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jon-in-tha-hood OP t1_iscru1h wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in 250lb Battlebot is flipped and sticks the landing by jon-in-tha-hood

There are different weight classes, but the "pinnacle" of the sport revolves around 250 lb robots. (/r/battlebots is an example of this, and UK competitions and Chinese competitions are about 242 lbs for a heavyweight). The heavyweights are really the only ones that make TV, though smaller weight classes may have Youtube streams, etc.

Lower weight classes and competitions for them are more widespread and far more accessible (one heavyweight team will have to spend anywhere between $5,000 and $80,000 to run a team for one season).

You can probably find a local competition where the robots are 1 or 3 lbs.

Anyway, the fact that one robot is strong enough to launch another over 15 feet into the air (and the one on the receiving end can generally withstand falling from 15 feet multiple times per match) shows how crazy the engineering is on these things. You have some of the world's best engineering geniuses in this sport.

EDIT: There are a LOT of comments arguing about this being fake and Big Dill not weighing anywhere near 250 lbs. I posted a thread on /r/battlebots about this to get a sense of the builders' take on the weight issue and how close everyone is to the 250 lb weight limit. Pretty much every verified builder says they are at or just a tad below that limit. You can read that thread here.

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jayhawk618 t1_iscwfma wrote

I haven't watched much of the reboot, but back in the day (the 2000 version) the middle weights were always my favorites. It just felt like they had to be more selective with which weapons and defensive strategies to include in their bot. The lightweights were also kind of fun to watch because it was basically top fighting since everyone used a spinning bot.

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jon-in-tha-hood OP t1_iscz4ie wrote

You should watch the new episodes. Nowadays, everyone who's competitive is using a spinning bot again.

There's a lot of kinetic carnage, but the bots are way bigger than those lightweights from Comedy Central!

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Valyrian_Kobolds t1_isdd5v7 wrote

Wait spinning bots are meta? They used to suck balls and would always explode on first contact.

Ahh fuck anyone remember Vlad the Impaler? Simple and brutal, absolutely killer bot.

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jon-in-tha-hood OP t1_isdez6b wrote

Robot reliability and weapon power have both gotten exponentially better.

Here's Valkyrie vs. Rotator, one of my favourite fights of the reboot era. As much as I like creative weapons and brute force, seeing 2 robots slug it out with weapons firing on all cylinders for such a long time is admittedly one of the most exciting things you can watch.

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Trox92 t1_isejqc0 wrote

Jesus the blade is so large and spinning so fast it’s literally lifting the robot off the ground when it gets too much momentum

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sybrwookie t1_isessfu wrote

Yea, these things are powerful enough that gyroscopic forces are actually a really big deal in designing and driving them. Because if you do it wrong, you lose control of the bot and get destroyed.

It's a ton of fun to see how different teams solve that issue and how some even lean into having those forces at work in how they drive.

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Buchymoo t1_ise7etz wrote

That was awesome, but why do they make the host sing a jingle before announcing the winner?

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Rank1Trashcan t1_ise9nlj wrote

I don't think anyone made him. It's "Ride of the Valkyries" before he says Valkyrie

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Alissinarr t1_iseq1im wrote

He doesn't do that all the time. That was for this competitor. He's a great MC.

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Abriel_Lafiel t1_iseb92e wrote

That was a awesome fight! My favorite has always been Tombstone.

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jcforbes t1_isdf912 wrote

The most notorious one of all time was a spinner. Blendo was told never to come back.

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jon-in-tha-hood OP t1_isdibqy wrote

Not the full story. It gets better.

After having their weapon deemed "too unsafe to compete" as it was flinging metal shrapnel into the crowd every match, they were given co-champion status with a promise not to compete again that year.

They turn up with the same robot next year, start flinging bot parts into the audience again and badly damaging the arena walls, and are asked to stop competing again for co-champion status.

Funnily enough, when Battlebots was on TV, it entered but as robot design evolved and opponents (and the walls) were able to take the hits, the design had aged out, and it didn't win a single one of its 4 next matches before retiring.

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DoctorSalt t1_isdjzw1 wrote

That sounds like an organizer problem if parts are getting into the crowd

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InternetProtocol t1_isdv3l6 wrote

IIRC, the original walls were about half as high, then the blendo thing happened, so they doubled the height, then it happened again, so they doubled the height yet again and re-enforced them.

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danielv123 t1_isetap0 wrote

They now also have double spaced half inch plexiglass on the walls. There was a case in one of the lower weight classes when a spinner was launched at the wall and broke through the inner layer.

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TheGazelle t1_isetdmz wrote

Is there a reason they never just.. Put a roof on it?

Like just make them fight in a large cube so there's no way for shrapnel to get out?

