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Battlebots Starting On Comedy Central Tonight
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. "
All the contestants are nerds, and they use their nerd powers to build devices that smash each other into little pieces. It's at least as newsworthy as any other attempt by mainstream media to notice linux or other icons of hackdom.
Fact is, the UK got this show *way* before you guys, and Battlebots is just a recompilation of the exact same source code. Not a single new idea in there. You don't even have the adorable Philipa Forrester presenting.
UK: 1
USA: 0
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It's a
-- Danny Vermin
God, Lexx really sucks.
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It's a
-- Danny Vermin
Exactly what I thought when I looked at the site. They're just expensive RC toys with game geeks controlling them. If one toy tears another to shreds, it's just meanspiritedness on the part of the human controller, making up for his (it will invariably be a he) lack of endowment by bashing some other goof's toy to smithereens, all for the benefit of WWF-descended network execs.
By contrast, when a well-written program in MUSE Robotwar or one of it's many successors (like Robowar) wins by a landslide, you feel a sense of fait accompli. But the people making real-life robots that can actually make their own decisions have better things to do than try and one-up someone else's work.
-- Life is short. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly. ~ Robert Doisneau
I thought the ladybug was genius, myself. It got me thinking, what would the rules say about enclosing an opposing robot in a Faraday cage to prevent RF signals from reaching it. Technically, it's not electric and it's not actually *jamming* the signal...
The major flaw in the lady bug was that the saw blade was attached to the upper casing. So that if a bot caught the casing with something the saw blade could be prvented from reaching it. As soon as the Lady bug goes up against something with an offense other than flipping (A saw blade or something) it's going to get destroyed. If the saw blad had its own movement system whereby it could move around under the shell more it would be far more effective.
My own design that I'm working on implementing is well nigh invincible in every test so far. I hope to actually get the full sized model built and entered in the contest eventually.
Kintanon
Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
My girlfriend, who was a big Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan was looking around a while back a the Gizmonics website and happened upon Joel and his brother Jim's coloring book. One of the pages of the coloring book (page 22) has the caption: 'Production supervisors for "Robot Wars."' By any off chance, is this Comedy Central program these "Robot Wars" that Jim and Joel Hodgson are working on? I missed the show, so I didn't get a chance to check the credits.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
There is no restriction on the number of different types of materials that can be used to construct your BattleBot.
I'm going to build my battlebot out of rabid wolverines.
I'm seeing a lot of posts to the effect that this is a ripoff of Robot Wars UK. It's not. Robot Wars has been around in the US since 1995, but that effort was plagued by legal troubles and general bad blood, and the Robot Wars name got auctioned, I guess to Mentorn (who does Robot Wars UK). Battlebots has been around for a while now, and they've been having competitions for over a year. BotBash exists too, although it's somewhat different. Battlebots exists primarily to fill the void left by Robot Wars's absence in the US, not to imitate Robot Wars UK. They actually take the time to put together events that aren't necessarily always in the same place in the US every few months, which is a Good Thing. Meaning..shows that those of us on this side of the Atlantic can go to, possibly. I've got a few gripes, though, really. The Robot Wars UK people live and breathe stupid jargon. They're basically sports announcers, but really horrible. And also..it's more like Robot boxing, or wrestling, than Robot Wars. If you want to get a few dozen robots, put them out in the woods as separate teams, and let them fight it out, that might be more deserving of the moniker.
If you really want to know how to build autonomous robots, there are several competitions with the same level of excitement as Battlebots et al, but with the added benefit that you can imagine it might eventually be a good thing to turn the resulting machines loose in the real world.
For instance, Robot Sumo is quite popular in Japan and the US. You can find the rules and links to competitions at Sine Robotics. Another big competition is the Trinity College Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest, wherein robots navigate a known maze (a model house floorplan) to put out a fire (simulated by a lit candle).
