Current Events > Robot Combat (BattleBots and Robot Wars) General Discussion Topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

If you like watching robot death machines tear each other to shreds in glorious gladiatorial combat, then you've come to the right place! After a two week hiatus, BattleBots is back up and running tonight at 8PM EST on the Discovery Channel. This new episode will be a bit different from the past 10, however: tonight's fight card will feature the Desperado Flash Tournament, featuring 8 wildcard teams who are looking to clinch a berth in the 16-team postseason tournament. Only 5 of the 7 fights will air in full tonight, with 2 likely being given the highlight treatment, while the Science Channel's re-airing next Wednesday will feature all 7 fights in their entirety.



In addition to the US BattleBots competition, the UK Robot Wars competition will also be airing on US television for the first time in over a decade! After the re-run of BattleBots on August 8th, the Science Channel will begin airing the first season of the revived Robot Wars, which originally returned to UK television in 2016. Despite both shows featuring similar robot combat, there are a few differences in style, format, and presentation between the two. Fans of the sport will enjoy watching both, but having a preference for one or the other is perfectly fine. Regardless of which you watch or prefer, get yourself ready for some more metal-mashing mayhem!








IT'S ROBOT FIGHTIN' TIME!
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Also, I'm just gonna tag some of the people who were posting regularly in the original BattleBots discussion topic before it purged:

@Orthopox12
@El_Mexicano_Texano
@KFHEWUI
@DevsBro
@DuneMan
@DuranOfForcena
@unclekoolaid73
@Gheb
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I miss mauler.
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Loved watching Robot Wars on PBS, and Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors on SpikeTV.

Hypno-disc was among my favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQAlqHX2fEk" data-time="
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Airhammy posted...

Loved watching Robot Wars on PBS, and Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors on SpikeTV.

I watched the original Robot Wars when they aired it on TechTV (before the channel got absorbed by G4) and loved it. I actually preferred it over BattleBots.

Hypno-disc was among my favorites.

Yeah, that bot was a monster back in the day. It's a shame that we never got to see it against Razer... the greatest dream fight that never happened.
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man i love battlebots. biohazard is still classic goat. tombstone is modern goat
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Well, full body spinners still aren't my preferred chassis but I'm going to pick Gigabyte to win. On one hand, IIRC that's the one which lost its top to Tombstone after the team relied on a third party to create the cap piece and received a junk part. I'm inclined to believe them based on the fact that Tombstone's operator showed them some respect and didn't mangle their 'naked' bot.
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DuneMan posted...

Well, full body spinners still aren't my preferred chassis but I'm going to pick Gigabyte to win. On one hand, IIRC that's the one which lost its top to Tombstone after the team relied on a third party to create the cap piece and received a junk part. I'm inclined to believe them based on the fact that Tombstone's operator showed them some respect and didn't mangle their 'naked' bot.

I'd say they're the favorites too, but Lock-jaw is a solid pick too. Even though they haven't had any fights televised yet, some people who went to the tapings have said that Valkyrie's undercutter disc is pretty strong, so they could be a dark horse in this tournament. Also, I have a soft spot for gimmicky clusterbots, so I hope Gemini does well.
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What fights do you want to see in before this season of Battlebots is over?

I want to see Duck fight Tombstone. Bronco was probably one of the worst match-ups a tank like Duck could have but I want to see if the Break Fist on Face strategy could work against something like Tombstone. Tombstone's weapon is devastating but so far Duck hasn't seemingly taken anything but superficial damage.

Here is what the fight could look like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma0pSgKRpeQ" data-time="
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Gheb posted...

What fights do you want to see in before this season of Battlebots is over?

I want to see Duck fight Tombstone. Bronco was probably one of the worst match-ups a tank like Duck could have but I want to see if the Break Fist on Face strategy could work against something like Tombstone. Tombstone's weapon is devastating but so far Duck hasn't seemingly taken anything but superficial damage.

