Using Mech Combat To Hone Engineering Skills

jjp9999 writes "Mech Warfare is a mix between Battlebots and MechWarrior, only without the fanfare. The teams around the competitions include engineers and professionals in robotics, and the games are — aside from being an homage to their love for science fiction — a way to hone their skills in the field. Andrew Alter, roboticist and one of the mech pilots, said the competitions are taken as 'an engineering challenge,' noting that while they do compete, 'Having this mix of skill levels and demographics is really great to see, as information and ideas tend to flow freely. We're also solving practical real-world problems like being able to stream video over Wi-Fi in high-interference areas. It's not nearly as easy as one might think.'"

Comments

I don't care..

[gallondr00nk]

Until someone makes a copy of the Timber Wolf / Madcat.

Best. Mech. Ever.

Re:I don't care..

[roc97007]

I know, right? In every game from MW2 onward, once I got to the point where I could deploy a Timberwolf/Madcat, the rest of the mechs became uninteresting. I played with the 100 ton mechs and always came back to the Timberwolf. Best combination of maneuverability, firepower, and armor than anything else out there.

In ... MW4, I think, there was a MkII you could play for a couple missions. Heavier and a little slower, but still better than any 100 ton class. And you could reduce armor, upgrade the engine and have almost the same speed and maneuverability as a timberwolf with increased loadout.

After playing the games for years, I loaded up every mech (at the point where it became possible) with as many light gauss rifles as it could hold, and sniped while out of range of 90% of the game's weapons. It made the games absurdly easy. I suspect that's a programming or conceptual weakness in the game.

When I got bored with Mech Commander 2, I played the game with the smallest, lightest scout mech, and found what I think is a loophole in the game. It's absurdly easy to win with a flock of small mechs against a few larger ones. (Although it takes a little more strategy.)

Man, I miss Mechwarrior.

Re:I don't care..

[WilliamGeorge]

Coming soon, to a PC near you: MechWarrior Online (http://mwomercs.com/)

Re:I don't care..

[GryMor]

Already available, Mechwarrior: Living Legends

Re:Jamming

[Idbar]

Actually, it is... but then again wasn't that the way some other country allegedly recovered a drone?

So if is a realistic game, why not jamming signals, may as well come up with very robust communication schemes or actually improved autonomous robots.

Warning!

[MisterMidi]

This game causes agressive behavior.

That video's kinda cool

[Anonymous Coward]

My initial reaction was "Why the hell are they all using legs instead of treads?"

Then I checked their rules.

Mechs are to be true walking robots. Legs must be servo/actuator driven. No cam-driven, wheeled, or treaded configurations (except in the beginner league).
        Mechs may have up to 4 legs (Unlimited in the beginner league).

So that explained to me why they were using such ungainly configurations.

Some of the other rules on the mechs were about height, limitations as to leaving parts behind to hinder/causing damage to the arena (which I think would be pretty cool a function to build in honestly), and most interesting to me, control. The gist of it is that robots can either be autonomous OR controlled remotely. The kicker? Remote control can only be done if you have a wireless camera mounted in the "cockpit" area to control it. Which is pretty friggin awesome in my opinion.

To someone's talk about jammers...

In all weapons classes, weapons designed to interfere in any way with an opponent's camera or wireless control are strictly forbidden.

And of course the rules on weapons, what the arena will be like, the rules, etc.

Also, given that the only restriction for mechs is height with no weight restriction yet, what's forbidding them from making a land dreadnought style 4 legged monstrosity which is below height limit, has automated weapon systems (bypassing the cockpit camera restriction), and can fire in any and all directions at once upon detecting movement? Other than, y'know, sportsmanship.

And fuck you slashdot for making my captcha "virgins".

Re:Jamming

[Chris Burke]

So if is a realistic game, why not jamming signals

For the same reason the aren't allowed to pull an Indy and just shoot the other pilot.

I mean apart from one being murder and the other just being an annoying way to defeat an opponent.

They're both not in the spirit of the thing, which is to simulate mech combat where the pilot would actually be in the mech itself (or it's autonomous). That's why there's a rule about pilots only being able to see the arena through a camera mounted on the robot itself.

They're obviously trying to make this more of a sport-like game when they require the camera to be roughly center-of-mass like it's a cockpit window. The ability to look around corners which they're trying to avoid would be like the first thing you'd add to a 'real' mech.

Re:Jamming

[Idbar]

Well, you can only go so far with many things on-board. Yes, you can try to smash everyone with a 36" 4-legged robot (maximum allowed) but there's probably a battery penalty for playing that game. Same with the jammer, the more power you put on your jammer the more effective it is, but more power consumption.

You case of murdering the other pilots seems extreme, and I agree with some limitations (same as F1, for safety of the pilots and teams you may limit speed, or other stuff), but being a case of jamming, and not being harmful (unless you're planning on killing the pilot from cancer or whatnot). Why not allow people to look around search for techniques that improve the reliability of the device and also cases of autonomy where the system maybe completely disconnected.

I'm not saying it should be the rule for all (particularly for beginners), but perhaps an advanced level. And yes, of course limit the weapons by penalizing collateral damage (by your standards/examples, it appears that you'd expect robots carrying nukes and I sincerely don't agree with that).

Kickstarter

[bigstrat2003]

TFA mentions that they have a Kickstarter project going to build a new arena (made out of tougher materials so they can allow higher-powered weapons while still keeping spectators safe), if anyone wants to kick in a few bucks. Linky.