Another nice thing about these competitions is they can be cheaper to get into than Battlebots (less heavy iron and welding). And there are lots of good people and organizations who can help you climb the learning curve. Just a few of my favorites are the Seattle Robotics Society, The Robotics Club of Yahoo, Raleigh Triangle Amateur Robotics Group, Portland Area Robotics Society, Robotics Society of Southern CA, and the San Francisco Robotics Society of America.
Finally, here's a few places you can find parts, books, plans, kits, and lots of links: Mondo-Tronics, Acroname, and Robot Books.com.
Ooh. Gas and liquid fuels are also allowed. There's a pressure limit on gases, and 10 oz of liquid fuels. I wonder how quickly a grinder uses up fuel...
Speaking of this, did anyone see if there is a specific restriction against Flamethrowers/Explosives? I couldn't find anything specifically prohibitting, but I imagine their effectiveness would be limited... Would make for an interesting show though... >:)
Kintanon
Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
Actually, I remember seeing that MIT has had robot battles for some time. Last spring, at Spring Carnival, Carnegie Mellon introduced a new event to the Mobot festivities: MoboJoust. Basically, two robots started at opposite ends of a narrow "arena," and the first one to cross the other's goal line (or get closest in 30 seconds) won. It was hilarious seeing some of these robots pulverize their opponents. In fact, on the promo for the next BattleBots, I was shocked to hear the name "Overkill," also the name of the winner of this year's MoboJoust. It's not the same robot, though. Oh well.
:)
Don't underestimate the power of private funding, though. The Mobot people get assistance from such companies as Dell Computer, Lockheed Martin, and Schlumberger. They have some good tech at their disposal. Literally.
For more information, click here.
Steel Survivor. Or perhaps titanium.
I watched this (it should have higher ratings than survivor) and it's very cool! I'm actually considering building one of my own... that desire will probably wear off in a week, but I may as well waste my own cpu cycles thinking about it.
I checked out their website and read the rules. They recommend using PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) transceivers to minimize interference among the many controllers around the competition. There is NOT any rule about hacking the PCM signal of your opponent!! Whadda'ya think? How about a bot that uses some high tech weaponry, rather than saw blades and missles. Let's get smart here...
Anyway, I like this show and I think it should stay around for a while. The website mentioned that 16 more episodes are scheduled for the upcoming tournament in November, somewhere in Las Vegas.
--cr@ckwhore
Skiers and Riders -- http://www.snowjournal.com
Actually, although RobotWars was the first robot combat based organization, relatively soon after they began (a few competitions) it was "taken over" by corporate interests and the founder, Marc Thorpe was essentially kicked out. After somewhat long and drawn out legal circumstances and various canceled robot combat events (such as Robotica) BattleBots was born. Also, BattleBots has had several competitions, however it has always been PPV only before.
You can get a more in depth history of the sport at http://www.robotcombat.com/history.html
Flabble
why not inclose the robots in a bullproof, safety glass, plexglass transparent container? Or put then in a steal cage. Or take the crowd out and just have carmea's, all the metal flying, but no one gets hurt.
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
It's a shame.
Imagine black, small, disk-shaped robot looking completely harmless. It just sits there, not even trying to move. It produces no sound, even if you listen really carefully. No fire-throwers, no blinking lights, no hammers, cutters nor any other medieval stuff.
All around it battle rages on and the robot is motionless.
But you would be mistaken to think that it does nothing. In fact, it's scanning the ether for signals. It listens, learns and reasons. It guesses frequencies used by all contestants. It figures what each command does by building the map of battlefield with help of proximity meters and sophisticated heuristics extracting valueable information from command sequences radioed to fighting robots.
Soon it can control its opponents. Using powerful transmitter hidden inside its hull, it oh-so-slighly "enhances" orders of operators. A bit more to the left here, so that that arm could reach you. Trying to strike forward? Let me delay you for a second, just enough for this fire-blowing robot to get in your way.
Complete control over the battlefield. The last remaining opponent just uses it's weapons on itself and the victory is ours.
