Actual Size - Revision history

Paxmorningstar: /* REMATCH: Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha */

2026-05-24T19:05:11Z

REMATCH: Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:05, 24 May 2026
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	====REMATCH: Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====		====REMATCH: Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====
	Actual Size now faced a rematch against the robot that had sent it into the Consolation Bracket at the start of the day, Calinaga Buddha. Actual Size once again armored up with UHMW, and prepared to fight Calinaga Buddha once again. Actual Size was running the same A chassis as it had against Calinaga Buddha originally. The differences this time around were that Actual Size would be forced to run its shorter November wheels, but Morningstar also wisely chose to just run a single 1/8" UHMW outrigger to avoid the wheel issues that had inhibited Actual Size's driving in the first match. Actual Size also had a momentum advantage: Its last 4 matches had been straightforward wins with minimal damage, while Calinaga Buddha had just taken a tough loss to [[Pinevictus]] in the Winner's Bracket semifinals and had been forced to rebuild on short notice. As with the first fight, Morningstar planned to try and keep Calinaga Buddha unstable and use that as an opening to damage its weapon and chassis.		Actual Size now faced a rematch against the robot that had sent it into the Consolation Bracket at the start of the day, Calinaga Buddha. Actual Size once again armored up with UHMW, and prepared to fight Calinaga Buddha once again. Actual Size was running the same A chassis as it had against Calinaga Buddha originally. The differences this time around were that Actual Size would be forced to run its shorter November wheels, but Morningstar also wisely chose to just run a single 1/4" UHMW outrigger to avoid the wheel issues that had inhibited Actual Size's driving in the first match. Actual Size also had a momentum advantage: Its last 4 matches had been straightforward wins with minimal damage, while Calinaga Buddha had just taken a tough loss to [[Pinevictus]] in the Winner's Bracket semifinals and had been forced to rebuild on short notice. As with the first fight, Morningstar planned to try and keep Calinaga Buddha unstable and use that as an opening to damage its weapon and chassis.

	Actual Size initially was quite successful at executing this strategy, winning a flurry of exchanges and causing Calinaga Buddha to somersault around the arena, but as the match progressed Calinaga Buddha began to fight back, winning some exchanges of its own. In one close exchange, Calinaga Buddha came down on top of Actual Size, striking its top plate and once again denting its battery significantly. This time though Actual Size's weapon kept working, and after another flurry of blows Calinaga Buddha's weapon stopped working, leaving it stranded face-down doing the Thing. The match was paused and an unstick carried out, but as the match resumed Calinaga Buddha's weapon remained disabled, and Actual Size was able to get the robot high-centered on its face once again to take a tapout revenge win and climb to 5-1.		Actual Size initially was quite successful at executing this strategy, winning a flurry of exchanges and causing Calinaga Buddha to somersault around the arena, but as the match progressed Calinaga Buddha began to fight back, winning some exchanges of its own. In one close exchange, Calinaga Buddha came down on top of Actual Size, striking its top plate and once again denting its battery significantly. This time though Actual Size's weapon kept working, and after another flurry of blows Calinaga Buddha's weapon stopped working, leaving it stranded face-down doing the Thing. The match was paused and an unstick carried out, but as the match resumed Calinaga Buddha's weapon remained disabled, and Actual Size was able to get the robot high-centered on its face once again to take a tapout revenge win and climb to 5-1.

Paxmorningstar: /* Actual Size vs Voidling */

2026-05-24T18:55:41Z

Actual Size vs Voidling

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:55, 24 May 2026
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	====Actual Size vs Voidling====		====Actual Size vs Voidling====
	Actual Size's next fight was against Voidling, a 4WD vertical spinner and scaled down version of the 12lber [[Void]]. Morningstar once again chose to run the B chassis, the A chassis was still being repaired and the B chassis had not taken any damage in the previous match.		Actual Size's next fight was against Voidling, a 4WD vertical spinner and scaled down version of the 12lber [[Void]]. Morningstar once again chose to run the B chassis, since the A chassis was still being repaired and the B chassis had not taken any damage in the previous match.

	This fight was short and sweet. On its first hit, Actual Size punched a hole in Voidling's weapon pulley and disabled its spinner, prompting a quick tapout and pushing Actual Size to 2-1.		This fight was short and sweet. On its first hit, Actual Size punched a hole in Voidling's weapon pulley and disabled its spinner, prompting a quick tapout and pushing Actual Size to 2-1.

