kbotworld
UK
kbotworld
UK
Cookley K*bots 2008 Review
K*bots UK hosted its traditional Easter event at the Cookley Primary school, Worcestershire, for the first time in 2008. All four Divisions were on display, as well as some special challenges which the students of Cookley and the surrounding area took part in during the week.
On Day 1, all pupils were introduced to Division 1, a test of pushing power using standard K’Nex red power pack motors. A mix of pupils ranging from ages 5 to 12 worked in teams to produce their very first K*bots. After the first tests, everyone was hooked, and by the afternoon all pupils had moved on to designing, building and testing their own individual K*bots.
Over the course of the week, pupils
were also introduced to Division 2 (four-wheel drive pushing machines), Division
3 (remote-control battling K*bots) and Division M (manually operated weapons on
wheels). But it was always Division 1 that saw the most excitement, the most
effort and the most impressive K*bots. During the morning sessions we ran a
‘ladder game’ for Division 1, in which pupils tried to climb up the ladder by
beating those above 
them. Two K*bots – Tiny Tornado, built by Charlie Farmer (right) and Ka-boom, built by James Myatt (left) were dominant in this game! Additionally, on Thursday the pupils got the chance to work in teams once more, as they took on a special K*bots Challenge. They had to build a machine capable of firing a tennis ball using only K’Nex pieces, and compete in tasks based on distance, accuracy and speed of firing. The winners were Ancel Davison and Harry Adams, who built a Mangonel-style catapult. However, the most complicated design was a huge K’Nex trebuchet… though it wasn’t very easy to load, which cost the team in the Challenge!
The afternoon was spent finalizing K*bots and, for those taking part in Division 3, practicing driving ready for showing off their creations on Friday.
And so it came to Friday afternoon, and the chance to win some trophies and rosettes for being a good student or building a great K*bot! And one of the biggest surprises was to find that the girls were really showing the boys how to do things! There was a young lady taking part in every single Final of every single Division… and one of them even won a competition!
Division M was won by Daniel Johnson from Caunsall, who was brave enough to build in a flipper AND a hammer weapon to allow him to attack from all angles. Division 3 was won by Nick Wilson, who had co-built his K*bot Twister with his cousin Jos and surprised us all by winning a trophy despite only finishing his K*bot on Friday morning! The powerful Division 2 K*bots put on a show, and the most impressive entry was named Little Power House, built by James Myatt, which featured 3lb of weight crammed into a tiny chassis… effectively one motorised, four-wheel-drive solid lump of plastic!
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Division 1 was, of course, the flagship Division – featuring all pupils taking part and K*bots which had evolved over four days of testing and tweaking. The two favourites were Charlie and James, but there was a surprise in store! Ana Partridge, who is well-known for bringing us the aesthetically brilliant Bingo, decided during the week that her poor old Division 1 dog just wasn’t going to be powerful enough in this competition. So she spent all week working on a new design, named Destiny (left, below). And, despite a tough draw in which she had to beat James AND Charlie in succession, Ana emerged triumphant to win the Division 1 trophy!
The event was a big success, enjoyed by all, and we hope to be back in Cookley next year for more of the same! Congratulations to our Division winners, and also to our rosette winners Charlie Farmer (Best Looking K*bot), Harry Adams (Best Inventive Design) and Chloe Pereira (Helping Hands Award).
Perhaps there’s even a future World Champion in there…?
Coming up soon: Students in Cheltenham will be treated to a special K*bots activity camp in the Whit week half-term. Full details to follow shortly!
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British students celebrate first UK Championships!
UK K*bots enthusiasts from all over the country convened at Cheltenham in November for the first ever UK Championships. This would be the first time that Regional winners from previous events had the chance to meet fellow Champions, and battle it out to see who could be best of the best.
The one-day event featured very little additional teaching, which is reserved for the Regional events. The morning session was used for “testing and tweaking” of K*bots, as all students eyed up the competition and made improvements to their K*bots accordingly. Then in the afternoon, the competitions started – and up first was Division 2.
The format of all the competitions was simple… 8 K*bots in each Division were split into two groups of four, and each K*bot took on the others in its group to begin with. Students would score 3 points for a win and 1 point each for a draw. The 2 K*bots with the most points in each group went through the semi-finals, which were a straight knockout competition.
DIVISION 2 – Can Anyone Stop Him Now?
