Battlebots is back!

[captain spaulding]

I used to love to watch Battlebots and just saw a commercial for a reboot of the show. It starts this month as well so no long wait. 

As some of you might know, but most probably don't is Grant Imahara from Mythbusters built and drove "Deadblow" in Battlebot competitions back in 1999-2002. I doubt he will be involved in the new series, but I remember seeing him compete back in those days before he was famous. I can't wait to see the robots of 2015!


http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/08/battlebots-premieres-june-21st-abc/





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadblow

[dks]

I used to watch a bit of Robot Wars, the UK version,  several years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Wars_%28TV_series%29

In the end the robots became too sophisticated the budgets of some teams were way more than others and it got boring.

[derekmac]

I loved that show!!  With the way technology has advanced, it'll be interesting to see what they come up with now.

[magentus]

What they'll come up with is a sophisticated killing machine that will break free of its programming and hunt us all down, you mark my words. When you're running from the hoards of self replicating robodestroyers spare a second to remember what good old Magentus predicted a couple of weeks back.

It's all going to end in tears.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Just remember, Terminators are held together with Torx screws, usually aT15 for most joints but T35 for bigger bits.

Def

[Etherealicer]

Just remember, Terminators are held together with Torx screws, usually aT15 for most joints but T35 for bigger bits.

Def

Are you suggesting to build a robot that disassembles the competition instead of destroying them? Lets call him the MT.bOt

[captain spaulding]

What about a EMP robot? It would be so anti climactic it wouldn't even be worth watching, but it would never lose until the competition caught on.

[Don Pablo]

Its possible to shield against emp's.


This looks interesting, I wonder if it will be shown here?

[captain spaulding]

Its possible to shield against emp's.


This looks interesting, I wonder if it will be shown here?

I know.

What about a EMP robot? It would be so anti climactic it wouldn't even be worth watching, but it would never lose until the competition caught on.

[NKlamerus]

This will be AWESOME. If Jamie and Grant both come back I will definetly be surprised, but it would be freakin sweet.

You think they will allow drone fights??

[captain spaulding]

This will be AWESOME. If Jamie and Grant both come back I will definetly be surprised, but it would be freakin sweet.

You think they will allow drone fights??

I have no idea, but that's a damn good question!

[NKlamerus]

This will be AWESOME. If Jamie and Grant both come back I will definetly be surprised, but it would be freakin sweet.

You think they will allow drone fights??

I have no idea, but that's a damn good question!

I think it would work.

There was a TED talk video about the capabilities of drones with "automatic fix" software. They took a drone with 4 propellers, took scissors and cut different lengths and angles off the propellers randomly. And within about 10 seconds the drone automatically corrected itself with these destroyed propellers and flew like nothing happened.

Plus a drone shooting flames with ninja stars and Lazer beams sounds pretty cool.

[captain spaulding]

[Don Pablo]

How will you stop an EMP taking out the cameras too? 

[captain spaulding]

Bottlebots starts tonight!

Some good videos to watch if interested.

[captain spaulding]

Did anyone watch the premier? It was awesome!

[mrynnr]

I don't have cable. I wonder if it will be on Hulu.

[captain spaulding]

I don't have cable. I wonder if it will be on Hulu.

 

[mrynnr]

I don't have cable. I wonder if it will be on Hulu.

 

oh wait... It's on ABC.. I can watch it!

I just checked Hulu.. It's there! I'm totally watching it.

[captain spaulding]

I don't have cable. I wonder if it will be on Hulu.

 

oh wait... It's on ABC.. I can watch it!

I just checked Hulu.. It's there! I'm totally watching it.

Sweet! 

[Etherealicer]

Off the video, it looks like Warheads builder is the team that made Razor (from the British Robot Wars), one of the most awesome robots ever (and it looks like they took some cues from Hypnodisk.




Ohh, I'm so excited...

[Etherealicer]

Bottlebots starts tonight!