--
"Man in the Moon and other weird things" - wfmh.org.pl/thorgal/Moon/
The only physics it demonstrates is Ke=1/2mv^2, and you don't get to see them building the things.
There is a real "Iron" chef like mechanical challenge show, in the UK it goes by the name Scrapheap Challenge, when shown in the US, they call it Junkyard Wars. It too features a Red Dwarf actor as host, this time Robert, the guy that plays Kryten (without the mask however).
Basic premise: Two 3 person teams are each provided with a specalist, identical workshops, and equal access to an 800 ton pile of scrap metal. (literally). Dragged from their beds at the crack of dawn, costumed in flameproofed jump suits, they are given a problem to solve (something "simple" like a one person glider, or a 4 person amphibian. How about A diving bell, or a MPG marathon machine. It might be something that can solve a problem, say retrieve a car sunk underwater), and they have 10 hours to build a solution, using only what they pull off the scrap pile. The next day, the two machines are run head to head, and the better one's team advances to the next round, and a harder challenge.
I organized the first US team to compete. We think its a whole lot more fun than Survivor or Iron Chef. The obvious questions are answered in my FAQ
In the UK, the show is carried by Channel 4, and the new season starts Sept 17. In the US, TLC carries it, but not particularly well. (they have show 6 of the 13 existing episodes, and haven't yet agreed to pick up the third season. They have commisioned their own version, to be shown in Jan/Feb timeframe.)
-dp-
We flew over, we built, we can't say what we got to build, or how we did until the shows air, we had a truly great time.
This planet needs a lot more kids that think taking the lawnmowers' engine apart is more fun than playing nintendo.
Organizer:New England Rubbish Deconstruction Society;The NERDS,first US team in the UK Scrapheap Challenge/Junkyard Wars
From the rules:
Electricity - The use of electricity as a weapon shall be forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
¥ Stun Guns/Cattle Prods
¥ RF jamming equipment, etc.
Hacking your opponents' signal would constitute "jamming".
BBC USA on Dish covers it- or at least it did when I last saw BBC USA on my friend's cable setup (I've got Dish, I know they carry it- I just don't have budget to add it in light of my DSL line purchase... :-)
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Also, correlation doesn't indicate causality - there are a lot of other possible factors at work. It is true, for example, that individuals who are given testosterone supplements as part of some treatment or other (include female-to-male transexuals) report an increase in aggressive feelings.
And fast forward through the tripe to the meat of the program. I watched the whole 'content' of the preview episode in about 10 minutes.
Hopefully the later episodes won't be as stupid. I love the concept though.. Very cool.
---
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
> American programme
no, it would be a British programme bassed on an American program. Where's the grammar nazi now that we need them.
Hmm, if it's about the British usate, does he become the gramarre naze?
:)
If ya missed it, don't worry, one of the great things about Comedy Central is how often they rerun the episodes.
/.ed.
The episode will be rerun as follows:
Friday, Aug 25 8:00PM
Saturday, Aug 26 10:00AM
Saturday, Aug 26 5:00PM
Saturday, Aug 26 11:00PM
Sunday, Aug 27 11:30AM
(All times EDT)
BTW - Their Realvideo server is currently
Portable versions of Firefox, GIMP, LibreOffice, etc
I know what Comedy Central is doing here.
Under fire for removing Mystery Science Theater 3000 from their programming lineup, they need a clever way to reintroduce the show without blantantly admitting their bad choice in taking the show out of their schedule.
Enter Tom Servo and Crow, the popular, wisecracking robots from MST3k.
The programmers have the idea to place a show about robots on Comedy Central. On a later date, the 'bots from MST3k will fight it out, sparking a reason to bring the show back onto Comedy Central.
They're geniuses.