Paxmorningstar: /* UPJ Bot Bash 2026 */

2026-05-24T18:29:40Z

UPJ Bot Bash 2026

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:29, 24 May 2026
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	The loss to [[Twisted Sister]] finally made a wheel redesign unavoidable. The design of the wheels had not been changed since November 2025, and Morningstar knew that the spokes and rim of the wheel had a tendency to tear when subjected to enough damage. Despite this, the wheels had proven they could sustain a great deal of trauma before such a match-ending failure would occur. In light of more pressing design issues (such as the changes needed to protect the weapon motor) Morningstar had opted to keep the same, trusted wheel design through the March and April events to keep from changing too many elements of the robot at once. However, the almost complete bisection of a wheel by [[Twisted Sister]] made it clear that it was time to improve Actual Size's wheel geometry.		The loss to [[Twisted Sister]] finally made a wheel redesign unavoidable. The design of the wheels had not been changed since November 2025, and Morningstar knew that the spokes and rim of the wheel had a tendency to tear when subjected to enough damage. Despite this, the wheels had proven they could sustain a great deal of trauma before such a match-ending failure would occur. In light of more pressing design issues (such as the changes needed to protect the weapon motor) Morningstar had opted to keep the same, trusted wheel design through the March and April events to keep from changing too many elements of the robot at once. However, the almost complete bisection of a wheel by [[Twisted Sister]] made it clear that it was time to improve Actual Size's wheel geometry.

	The desire to change the wheels also emerged as a solution to the factors behind Actual Size's other loss in April to [[Chaos Upright]]. In that match, Actual Size had "rolled over" due to the torque reaction of its weapon spinning up at the start of the match, and as a result took a direct hit in ~~it's~~ most vulnerable position by [[Chaos Upright]]. This tendency to go "belly-up" is not a new or unique phenomenon - it is a byproduct of how bigwheel chassis maneuver relative to their wheels, and appears in bigwheel robots of every weight class. Robots like Starchild even take advantage of this torque reaction in order to deliver their weapon. Typically, managing the chassis position to limit the amount of time in this position comes down to driving skill, but as part of the post-April changes Morningstar wanted to see if the problem could instead be mitigated through design changes.		The desire to change the wheels also emerged as a solution to the factors behind Actual Size's other loss in April to [[Chaos Upright]]. In that match, Actual Size had "rolled over" due to the torque reaction of its weapon spinning up at the start of the match, and as a result took a direct hit in its most vulnerable position by [[Chaos Upright]]. This tendency to go "belly-up" is not a new or unique phenomenon - it is a byproduct of how bigwheel chassis maneuver relative to their wheels, and appears in bigwheel robots of every weight class. Robots like Starchild even take advantage of this torque reaction in order to deliver their weapon. Typically, managing the chassis position to limit the amount of time in this position comes down to driving skill, but as part of the post-April changes Morningstar wanted to see if the problem could instead be mitigated through design changes.

	Morningstar's first thought was to armor the chassis all the way around, so that regardless of its orientation it would be able to sustain a hit. Morningstar had fantasized about a tube-shaped chassis to facilitate this as far back as his 2024 3lb bigwheel [[Jot]], but the number of design issues that shifting to such a tube raises outweigh the benefits. One such risk is that not all areas of the chassis are as likely to be hit, so using a tube to uniformly armor the chassis is inefficient. It is the same logic behind putting more weight into a strong forward wedge at the expense of armor on other portions of a robot: If you try to be strong everywhere, you'll actually be weak everywhere. This prompted Morningstar to start thinking about what portions of the robot are most likely to be hit, depending on whether Actual Size is belly-up or not.		Morningstar's first thought was to armor the chassis all the way around, so that regardless of its orientation it would be able to sustain a hit. Morningstar had fantasized about a tube-shaped chassis to facilitate this as far back as his 2024 3lb bigwheel [[Jot]], but the number of design issues that shifting to such a tube raises outweigh the benefits. One such risk is that not all areas of the chassis are as likely to be hit, so using a tube to uniformly armor the chassis is inefficient. It is the same logic behind putting more weight into a strong forward wedge at the expense of armor on other portions of a robot: If you try to be strong everywhere, you'll actually be weak everywhere. This prompted Morningstar to start thinking about what portions of the robot are most likely to be hit, depending on whether Actual Size is belly-up or not.