Duck vs. Tombstone is one of my most anticipated fights too, because if Duck can't tank Tombstone's hits, nothing can. Alternate versions of these bots actually met on the live event circuit at RoboGames last year, and it went in favor of *under spoiler tags just in case this matchup actually happens* Duck's alternate version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma0pSgKRpeQ" data-time="

The reason I say "alternate version" is because BattleBots requires the bot builders to give the show exclusive rights to both the bot's name and the bot itself. Ray's original heavyweight (220LB on the live event circuit) spinner bot was Last Rites, but so he could still use it in RoboGames and other live events, he instead converted his superheavyweight (350LB) bot, Tombstone, and downsized it to BattleBots' unique weight limit of 250LB. Other teams have multiple bots as well, one for BattleBots and one for live events

Robot Wars isn't as strict with their limitations and they allow their robots to compete in non-televised live events, but for other televised events (like King Of Bots in China, the aforementioned RoboGames, and of course BattleBots) they still enforce that limitation and the teams have to make an entirely new bot.

EDIT: Oh, you already included the video anyways...
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Huh... well, yeah, I suppose Duck is something of a hard counter to a bot like Tombstone. If a bot can survive a hit from Tombstone then Tombstone is the one taking the damage, to the internal workings.

One feature I do like in that live fight is the dust on the arena floor. It's a nice accentuating detail which shows the audience when the spinner on Last Rites kicks up to speed.

Looking at tonight's episode, specifically the small print, I'm guessing the fight between Lucky and Gemini gets 'skipped' and left for the Science Channel episode next Wednesday. Fights with Lock-Jaw or Gigabyte I imagine will guarantee placement on the broadcast tonight.
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Roughly 15 mins till ROBOT WARS!!!!!
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unclekoolaid73 posted...

Roughly 15 mins till ROBOT WARS!!!!!

BattleBots is tonight, not Robot Wars. But yes, IT'S ROBOT FIGHTIN' TIME! Lucky vs. Gemini is leading off the show, being shown in full.
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Calwings posted...

Gemini is leading off the show, being shown in full.

Then I'll root for Gemini! Beat that junk bot~!
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Wow, I'm not sure about that decision. All three primary weapons (Lucky's flipper and both of Gemini's spinners) ended up disabled, although one of Gemini's spinners was knocked out due to accidental friendly fire rather than due to hitting the opponent. Lucky took quite a bit of physical damage too, including losing a back wheel. At the very least, that wasn't a fight that Lucky dominated enough to get a unanimous decision like they did. Split, maybe. But not unanimous.

EDIT: I just realized that I probably should have included a spoiler warning in the topic title.
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Lock-Jaw vs. Kraken is up next! Looks like Valkyrie vs. Hypothermia and Gigabyte vs. Double Dutch are the fights that will only be shown in highlight form.

Good win for Lock-jaw, albeit a bit closer than I expected. After the highlights of the other fights, the semifinals are set: Lockjaw vs. Valkyrie and Gigabyte vs. Lucky are up next!
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Would have really like to have seen all that gigabyte vs double dutch fight. Looked brutal from what little they showed.
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Random side note unrelated to this episode:

http://www.buildersdb.com/botdetails.asp?botid=12349
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Wow... both teams made a tactical decision before the battle, but Valkyrie clearly made the wrong one. Switching from the disc to that bar spinner was a mistake, because half the bar just snapped off, and from there the fight just went all downhill. What a shame. Lock-jaw to the finals, awaiting the winner of Gigabyte vs. Lucky.
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Yet again, the brilliant strategy of breaking the fist using your face works to perfection. Gigabyte spins out of the competition, while Lucky moves on to meet Lock-jaw in the finals
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That was an okay episode, but considering it was full of low-tier bots it was about as good as it could be.
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In the Lucky vs Gemini bout I think the deciding factor was 'Control'. Gemini had the friendly fire incident you mentioned, coupled with some hesitation to have the bots attack in tandem(which was a well founded hesitation as it turned out).

The first semi-final match was textbook execution. On the subject of bar spinners, well, size and shape both matter.

The second semi-final match... well, that's one of the criticisms I've had of that design: too easy to damage yourself.

