Cheesecake's autopsy after fighting Mudskipper

Cheesecake got wrecked at his last tournament, so let's check out the damage! This was the result of his fight with a robot called Mudskipper, which is another horizontal spinner.
The tournament: • Cheesecake fights for ...
0:00 - What happened?
0:56 - Tour around the outside
3:58 - Inside the robot
7:17 - Next version of Cheesecake
8:36 - Conclusion

[@vt356b]

RIP Cheesecake... long live Next Gen Cheesecake! Thanks for sharing this, and looking forward to seeing future action.

[@alvinip9128]

Chessecake is dead long live Cheesecake

[@Happy2B2nd]

LONG LIVE THE KING, KING CHEESECAKE!

[@BattleBotsFanGame]

Watching Cheesecake's post-battle autopsy really shows the brutal nature of combat robotics. It's impressive to see the resilience of some components despite the carnage. Excited for the next version of Cheesecake

[@fast-yi9js]

This hurts a lil to look at, but man am I excited for the new version!

[@Parelf]

Love that your channel is gaining traction! Minibots are a great way for entry level roboticisists to join bot battles! The most basic of basic starts can even be buying a Remote Control Toy Car, break it apart and put it back together inside a 3D printed shell with a wedge or something similar, maybe swapping out the motors too, keeping voltage in mind.

[@lowkeyastronaut]

Really enjoy the channel, I've always wanted to get into bot building. Perfect way to see the behind the scenes before I commit

[@alexsalchemy]

I actually got a lot of great information from watching some very simple and helpful videos from team Witch Doctor: kzbin.info/aero/PL81yBUG7TPX3rRRStHBGLX0Rr2aaBqfFO&si=96ipjh-yqz2crnY7

[@Rebar77_real]

Iteration fury! Have you tried annealing your pla/petg armour or is it not worth the time? There's a plaster cast method where you can put studs in threads that the plaster holds while baking to keep the heat from pulling holes out of alignment. Compared to just crossing your fingers or needing a metal jig. Just a thought. The handling upgrade sounds great!

[@Bui1dscharacter]

My kids have been loving watching and following along with Cheesecake's fights. Thanks so much for the engaging content.

[@malcolmmackenzie9202]

Awesome to see how it all works love watching your battles

[@Kinekitsu]

Wishing my boi Cheesecake a speedy recovery/reincarnation,🙏🙏🙏really hyped for next version~!

[@thorsfew64]

Enjoy watching your videos. Informative and well spoken. Keep up the great work!

[@TheKevinFanClub526]

Would you ever consider printing nylon or polycarbonate filament for the main body of the robot? It's harder to dial in the print settings which usually require nozzle temp or 300 C or above. But might help with impact resistance of the robot. Also, with the carbon fiber frame breaking apart. Any chance that's caused by micro fracture and/or de-lamination from cyclic loading? Would you ever have multiple carbon fiber plates. Mark the number of battles each plate has been in, and swap in a brand new one for the final or semi-final match?

[@Diego31415]

The mobility of cheesecake is very notible. I very much enjoy watching it zoom around even with one wheel

[@rickylahey9248]

I am all in on the plight of cheesecake's journey. Can't wait for the next video.

[@DArealCHAZZ]

I've been watching your videos for a week now. I think you have convinced me to take my RC skills to battle bots. This looks absolutely fun, and fixing them afterward looks like even more fun. Good job

[@jarredlkling]

I have no idea why KZbin started feeding me these vids but i watched all of CheeseCakes fights and i was blown away when He got absolutely destroyed in the finals of that ladt tournament. It was crazy to see how dominant Cheecake was and the. In turn get completely obliterated

[@BBones541]

That battle was tough to watch haha Poor guy took a beating in that one Can't wait for the next battle, found your videos a little while back and became an instant fan of Cheesecake hahaha Daaaaamn! That new version looks badass! Cheesecake comin back stronger! LETS GO!

[@poisoneddark7889]

Rip Cheescake maybe Trim some of the centre carbon fibre and redistribute it to the sides and front also maybe reinforce the points which the bumpers attach to make them last longer Excited to see Cheesecake Back in action soon :)

[@chriscapps206]

dam mudskipper was BRUTAL,but the new version looks good so far dude,I see its signed up for Sword in november,look forward to seein it there, imma be there w my beetle so look forward to seein what cheesecake will do,especially with the great antweight class showing up to that event,itll be a good event and good test for the new cheesecake for sure

[@informitas0117]

I could watch videos like this for the rest of my life. Watching damage after the fact is the best thing.