Paxmorningstar: /* Actual Size vs Ironhide */

2026-05-24T07:03:53Z

Actual Size vs Ironhide

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:03, 24 May 2026
Line 327:		Line 327:
	Actual Size's next opponent was another 4WD vertical spinner in [[Ironhide]], this time sporting an eggbeater. At this point in the day Morningstar had been able to repair the A chassis to a point where it seemed usable, and chose to swap it back in.		Actual Size's next opponent was another 4WD vertical spinner in [[Ironhide]], this time sporting an eggbeater. At this point in the day Morningstar had been able to repair the A chassis to a point where it seemed usable, and chose to swap it back in.

	The electrical repairs Morningstar had performed on the A chassis held up without issue, but throughout the match the chassis experienced drive issues related to Morningstar's attempted repairs to the chassis' larger wheels. These drive issues allowed [[Ironhide]] to strike the wheels numerous times, putting them in control of the first half of the match. As the match progressed though Actual Size was able to land several hits on [[~~Ironside~~]], one of which was able to crack its beater and disable its weapon, which led to another tapout victory. Actual Size was now 3-1 and continued on in the tournament, though this was the last fight for the larger wheels of the A chassis, which were retired for the day.		The electrical repairs Morningstar had performed on the A chassis held up without issue, but throughout the match the chassis experienced drive issues related to Morningstar's attempted repairs to the chassis' larger wheels. These drive issues allowed [[Ironhide]] to strike the wheels numerous times, putting them in control of the first half of the match. As the match progressed though Actual Size was able to land several hits on [[Ironhide]], one of which was able to crack its beater and disable its weapon, which led to another tapout victory. Actual Size was now 3-1 and continued on in the tournament, though this was the last fight for the larger wheels of the A chassis, which were retired for the day.

	====Actual Size vs Counterspell====		====Actual Size vs Counterspell====

Paxmorningstar at 07:03, 24 May 2026

2026-05-24T07:03:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:03, 24 May 2026
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	\| Weapon Drive \|\| BadAss 2315-1480kv Brushless Motor		\| Weapon Drive \|\| BadAss 2315-1480kv Brushless Motor
	\|-		\|-
	\| Drive \|\| Repeat ~~Drive~~ ~~Max~~ from [http://repeat-robotics.com Repeat Robotics]		\| Drive \|\| Repeat Mini Mk4s from [http://repeat-robotics.com Repeat Robotics]
	\|-		\|-
	\| Power \|\| 3S Lipo		\| Power \|\| 3S Lipo

Paxmorningstar: /* UPJ Bot Bash 2026 */

2026-05-20T20:58:00Z

UPJ Bot Bash 2026

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:58, 20 May 2026
Line 306:		Line 306:

	Instead of showing up to the UPJ Bot Bash with 6 new larger wheels (which had been the plan) and 2 V4.1 chassis, Morningstar was forced to prepare one V4.1 chassis and one V4.0 chassis. Upon returning home at 8pm on the 17th, Morningstar pulled an all-nighter to assemble both robots, jumped in a car at 4am, and drove from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh to compete.		Instead of showing up to the UPJ Bot Bash with 6 new larger wheels (which had been the plan) and 2 V4.1 chassis, Morningstar was forced to prepare one V4.1 chassis and one V4.0 chassis. Upon returning home at 8pm on the 17th, Morningstar pulled an all-nighter to assemble both robots, jumped in a car at 4am, and drove from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh to compete.

	"A" chassis (V4.1) "B" chassis (V4.0)

	====Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====		====Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====

Paxmorningstar at 20:57, 20 May 2026

2026-05-20T20:57:32Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:57, 20 May 2026
Line 306:		Line 306:

	Instead of showing up to the UPJ Bot Bash with 6 new larger wheels (which had been the plan) and 2 V4.1 chassis, Morningstar was forced to prepare one V4.1 chassis and one V4.0 chassis. Upon returning home at 8pm on the 17th, Morningstar pulled an all-nighter to assemble both robots, jumped in a car at 4am, and drove from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh to compete.		Instead of showing up to the UPJ Bot Bash with 6 new larger wheels (which had been the plan) and 2 V4.1 chassis, Morningstar was forced to prepare one V4.1 chassis and one V4.0 chassis. Upon returning home at 8pm on the 17th, Morningstar pulled an all-nighter to assemble both robots, jumped in a car at 4am, and drove from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh to compete.


