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A Brief History Of The Demise Of Battle Bots
Popular Science ^
| 06.19.2013
| By Kelsey D. Atherton
Posted on 01/11/2014 7:30:19 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
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To: Jet Jaguar
How about rules and design parameters? Just think’n.
2
posted on
01/11/2014 7:41:51 PM PST
by
slouper
To: Jet Jaguar
3
posted on
01/11/2014 7:43:10 PM PST
by
Redcitizen
(Never bring a tank to a Chuck Norris fight.)
To: Jet Jaguar
I used to love BattleBots. Jamie and Adam from Mythbusters had some great entries. But yeah, wedges made it boring in the end.
4
posted on
01/11/2014 7:49:52 PM PST
by
Hugin
To: Jet Jaguar
With a bipedal rule I foresee low centers of gravity and large feet.
5
posted on
01/11/2014 7:51:24 PM PST
by
cripplecreek
(REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
To: cripplecreek
To: Jet Jaguar
Time to resume the games and let Google in. It would get a LOT more interesting with recent developments.
![](http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/12/14/Boston-Dynamics-WildCat_610x350.jpg)
To: Jet Jaguar
If they want to make it interesting and drive them to develop new forms they should ditch the arena format. If you put them outside on varied terrain like water, sand, mud, rock, etc it could become very interesting.
In fact I’d put multiple teams on the battlefield and let them go at it with multiple bots for each team.
8
posted on
01/11/2014 7:58:27 PM PST
by
cripplecreek
(REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
To: Jet Jaguar
![]( http://www.jeffbots.com/silentrunning.jpg )
GREENPEACE BOTS
9
posted on
01/11/2014 7:59:44 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(SOME IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED;-{)
To: Jet Jaguar
Robot battling was poised to become a true sport of the future. It had all the right elements: mad science, gladiatorial combat, plucky garage inventors, and televised action. So what killed it? A brutally effective, utterly simple machine called the wedge bot. The wedge-style bot killed robot wars because it was invincible, which in the end made it boring. Yesterday SB Nation published a fascinating full history of BattleBots, which is a great, though giant, read.
But the mechanical evil that is the wedge bot deserves special attention. Competitions originally focused on robots using arms and blades and blunt objects to bash and slash and break each other apart. Wedge Bots had one simple, cunning attack: slide a wedge under another robot, flip it onto its back, and watch it flail about like a dying cockroach. Here is the timeline of how it managed to make killer robot duels boring.
I don't remember the wedge-bots being the death knell of the program, although yes they were nigh-invincible. It was the Whyachi 'bots that IMO killed the program. Barely moveable heavyweight "shufflebots" with constantly-spinning hammers that made sure any opposition left the ring in pieces:
10
posted on
01/11/2014 8:04:34 PM PST
by
Alex Murphy
("the defacto Leader of the FR Calvinist Protestant Brigades")
To: Jet Jaguar
Battle bots was alot of fun to watch for awhile.
11
posted on
01/11/2014 8:06:13 PM PST
by
skyman
To: Jet Jaguar
You get the feeling that there’s an important lesson in this, but I’ll be darned if I can put my finger on what it is.
To: Jet Jaguar
“Robot Fighting League” is stupid
I loved “Robot Wars”
13
posted on
01/11/2014 8:11:09 PM PST
by
GeronL
(Extra Large Cheesy Over-Stuffed Hobbit)
To: ProtectOurFreedom
make it an outdoor sport, allow flying robots
14
posted on
01/11/2014 8:12:00 PM PST
by
GeronL
(Extra Large Cheesy Over-Stuffed Hobbit)
To: cripplecreek
I totally agree with that idea
15
posted on
01/11/2014 8:12:34 PM PST
by
GeronL
(Extra Large Cheesy Over-Stuffed Hobbit)
To: Yardstick
"You get the feeling that theres an important lesson in this, but Ill be darned if I can put my finger on what it is."1. We need to protect the losing designs because they are endangered species.
2. We need to make sure every robot has a positive experiences and leaves with its self-esteem intact (even if its gears aren't).
;-)
16
posted on
01/11/2014 8:13:14 PM PST
by
MV=PY
(The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
To: Jet Jaguar
The wedge won on the even (flat) playing field. Now, bring back the games with un-even playing fields. Also, quad-copters in play; that would be cool..
17
posted on
01/11/2014 8:14:46 PM PST
by
Ghost of SVR4
(So many are so hopelessly dependent on the government that they will fight to protect it.)
To: MV=PY
1. We need to protect the losing designs because they are endangered species.
2. We need to make sure every robot has a positive experiences and leaves with its self-esteem intact (even if its gears aren't). 3. It's all fun and games until someone loses a $200 actuator.
18
posted on
01/11/2014 8:16:09 PM PST
by
Alex Murphy
("the defacto Leader of the FR Calvinist Protestant Brigades")
To: Jet Jaguar
August 2000 Televised robot competition "BattleBots" starts airing on Comedy Central. A Network now only known for smirking, snarky leftists.
To: Yardstick
Lack of imagination or technological lag:
A cube design with wheels on each face, or movable ones.
A sphere with helper wheels, unscoopable.
A killer bot inside the flipped bot.
An EMP bot.
Good grief, people, use your imagination and quit whining/
20
posted on
01/11/2014 8:27:39 PM PST
by
867V309
(I love potatoes-except, of course, Lena Dunham)
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