[@Gitmo314]

Looking forward to the new and improved Cheesecake!

[@theodorcalotescu1876]

Because of the battery, the new cheesecake's back looks bent. Haha.

[@anintruder1277]

it's telling that the only thing that has beat cheesecake is a freak of nature named mudskipper. I look forward to your next tourney!

[@L1m3r]

Do bots with a "walker "-type locomotion still get the weight bonus? Or was that just in that specific tournament? If anything both Mudskipper and the other "walker" showed that the weight bonus is far too big/heavy.

[@matthewbadger8685]

They still get the bonus.

[@jannnes]

Do you think the next version of Cheescake would stand a chance against Mudskipper? What would you need to change in your approach to beat them?

[@alexsalchemy]

Well, besides driving better, I'm saving enough weight to use *two* cake slices (one on top, one on bottom) to create what is effectively a big shield with a slot where my weapon sticks out. Hoping it works!

[@gamerkingfmc863]

That's a cool idea. Did you have that in the last couple of tournaments or did you have only one?

[@Talarkas]

Something about the design of the cake slice just hit me. While the armor is a great idea, there's gonna be some serious strain to the chassis and weapon drive considering those seem to be its only points of contact. I'm not really sure if there is much to be done about that based on the weight class and how tightly Cheesecake slots into it, but I felt it might be worth pointing out anyway. A note that I personally have no combat robotics experience, but have been a fan of it from a young age lol Cheesecake is a fantastic lil bot and I look forward to seeing more of what you come up with for the lil guy!

[@Adventist1997]

Cheesecake is my favorite bot. It exceeded all expectations until the very end. ❤

[@BirdbrainEngineer]

All the best of luck to v2 of Cheesecake!

[@bami2]

Seems that aside from the weapon motor (and maybe the battery?), all the expensive parts weren't damaged. That seems like a very good design to me to endure that much damage yet have none of the actual vital parts be damaged. Also you should be able to eliminate that mixer circuit and just do the mixing on the transmitter?

[@alexsalchemy]

Yes, I can do the mixing in the transmitter. What I can't do is the function where a single button press on my transmitter flips the direction of the throttle for when I get flipped upside down. That function in the mixer is super useful, and I have it assigned to channel 4 on my transmitter. Maybe there's a way to also do this function in the transmitter that I just don't know about.

[@bami2]

@@alexsalchemy I'm pretty sure almost all transmitters allow two different mixes (look in the manual for Programmable Mixes or PMX) to be set and flipped between them on the fly. They would both be identical except for inverting the values coming from the forward/reverse stick. It might be worthwhile to check the manual that came with the transmitter (or just post it on some forum somewhere) so you can prevent any possible failures from the connections or the board itself (and save a couple of grams), but if that little mixing board works for you then considering how well it held up after all this abuse then I'd honestly just keep using this.

[@user-cz8yo4vv7t]

We need cheese cake the world needs him

[@acidix983]

I recommend naming the new bot Cheesecake of Theseus.

[@-fazik-3713]

Nice autopsy :).

[@FactionalSky]

Cheesecake is dead, long live Cheesecake! But ngl i expected to be some internal damage as well but your frame did seem to take most of the punches. A good designed bot and the new one does look even better. Can't wait to see it repiin parts off other bots. :)

[@David_Mash]

Some may call it an atrocity but I personally love brownie cheesecake. Maybe you eventually have a line of variety cheesecake slices

[@xander44225]

i would love for you to show us more about your new design and more

[@wolflance64]

i am excited to see cheesecake v4 ~

[@matthewbadger8685]

Are you capable of filling the robot with shock absorbent foam? Might be useful for handling those big impacts by distributing the force and making the chassis more solid, for not much added weight.

[@Nonokc]

RIP cheesecake but upgrades is needed

[@SkiIIsNotFound]

I really wanna see that destroyed robot (with its original parts) move to see if its still functional

[@ClintonMatos]

I know nothing about these rulings but the massive weight difference between the shuffler robots and the rest of them just seem unfair.

[@bami2]

Yeah the weight bonus for shufflers is a bit silly, they work about as well as wheels now and in weight they aren't that different compared to heavy duty moulded wheels you see a lot. The bonus used to be there in competitions because walking mechanisms are really cool but take up a lot more engineering and weight, but not so much these days with easy access to 3d printers and cnc'd parts straight out of china. I think it would be a good idea to look at what Battlebots did over 20 years ago and reject any extra weight allowance for shufflers.