Some good videos to watch if interested.

Movie III at 13:43, what's the SAK?

[powernoodle]

I think that Battlebots is best recorded and watched later, so you can scan through the 18 minutes of mindless chatter to watch the  3 minutes of action.  But otherwise, good stuff.

[captain spaulding]

Movie III at 13:43, what's the SAK?

Cybertool 41 would be my guess. Looks like it had a the small driver in the corkscrew and had ruby scales. Plus the Cybertool with its torx and extra bits would make perfect sense for these kind of applications.

[NKlamerus]

Did anyone watch the premier? It was awesome!

I MISSED IT!!! I thought it was NEXT sunday?!?!?!?!?!

[captain spaulding]

Pretty sure you can watch it on ABC's website.

[NKlamerus]

Pretty sure you can watch it on ABC's website.

Yes, and OnDemand if you have cox cable.

So far I haven't seen any of them on time, they were all re runned versions!!

[Etherealicer]

Or on youtube:

[Etherealicer]

Oh man I love that show, it kicked off with a brilliant Episode I.

Episode I:

Show content

ICEWAVE:  , love the carnage he produced
RAZORBACK: He should have gotten a wildcard, see if he can come back.

PLAN X: Ok, that robot sucks, it was incapable to defeat Wrecks (IMHO the weakest of all robots).
WRECKS: OMG, he is adorable, such a quirky and awesome robot, almost defeated Plan X too.

WARHEAD: "It tricks you into believing its alive". All I saw were spasms of something dying, extremely disappointing. I don't think it deserved the wild-card. Btw. why are WildCards listed as "Awards" on the website, they are not an achievement.
BITE FORCE: Deserving winner, although I have my doubts about its "bite force".

NIGHTMARE: He was destructive and fun to watch. I would have loved to see Nightmare to continue (My wild-card choice).
WARRIOR CLAN: Great robot design, it will be interesting to see what else he can do. But seriously, the mini-bots were completely useless.

[Etherealicer]

So the only reason why the following might sound so negative is because I care

Episode II:

Show content

Ok, here is what bugged me. Why did they not show all the fights? That is what we (I) want to see, we (I) don't care about the drama outside of the arena. They pushed the robots into the background, focusing on the drama and now you could as well watch Desperate Houswives!!!

OVERHAUL vs. LOCK-JAW: Darn, that was boring, both bots were ineffective.

BRONCO: Now that is a flipper
WITCHDOCTOR: The main robot was unimpressive, its weapon did not seem to be very effective (also not so good driving). But SHAMAN the mini-bot, was awesome (great driving and the only effective mini-bot so far). Great choice for the wild-card.

TOMBSTONE:  , I loved how he was playing at the end. Destructive and mobile, great simple design, definitively a robot that can win.
COUNTER REVOLUTION: Too vulnerable on its side, combined with not so good mobility.

GHOST RAPTOR: Not a very good robot, did they ever test their weapon? And the driving sucked too.
COMPLETE CONTROL: Loved that flame, too bad it killed itself on an uneven arena-floor. I would have like to see him again. And honestly, I thought the gift was brilliant and if the rules don't forbid it, then do it.

OK, apparently the rest of the robots are irrelevant (poor builders, but so much effort in it and only got a summary.
Seriously, why did they do that? There are so many cool robots among these, I would have loved to see those fights (hope they will be available as bonus material somewhere soon).

Stinger: Interesting Shovel
Capt. Shreddarator: A robot that can't right itself is a poor robot.
Overdrive: Always liked push-bots
Chomp: Not much to say, hope we see more in Round 2. So far, it looked clumsy.
Radiactive: Awesome design, probably not a very effective robot
Sweet Revenge: Tombstones clone did not work... off into the gutter with it
Hypershock: I like this robot for all the 3 seconds we got to see him. Looking forward to see more.
Mohawk: Clamping spike with flame-thrower, what is not to like. To bad we won't see him fighting anymore.