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There is a perception in the robot combat community that robots with spinning weapons ('spinners') and other types of active weaponry (lifers, flippers, etc.) win more matches than do wedges, rammers, and other non-active types of 'bots. To inject a little substance into the discussion, I ran a statistical analysis of tournament outcomes for 2005.
Note: an update of this analysis based on 2015/2016 data is available: What Weapons Win 2016
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Method
I selected the 12-pound 'hobbyweight' and 3-pound 'beetleweight' class robots for this analysis because they are popular and are commonly represented at events.
I examined the lists of entered 'bots from the 'completed events' listed on the 'events' page of buildersdb.com on December 12th, 2005 and recorded the weapon type for each hobbyweight and beetleweight robot that competed in any of the twenty events listed. Those events were:
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- DaVinci Days
- Summer W.H.R.E
- Robot Rebellion 5.3
- SNF Qualifier 1.0
- POP9 Worst Ever
- WBX-II
- Last Chance
- RoboPraxis
- TCO III
- Underground Rampage
- Robonexus
- BBS3 - Alien Invasion
- Robothon
- House of NERC 2005
- Detroit Bug Battle 3
- Fall W.H.R.E. '05
- Robot Rebellion 5.4
- 2005 RFL Nationals
- Combots Cup
- Bay Area Robot Fights
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I then went to Botrank.com and recorded the win/loss record and ranking for each of the beetleweight and hobbyweight 'bots from the above events:
| Beetleweights |
| Name |
Wins |
Losses |
Rank |
Spinner |
Active |
| 3A |
2 |
5 |
137 |
1 |
1 |
| 3pd |
17 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Aim N Maim |
3 |
2 |
42 |
0 |
0 |
| Altitude |
2 |
1 |
45 |
1 |
1 |
| Anthrax |
4 |
2 |
27 |
1 |
1 |
| Beetle from Hell |
13 |
12 |
38 |
0 |
0 |
| Box of Death |
4 |
4 |
48 |
1 |
1 |
| Buster Blade |
14 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
| Buzz |
0 |
2 |
128 |
1 |
1 |
| Cannon Fodder |
4 |
0 |
13 |
1 |
1 |
| Creepy Crawler |
2 |
2 |
48 |
0 |
0 |
| Dark Slayer |
2 |
2 |
51 |
1 |
1 |
| Enemy |
1 |
2 |
103 |
1 |
1 |
| Fear Factor Sr. |
1 |
2 |
79 |
1 |
1 |
| Fear Factor Sr. 2 |
7 |
6 |
33 |
1 |
1 |
| Fir Darrig |
15 |
11 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
| Fire Fly |
4 |
2 |
28 |
0 |
0 |
| John Henry |
4 |
2 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
| Mars Attacks 2 |
0 |
2 |
120 |
1 |
1 |
| Mini Spar-Kee |
13 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
| Nemo |
6 |
6 |
36 |
1 |
1 |
| Nuclear Kitten |
9 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
| OFUC |
15 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Pop Goes the Monkey |
2 |
0 |
29 |
0 |
1 |
| Pyramid of Death |
13 |
10 |
24 |
0 |
0 |
| Ripblade |
1 |
4 |
136 |
1 |
1 |
| Ron |
8 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
| Sandman |
5 |
6 |
86 |
0 |
0 |
| Sawtooth |
8 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
| SLS |
4 |
5 |
107 |
1 |
1 |
| Spinny Thing of Doom |
3 |
4 |
70 |
1 |
1 |
| Ultrabot |
1 |
2 |
105 |
0 |
0 |
| Unknown Avenger |
2 |
6 |
139 |
0 |
1 |
| Unlettered Understrapper
2.0 |
0 |
2 |
125 |
1 |
1 |
| VDB |
5 |
2 |
15 |
1 |
1 |
| Vengence is Mine |
0 |
2 |
109 |
1 |
1 |
| Wheelie |
4 |
6 |
114 |
0 |
1 |
| Woodchuck |
3 |
4 |
85 |
1 |
1 |
| Wrath of Abomination |
0 |
2 |
126 |
1 |
1 |
| Zap |
9 |
8 |
34 |
0 |
0 |
| Hobbyweights |
| Name |
Wins |
Losses |
Rank |
Spinner |
Active |
| All Hail Kitty |
4 |
6 |
82 |
0 |
0 |
| Bullet |
7 |
