Hey, its been a bit. and since Ernie showed up recently (edit: ish) in Bristol, i guess its time to introduce it to the people and a little history too.
1. Garry’s Mod
Ernie is based on one of my classic Gmod robots called Blaster. A bot ive been running since 2020.
the orange i guess became blue mold
Blaster was known for being a little crazy. For example ootaing someone over our replica robot wars arena high wall, or just hitting the roof in every arena ever.
An Example of maximum wheeeeeeeeeeeeee
So after i saw Sion selling off some big weapon bars, I knew it was time to go a little dumb dumb.
I made too many of them
2. Designing Dumb Dumb
First quest was finding what weapon motor to use. luckily for me, Sion used a motor in his overhead and send over the link. After this it was how to transfer the spiin from the motor. Gabriel from CDG helped me allot with designing this (forever grateful)
This is the final cad, how fancy
There are many options to drive the weapon, here are a few pros and cons, mainly about Ernie:
Belt Drive:
Pros: Used it before on Bert. and is an in build clutch
Cons: Slippage can be bad to keep the belt alive, and with the 500g weapon it wouldnt get it up to speed basically
Gear Drive:
Pros: Direct power without sacrificing the motor, no belt sniping
Cons: More Complex, and has to mesh very well
Direct Drive:
Pros: -
Cons: Everything. like a touch would snap off the motor
So we made a choice to go gearmode. 2 TPU gears would make it all go spiiin.
After this, i just wanted to keep it simple. I didnt see need to go Brushless on this, A. cuz of the weight the marses bring. and B. Its a big piss off weapon, it doesnt need to push (or not intended to need to)
For the top i went for some 2mm Titanium, mainly to make sure the weapon stays on. and a 4mm HDPE bottompanel for weight.
The Weapon stackup is a simple (from top to bottem) Weapon, Spacer, Gear, Shimmy and Thrusterbearing. 12mm shaft which is attached to a hexagon standoff and that has a bolt through the bottem keeping it in.
Electronics wise it runs this motor with a mystery esc from Maddox from team RCC. later using a Mars AM32 50A Brushless ESC. For drive some good ol 22mm Brushed Motors with the BBB Single Brushed ESCS running a 650mAH 4s Battery.
Featuring Bert and Wishbone!
after it was completed, i discovered (scarily) the mystery esc was dual direction, que me finding it out when testing the weapon motor and shitting myself (not actually).
With new pants and the bot complete, it was time for some german invasion, MMM Hannover!
3. Mad Mulligan’s Mine Hannover
Ernie came with his friends to Hannover, so heres a little writeup on how Ernie went 
Fight 1: Ernie VS Missamphetamine
Missy in short, was not that happy. the weaponblade that was ment for it, didnt come in in time, so we lend our weapondisc. but it worked enough. just it had to fight Ernie.
Collision
So as this was ernies first fight, i was scared bout it exploding. instead, it exploded the opponent. in the 2nd hit i got, iirc the link flew out, a side panel went and just was a crazy big hit.
Collision part 2
No damage after this fight for me, well, maybe some new pants.
Knackwurst is known for being a tank that just wont die. so why dont we try and make it die right?
hey thats not knackwurst
So i span up, hit the wall. got outwedged and then hit the wall very hard, which slightly deafend me. disorientated i span the weapon backwards and plonk the weapon fell off.
note to self, dont hit the wall
no, thats not right
After it fell off, it was 2 and a half minutes of dont get flipped. and somehow, i succeeded and outdrove knackwurst. giving me the win at the end
Ultimate Wedgegame
Only damage was my ego, oh and having to attach the weapon again.
So that guy with Missy had a 2nd bot, Lumera, which is Missy working basically.
pictures taken moments before disaster
In my infinite wisdom, i decided to try an slower spinup to save my printed gear a bit, since i only had 1 spare. and ofcourse, i got boxrushed.
Not ideal
after being flipped, he kinda hit me to try and self right me. and then my link popped, and after 1 more hit, that was it.
Fight 4: Ernie VS VectorClassic
My face when horizontal
So Vector is a horizontal, the counter of my robot since you can park a bus under the weaponbar. basically, to put it simply, everything went wrong.
totally to plan
So first the link got hit, then both wheels said, no and just fell off without interferance.
