Intro

Robotic combat is just that, fighting radio controlled robots it's one of the more main stream things I'm into as they even show it on T.V. (BBC2 Fridays and Bravo Weekdays) The two main robot competitions in the world are Robot Wars and Battlebots. When I get round to it I'll write a complete history of the sport but for now you'll have to make do with a short summary of the two programs.

Robot Wars is based in the UK, the only televised weight category is heavy weight.

Battlebots is based in the USA, they televise Lightweights, Middleweights, Heavyweights, and Super Heavyweights.

Robot makers are contractually bound to the series they first appeared in, if they change the name and appearance of their robot they can compete in the other competition (eg. the Robot Wars bot Dantomkia became Spitfire to compete in Battlebots) but most don't bother.

Images

My first attempt at designing a robot. It's pretty rubbish. But click on the thumbnail anyways and have a look.	My second design for a robot, this one is much better with cool rotationg blades.	Redesigned ChessMaster. Now it can't rest on it's sides.
My third bot. This one is probably my best.	Diagram showing how the claws on Mantis work. The big black box on the right is a motor and the white boxes are gears. Check it out.	This is a picture of an American robot called The Matador in the middle of a 12 foot backflip. Bear in mind that this bot weighs over 100kg!

Articles

2003 Rules

Copy of the new Robot Wars rules for 2003.

Robot Wars Series 6 Final Summary

A simple article summarising the Robot Wars Series 6 final.

Robot Weapon Comparisons

A short review of the most common weapons seen in robotic combat.

Files

Shazbot Vs. VDD

Video of two antweight robots in battle. (To save, right click on the link and select 'Save target as...')

Biped bot flip

A two legged robot performs a perfect front flip. (To save, right click on the link and select 'Save target as...')

M2 vs. Cassius 3

Rare footage of Cassius 3 in action.

WBC flip

The robot 'Wheely Big Cheese' using it's pneumatic flipper to throw a 100kg robot 2m in the air and about 5m forwards. (To save, right click on the link and select 'Save target as...')

ChessMasterAnim.gif

This is a small animation of the Chess Master rotating. It should speed up once it's loaded all the frames.

Links

RobotCombat.com

Huge BattleBots website with info, pics, videos and a shop.

Team-Raw.com

Great website with tons of Robot Wars videos to download.

RobotMathem.com

Official Robot Wars forum.