[@thepigeonguy641]

Poor little guy

[@Ezekiel_Allium]

Honestly that's more surviving parts than I expected from seeing the fight. Like, for example, I thought that left motor was totally done for, and I figured a lot of the wiry components would have been grazed by the tip of the weapon, but I guess it didn't get as far inside cheesecake as it looked.

[@Raven187FPV]

Poor Cheesecake.

[@irongearsolo1128]

Cant wait to see the new and improved, Cherry CheezeCake

[@jorki8069]

Make a shufling system in your robot like mud skipper has, so you can add more weight.

[@jorki8069]

You can make it dubble sided drive by extending the shufling rods to both sides.

[@jasmijnariel]

Lets be honest. The mudskipper was a stronger bot, but this story told you where cheesecake its weaknesses are

[@poortea]

Are you allowed to make the side and rear armor chunk off? internal block filler that is designed to fracture off instead of allowing blades to get a hold and rip off panels.

[@BeardedMan8319]

Will the side armour receive any upgrades?

[@Ebro3101]

How much was the total cost to build and repair cheesecake since the start, I’ve always had an interest in making a small combat robot tho the UK never has tournaments near me 😢.

[@tonychennj]

Would you recommend buying a kit to battle or using a custom made robot to battle as a beginner?

[@alexsalchemy]

Well, Cheesecake's electronics are basically the same ones you get with the Fingertech Viper kit, so that's pretty easy. As for the mechanical stuff, I'd say the Viper kit or the Candy Wasp kit is a good place to start and get a feel for driving, repairing, and competing. But if you are good at, or want to learn, 3D CAD modeling, with a program like Onshape, then you might consider making your own custom mechanicals, or at least your own custom upgrade parts for the Viper kit or some other kit.

[@ChristinaJackewicz-cw6fk]

Nice new cheesecake

[@helo_tonk_here]

Cheesecake got annihilated

[@p.w.studios7989]

The king is dead. Long live the king.

[@francorodriguez3499]

cant wait to see the new model! maybe mechanical foots????

[@alexsalchemy]

Oh I'm working on that too! It's going to take more development time though.

[@thomashp]

You could save a good a bit a weight by using the Repeat Robotics Budget Ant DESC. It would replace both your brushed speed controllers and the mixer. It only weights 7 grams.

[@ArtemGodlevskyi]

You've mentioned that the mixer is needed for converting throttle/steering into motor signals. Even relatively modern RC radios can do mixing on their side, so the receiver outputs motor commands and a dedicated mixer is redundant. You can shave off those 2-3 grams ;) Or there is a reason why you use a standalone mixer?

[@alexsalchemy]

The mixer has one extra function that I can't seem to achieve in the transmitter: it allows me to reverse my throttle with the push of a button (channel 4) when I get flipped over.

[@ArtemGodlevskyi]

​@@alexsalchemy Oh, that's an important one. I believe it's possible (I have a guess how) on my FrSky Taranis with OpenTX, but it's definitely not trivial. Thank you for the reply and entertaining content.

[@user-pq2ih4yh3r]

but what will happen next? are you still gonna fight?

[@timofabi3413]

Other robot when chesecake appears oh no no no nono 😅

[@alexsalchemy]

I had to miss the most recent GSCRL tournament because of my redesign, and one of the competitors joked that finally someone else can win :P Actually, it was Shin Kicker who won! It was super cool to see on the livestream!

[@BlankofMaterial]

How heavy are those clamping wire nuts? The armor encapsulates the frame posts. Is there an any advantage to keeping those posts and armor separate so the armor is more easily replaced?

[@alexsalchemy]

Yeah, it's nice to have my frame posts (called "threaded standoffs", used in circuit boards) as separate parts: they provide stronger threads for the screws to attach to, and yes, they allow me to more easily replace my armor.

[@Deviled_EG]

Where can I get a good saw blade 1-2 inch for my ant weight battle bot also can you make a video or send me a video of how to make tank treads

[@tiesvdbiggelaar1411]

You gonna make red devil from battle bots lol?

[@Deviled_EG]

@@tiesvdbiggelaar1411 something like that

[@MegurokoSylveon]

How Expensive is all of this "robot wars mini" stuff (excluding travel & food & hotel costs). I'm poor right now, but It be good to know what price to expect if I where to win 2 Million dollars or something like that since this seems fun but it also seems very expensive. A few tournaments a year (going for the world title or what it might be for this) & replacing "most of" the robot each time in the worst case scenario. Know you use special materials for the wedge and such & I Would like a price estimate for someone trying to win events & the price for those that attend "just for fun" with subpar bots could also be good to know as to give a perspective on the price range of the different type of competitors. ; Side Note would the price be different based on which type of robot, "tank wheels" ; piercer ; spinner ; flipper ; crusher, etc & if so by how much & why, Thx for the hopefully detailed reply in advance, or perhaps a deep dive video about this as an answer for everyone.

