|
NERC Ammends The Sportsman Class Rules With the sucess of the Sportsman Class after a few competitions, NERC has decided to try and open up the boundries a little bit more for these bots. An amendent to the rules was made redefining limitations on certain spinning weapons. The change was made in order to encourage even more unique designs. The new rules can be seen here: Hopefully with the addition of this rule, the Sportsman Class will continue grow into one of the more interesting weight divisions of combat robotics. NERC
Announce's The Sportsman Class After collecting feedback from many builders over many months we have decided to try something new. We feel that the level of destruction exhibited by today's spinning weapons is stifling creativity and may be turning some builders away from the sport. Today's bots are mostly either a high-powered spinner, or a super-armored wedge. Other design types, including some very innovative and creative designs, tend to have very short lifespans. Additionally the expense and effort of rebuilding a bot after every competition means that many builders are limited in how many events they can enter per year. With this new Sportsman's Class we seek to eliminate both very destructive spinning weapons and wedges. We do not seek to eliminate damage, just to limit it. Without super-damaging spinners or wedges, we hope to foster creative designs and fun competitions. We would like to emphasize that we are not abandoning spinners or wedges. We will run this class in parallel with our standard Open classes. Current and future wedges and high kinetic energy spinners are welcome, but they will remain in the Open class along with any other bots that builders choose to enter there. We plan to debut this class at Motorama '07. This should allow plenty of time to build the innovative bots we hope to see. However if conditions permit, we may have a trial run at other earlier events. Be sure to check out the new rule set link on the right. If you have any questions, be sure to read the forumn as well because they may already be answered there. If not post it and I'm sure somone will be able to help you out with your bot designs. NERC
Waives Fee's To Join The Northeast Robotics Club has been fortunate over the years with many members and excellent venue's like Motorama. With such great support, NERC is able to hold events throughout the year and break even. Being in this position, the board members have decided to waive the membership fee's. Eventhough NERC will not require any yearly fee's, we still would like to see members to donate their time and skills to keep the club going. Running an event is a lot of work and we need everyone to help out where they can. Thanks again to all the members, competitors and sponsors that help NERC exist. See you all at the next event. The
Toad Tank Finds a New Home It is with a heavy heart we write this. As some of you may have heard, Fuzzy has decided that the Toad Tank ownership will be transferred to SWARC (http://www.swarc.org/). They are a small group like ourselves, and this will be their first big arena. We're trying to pool a few local folks to help load the Tank for its farewell voyage (hey, at least it's only loading it this time...) either the 1st or 2nd weekend in December. It's a shame to see the Tank go, but the logistics simply involved too much. If you are available to help, lets show our support for another struggling bot group - SWARC's been mainly ants up to now, so this arena lets them move up a notch. Hopefully, the finances freed up by this move will allow us to build a nicer, transportable 16' arena - only time and member support will tell. Motorama
is Coming...again Hello everyone! The time for Moto '05 is rapidly approaching. Unfortunately, while the 24' Toad Tank is a great arena, and was an awesome addition to NERC's arena repertoire, it was not designed to be portable. After much discussion, the NERC officers have decided to use Rob Masek's POP arena for Moto '05. The cost (literally and figuratively) of storing, moving, assembling, dis-assembling, and moving once again the tank would wipe out NERC's monetary reserve, and the officer's reserve of stamina. This means that NERC will return to its roots - Moto will be a fairy through feather event. Hope to see you all there. Registration will be opening soon on the builder's database. Moto '05 is being held Feb 19-20, 2005. The POP arena measures 12' x 20'. Thanks! Motorama
is Coming NERC's biggest event for 2004 is only a few months a way, so it's time to get building! But more importantly, it's time to register. Check out the events section to find out more information. Registration is filling up quickly so mark your calendar's. Also,
be sure to get a copy of the updated rules for the event. Operation
"Arena Move" a Success NERC is proud to announce that we have aquired a new 24'x24' arena. After closing down the Robot Club and Grille, Michael "Fuzzy" Mauldin had generously donated the large arena to NERC provided we hold as many competitions in it as possible. This mission took months of planning and hard work from NERC members to prepare for the arrival of the new box. From cleaning out a barn so we could store the arena, to driving for two days to get the arena 300 miles to it's new home, the move demanded a lot from it's members. Thanks go out to all who put in more than their share to get the job done. Additional thanks go out to Jerry "Hammertime" Clarkin for donating the space for the new arena. NERC plans on debuting
the new arena at Motorama in February 2004, NERC's largest competion
for the year. LTRC 2002 a wrap! Release: 10/21/2002 WOW! What an event! Lots 'o bots, good friends, good food, what more could you ask for? The Lazy Toad Robot Club opened it's doors for it's first event on Saturday at 8:00 am. 12 hours later, as lots of tired bot builders congregated around the giant "Fuzzytron" screen to watch Battlebots™, it was obvious that Fuzzy had hit on a winner. By 6:00 pm the next day, the winners had been crowned.
Changes
for NERC The
NERC board of directors wishes to inform you of some changes that will
be occurring in NERC's infrastructure. For personal reasons, Jim Goeke
and Joanne Nuzzi have resigned their positions as officers to pursue new
ventures. Jim and Joanne have expressed an interest to remain involved
with NERC as members, paying membership dues and enjoying the benefits
thereof. This will begin a new chapter for NERC. We will work hard to
provide a safe venue for you to compete with your robots in a fun and
friendly atmosphere. We will still be the premier East Coast organization
for competing with hobby weight robots. Events will be held, arenas will
be constructed and maintained, and NERC members will enjoy the benefits
they are accustomed to. In addition, we have many exciting ideas to bring
NERC to new heights. The board of directors continues to be a highly involved
group of people well versed in the day to day functions of NERC. Al, Alan,
Chris, Ed, Joe, and John will support the best interests of NERC members
nationwide. Look forward to several events in the upcoming few months,
including House of NERC, Lazy Toad Robot Conflict, and Motorama. |