Fresh from a runner-up spot in the 2007 World Championship, Andrew Martin’s legendary K*bot Crosshair went into this one as the red-hot favourite. Andrew duly won all three matches in his group to qualify for the semi-finals, but then things got difficult. Cheltenham’s regional champion Tom Hage, with Rampage, survived a shock result in his group to win the other two matches and qualify, but it meant that he had to face Crosshair in the semis.
But Andrew had made even more improvements to Crosshair at this event, and it was unstoppable! In the Final, he came across young Andre Christidis from Reading, and despite Andre exceeding expectations, there was only ever going to be one winner, as Andrew Martin confirmed his status as the UK’s top Division 2 builder, winning the UK Championship!
DIVISION 3 – A Star Of The Future
There’s something about UK students and remote control, but at every regional event Division 3 manages to capture everyone’s attention, and at the UK Championships this was arguably the competition with the highest level of K*bots. Even qualifying from the groups would be an achievement, and we duly saw some surprising results.
Cheltenham’s highly-rated regional champion Tractor Tom, driven by Ben Bolwell, was unexpectedly knocked out at the group stage, though regional runner-up Tom Hage’s K*bot The Great Wall of China made it through. In a very distinct vision of Division 3’s future, all the “weapon” K*bots were knocked out early, as the dynamic multi-direction K*bots went on to compete the UK Championship semi-finals.
Cheltenham saw a student reach the UK Final for the first time, as Daniel Roach with Triceratops upset the form book by taking out Great Wall of China in the semis. A few minutes later, Reading’s Andre Christidis stunningly made his second Final appearance by taking out the impressive Jack Hammerton! The Final was a thrilling match between two very similar, very powerful K*bots – but 7-year-old Andre made history by taking the victory and the title, having been pushed all the way to the final 10 seconds by Dan! Andre’s achievement at such a young age is phenomenal, and we will no doubt be seeing much more of him in the future…
DIVISION M – Shocks, Upsets and Underdogs
Always the most unpredictable Division, even the “3 chances” group system couldn’t prevent a few surprises at the UK Championships. All eyes were on Andrew Martin, who had won both the Oxford and Cheltenham regional events with his K*bot Crazy Frog. But despite winning his opening match against Ickenham’s Joshua Valman, Andrew suffered a disappointing defeat in his next encounter, and then in the decisive match his K*bot was launched clean out of the arena, and he was out before the semi-finals!!
The other group went more to form. The home Cheltenham crowd had something to cheer about, as both representatives made it though the group stage, but there was another shock result just around the corner. Sam Steel, driving a similar K*bot to that used by Andrew, met veteran student Ana Partridge with Big Flipper and followed a similar route to Andrew as his K*bot disappeared over the arena wall!
Cheltenham’s Ben Bolwell met Ana in the final, and in another unexpected twist, the young lady from Cookley in Worcestershire fired her opponent into orbit to take the UK Championship!! Ana’s experience showed, as she calmly waited for an opening time and again, using her good driving to win her the title against the odds!
DIVISION 1 – End Of An Era
By the end of the day, the crowd was significantly bigger, and there was a lot of support for the local Cheltenham students. So far we’d seen them in two Finals, but the Divisions had been won by representatives from Carterton, Reading and Cookley. High hopes rested on Division 1, but first they’d have to beat the competition favourite… a certain Andrew Martin, from Carterton, with T-4000.
The level was once again high, as evidenced by the fact that a brilliant triple gear reduction entry, Big Boy built by Matthew Finan, didn’t make it into the semi-finals. Two heavyweights met in the first semi-final match; Adam Valman’s Thingy 7, fresh from an indifferent run at the 2007 World Championships, came up against Sam Steel with a new-and-improved Wheels Of Steel. The Cheltenham K*bot won itself a place in the Final, and just as we wee expecting a big face-off against Andrew with T-4000, we had another huge shock result!
Once again, it was an unassuming K*bot built by Ana Partridge which stole the headlines. When the pair met in the centre of the table, they both arched up until… SNAP! T-4000’s front broke completely off and Andrew’s K*bot toppled over backwards, giving Ana a berth in her second Final in as many Divisions! But this time, she wasn’t going to stop Cheltenham celebrating a home win, as Sam Steel took the Division 1 UK Championship and establish himself, at the start of this new era of UK competitions, as the one to beat!
WARNING AMERICA
There are some really good K*bots in the UK this year! We’ll see you at the World Championships in 2008, and there will be TWO students coming with us… I can’t wait!