To quote Daniel: Stop spinning!
after this fight, i reattached the wheels, link and fixed a motor that was slightly no longer straight. i also changed over to my spare motor gear.
For day 1, it wasnt that bad. it did what it was ment to do, but had some dumb oopsies too
DAY 2
For this fight, i decided to put on the biiiiig weapon. and since i didnt have the right wingpieces. it was even heavier then intended.
Touch Grass is one of the most annoying bots to fight, its really not allowed around the school. those forks are like 30cm.
Not ideal
Fight started as expected. i was on the top of Touch Grass. not where you wanna be when you got a biiiig spinny weapon. But luckily i got a hit off on touch grass. removing a whole wheel kenny, and bending a fork.
You can see the twisthubholdywheelybit flying
Afterwards i got 1 more bigger hit. after that, the weapon started slowing down, i noticed the teeth on the gears were now kinda blunt and not ingaging (tpu gears moment)
queue the fight becomming a pushing match with a cripple and a robot with a big heavy weapon on the top
Ernie best control bot
After winning the fight, i changed back to the yesterday gears, since these were just gone
Fight 6: Ernie VS Funker Hornsby
Not much to this. i fell over
Damn you physics!
after the fight i did find out, i forgot to bolt the bottem panel in propperly. not that it matterd, but, it did add to being kinda a sad round for me.
Fight 7: Ernie VS It is WEDGEDAY my Dudes
First of all, best name. second of all, ernie was already not 100% into this fight. mainly due to my weapon gear looking more like a circle then a gear. but it still span up, thats all that matters.
nooo ernie dont stick your bar up there!
after 1 alright hit and 1 somewhat weaker one. the weapon became, as how they call it in the business, soggy. most of the fight was me either pushing or running away trying to get some kind of speed out of the weapon.
in the end, i won it. but it wasnt what i wanted to do against the wedgeday.
with a 4-3 record. i was pleased with it, tho i found some stuff i wanted to change, mainly the reverseable esc had to go. and find a way of compacting the weapon stack a tiny bit so the weapon bolt could be screwed better.
4. The Eind(hoven) is nye
For Eindhoven, i made the changes above, and added a new plate fork thingy, to make sure i have a little more reach to hit someone.
The arena we used was the feather arena. so it was massive, which is very good for ernie to spin up and not hit a wall.
Fight 1: Ernie VS Doesn’t Work
Something funny. so the guy that made this bot got inspired at hannover from Ernie! so you could say this was a mirror match.
its an honor
This fight started with both spinning up, me getting the first hit and the 3rd hit me hitting his wheel.
Touch?
TOUCH!
After this. i just kept hitting, he hit his own pulley and exploded it. then after hitting his other wheel it was over.
a little bit of destruction, a little bit of mayhem
afterwards we gave him some spare wheels (ernie broke his only wheels) and he fought again. ernie was completely fine.
that’ll buff out
I had to fight the Brazilians with their robot. so happy it isnt a brazilian drumspinner.
See, they can make kind bots too!!
for this fight, they stuck on the lifter config, probably since the hammersaw wouldnt do much to a big spinning mass.
on the first hit, he tried to lift me and i chopped off his lifter
the lil stump
Afterward i got a massive cross arena hit. which is what ernie is ment to do!
Ernie likes to float in pics
After many more solid hits, i became a flipper and flipped him over. and he tapped.
TLC is kinda if bert had a more dumb weapon, and hit harder. so going in i was like, hmmm yes, lets hit the weapon and break his!
First few hits were going my way. some solid knocks. and then
Hi there ernie, why are you so big
I got uppercutted upwards. this hit bend me weapon to become a banana. yet it stayed spinning and kept upright. next hit tho flipped me over, but TLC also was knocked out as the link fell out. Queue me trying to self right by making myself into a full body spinner (it did not work)
SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN
The judges gave it to TLC, which i didnt fully agree with but it did knock me out. day 1 was done and Ernie was 2-1, after 3 solid fights.
I had to fight a 1st time competitor, a bot made out of 1mm alu, tho it was very well driven.
simple and effective, and yes, it has a top
We restraightend the weapon, and it worked still.
this fight was a disection. every hit, alu kept falling apart more. till ernie exposed the battery and it was called. i did shit myself a few times during (from the bits flying against the wall)
this is fine
A rematch where this time i cant accidentally reverse the weapon!
