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SF RoboGames This Weekend

Posted by Zonk on from the please-give-my-best-wishes-to-everybody! dept.

Vrogy writes "RoboGames (formerly RoboOlympics) kicked off on Friday in San Francisco with competitor check in and sub-Lightweight class fights. This competition, following in the footsteps of events such as Robot Wars and Battlebots, pits remotely-controlled fighting machines against each other in a bulletproof steel arena. The Competitors are many and tickets are still available. Saturday and Sunday will feature up to 340, or Superheavyweight robot combat, with such crowd favorites as Alcoholic Stepfather, a superheavy that spews flame nearly 25 feet, and Megabyte, a heavyweight that spins a steel shell of doom. RoboGames isn't only for fighting robots, though, it will also feature miniature robotic wrestlers called Robo-Ones, Lego bots, BEAM bots, robotic soccer games, and all kinds of art bots- it's like a festival of robots!"

6 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Re:robots or R/C? by mcsmurf · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yeah, RoboGames seems to be a mixture of autonomous robots and R/C controlled. See the rules on this page.

  2. More competitor shots to browse by Cyclotron_Boy · · Score: 2, Informative

    For those who didn't RTFA, here's the link to a rather large directory of all the competitors. May the /.-ing begin...
    Directory listing, free for perusal

  3. GOOD LINK REVISED by Steward5732 · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www-2.expo2005.or.jp/en/robot/robot_project _01.html

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  4. Re:RoboWars are boring by Illserve · · Score: 2, Informative

    Eliminating armor is the easier way to do it. What you are proposing raises the bar of design to such a level that you'd see designers spending the bulk of their time and money on the drivetrain and suspension which is not what we are paying to see.

    We want simple driving with lots of traction, giving us the potential for lots of damage and kinetic energy, not dune buggies crashing into each other.

    And walking bots? You're dreaming. There's a million reasons the military doesn't use them.

  5. Re:Real weapons by Tackhead · · Score: 2, Informative
    > What laws are there to stop people from creating robots that have REAL damage potential, and then fighting them? Why can't we have an "anything goes" competition. Thats what people really want to see. They want to see robots with guns, explosives, acid, rockets, etc. Why don't we have that yet? I guarantee it'd get a helluva lot better ratings than Battle Bots. And if safety is an issue, host it remotely in an arena with no spectators and let everybody view through monitors.

    Unfortunately, there are plenty such laws. Sometimes the planets come together, and the fire department cooperates with the landowner, the permits get signed, and the audience gets to show up and sign waivers before being admitted.

    Three words for ya:

    Survival Research Laboratories.

    There was almost a show in Vegas a couple of years ago, but it fell apart at the last minute. (Pity - Vegas is the perfect venue for it; easy air travel in, lots of nearby desert). There may be a show in San Francisco next month.

    SRL can best be summarized by saying that when they did a show in the Balkans a few years ago, the local military showed up... because they thought the war had started up again.

  6. Re:RobotWars: UK vs. US version by FryGuy1013 · · Score: 3, Informative

    The US version of Robot Wars was actually hosted by TNT I believe. Comedy Central hosted BattleBots. Notice that after these shows got too serious, they got cancelled, yet the UK Robot Wars continues to run. I think they just finished filming season 9 earlier this year.

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