Slashdot Mirror

NMajik writes "Although BattleBots has been largely removed from the public eye since episodes stopped airing years ago, a new deal has recently been struck with ESPN to return combat robots to the living room. Episodes will be broadcast as a series on ESPNU and ESPN2 after filmed at the competition in June 2008. This is the first notable progress towards televised combat robotics in years."

No, not Dr. Susan Calvin. She's a fictional character who appears in a number of Isaac Asimov's works. Dr. Joanne Pransky is real, although she happily admits that she's modeled her career on the fictional Dr. Calvin. There is plenty of show biz razzle-dazzle (and humor) in Dr. Pransky's shtick -- she's been a judge on BattleBots and an engaging guest on many talk shows -- but there are hard academic underpinnings to it all, and she is as qualified as any living human being to answer your questions (one per post, please) about robot behavior and human-robot relationships. We'll send her 10 - 12 of the highest-moderated questions and have her answers back to you in about a week. (No hard-tech question, please. Those would go to a robotic internist or robotic orthopedist.)

Some Guy writes: "We all know that everyone's favourite TV show is BattleBots on Comedy Central, Right? Well, a new program has started at my old high school that teaches BattleBots to kids. It's a truly engaging engineering program/curriculum that kids and school systems can use for credit. The program is called BattleBots IQ. Kids out there can get their teachers to go to battlebots training camps during the summer, and then have them teach battlebots to them as a class. I wish it was around when I was a kid."

heliocentric asks: "I recently cleaned out the garage, and discovered that I am the proud owner of 4 working lawnmower engines. Considering I neither have kids, nor am I one myself, the Go Cart idea which was quick to come to mind, left just as quickly. I'm wondering if the Slashdot community might have some good plans for some spare 5HP lawnmower engines (preferably links to plans as well as ideas)? I am a fan of the junkyard wars as well as BattleBots and all those like them as well I consider myself decent with the welder etc.. But I don't want to make something to harvest hay nor is there local Battlebot group so I am open to other ideas. Think big, think small, but please keep it legal."

Ender, Duke_of_URL writes: "Battlebots the TV show, has joined the ranks of Corporate bad-guys buy attempting to force out Battlebots.org, an IRC site that had registered their domain before Battlebots even filed for a trademark. As most of you know, in any dispute over domains it's the money that wins."

Let's get back into the quickie portege00 sent in linkage to Robot Store where you can buy parts to build a Battlebot. Maybe after I finish my MAME cabinet ;) Speaking of MAME, Martin Hock claims that it makes in appearance in Godzilla 2000, check it out. Ever through of using a beverage as a weapon? Innominate sent in a weapon that uses pop cans as ammo. I'll just stick to coffee: Matador sent in the TCP/IP equipped Espresso Machine, but I'd tend to rather go the other way (thanks again Ant). matth sent in a cool page that has Dr Seuss Art for sale- the man did some really excellent work. If Seuss is to arty for ya, maybe SkippyVision can help; he sent us to the Etch-a-sketch art Gallery. If you need something to wear to the gallery, foondog sent us hats made of meat. If you think dandruff is an unhealthy food risk, Boolean sent us what might be the greatest meal ever. How can you resist a bowl of soup that morphs into a Ninja Asassin. While we're talking about Japanese stuff, Ant continues to submit quickies at a frenzied pace, like Mathematical Origami. webword sent in a site that explains how to make lightsaber effects with basic video editing tools. And it just wouldn't be quickies without rampant Microsoft Bashing: List knows what happens when you combine WinCE, WinME, and WinNT: Coming soon to a frys near you. Khan showed us where Microsoft got the inspiration for XBox's Controller, and Ron Harwood sent us linkage to the best MCSE Trainer around.

Hitch writes: " Comedy Central begins broadcasting BattleBots tonight at 10:30 EDT. Tonight's episode: Prelude to Battle - introducing the idea to those unfamiliar. For those who want to take a look early, the BattleBots Web site gives a lot of good info, including RealVideo clips of previous battles. "

spiffy1 writes "BattleBots, a fighting tournament between remote-controlled robots, took place this weekend at Long Beach, California. Contestants built robots which were pit against other robots in the same weight class (Kilobot, Megabot, and Gigabot), and tried to disable their opponent by ramming them, cutting them, or tossing them around in a DEADLY ARENA filled with ROTATING BLADES and NASTY SPIKES! The big winner in both the "Gigabot Duel" and the "Best Engineering" categories was "BioHazard" - a wide flat thing with a massive flipping arm. Check out the zdnet article and some pictures and videos at ZDTV. "