavyweights, Whyachi.
I was definitely worried about Son of Whyachi. This well-built and rumored to be very expensive, machine was a force to be reckoned with, and had been sending robots out of the arena in multiple pieces all event long. When I found out that Nightmare was next, I knew something bad was about to happen.
Whenever two powerful spinners meet in the arena, there is bound to be a huge hit. This match was no exception. I just wish it could have gone a bit differently...
The fight began. Nightmare spun up and headed towards Son of Whyachi, who was also spinning up. It was my plan to come towards Whyachi, and at the last instant and turn towards the right (S.O.W. was spinning clockwise for this fight), so as to hit his weapon directly with mine, into the spin. I knew that if I instead aimed into the center of his spin, S.O.W. would hit Nightmare's disc and deflect it to the side, so I needed to hit him on the extreme right (his left). Things didn't go as planned.
People often complain about the "Pete Factor". This was my turn to fall victim. Pete Lambertson, the arena hazards operator, hit the ramps under Nightmare, popping Nightmare off the ground. With the drive wheels off the ground, there was no way for Nightmare to do that last-minute turn to the right like I had so carefully planned. (On the video, you can actually see Nightmare's left wheel spinning forward in the air, trying to do that right-hand turn). Nightmare landed totally cockeyed in front of Son of Whyachi, right where he wanted me.
WHAM!
The impact from Son of Whyachi smashed in my front-mounted wheel guard on the end of the right arm, bending a 3/4 inch thick plate of aluminum into the tire and wheel. This was too much stress on the motor the wheel was mounted to, and the gear box actually snapped in two, a third of it still connected to Nightmare, the rest of it went flying, gear oil spilling from the destroyed motor. It looked pretty cool. I wish that was all that had happened...
But that was where the fun started. This impact from Whyachi had lifted Nightmare into the air, and the powerful gyroscopic forces in Nightmare's disc, still spinning at top speed, took over (never even TOUCHED Whyachi with my weapon! Arrgh). The force spun Nightmare upside-down and backward. Nightmare's disc smashed into the BattleBox floor, leaving a massive gash, and launched Nightmare into the same corner where Slam Job had ended up in Nightmare's previous fight.
The impact of Nightmare's disc on the floor did incredible damage. Nightmare's frame, 1/2" thick 6061 aluminum, was bent in two places, a solid iron bearing block for the 1.25" diameter shaft was shattered, the shaft itself was bent, the tooth that hit the floor was pushed back almost an inch, the motor magnets had shattered, and one of the weapon belts was sheared. Ouch. Note to Nightmare- NEVER again hit the floor with the disc at full speed.
The whole thing would have been much more worthwhile if both robots' weapons had actually made contact with each other. Next time I go AROUND the stupid ramps...
Later on, Pete came and sincerely apologized, saying that he meant to be hitting the ramps under Son of Whyachi, because he wasn't advancing, and I was. Wrong button, Pete.
Total time: 48 seconds
That's it for Nightmare in Season 3.0, I hope you enjoyed his fights! Nightmare will be back, repaired and upgraded for Season 4.0!
THANKS to my 2001 pit crew team for helping me make this an awesome event, especially Dan Cherney!
Thanks also to Paul Cornuke, Eric Sheeks, and Jeremy and John Franklin!