[@bami2]

You can't make money with combat robotics. Most smaller competitions usually only have trophies, maybe small giftcards and bragging rights as prizes. Whatever you can win, the damages you sustained will probably cost that several times over. Cost depends a lot on the weight class, the lighter you go the cheaper it gets. The smallest are US fairyweights/UK antweights at 1/3rd lbs/150grams, and you can build those out of a broken RC car and random bits around the house, or about US$100-200. US antweights (like Cheesecake) are a bit heavier at 1lbs/454grams and are a bit more expensive, probably $200-400 but you might want to bring spares to a event and the bots get more destructive. At this point spinners will start to become too dangerous to test without a sufficient test box, which you will have to build (or find) as well. After that there's beetles at 3lbs which are more around $600-1000 and many more classes all the way up to heavyweights at 250lbs/113kg. Those cost in the tens of thousands of dollars and are extremely dangerous. You can of course build (and some do) beetleweights costing thousands of dollars, but unless you're trying to be ultracompetitive it's not neccesary. Wedges are the cheapest and easiest weapon type, it's basically the price of the bot but after that it gets hard to really estimate since it depends how you build it on how much it will cost. Lifters are reasonably simple but crushers and flippers need more complex systems and thus will be more expensive, while with a spinner you will need bigger batteries and something to hit with. Especially drum or beater bars can be insanely expensive if you want to build something custom. There's kits available you can order and basically get set aside from some extra parts like batteries or a transmitter, those are an excellent option for first time builder.

[@MegurokoSylveon]

​@@bami2 Thx for some info regarding this. But I mainly find it funny that you misinterpreted my first statement (you seem to have associated the world price as in a price for winning, when I meant price as in what it would cost ; didn't expect there to be any price money in this (certainly not 2 million $) my point was that If I were to win alot of money elsewhere then the cost of this kinda stuff would be good to know) But geting info about the price structure was also interesting, even if not what I intend to get replies about. The more the merrier, when it comes to niche info like this. & How much money you win or don't certainly affect the total costs in the end. - My main takeaway is that it's very expensive to be competitive, since you earn nothing, better bots cost way more & the more events you attend & the better you do the higher the repair costs naturally are.

[@bami2]

@@MegurokoSylveon Oh I'm sorry lol, I reread your question and yeah that's my bad. You were asking more "how much would it cost if I suddenly became millionaire" and I understood it as "how much does it cost to win all the prize money" :P Yes, robot combat can be very expensive but don't let that deter you, as you can do it very cheaply if you really set your mind to it, but sadly it will be a bit pay2win as you simply don't get the performance you need out of garbage. You can recycle motors from broken appliances (most notably cordless drills), scavenge a remote controller out of a broken RC car, armor out of a milk jug and power it with literal AA batteries. In the UK these are "bodge bots", you literally just ductape garbage together and have them fight. Due to the low power you can also suffice with some low barriers and maybe eye protection. There are also "termite weight" bots, made almost exclusively out of wood. The damage with those can be quite limited so it's safer to play around with and you can get complete kits for about 60 USD. The last two categories don't really have a competitive scene but if you talk around I'm sure the organisers will allow you to have a whiteboard fight somewhere in between if you ask them in advance and set it up with other (potential) roboteers.

[@hitash32]

how big is cheesecake? like i know its a pound, but it looks like its maybe six inches across and six inches long at its longest point which seems like a lot of mass in armor and frame to move around?

[@servalsays9906]

Hello! I'm new to the channel and I wonder if you're interested in making different weight class robots or not.

[@Josstrigaming]

Hey Alex! Which parts of cheesecake are TPU, and which parts are ABS? I'm kinda curious as I am designing my own 1lb bot and I'm trying to figure out how thick TPU I would need for armor and whatnot.

[@alexsalchemy]

The side armor is TPU (2 walls, 5-10% infill) and the back armor is ABS because I need its internal structure to be rigid to contain my electronics.

[@Josstrigaming]

@@alexsalchemy awesome! How thick are the side panels? 1-2mm?

