Battle Bots ?
 

Although we always compete in FIRST FRC this year our team is working on a battle bots IQ tournament at the 120lb competition level too. This is our rookie year for battle bots and we were wondering about competitions in our area for the weight class, we are based in Norwell, Mass. Anyone know where and when the competitions are or know where to find that info ? Their website has sadly not been updated since April and it has no info. Any help is great !

Re: Battle Bots ?
 

I doubt too many people here are knowledgeable, or friendly, about battlebots.

The most active forum I know of for combat robots is the Robot Fighting League Forum, there's a link to it on their site, botleague.net.

You'll get better responses there, both for technical help and about events.

Re: Battle Bots ?
 

Here is the good one. A lot of useful people there at all times.

Re: Battle Bots ?
 

Haha. VERY well said. Im just glad that you posted this on the off-season because some people here are not friendly about battlebots. There is a question that every FIRST robotic member hates, but it pops up all the time: "So your like battlebots" Then we have to explain how were not trying to destroy the other robot, and about gracious professionalism. It just gets aggravating because we pride ourselves on not destroying other things. I am just glad the right people found this thread first.

Re: Battle Bots ?
 

"So [you're] like battlebots"

Standard answer: No -- it's better!

Re: Battle Bots ?
 

I've never understood the "holier than thou" attitude most FIRSTers have towards Battle Bots. :confused:

That being said, look up NERC. (My roommate and friends built Professor Chaos at WPI several years ago, and are pretty active in combat robotics in the Northeast).

Re: Battle Bots ?
 

Agreed, I've designed a we combat robots and then lessons learned there are entirely different than from FIRST. I really can't see how learning and improving design skills are a bad thing.

Most combat robot teams operate on less of a budget than a FIRST team, know they are likely to get damaged, are prepared for the fact, and almost always repair and rebuild (often before the next fight!).

Re: Battle Bots ?
 

[quote=artdutra04;969145]I've never understood the "holier than thou" attitude most FIRSTers have towards Battle Bots. :confused:
[quote]

It reminds me of sail boats and motor boats. To a hard core sail boat enthusiast, a motor boat is a "stink boat". To a hard core motor boat enthusiast, a sail boat is an "uncontrollable hazard". The two groups seem to dislike each other. I don't know why...

I have no problem with battle bots - it's just not what we do here. (Having said that, however, I doubt a battle bot competition can be as exciting as an FRC competition - I've never been to one though.)

Re: Battle Bots ?
 

It's not a "holier than thou" attitude -- for me at least. When we're supermarket fundraising and the battlebot question comes up, I've got to quickly come up with an answer that grabs them. (Heh -- holier than thou :) ) Depending who it is, my additional answer is "-- but it is for high school students, after all", usually given to worried parents; with an added apologetic shrug to battlebotians. (That is a word, isn't it?) Then we can get into a discussion of FRC, with maybe a donation or, even better, a local machinist/programmer/adult that wants to help us build robots.

I've seen the "battlebots" shows from way back. The (I'm guessing) original UK version was quite enjoyable, when it was versus the house robots. How do you defeat a battle ready well-practiced house robot? But it evolved into a destruction competition rather than a defeat competition, and (even before FIRST was around) I didn't like watching a 4-12 month robot project get destroyed in the first round. It's just a different kind of game.

Looking at the two websites mentioned above, there doesn't seem to be many local events - unless you count NERC's Philly as local, next fall. They looked like they just had one.