	Recap coming soon
⚫	<!--
	"A" chassis (V4.1) "B" chassis (V4.0)		"A" chassis (V4.1) "B" chassis (V4.0)

	====Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====		====Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====
			Actual Size's first fight of the day was against Calinaga Buddha, a gear-driven reach vert. Actual Size's "A" chassis (V4.1, with the larger wheels) was affixed with its UHMW chin armor to help better protect the chassis, but this pushed the robot slightly overweight. To compensate, Morningstar opted to run 1/8" UHMW outriggers instead of the normal 1/4" outriggers the robot had been running since March. The plan was to keep Calinaga Buddha unstable and try to land strikes against the robot's weapon motor or chassis.
	"A" chassis w/ 10in wheels

	back and forth
			The fight was initially back and forth, with Actual Size's chin armor working exactly as intended, but as damage to Actual Size's thinner outriggers started to accumulate the bot became harder and harder to control. This ultimately put Calinaga Buddha in a position where it struck Actual Size's chassis so directly that it pierced through the UHMW armor, striking Actual Size's weapon ESC leads and caving in its battery, killing Actual Size's weapon and prompting Morningstar to tap out and start the day at 0-1.
	cut into chassis and damaged weapon motor leads

	1/8" outrigger failure
			Morningstar initially planned to retire the A chassis entirely, since the combination of resoldering electronics and repairing the damage that the wheels sustained during the match seemed prohibitive. However, Team HUGE member and [[Ugee]] driver Joe Doerfler, who happened to be present at the event, encouraged Morningstar to attempt a repair, stating "I think you can fix it." The decision to repair the A chassis would prove critical to Morningstar's success later in the event.
	Joe Doerfler says "I think you can fix it"

	====Actual Size vs [[Deep Stone Lullaby]]====		====Actual Size vs [[Deep Stone Lullaby]]====
			With a loss, Actual Size dropped into the Consolation Bracket and faced [[Deep Stone Lullaby]], a split disk vertical spinner. Since the A chassis was still being repaired, Morningstar switched to running the "B" chassis with smaller, armored wheels.
	"B" chassis

	~~Actual Size's next opponent was [[Deep Stone Lullaby]], a split disk vertical spinner.~~ Shortly after the match started [[Deep Stone Lullaby]] stopped moving, and Actual Size took the win.		Shortly after the match started [[Deep Stone Lullaby]] stopped moving for unknown reasons, and Actual Size took the win by knockout, advancing to 1-1.

	====Actual Size vs Voidling====		====Actual Size vs Voidling====
			Actual Size's next fight was against Voidling, a 4WD vertical spinner and scaled down version of the 12lber [[Void]]. Morningstar once again chose to run the B chassis, the A chassis was still being repaired and the B chassis had not taken any damage in the previous match.
	"B" chassis

	1 and done - hit the pully and instantly took the weapon offline
			This fight was short and sweet. On its first hit, Actual Size punched a hole in Voidling's weapon pulley and disabled its spinner, prompting a quick tapout and pushing Actual Size to 2-1.

	====Actual Size vs [[Ironhide]]====		====Actual Size vs [[Ironhide]]====
			Actual Size's next opponent was another 4WD vertical spinner in [[Ironhide]], this time sporting an eggbeater. At this point in the day Morningstar had been able to repair the A chassis to a point where it seemed usable, and chose to swap it back in.
	"A" chassis w/ 10in wheels

			The electrical repairs Morningstar had performed on the A chassis held up without issue, but throughout the match the chassis experienced drive issues related to Morningstar's attempted repairs to the chassis' larger wheels. These drive issues allowed [[Ironhide]] to strike the wheels numerous times, putting them in control of the first half of the match. As the match progressed though Actual Size was able to land several hits on [[Ironside]], one of which was able to crack its beater and disable its weapon, which led to another tapout victory. Actual Size was now 3-1 and continued on in the tournament, though this was the last fight for the larger wheels of the A chassis, which were retired for the day.

	====Actual Size vs Counterspell====		====Actual Size vs Counterspell====
			Actual Size would next face Counterspell, a grappler robot. Wanting to keep using the A chassis (with its smaller Repeat Mk4 Mini drive motors) but unable to use the larger V4.1 wheels, Morningstar quickly reconfigured the bot to run the older November wheels from the B chassis.
	"A" chassis with 9in wheels

			The fight was mostly one-sided. Actual Size was able to quickly get Counterspell on its back, and with a damaged grappling mechanism Counterspell found itself unable to self-right and chose to tapout once again, granting Actual Size its fourth consecutive victory and putting it at 4-1.

