Wedge designs

So you want to get under another robot ?

Well, the most basic design for this is the chassis wedge, aka a chassis that is sloped at the front to get under other robots. Look at the stock Devil per example, or Ronin (that is also sloped at the back). Fight Ronin with a Rammer, and enjoy.

A wedge shaped chassis not everything in RA2 - again any other wedged robot, you should add some components that will give you the edge. This robot feature is called "wedge" too, and 99% of the time when someone talks about a wedge, it will not be the Wedge (robot type) but the wedge design.

Stock

There is basically only one type of good wedge for stock, and that is putting a small wedge (with an extender) on a burst motor (like if you were building a flipper) and lowering the burst motor to its proper location. You can however, have more complicated burst motor designs which will increase your wedginess.

DSL

In DSL however, there are quite a few successful types of wedges.

The most common are skirts mounted on skirt hinges. You can then rotate the hinge like a burst motor into the proper position. This kind of wedge is found almost all the original DSL AI and is a common wedge design.

Another type is a skirt mounted on a metal hinge. Metal hinges are servo motors, hence cannot be rotated like a burst motor and must be wired to move. When lowered flat up against the ground, they are much more efficient than classic skirt hinge wedges, can also usually go under Mako-style wedges and are usually just a little less efficient than snapper wedges. Popularized by Urjak's Flipper and RAW entry Lousy Launcher, and also by several of Naryar's wedged bots. Widely used on modern gut-rippers.

There is also a third kind of wedge, called the Mako-style wedge or axle wedge. This kind of wedge has become popular 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 static support. Also, they're more efficient if flat against 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 axle wedge was developed by Jules. (See the robot Mako or Diarrhea of a Madman for a good representation of the flail wedge.) Heavier than the usual wedges, these are normally superior to hinged wedges, but tend to do poorly on fast collisions (and this is why Enfilad3 and Hazardous Contraption could go under DOAM head-on).

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, but haven't proved anything yet. They are also used on Somebody's GUMBA entry, Cutinator. These are the lighter wedges, but they are roughly not used since the awakening of the metal hinge. Also unlike all other wedges, they are absolutely invulnerable to damage.

Probably the most effective wedge in DSL is still the burst motor wedge, like in Stock. You simply attach your wedgy part to any burst motor (a sheet of any sort or a extender/small wedge combo). However, these are by far the heavier of the wedges. These wedges need a specific amount of pressure, and too much or too little can cause problems. They also can be used as a Srimech if you are in need of one.

It also seems that the small wedge component is a great choice for any wedge, but they're heavier, bigger and weaker than classic metal skirts for the same weight and size, and if you lose your small wedges you lose most if not all of your wedge's efficiency.