4 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
| Cantankerous Cowpoke 3.1 |
0 |
4 |
117 |
0 |
0 |
| CheepShot 3.0 |
12 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
| Chigger |
26 |
11 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Dexahedron |
3 |
1 |
19 |
1 |
1 |
| Gamma Knife |
2 |
4 |
90 |
1 |
1 |
| High Gravity |
0 |
2 |
111 |
1 |
1 |
| Lil Shocker |
20 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| LittleBytes |
1 |
2 |
58 |
0 |
0 |
| Mad Mennonite |
0 |
2 |
87 |
1 |
1 |
| Mad Puppy |
1 |
6 |
123 |
1 |
1 |
| Rants Pants |
5 |
4 |
33 |
0 |
0 |
| Rellik |
1 |
8 |
124 |
1 |
1 |
| Ricochet |
11 |
6 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
| Scoopula |
5 |
6 |
53 |
0 |
0 |
| Sir Nuts 'n' Bolts |
1 |
2 |
66 |
0 |
0 |
| Skittlebrau |
1 |
4 |
113 |
1 |
1 |
| Spatula |
15 |
10 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
| Target Practice |
17 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
| The Prussian Pitchfork of Pain |
2 |
2 |
52 |
0 |
0 |
| Toxic |
5 |
6 |
54 |
1 |
1 |
| Trivial |
1 |
2 |
79 |
0 |
0 |
| Wedgio |
14 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
Results
Compiling the combat records of the robots into with/without spinner weaponry, and with/without the broader 'Active' weapon category (includes lifters, clampbots...) yields the following results by weight class:
| Beetleweights |
Robots |
Median winning percentage |
Percent with winning record |
Mean ranking |
| With spinning weapon |
27 |
50.0% |
44.4% |
60th |
| Without spinning weapon |
13 |
52.9% |
61.5% |
56th |
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| With active weapon |
30 |
50.0% |
43.3% |
63rd |
| Without active weapon |
10 |
54.7% |
70.0% |
44th |
| Hobbyweights |
Robots |
Median winning percentage |
Percent with winning record |
Mean ranking |
| With spinning weapon |
12 |
33.3% |
22.2% |
80th |
| Without spinning weapon |
12 |
55.6% |
53.3% |
40th |
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| With active weapon |
15 |
39.4% |
41.7% |
62nd |
| Without active weapon |
9 |
47.5% |
41.7% |
48th |
- The median hobbyweight and beetleweight combat robots without spinning weapons have a higher percentage of wins than do the median hobbyweight and beetleweight robots with spinning weapons. They also have a higher percentage of winning records and a higher mean botrank.com ranking than their spinning-weaponed conterparts.
- The median hobbyweight and beetleweight combat robots without active weapons have a higher percentage of wins than do the median hobbyweight and beetleweight robots with active weapons. Thay also have an equal or higher percentage of winning records and a higher mean botrank.com ranking than their active-weaponed conterparts.
Discussion
On average, active weaponry appears to have no advantage in the success of the combat robot classes examined. However, although the average hobbyweight or beetleweight combat robot with an active weapon performs less well than the median robot without an active weapon, there is an elite group of spinners and lifters that dominate the upper rankings of both weight classes. These elite robots are built and operated by experienced teams with no shortage of resources.
If you have the experience and skill to properly construct and operate a 'bot with an active weapon, the effort may be worthwhile. If you are new to robot combat or have limited resources, stick to simpler robots.
Questions
Email: joerger@toast.net
Copyright 2006 -- Mark Joerger, Team Run Amok
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Run Amok Combat Robotics