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Britain Is Back
Picture the scene… we’re 30 seconds into the Division 2 World Championship Final, and it’s neck and neck. Nobody knows who will triumph – the double and reigning World Champion from Texas, or the challenger from Scotland. What a long way K*bots in the UK has come in the last year!
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look back at the 2007 K*bot World Championships from Britain’s perspective. And we’ll do so chronologically, starting with the new-look Division M.
I personally loved the new style of competition, focusing more and more on who is the best driver, rather than who has the biggest flipper. In fact, flippers took a back seat this year, as the emergence of the turret hammer finally became a major force. If I may be so bold as to point out, however, there does not appear to be a whole load of diversity in the camp this year. Three of our top ten ranked K*bots look almost identical; something which I hope will change next year.
The Oxford and Cheltenham regional champion, Crazy Frog built by Andrew Martin, is always lethal in Andrew’s hands but looked out of sorts without its regular operator in Las Vegas, and only made it to the second round. In contrast, Jamie Phillips’ dual-pivot flipper Bobby B made it to the quarter-finals, and it took two efforts from Evan Gray to finally knock him out, following a controversial re-match.
(Left) photo is Andrew Martin with Crazy Frog in battle at Oxford, England and on the photo to the (right) is Crazy Frog in battle flipping its opponent during a first round match at the 2007 K*bot World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada USA.
Jamie Phillips’ dual-pivot flipper Bobby B made it to the Division M quarter-finals at the K*bot World Championships.
Congratulations go to 2007 Division M K*bot World Champion Harrison Stanton, who was one of the best drivers on the day, and did just enough in the Final to keep the impressive Michael DeLeece at bay.
Next up was Division 1, and we had high hopes for Richard Moseley’s powerful entry Bulldozer, which had earned itself a seeded position during the week. Also in the mix was Sam Steel’s K*bot Wheels of Steel, but all that promise sadly delivered exactly nothing. It was a day for the disruptors and both UK K*bots got caught out and turned off the side of the table. Incredibly, both machines were eliminated by the same person – young Ryan Blount. Maybe next year…
(Left) UK K*bot Wheels of Steel in battle in Las Vegas (Right) UK K*bot Bulldozer in battle in Las Vegas
So with nothing to show for our efforts thus far, Division 2 loomed. But before it all got underway, the biggest story of the World Championships 2007 was smouldering in the background. Here’s a quick history lesson…
In 2004, Andrew Martin from Alloa, Scotland made K*bot history by becoming the first European student to win a K*bot World Championship when he took the Division 2 title. When he returned the following year, Crosshair had evolved and looked ready to repeat its success. However, in the semi-finals it came up against a little-known K*bot named Maneater, and was defeated for the first time in its history. Andrew didn’t change his K*bot for 2006 and was accordingly eliminated in Round 1. Meanwhile, Maneater went on to win a second World Championship. Andrew was not happy…
(Left) Andrew Martin winning in the 2004 Division 2 K*bot World Championship (Right) Andrew Martin one year later during the semi-finals losing his crown in Las Vegas to Devyn Bowden from Corpus Christi, Texas
Just one week later, Andrew attended the UK’s Oxford Regional event, and tore Crosshair completely apart. He then proceeded to build a brand new chassis, with one goal in mind… to beat Maneater in 2007, and reclaim his World Championship.
Fast forward to 2007, then, and what a tremendous story we have! The best 2 K*bots in the World, from opposite sides of the globe, doing battle in the ultimate grudge match. And what a close match! By the time 90 seconds were up, still nobody was sure who had won. Our came the metre stick, and careful measurements were taken. Crosshair had made it this far, but Maneater beat it once again to take a K*bot record third title.
Nonetheless, thanks to Crosshair Britain is back on the K*bot map. With 3 Regional events and the first ever UK Championship coming up before the 2008 event, we’ll be back and we’ll be after those world trophies!
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Toby Wheeler
Email Toby Wheeler (K*bots UK Regional Co-Coordinator) at kbotsuk@yahoo.co.uk
UK K*bot notice from Tom Vermersch (K*bot World Championships):
We welcome all K*bot students in the UK to experience the awesome K*bot power of the 2008 K*bot World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Hope to see you soon in the entertainment capital of the World for the 2008 K*bot World Championships. Go to K*bot homepage for more K*bot action.
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(UK webpage by Toby Wheeler) For more outstanding Worldwide K*bot action and features return to the kbotworld Home Page.