[@baastex]

Are you sure you want to move weight to the back? As your pivot point is already on your weapon because of centrifugal force

[@alexsalchemy]

It's a good question, but my latest KZbin Short shows a printed prototype with the new battery placement, and it doesn't pop a wheelie, so I think it's good! Hopefully it will give me better control so I can hit Mudskipper's side more reliably next time.

[@ChristinaJackewicz-cw6fk]

IS HE GOING TO RETURN!!!

[@astarrobotics]

Are you moving away from carbon fiber in Cheescake 2's frame? The weapon arms looked 3D printed.

[@alexsalchemy]

I'll still use carbon fiber. The new frame and parts were all 3D printed in black PLA to check if everything fits.

[@BeckettFerg77]

The end of cheesecake😢

[@tamrobotics]

So the new chassis is unibody?

[@alexsalchemy]

Oh, no, it's structurally very similar to what I have now, but all the black 3D printed parts don't really stand out from each other.

[@CorsaMaster]

You should add some kinda piston so you attack bots that are higher up

[@PeterRudesindus]

very cool. XD

[@therecon448]

Change your control system it should be angle sensitive for example if you make stick full left it should go left not turn left loop

[@oskarrosvall945]

How does it cost to start this hobby?

[@oskarrosvall945]

And why is the spinnig blade so wierd form?

[@gizembayram4432]

A valiant soldier killed in combat, Rip. He was surpassed by his opponent mud skipper but stand tough against it. Cheesecake V2 will comeback from his ashes, Gone but not forgotten LONG LIVE CHEESCAKE 🫡🫡

[@originssaber8988]

Love your videos. Hope to fight you with my ant Doppler

[@ConnorChen-ut9xe]

Did you custom make cheesecake?

[@alexsalchemy]

Yep! Pretty much everything is custom except for the electronics and the three motors! Although my weapon motors have been modified to use stronger shafts and better glue to hold the magnets down.

[@ConnorChen-ut9xe]

For a beginner, do you recommend to buy a kit or make one from scratch like you?

[@ConnorChen-ut9xe]

Also, how much did it take to custom print everything?

[@alexsalchemy]

I'd say the Fingertech Viper kit or the Candy Wasp kit is a good place to start and get a feel for driving, repairing, and competing. But if you are good at, or want to learn, 3D CAD modeling, with a program like Onshape, then you might consider making your own custom mechanicals, or at least your own custom upgrade parts for the Viper kit or some other kit. It took quite a bit of sketching and thinking and watching other people's videos before I settled on the Cheesecake we see today. I wanted something that was destructive but didn't wrestle with its own gyroscopic forces during turns, so I settled on a horizontal spinner.

[@Mooza1]

cheeeeessssseeeecahkeeeeee

[@yaboipy]

damn

[@notoriousectotherm]

... Is leather a legal material?

[@alexsalchemy]

Yes, but you might be surprised by how heavy it is compared to the protection it offers. Or not, maybe that's the new meta, I don't really know!

[@tiesvdbiggelaar1411]

Will you use the weapon you got as a gift?

[@Playfulpuppy_Gaming]

That would be awesome, or at least design around it to fit for the next fight against mudskipper

[@gravityzap08]

That actually sounds like a potentially amazing and hilarious idea!

[@tiesvdbiggelaar1411]

Thank you i just see it as an attachment

[@gravityzap08]

@@tiesvdbiggelaar1411 Oh ok. I thought you meant as the weapon.

[@tiesvdbiggelaar1411]

I meant it like that but it seems heavy so he may had to remove stuff to fit it so it will not be used to often probably

[@WartycoonDuos]

im just sad

[@vivianbombycilla9142]

o7

[@Brianthechamp1]

I think next time you fight mudskipper more defense and less offence

[@alexsalchemy]

That's a good point. However, I've recently learned that Mudskipper has been known to knock out 3lb robots, so I'm not sure I could ever add enough defense, unless I come up with some really clever TPU plow or something...

[@user-cz8yo4vv7t]

1 like = 1 chance for cheese cake to fight once more

[@NinjyLion]

2nd

[@divyanshuvatsal4334]

1st

[@dougadams9419]

Autopsy is for deceased humans, not machinery. You did a failure analysis. autopsy. noun. a postmortem examination to discover the cause of death or the extent of disease.

[@user-yf7vy6sc9l]

If yall remember temper and cheese cake both were taken out temper by mudskipper and got rip to shreds (rip cheese cake)

[@user-yf7vy6sc9l]

Try adding a semi long forks and titanium side guards for defense and a sharper edge to the weapon and maybe add more spikes for the weapon for offense the top is good but the side is really where if it gets it you will be screwed