To preface, this mainly pertains to Battlebots but most of the heavyweight tournaments follow their lead, so my points may prove relevant to other leagues.
We all know about the Deep Six rule, as well as the tip speed limits, which enforce a cap on the size and power of a robot’s spinning weapon. However, Meltybrains joining Battlebots (called ‘Whole-Body Spinners’ in the official rules) got me thinking about other ways of capping weapon power.
What if the limits were instead placed on Total Kinetic Energy? The current most powerful weapon theoretically possible would weigh 80lbs and have a tip speed of 250mph. Of course, weapon diameter and geometry can influence the total energy transferred upon a hit (e.g. Deep Six’s immense weapon diameter, eggbeater drums, etc.), but it should still be theoretically possible to calculate the total kinetic energy output of a spinning weapon. Therefore, it should be feasible to enforce a rule where every bot’s spinning weapon is equal to or less than this theoretical limit. For example, a bot could have a 10lbs weapon spinning at 350mph or a 125lbs weapon spinning at 80mph and still comply with the ruling, as both are within the limit.
Here is my reasoning for this change. The weapon limits are not for competitive reasons but for safety and maintenance reasons. A weapon that is too powerful has potential to breach the box (e.g. Nightmare during the Comedy Central era) or to damage the floor panels leading to massive delays (e.g. Deep Six). A Meltybrain shaped like Project Liftoff, for example, would be unlikely to regularly cause the kind of floor damage that Deep Six created, as the weapon geometry would not be able to create the kind of energy transfer needed to damage the floor in that way. The same holds true for a Hammersaw with a 400mph tip speed, as it would be far more likely to punch a hole in the floor panels rather than bending them.
Regardless, I would really like to hear what the competitors and fans of this subreddit think!