Love, Stu
moderator warning: honest opinion follows. mod me down if you must, but at least read my post.
jesus christ. this show is one of the most horrific pieces of crap i have ever seen.
don't get me wrong; i really like the concept. i enjoyed robot wars the few times i've seen it. but you'd think that a geeky thing like building and fighting robots would be targeted at... well, geeks. battlebots seems to be in position to take a huge chunk out of the audience of the teletubbies.
this show is like a terrible, terrible parody of the local 10 p.m. news crossed with "extreme" sports, lobotomized to attract the average american viewer. which means an iq approaching the single digits. after watching two minutes, i felt so ill that i had no choice but to turn it off. so extreme was my contempt for television in general after watching this asinine show, i went to take a bath and read a book.
i hope they can do better for the real show, versus the "preview".
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no kiddin', that was some pretty good tv.
Now they just need to lose those commentators, and go get Madden. He wouldn't know the difference.
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+&x
It ended up that one event that was to occur about two years ago in the Bay Area was cancelled, much to my roommates chagrin.
BattleBots was the community response to the lack of an organized robotic combat arena. The community, largely, the Society of Robotic Combat, developed the rules currently in use with BattleBots.
So, there may be similarities. I think what it comes down to is how the events were edited for TV. Tonight, what they had as the prelim events were part of the lightweight rounds, which were featured as much as the super heavys. The TV show seems like it is going to bypass the lightweights.
After being in the audience for the taping, I'm so far less than statisfied with the way Comedy Central put the package together. There were a few errors in fact (the arena is made of Lexan, not plexiglass). Secondly, the announcers seem to be a little over eager and dramatic and stiff. Hopefully, this gets better as the show goes on.
I also hope they won't edit too much of the matches. We were a tad surprised by how tight the editing seemed to be this evening.
It was a great couple of days at Fort Mason for the taping. I just hope it translates well for television.
--Humpty Dumpty was pushed!
. Explosives or Flammable Solids - This includes, but is not limited to the following:
DOT Class C devices
Gunpowder/Cartridge Primers
Military Explosives, etc.
But a Flammable Gas/Flammable liquid isn't a flammable solid. So would a gass or liquid flamethrower be allowed? Spraying flaming goo all over your oponents control system could pretty much end it if there are any exposed wires...
Kintanon
Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
Mindless banter, cheap jokes, "oh gosh aren't I dizzy" physical talent, and other gimics don't add value to this show.
I can appreciate the producer's concern towards appealing to a larger audience than robot-loving geeks. And I'm more than happy to hear an announcer wax poetic about wanton mechanical destruction and the glee of flying debris. But many sports that fuse the human factor with mechanics and technology (various forms of motor racing come to mind) manage to capture an audience without taking notes from the WWF.
Of course, I'm being fairly critical without giving the show a chance to prove it isn't all gimick - that it manages to strike an effective balance between "personality" and main event. I hope they manage it. I fear they won't.
I noticed right off that there is one major improvement in "Battle Bots" - weapons that actually work!
The 'bots in "Robot Wars" tend to have wimpy little weapons and never do any real damage- saws that stop spinning the moment they come into contact with anything of real substance. Meanwhile, the first "Battle Bot" exhibition match has one robot literally tearing the other to pieces!
That's what we like to see, total carnage!
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
I'm not into anything macho at all - I have the testosterone level of a randy cabbage - but I think that Battlebots are the coolest things ever, and I want someone to open a Battlebot arena in my area NOW.
I'd pay $25 an hour to get together with my friends and slam our avatar Battlebot-selves into each other, the vanquished paying for the beer afterwards!
Neopets - the best free game on the Int
does anyone know the difference between this and the bbc robot wars show? ive seen that one on PBS a few times, and from what i can see of this show, they seem pretty similar
That would be ultra cool.. except that it would be the same as on land, but everything has to be waterproof. ;)
One cool thing I can see about underwater battle... a robot has 2 internal cavities, 2 electrodes... and produces their own hydrogen explosion underwater! Imagine literally blowing your opponent out of the water... COOL.
Mr. Ska
Why is CC picking up stuff like this, is the Sci-Fi channel too busy showing softcore wanna be's like Lexx? Other than Sci-Fi's recent exposure series and that psychic guy (i love watching CSICOP disciples go into conniptions over him) that channel has been a magnificent failure and hopefully will go out of business and replaced with something interesting like that proposed anime/martial arts channel.