	====REMATCH: Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====		====REMATCH: Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====
			Actual Size now faced a rematch against the robot that had sent it into the Consolation Bracket at the start of the day, Calinaga Buddha. Actual Size once again armored up with UHMW, and prepared to fight Calinaga Buddha once again. Actual Size was running the same A chassis as it had against Calinaga Buddha originally. The differences this time around were that Actual Size would be forced to run its shorter November wheels, but Morningstar also wisely chose to just run a single 1/8" UHMW outrigger to avoid the wheel issues that had inhibited Actual Size's driving in the first match. Actual Size also had a momentum advantage: Its last 4 matches had been straightforward wins with minimal damage, while Calinaga Buddha had just taken a tough loss to [[Pinevictus]] in the Winner's Bracket semifinals and had been forced to rebuild on short notice. As with the first fight, Morningstar planned to try and keep Calinaga Buddha unstable and use that as an opening to damage its weapon and chassis.
	"A" chassis with 9in wheels

			Actual Size initially was quite successful at executing this strategy, winning a flurry of exchanges and causing Calinaga Buddha to somersault around the arena, but as the match progressed Calinaga Buddha began to fight back, winning some exchanges of its own. In one close exchange, Calinaga Buddha came down on top of Actual Size, striking its top plate and once again denting its battery significantly. This time though Actual Size's weapon kept working, and after another flurry of blows Calinaga Buddha's weapon stopped working, leaving it stranded face-down doing the Thing. The match was paused and an unstick carried out, but as the match resumed Calinaga Buddha's weapon remained disabled, and Actual Size was able to get the robot high-centered on its face once again to take a tapout revenge win and climb to 5-1.

	====Actual Size vs Warp====		====Actual Size vs Warp====
			Actual Size now stood one match away from a guaranteed podium finish. Its opponent was no slouch: Warp, another reach vert, had been similarly stomping its way through the Consolation Bracket after also starting the day at 0-1. By this point in the competition Actual Size had been through a lot: its UHMW chins were scarred and pockmarked from its two fights with Calinaga Buddha, several of its wheels had been retired due to damage, and it was out of batteries for its weapon half. Graciously, the driver of Warp lent Actual Size a spare battery so that the robots could fight.
	"A" chassis w/ 9in wheels

			The fight was a slugfest, with the large diameter weapons of each robot dealing out major hits. Warp was able to snipe one of Actual Size's drive motors and disable a wheel, but Actual Size was able to disable Warp's weapon and later one of its drive sides. Both robots limped to the bell, and for the first time all day Actual Size had the fight go to a Judge's Decision. The JD came back as 10-7 for Actual Size, giving Actual Size its sixth consecutive win, advancing its score to 6-1 and pushing it to the Consolation Bracket Finals.

	====Actual Size vs [[IMPAKT]]====		====Actual Size vs [[IMPAKT]]====
			With a destroyed drive motor and a limited turnaround time, Morningstar opted to pivot back to the B chassis for the Consolation Bracket Finals. The plan of attack versus [[IMPAKT]] was the same as ever, with Actual Size hoping to take its opponents weapon offline as quickly as possible and then rack up chassis damage.
	"B" chassis

			The fight ended up being very brief. After a handful of exchanges one of Actual Size's radios lost power, disabling half of the robots drive and its weapon. With no weapon, Actual Size tapped out, taking its second loss of the day and unfortunately dropping it out of the tournament. The exact reason for this failure was never fully identified, though Morningstar suspects that the unusually-shaped replacement battery may have been jostled after one of the exchanges with [[IMPAKT]] and pinched one of the BEC leads powering the radio, causing it to lose power.

			Despite this loss, there was much to be happy about. All told, Actual Size finished the event at 6-2, with more fights on the day than any other robot in the competition and all but 1 of its wins coming from either a knockout or tapout. The event marked Actual Size's first ever podium finish and best-yet performance of its career, coming in 3rd place out of 21 robots.