Overall nothing totally ridiculous happened.
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Lucky easily took damage. At that point he just needed control, strategy or aggression. I think there is an solid case to make for control and strategy against Gemini.
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Went out of town so I missed both of them, but I will watch them on Science.
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KFHEWUI posted...

Went out of town so I missed both of them, but I will watch them on Science.

You only missed BattleBots. Robot Wars starts on the 8th, immediately after the BattleBots rerun on the Science Channel. You get a double dose.

DuranOfForcena posted...

my only question after watching the new ep is..... does the Giant Bolt fit together with the Giant Nut? lol

I've seen a few people on r/BattleBots claim that Ray Billings (the guy who built Tombstone) confirmed that it did indeed fit, but I haven't seen this post/comment from Ray himself. Ray does occasionally post there though, as do some of the other roboteers who compete on the show.
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So kinda unrelated to the actual topic i guess, did someone ever injure themselves in these fights? i assume all the safeguards, barriers, etc weren't exactly the same back when this started?
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Calwings posted...

You only missed BattleBots. Robot Wars starts on the 8th, immediately after the BattleBots rerun on the Science Channel. You get a double dose.

Sweet! I did not miss Sir Killalot!
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Cookie Bag posted...

So kinda unrelated to the actual topic i guess, did someone ever injure themselves in these fights? i assume all the safeguards, barriers, etc weren't exactly the same back when this started?

I've heard of an incident during the original Robot Wars series that led to someone's death, but I can't remember all of the details. It pissed off a lot of people and became a big reason why there are so many safety regulations in the entire sport now. Kill switches, safety links, isolated testing areas, extremely thick bulletproof polycarbonate walls, the works. There are an insane number of safety regulations, but when 3/4 of the machines involved are fully capable of killing a human being, there has to be.

But occasionally you get shit like this, where even the most OCD safety freak couldn't have foreseen something like this happening. *video below has spoilers for a later Robot Wars series that will be airing on Science, but it's an early round so nothing really major*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr1g87Pn1u0" data-time="&start=117

No one was hurt though, because SAFETY REGULATIONS!
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There was an incident like that in a recent Battlebots fight. It might have been the extra bout for the episode right before this one, but a bot part went flying into the window and caused one of the teams to recoil instinctively.
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Calwings posted...

Cookie Bag posted...

So kinda unrelated to the actual topic i guess, did someone ever injure themselves in these fights? i assume all the safeguards, barriers, etc weren't exactly the same back when this started?

I've heard of an incident during the original Robot Wars series that led to someone's death, but I can't remember all of the details. It pissed off a lot of people and became a big reason why there are so many safety regulations in the entire sport now. Kill switches, safety links, isolated testing areas, extremely thick bulletproof polycarbonate walls, the works. There are an insane number of safety regulations, but when 3/4 of the machines involved are fully capable of killing a human being, there has to be.

But occasionally you get shit like this, where even the most OCD safety freak couldn't have foreseen something like this happening. *video below has spoilers for a later Robot Wars series that will be airing on Science, but it's an early round so nothing really major*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr1g87Pn1u0" data-time="&start=117

No one was hurt though, because SAFETY REGULATIONS!

Lol it just spins and explodes, everyone is too surprised to react, that shit could've beheaded someone
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Cookie Bag posted...

Lol it just spins and explodes, everyone is too surprised to react, that shit could've beheaded someone

It busted through the first wall of polycarbonate, but it wouldn't have made it through the second wall (which is like 10 feet farther away and 10 times as thick) especially not with the first wall lowering its momentum so much. It could have beheaded someone, but it didn't because SAFETY REGULATIONS!
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DuranOfForcena posted...

Calwings posted...

I've seen a few people on r/BattleBots claim that Ray Billings (the guy who built Tombstone) confirmed that it did indeed fit, but I haven't seen this post/comment from Ray himself. Ray does occasionally post there though, as do some of the other roboteers who compete on the show.

did some searching, found it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/515oem/yes_the_giant_nut_and_giant_bolt_thread_together/?st=jkg4y9j3&sh=a77efec0

"One the very first things I did when I got home from the event :)"

Oh Ray, you glorious bastard.
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