Rapture 2025 full write up


So between BITB and Rapture a whole new version of Exposure has been built, the centre piece of which is the Repeat Robotics hub motor and the larger, more aggressive weapon design. Due to the nature of hub motors, the robot went together very easily in a short amount of time, with the first proper weapon test being 2 days before the event!


Exposure

We knew our heats before arriving so I knew I was going to have a rough time with Icebreaker and Unstoppable Force in mine. We got set up quickly, and then I prepared the robot for my fight against Icebreaker:

Due to pit issues it was stuck down, which was a huge inconvenience for a lot of people but oh well. The fight started badly as it was my first time driving the new version with the weapon on, resulting in me getting roofed almost instantly. However, I managed to get one small hit which bounced Icebreaker into the pit.



Again, I didn't really know how to control the robot yet, and the turning was way too fast for me so I struggled to engage with Unstoppable Force and accidentally drove down the pit.



Jumbo Shrimp is a very well driven control bot, which is not the type of robot mine is designed to fight! This went much the same way as my second fight with me struggling to drive and ending up in the pit.



Because of the pit issues, the event format was changed from around Round of 16 to a Round of 32 to make it more fair.

My first fight of the second day was against Lilith. Because of Lilith's setup I was able to simply engage head on and peel up the front end forcing a tap out.



Onto the round of 16 where I would be fighting Flick! 2. This fight was really fun, I got some big hits (including one on my own minibot!) and forced another tap out.

           



In the round of 8 I fought Baby Dead Bod yet again. However, I got very lucky this time because the cable tie holding his battery connector broke, giving me a win without any damage!


This was a new experience for me, the semi finals! I was fighting Frenzy, a robot that basically hard counters mine perfectly. The first minute and a half saw me getting slammed around the arena, but Frenzy was having battery issues and eventually got stuck on the floor seam.



Now I'm in the final against Impulse, which is not a good matchup for me. I was unable to properly engage and got stuck upside down where Impulse could easily push me into the pit. However I am not at all disappointed at reaching the final! I can't believe the robot achieved that in its first event!



Photon

Going against Chopstick was never going to be easy, but I at least hoped for a good fight. The new responsive brushless drive took some getting used to, and unfortunately Photon headed to a corner of the area. Chopstick followed and quickly sliced through the carbon fibre lid before hitting the LiPo, sending clouds of smoke into the arena. A short but memorable fight was over. At least the audience will remember it!

Not only did Chopstick destroy the LiPo, it hit one of the drive motors which shattered two of the magnets. Miraculously, after removing the broken fragments there was enough of the magnets left for the motor to work. Doubly handy as I didn't have a spare.

Read for fight 2 against Initial B. This time, Photon was in much better form along with its driver. Largely ignoring the mini-bot, Photon delivered several good hits to Initial B before it became immobilised on its own hat. A KO win :) 


Next up, Delta V. Photon held up really well initially, easily surviving several big hits from Delta V's weapon. The final hit flipped Photon over, a position it couldn't recover from. KO loss.


Crossblow with 2 mini bots should have been so much fun. This time Photon suffered from double drive failure causing it to be counted out. A fault that would reoccur, sadly.


Last fight was a 3-way against Flick and Carbon Copy. The video doesn't show Photons relatively quick downfall and drive failure (again), but does show it stuck upside-down again and unable to flip back using its arm.

Certainly work to be done before the next event to both the drive motors and the arm. No serious damage except the huge cut to the carbon fibre lid (thanks Chopstick) and a new LiPo.












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