Quote:How many languages can you speak and does it surprise/annoy you that the English are so bad at learning other languages and just assume everyone else will speak theirs?
I speak Dutch, German, and English. It doesn't bother or annoy me either way, and I do have friends in the UK that also speak German. What does annoy me is that people from Walon refuse to speak flemish even if they full well know how to. I guess that is the same for French people in Flanders.
Quote:How many "robot wars" competitions have you won?
The official Robot Wars by Mentorn, none. In fact, in the heavyweight division I never go past the second round in any competition. I did enter Robotwars 5 times in total. 2 times for the Dutch Championships, 1 time for the German Championships, and twice for the UK/European Championships (all these are recorded in the same weeks, so we usually did more than one championship at the same time).
Our team (I don't do this alone) won the German Championship in the featherweight division (weightclass up to 13.6kg)5 times, 4 times in the Antweight division (150 grams), and the Raptor division (up to 6kg) 1 time. We also won the Antweight World Series once, and came second twice. We came second in the XFM featherweight european Championships, and second in the Robochallenge European Championships for up to 6kg.
The one prize I am most proud of is the Tanja Smith Memorial prize. This one is in honor and memory of the daughter of the Chairman of the Fighting Robots Association who was killed in a car accident.
Quote:Who did what on constructing your battle bot?
Well that depends. Our team has changed members quite a few times, so in the beginning I did the electronics, mechanical builds and design. Later on, I only did the design and build together with Mario de Jongh who does the lathing and milling. Rick Maas is now our go-to guy for electronics as he is way better than I.
Quote:If you could retire, financially independently, what would you do with your life?I would emigrate back to Guernsey, or Jersey if that is not possible, with a nice house and a big workshop. Apart from that I wouldn't do that much different as I do now. I work hard and play hard.
Quote:What did you do when you spent the night with Adrian last year?Have a bit of Spaghetti Bolognese and went to sleep early as I got up very early to catch the ferry. Sorry it wasn't more exciting.
Quote:Does Leo own any guns?Yes, a .22 Long Rifle from Anshutz and a Feinwerkbau 300S.
Quote:Did you ever have doubts about your sexual orientation ?
Not really. I always have had a preference for women but was never averse to men either. I did have a girlfriend who was transsexual. After we broke up (which was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life) I had some relationships with men and women, but I never really doubted my sexuality. I had a serious relationship with a girl when I was 22. We were in the planning stage of marriage. When I discovered she was sleeping around I was so devastated that I never actively engaged in a relationship again.
Well that's it for me. Thanks for the questions and I hope these answers are satisfactory. If you have more questions you can PM them and I'll add them at a later time. I had to do this a bite early as I have a robot event tomorrow.
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