It started with allot of me trying to not get pushed into the wall and trying to hit him.
Helicopter Helicopter
after some nibbles slightly bending the sideframebits of Knackwurst and lots of gyro, i got a massive hit very banana ing the hardox catchy things on the bot.
after that, i got driven into the wall, shot accross the arena, and in that hit, hit my weapon motor and broke it. with no real weapon left, it became another pushing match and simply won.
Very banana
After this, ernie was 4-1. it got 2nd place, behind my dad who didnt have to fight ernie. we completly locked out the top 3, with wishbone getting 3rd.
All bots were a little ruined
after this event, there was only 1 event left for ernie in the year. Bristol Bot Builders Champs!!
5. Bot building in bristol?!!?!?
Ernie had minimal changes. the front was slightly changed to make it that i could maybe lead people more into the weapon, and last minute we changed the weapon shaft for something less flexy.
Fight 1: Ernie VS 7th Circle VS Baba Yaga
Going into the event, ernie didnt enjoy spinning up, so it was a question if it would work propperly.
so many robots, so little space
After i got up to speed, i hit the baba yaga minibot across the arena and the bugger still lived. and then i hit 7th circle, who hit me up and big hit happend
big hit there kenny
I flew away, towards Gareths face, and hit the polycarb hard, and flipped.
i managed in the first fight to chip the polycarb and make a mark on it (sorry Craig)
But sadly, as i was flipped, i couldnt do anything else. and 7th circle won.
Fight 2: Ernie VS Die-Fi Hotspot
From all the bots there, i did wanna fight Die-Fi, mainly cuz i wanted to see the bang, so i stuck the biiig weapon on. and holy, we got that bang.
Pictures taken moments before disaster
ooooooooooh pretty sparks
after this hit, ernie wasnt happy, at all. weapon brokey and i had to fight a bot that was basically all weapon. luckily, die-fi went towards the pit. i pressed it. and after some but clenching driving to not get hit. i pushed it in. breaking the pit for a solid 15 mins after (sorry gareth and joe)
The bar was propper banana and unhammerable. so it was back to the trusty 1 tooth.
I like the new jackhammer, ive seen it evolve and its become hotter every time.
and the fight was a simple, i fell over. i span down, which isnt good to do haha
nothing more to it, it just fell.
Ernie.png
Since Ernie was out, i signed it up for some whiteboards.
Fight 4: Ernie VS Digestive VS Kairos VS Monterey Jack
My only request was, let me spin up. at least at some point i started to. when it was up to speed, i hit digestive, and flipped it
Sparks!!
afterwards i got some hits on jack and ripped away its back grabby sticks and a wheel hub protection thingy. then when jack wedged Kairos, i got a hit on the wheelguard
Teamwork makes the dream work
Queue me ripping apart kairos piece by piece. first a fork, then the saw and then a motor falling out
its fiiiiine
after this, i had some smaller hits on jack, and then a massive one which send me near the pit, with one wheel hanging, i fell into it.
insert Dr eggman meme here
Even tho i lost, i still ruined a bunch of bots. and yes sam, this is what ernie is ment to do
Fight 5: Ernie VS Cormoran VS Freak VS Dolos
i would lie if i said the first hit with me and freak wasnt planned. we wanted to see how big of a hit it was gonna be.
touch!
queue chaos. i cant really describe what happend. all i can say is, i became a hat, chopped freaks lights and weapon wires, bend it too. and then fell over.
Ernie was fine afterwards, just, not upright.
Overall, BBB was hella fun. and made me fall in love with Ernie more and more.
6. The Future of Ernie
I had planned to make a new v2 of ernie, but since budget and the old one still working, the old one will stay running next year. maybe by end of the year i make a new one, but till then this one will do
i took more home then i brought to the uk
I even made an ant version of ernie called ermini! the writeup on that will come when i do an ant thread.
Dont ever talk to me or my son again!
I will see if i will enter it or the new bert into Brawl. still on the fence. but there will be enough ernie for everyone next year!
hope you enjoyed this. this took way too long to write but was a blast!emphasised text