		⚫	<!--

			===NHRL June 2026===

	MISC: chassis sags when too much damage taken		MISC: chassis sags when too much damage taken

Paxmorningstar at 16:10, 20 May 2026

2026-05-20T16:10:24Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:10, 20 May 2026
Line 289:		Line 289:

	===UPJ Bot Bash 2026===		===UPJ Bot Bash 2026===
			In the aftermath of the April NHRL event, designer [[Max Morningstar]]'s priority was addressing the very different failure modes that had led to Actual Size's two losses.
⚫	Recap coming soon

⚫	<!--
			The loss to [[Twisted Sister]] finally made a wheel redesign unavoidable. The design of the wheels had not been changed since November 2025, and Morningstar knew that the spokes and rim of the wheel had a tendency to tear when subjected to enough damage. Despite this, the wheels had proven they could sustain a great deal of trauma before such a match-ending failure would occur. In light of more pressing design issues (such as the changes needed to protect the weapon motor) Morningstar had opted to keep the same, trusted wheel design through the March and April events to keep from changing too many elements of the robot at once. However, the almost complete bisection of a wheel by [[Twisted Sister]] made it clear that it was time to improve Actual Size's wheel geometry.
	Bigger wheels

	Shift to Torx
			The desire to change the wheels also emerged as a solution to the factors behind Actual Size's other loss in April to [[Chaos Upright]]. In that match, Actual Size had "rolled over" due to the torque reaction of its weapon spinning up at the start of the match, and as a result took a direct hit in it's most vulnerable position by [[Chaos Upright]]. This tendency to go "belly-up" is not a new or unique phenomenon - it is a byproduct of how bigwheel chassis maneuver relative to their wheels, and appears in bigwheel robots of every weight class. Robots like Starchild even take advantage of this torque reaction in order to deliver their weapon. Typically, managing the chassis position to limit the amount of time in this position comes down to driving skill, but as part of the post-April changes Morningstar wanted to see if the problem could instead be mitigated through design changes.
	new drive motors

	center of gravity issues that are actually weapon spinup issues
			Morningstar's first thought was to armor the chassis all the way around, so that regardless of its orientation it would be able to sustain a hit. Morningstar had fantasized about a tube-shaped chassis to facilitate this as far back as his 2024 3lb bigwheel [[Jot]], but the number of design issues that shifting to such a tube raises outweigh the benefits. One such risk is that not all areas of the chassis are as likely to be hit, so using a tube to uniformly armor the chassis is inefficient. It is the same logic behind putting more weight into a strong forward wedge at the expense of armor on other portions of a robot: If you try to be strong everywhere, you'll actually be weak everywhere. This prompted Morningstar to start thinking about what portions of the robot are most likely to be hit, depending on whether Actual Size is belly-up or not.
	Tube Actual Size and how that lead to the new outrigger position
	wheel print issues

			Through the power of geometry, Morningstar was able to determine what portions of the robot were in the "danger zone," lower relative to the chassis in the belly-up position than they are when the robot is right-side up. This in turn made Morningstar start to think about how that danger zone margin could be minimized regardless of robot orientation. Morningstar realized that extent of the margin is tied directly to the angle that the UHMW outriggers sit relative to the robot's chassis, and that by setting that angle to 180 degrees the robot's lowest point would be the same between both the right-side up and belly-up positions, with the only downside being that the rear of the robot's chassis would ride lower to the ground than it did previously. This could be offset by the new, larger wheels that Morningstar already planned to implement for the design. With the chassis riding the ground at an angle, the design now also had the benefit of taking the chassis out of plane, making it more difficult for reach verts to bite into the chassis.

			These outrigger changes, coupled with the new larger wheels, naturally added additional weight to Actual Size. Luckily, Actual Size V4 already weighed under 3lbs, but in order to leave enough extra weight for configuration changes Morningstar decided to trial Repeat Mini Mk4s as replacements for the Repeat Max motors that Actual Size had been running since its very first match in December 2024. As a far more minor change, Morningstar also opted to swap several of the fasteners on Actual Size from hex drive to Torx to enhance the robot's serviceability. With new, larger wheel and new side rails, the design for Actual Size V4.1 was complete.

			One other development that occurred alongside the new chassis and new wheels was the creation of bolt-on anti-horizontal armor for Actual Size's wheels. Consisting of 6 spring steel panels that could be fastened to the outside of Actual Size's smaller wheels, these panels were an alternative method of beefing up Actual Size's wheels and emerged as a response to both the damage the wheels sustained versus [[Twisted Sister]] but also as a potential method of reducing the chance of the wheels being ingested by an opponent. Due to their weight, these panels were designed to be run on Actual Size's smaller November wheels instead of the new larger wheels.