Did Anyone Play "One Must Fall"? This wast a fighting game between Human contrlled robots. Pretty much fun if you had nothing to do.
I can't comment on the show as I'm in Germany, but the idea seems like the beginning of OMF in reality.
I saw OMF a couple of days ago in an "abandonware" site. Abandon as in "officially declared Freeware", not "Warez under other name".
Greetinx
Aleks A.
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For a real millenial disaster, computer glitches cannot hold a candle to global warming.
For a real millenial disaster, computer glitches cannot hold a candle to global warming.
(New Scientist)
Paul.
You are lost in a twisty maze of little standards, all different.
hmm.. that suddenly makes me wonder.. would whipped cream cakes make a suitable weapon? would they be solid enough to get out under the 'no liquids' rule? it's certainly tasteful.. and suitable for minors..
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
--Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
Huh? I guess you've had the pleasure to never have seen 'America's Funniest Home Videos'.
You can't get through an episode without someone getting smashed in the crotch by something. Baseball bat, a baseball, etc. At least once per episode, usually more. The worst thing is that the show, or some derivitive thereof, has been running for YEARS.
And people wonder why I don't watch much TV.
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com)
- Jeff
i love this show, and i really dig that it's getting it's own slot instead of the usual two minutes each year on the local news that the past robot battle tournaments have gotten
but shouldn't this be on scifi channel or something other than comedy central? i laugh at it, but i wouldn't consider it comedy..
well, until the CC folks realize this, i'm going to laugh my ass off at some robots getting mauled
- Entertaining Bits from the Ancient Kernel Tree
No it is not. BattleBots occurs in the US (last one was in SF, I'm bummed cuz it was sold out by the time I found out about it). American robots tend to be larger and more dangerous, mostly due to the fact that too many americans have tons of money to throw at a hobby. Robot Wars is a great show, but the bots really are rather puny. (even the house robots). Check out some of the various events that are not televised and you'll see some pretty great robots.
Nuts and Voltz magazine has articals from time to time about the results of robotic competitions (usually going over some of the more interesting robots, like a giant snack that can apply 900lbs of force with it's 3 piece jaw).
Back in the early days, when there were no real restrictions. Robots would have thermite, dynamite and even raw sewage to attack opponents with. Unfortunetly few places allow such things anymore, mostly because some of the "old pros" lost fingers
If anyone is interested in thier own robots. Please check out robohoo. It's a great little directory for robotics related things.
Personally I'd be most interested in starting an aquatic robotics competition, but I haven't found enough people to compete with to attempt such a thing.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
After all the effort put into the iBorg, I think they'd be afraid to enter it.
(link probably only works during west coast business hours; search www.macaddict.com for iBorg for details or try this link)
I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The Good - environment.
Battlebots has the right environment. Simple and elegant.
While the backdrop isn't nearly as impressive as the set of Robot Wars (heck - the title animation is amateurish compared to Robot War's but I digress...), it provides a function that limited Robot Wars. Safety. The enclosed arena of Battlebots seems to allow much more powerful robots and weapons systems without endangering spectators. This should pay off with some amazing action. Tonight's match between Backlash and Disposable Hero demonstrated the possibilities - parts flew through the air as Backlash dismantled DH.
The Battlebots arena is also all about the contestant bots. Two bots pitting engineering, design, and driving skill against their respective opponent. No well funded house bots. No obstacle course. Battlebots is not Robot Wars (though I think both formats are great). Battlebots DOES have a nice layout of hazards such as retractable floor saws, spikes, and ramps to keep the action going and provide another way for a robot to dispatch its opponent and rack up points.
The Bad - personalities.
I'm worried about Battlebot's human personalities. There's a whole team of on-screen personalities running around the show - I'm almost worried we won't have enough time in each episode to watch the bots.