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Qwerty1418 t1_isfg7ph wrote

They did that in the early 2000s, Blendo was around like 1997 or something. All of the modern fights have been in a heavy duty fully enclosed box.

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Zathrus1 t1_isfsxni wrote

Bots routinely (couple times a season) hit the ceiling, which is fully enclosed.

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MrFluffyThing t1_isfugvb wrote

Backlash started flinging stuff over the high walls so they added a roof at that point.

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sybrwookie t1_iset7xm wrote

It does, but if the organizers don't have the ability to redo the walls on the fly while the event is going on, all they can do is say, "nope, you can't participate, we can't guarantee the safety of people with a bit that strong."

That's happened quite a few times over the years. Many times, they can work something out with the builders where they tell them they can compete, but only if they can throttle down the power 25% and show they've done so before the event starts in a way where they can't just turn it up again later.

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fresh_gnar_gnar t1_isdhhx7 wrote

Nearly choked on my lunch laughing when I looked up Blendo. Holy shit lol!!!

Of course Jamie Hyneman is responsible….

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Redditbrit t1_iseeq6w wrote

My favourite ‘explode on contact’ moment was from the UK’s Robot Wars: Series 10, Apex breaks the arena - link starts at 2m15s. I like the replays that show it slowed down & all the reactions from everyone. If you like the shows, watch from the start for some of the pit interviews which show the great camaraderie between the teams.

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Ethel-The-Aardvark t1_isiy38p wrote

That was an amazing moment. I was actually in the front row of the audience for that fight, sitting almost directly behind where Apex's blade went through. The audience just went completely silent in shock when it happened, then started laughing nervously. Dara spent ages looking at the hole, he stuck his head through it and took photos of it on his phone.

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DrRenegade t1_isg2b8k wrote

I know it’s not a lightweight but I love the way tombstone would just YEET any robot that touched its weapon

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97875 t1_iseb83k wrote

Is r/battlebotsRAW still the place to go for cut down episodes with only the fights and none of the extraneous crap?

Edit: yes

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Szalkow t1_isflw8m wrote

Best way to watch BattleBots. The only part I miss in these cut-down episodes is Faruq's trash-talk intros before each match.

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ageofthoughts t1_isdtsig wrote

You’re saying we’re just doing industrial bey blade? I’m in

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WhereIsTheInternet t1_isec5bx wrote

I remember the one with the gas engine in it. Was ruled too dangerous. Was terrifying to behold.

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Alissinarr t1_iseqq7y wrote

They're competing again.

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Zathrus1 t1_ish1vf8 wrote

But not well. ICEwave hasn’t been competitive for years. Modern batteries and motors are far more powerful than small internal combustion engines.

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spekledcow t1_iseyd9v wrote

I remember hypnodisc from the early 2000s, that thing was insane

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murdock129 t1_isfbyem wrote

Hypnodisc was amazing for the time, even if compared to the spinners today it's an absolute minnow next to sharks.

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stealth57 t1_isf65on wrote

Never fails to amaze me how people still don’t engineer enough and their bot is utterly destroyed. It’s like they never watched the show.

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Szalkow t1_isfmpg6 wrote

There is very little you can do to make a 250lb robot immune to millions of foot-pounds of kinetic energy.

You're also limited on design or materials if you're a small team with a $5,000 budget up against pro teams who spend six figures a year.

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Zathrus1 t1_ish2o8s wrote

There’s a bit of an issue with testing. You might get to drive around in your neighborhood, but you certainly can’t use the weapon. And even driving is dangerous.

Doing actual weapon testing needs a huge amount of space, or a serious test box (Team Whyachi has one, but it’s the only heavyweight box I’ve seen for builders).

The amount of energy involved with these bots is mind boggling. One team had a 1.5” solid titanium shaft bent last season.

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HawkMan79 t1_isf8i47 wrote

> everyone who’s competitive is using a spinning bot again.

...YaAaAAAay....

How awesome, spinners....

Let me contain my enthusiasm...

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Popular_Target t1_ish6odk wrote

Are the new episodes able to be found on a streaming service?

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Bleedthebeat t1_isewpwh wrote

I did one of these in college. I believe we had a 20 lb limit. We had a front spinner that was 14 pounds and a tiny little bit made out of hdpe plastic. That thing was downright scary. It had so much rotational energy that spinning the weapon at max speed would lift it off the groun and onto its side. Was super fun and we destroyed many many other bots with it.

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similar_observation t1_isedls6 wrote

the midweights are the right balance of just-strong-enough weapons and weak armor. Making for excellent robot carnage.

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zebrahdh t1_isfdebx wrote

The amazing feat of engineering is designed for fighting robots… just wanted to clarify.

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TikkiTakiTomtom t1_isf77g2 wrote

If you hadn’t told us, I would have said those things were made of plastic and weighed less than 2lbs. TIL…

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