Wedge

A wedge is a non-damaging "weapon" that is used to get underneath the opposing robot. This is a major advantage to have, as most robots are helpless when you are underneath them. This then gives you the chance to Gut-rip, or grind at you opponents vulnerable undersides. Most bot designs in both Stock and DSL should have basic wedges, while bots such as flippers, Popups, and other wedgebots should have more advanced wedges.

Types of Wedges

There is basically only one type of good wedge for stock, and that is putting a wedge on a burst motor and lowering the burst motor to its proper location. You can however, have more complicated burst motor designs which will increase your wedginess.

In DSL however, there are quite a few successful types of wedges. The most common are skirts mounted on skirt hinges. Polycarbonate skirts are most commonly used here. You can then rotate the hinge like a burst motor into the proper position. This kind of wedge is found on most DSL AI.

Another type is a skirt mounted on a metal hinge. Metal hinges cannot be rotated like a burst motor, and must be wired to move. When lowered flat up against the ground, they can usually get under skirt hinge type wedges.

There is also a third kind of wedge, called the Mako-style wedge or flail wedge. This kind of wedge has become popualr in recent times. The flail wedge is made by putting a skirt on an axle mount. It is best to mount the axle onto a solid support. When the match starts, the wedge lie almost perfectly flat on the ground. A weakness to this design however is that if you move to fast, the skirts may lift off the ground, giving your opponent a chance to hit. The flail wedge technique was as far as I know developed by Jules. (See the robot Mako or Diarrhea of a Madman for a good representation of the flail wedge.)

Another fourth kind are called "Morse Code Breaker" or "MCB" wedges, because they were first used by MetalikVyper in RAW with his bot, Morse Code Breaker. They use the odd collision mesh of the skirt hinge to make a wedge, and they are so far the best wedges, and can get under nearly anything. They are also used on Somebody's GUMBA entry, Cutinator.