We have the announcers - neccisary, but with too much NFL for my taste. Of course, it could have been worse. They could throw in a heaping measure of WWF. I don't want hyperbole and hype here - tell me whats going on and some interesting facts about the bots and get out of the way.
We have the female... talent. The physical draw. Her claim to a personality slot? She's a Baywatch babe. And in the short clips she's busy dropping innuendo and playing the ditz. Robot Wars had a cutie to walk the pits... but I tend to remember her as keeping her wits about her.
Bill Nye also looks to be roaming the pits with a penchant for techno speak. I hope he has something good to say - an eye for the engineering challenges the bot designers face and overcome. As one of the designers just stared at Bill blankly, I began to fear Bill Nye, Science Guy is there to fill dead air with techno babble. That would be a shame.
The Brothers did a bit involving interviewing the public with a "bot on the street". I hope they bring something interesting to the show. The fear here is that they'll fill up space with cheesy banter while we patiently wait for what we came to see - bots.
The Ugly - Production
The whole show, of course, hinges on the production and editing. I can almost hear the whispers in the Producer's ears: "Its metallic WWF!" Resist the Dark Side. Battlebots doesn't need to layer on hype. It doesn't need gimmicks. It has plenty of material in the robot battle, the design and engineering of the bots, and finally the individuals who've designed and drive their mechanized agents of mayhem. And there will be plenty of debris.
Will I watch the show? Definitely. What they've done with the material they have will decide how long I continue to do so.
Of course, the combative robot arena shows and Junkyard Wars are completely different formats. Apples and Oranges. Some will prefer one or the other. Me... I'd like a fruit salad of Robot Wars, Battlebots, with maybe Junkyard Wars / Scrapheap Challenge to space the two apart. Mmmmm.
And the British show Scrapheap Challenge (which may or may not be based on an American programme) is co-presented by Robert Llewellyn (Kryten). It's similar to Robot Wars in some ways, having teams which have to build machines and then compete. (Scavenge for junk and use it to build a land yacht or whatever within ten hours.)
So what will the remaining Dwarf cast be presenting?
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
So, please write to Comedy Central, or even advertisers, to tell them how much you like the show :). I think that's the only hope we'll have of keeping the show around.
Alex Bischoff
Interested in building a roof over your cubicle?
---
Alex Bischoff
HTML/CSS coder for hire
Warning: Incoherent Mumbling Rant
Purpose: Unknown
I think it's great and all that they're doing such a potentially fun/edgykayshunull program... but still...
Robot Wars had that guy from Red Dwarf!
What's Battlebots got to beat that, huh?
In the words of Scott Evil: "*Cough* *Cough* *Ripoff!*"
Not that I think the show's a bad idea... just that it ought to have something to differentiate it-- y'know... like an Iron Chef bonus round or something (with the chefs made from real iron!)
See, when you take the time and effort to blatantly rip off two cult TV hits, then you're actually doing the viewer a service, by compressing two shows down to a manageable 30 minute time slot, thereby freeing up everybody's time to go play Networked Pong ("what's your Pong ping?")
Then again, I hope they don't recycle too many TV favorites... I mean, if Comedy Central gets real cheap, then we might end up watching a gruesome, lopsided deathmatch as some hulking, firebreathing, multiple-chainsaw-propeller-wielding chrome behemoth Mech's mammoth shadow looms over the cowering, doomed duo of Servo and Crow!
Eep!
Okay, I promise... this is the second-to-last time that I check the Slashdot headlines right after drinking 2 bottles of generic store brand cola! (From now on, just 1 case of Red Bull oughta last me a whole week!)
Mmmm... now bring on the educational robotic violence!....
Stay up hacking each weekend. Sleep is for the week.
I think Survival Research Laboratories has been doing this kind of stuff longer than anyone( since 1979), except that they do only shows (kinda like a circus). They even have videos for sale. The last time I heard of one of their shows, you had to sign a waiver to see the show in case you got injured by pieces of flying metal or something.
Check it out at:
www.srl.org