			It is worth noting that all of the above design ideation and changes emerged in the short time between the April 2026 NHRL event on April 4th and the University of Pittsburgh Johnston Bot Bash event on April 18th. This was an extremely accelerated timeline for such major changes, and several factors emerged that hampered Morningstar's ability to adequately prepare for the UPJ Bot Bash. The biggest of these was that a last-minute business trip meant that Morningstar would be out of town from April 14th until the evening of April 17th, dramatically reducing the amount of time available to prepare Actual Size V4.1. Additionally, Morningstar's 3D printer kept failing as it attempted to print the new, larger TPU wheels for Actual Size V4.1 (an issue later determined to be a combination of the wheel's size and the printer overheating). These print failures, coupled with the nearly 20-hour print time per wheel and Morningstar's business trip, meant that only 2 of the updated wheels were able to be printed before the competition, of which 1 was partially delaminated due to the print being paused and restarted to clear a jam. Morningstar couldn't even fall back to the original wheel design because most of the spares had been destroyed in the April NHRL event, leaving only 3 usable smaller wheels.

			Instead of showing up to the UPJ Bot Bash with 6 new larger wheels (which had been the plan) and 2 V4.1 chassis, Morningstar was forced to prepare one V4.1 chassis and one V4.0 chassis. Upon returning home at 8pm on the 17th, Morningstar pulled an all-nighter to assemble both robots, jumped in a car at 4am, and drove from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh to compete.


		⚫	Recap coming soon
		⚫	<!--
	"A" chassis (V4.1) "B" chassis (V4.0)		"A" chassis (V4.1) "B" chassis (V4.0)

Paxmorningstar: /* UPJ Bot Bash 2026 */

2026-05-15T04:37:07Z

UPJ Bot Bash 2026

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:37, 15 May 2026
Line 297:		Line 297:
	Tube Actual Size and how that lead to the new outrigger position		Tube Actual Size and how that lead to the new outrigger position
	wheel print issues		wheel print issues

			"A" chassis (V4.1) "B" chassis (V4.0)

	====Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====		====Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====
			"A" chassis w/ 10in wheels
			back and forth
			cut into chassis and damaged weapon motor leads
	1/8" outrigger failure		1/8" outrigger failure
			Joe Doerfler says "I think you can fix it"
⚫	====Actual Size vs Voidling====

⚫	1 and done - hit the pully and instantly took the weapon offline
	====Actual Size vs [[Deep Stone Lullaby]]====		====Actual Size vs [[Deep Stone Lullaby]]====
		⚫	"B" chassis
	Actual Size's next opponent was [[Deep Stone Lullaby]], a split disk vertical spinner. Shortly after the match started [[Deep Stone Lullaby]] stopped moving, and Actual Size took the win.		Actual Size's next opponent was [[Deep Stone Lullaby]], a split disk vertical spinner. Shortly after the match started [[Deep Stone Lullaby]] stopped moving, and Actual Size took the win.

		⚫	====Actual Size vs Voidling====
			"B" chassis
		⚫	1 and done - hit the pully and instantly took the weapon offline

	====Actual Size vs [[Ironhide]]====		====Actual Size vs [[Ironhide]]====
			"A" chassis w/ 10in wheels

	====Actual Size vs Counterspell====		====Actual Size vs Counterspell====
			"A" chassis with 9in wheels
	lifter?

	====REMATCH: Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====		====REMATCH: Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====
			"A" chassis with 9in wheels

	====Actual Size vs Warp====		====Actual Size vs Warp====
			"A" chassis w/ 9in wheels

	====Actual Size vs [[IMPAKT]]====		====Actual Size vs [[IMPAKT]]====
			"B" chassis



	MISC: chassis sags when too much damage taken		MISC: chassis sags when too much damage taken
	cleats pucker		cleats pucker
⚫	2 chassis
	Top plate vulnerable to reach verts		Top plate vulnerable to reach verts

Paxmorningstar at 05:17, 11 May 2026

2026-05-11T05:17:55Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:17, 11 May 2026
Line 296:		Line 296:
	center of gravity issues that are actually weapon spinup issues		center of gravity issues that are actually weapon spinup issues
	Tube Actual Size and how that lead to the new outrigger position		Tube Actual Size and how that lead to the new outrigger position
			wheel print issues

	====Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====		====Actual Size vs Calinaga Buddha====
	1/8" outrigger failure		1/8" outrigger failure