Robot combat counts as a sport, right?

Anybody watching the new season of Battlebots on Discovery? First episode of the season had some great fights and big surprises (is Captain Shrederator good now?), and a ton of things catching on fire. They made some rule changes this year that I'm not so sure about, but there are a lot of really interesting bots fighting this time.

I only got into robot combat just last year when my partner convinced me to watch the 2020 season with him. I became way more obsessed with it than he ever was. Now I like to build bots for the lower weight classes - usually 3d printed fairyweight (150g) or antweight (1lb) bots, but the 250lb monsters on TV are definitely way more exciting.

What's your favorite robot? Do you like big spinners like Uppercut or Tombstone, or unconventional designs like HUGE or Smeeeeeeeeeeeeeee? Are you also disappointed that Duck! doesn't have a face this season? Is Blip the cutest bot to ever compete? Tell me your Battlebot Battlethoughts.

End Game is going to win the giant nut again and it gives me no joy to report this.

New fights every Thursday, plus a bonus Sunday fight on youtube!

    • Society_Liver [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Basically describing the robot Smeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. It's 3lb version is an absolute terror in the Norwalk Havoc Robot League, but the 250lb hasn't had nearly the success.

      Generally drive-based weapons aren't what they used to be. Robots are much tougher now, and can easily withstand being slammed into walls all day without damage.

        • Society_Liver [she/her]
          ·
          3 years ago

          A drive-based spike weapon won't do much of anything against a modern bot. Even hammers have trouble going after weaker top armor. These things are sturdy enough that a lot of seemingly-obvious weapons won't do much against them (or are against the rules, like nets or emp weapons).

            • Society_Liver [she/her]
              ·
              3 years ago

              Thick steel, usually. Sometimes billet aluminum. Some bots have tried using pneumatic spears (like Bale Spear last year), but it's just not as effective as spinning up a big metal bar and smacking the opponent with it.

              I'm sure you could find a way to send a spike through a couple inches of AR500, but it's a lot harder to do so safely. There are strict rules about what sort of propellants can be used, to make sure that the arena can contain whatever is happening inside it.

                • Society_Liver [she/her]
                  ·
                  3 years ago

                  I think so. If you look at the Comedy Central era old Robot Wars, etc, you'll see spike weapons and drive-based weapons do a lot more, because back then batteries and motors were super heavy, so there was little room for armor. Some bots would actually break by just being slammed into the wall. This is a sport where new technology matters a lot.