A: Andrew Lindsey was very... 'protective' of the contents of his 'Team Spike' site. I'm told he made specific requests that it not be archived and had it withdrawn from the Wayback Machine. He took the site itself down about a decade ago and I know of no existing copy.

A: Not seriously. I play video games for fun, but I don't want to get competitive.

A: I don't have much. Ken Swenson's middleweight 'Satan's Revenge' fought only at the 1997 U.S. Robot Wars. It lost both of its fights, versus 'Hyena' and eventual champion 'Vicious 1'. There is a short video of the fight against 'Vicious 1' on YouTube.

Q: can I have info on hyena?

A: There is very little information available on most of the robots that competed in the early US Robot Wars. You can find their combat records by looking them up at the BotRank Unique Name Database. We have builder names (and some photo links) at the Combat Robotics Tournament Tree site. With luck, you may find a video at YouTube.

A: See post on 'Test Toaster One' (with photo) farther down in this archive.

A: Yes and no. Carlo is still involved in many areas of robotics, but has not competed in full combat events for quite a few years. He operates Robotbooks.com, produces BattleKits, markets Roboxers (photo at right), and makes regular appearances at robot themed events.

Q: Then what about Carlo's involvement in sumo? Is he still active in that?

A: We don't follow sumo. I can tell you that there is no mention of current sumo activity on any of Carlo Bertocchini's web pages and I can not find his name listed in event reports from recent sumo tournaments.

A: No comment.

A: Superheavyweight 'Ziggy' has a well designed 4-bar flipper powered by a big high-pressure pneumatic system. There is a lot of design and fabrication work needed to get such a weapon to be effective and reliable. However, as we are quick to point out, the weapon is perhaps the least important system on a combat robot. All the other systems have to work well or the robot cannot be successful. Ziggy's weapon is well integrated into an efficient and durable chassis/drivetrain and is driven well. Get the basics down pat, then play with a big weapon.

How do you beat 'Ziggy'? In the immortal words of our friends at Team Jawbreaker: "Hit 'em 'til they break." Good luck with that.

A: I could only estimate. Try asking builder Christian Carlberg: christian@coolrobots.com.

A: For general inquiries: info@teamwhyachi.com

A: Physics homework? Weight and mass are different things. A spring scale cannot directly measure mass -- it measures the weight (force) an object exerts on the scale platform. Properly, force is measured in newtons (metric) or pounds (english) and that is what a spring scale measures. On the surface of the Earth a mass of 1 kg exerts a downward force of about 9.8 newtons, so a simple conversion approximation is usually applied by scales.

A: 'La Machine' was a two wheeled robot. See YouTube video.

Q: Then what about the second version of la machine? Is it 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive?

A: The video link above is from 1997 and shows the second (heavyweight) version of 'La Machine'. Both the middleweight and heavyweight versions were two-wheeled.

A: We don't predict fantasy matches not involving our own team. In fantasy matches that do involve our team, we always win.

A: This exact question, word-for-word, has been previously answered: search this archive.

Always happy to hear we were of some help.

A: 'Potter's Wheel' was one of a great many robots that fought once, lost, and were never seen again. In this case it lost its only fight to 'Son of Bob' in the middleweight division at BattleBots 4.0. Its spinning weapon appears too small to be an actual potters wheel. I have no other information. If there was anything interesting or educational about 'Potter's Wheel' you would not have trouble finding it.

Q: are you sure the disk on Potter's wheel, is not actually a mounting disk? 'cause if you get the DSL mod for Robot Arena 2, there is a replica and it is spinning a potters wheel, and you can use the wheel, to :S and do you know what happed to the LW flame thrower bot, Bob?

A: No, I'm not sure. Like I said, it looks small for a pottery disk - but I don't have a good enough picture to tell for sure. Either way, it was not successful.

With 30 wins, 10 losses, and five class championships in the MechWars and WBX series', 'Bob' was a very successful robot! 'Bob' was from a Minnesota-based team and has not competed since the Minnesota MechWars series folded in 2007.

A: 'Thor' had a hydraulic overhead club weapon powered by an on-board internal combustion engine.

A: Voting for the Combat Robot Hall of Fame is open to all members of the combat robot community. The 2011 vote will be announced in prominent combat robot forums in the US and UK sometime in August of that year.

A: I think not - perhaps your memory is in error? We broke 1000 questions in late spring of 2008 and it seems unlikely that we pushed to 2200 by January 2009. You're welcome to go thru the archives and do your own count if you like

A: Browsing our site will uncover a few of those reasons we are not currently competing, but most importantly we just didn't have any fun at the last few competitions we attended. San Francisco is a long way to travel to fight a beetle and not have any fun.

A: Mark J. here: you'll have to go find your own pictures.

A: Yes, both 'W.L.O.W.' and the 'Raptor' series of robots were built by Team Raptor lead by Bob Pitzer. I have no idea what W.L.O.W. stands for.

A: I'm not leaking, confirming, or denying any info on the 2009 BattleBots competitors.

A: Team Whyachi is still active and they maintain a very complete website that will answer your questions about their robots. Additionally, there are multiple posts about 'Son of Whyachi' and other Whyachi robots in our archives.

There were several versions of SoW -- the controversial shufflebot version that won the heavyweight division at BattleBots 3.0 was sold to the Lazy Toad Robot Club to hang on the wall as a decoration.

A: At BattleBots 1.0 'Gray Matter' had only a large spike. I recall an active spinner weapon added for season 5.0.

A: The last record I have of one of their combat robots fighting was 2002.

Q: Would you consider gray matter a sucsesfull bot?

A: With 3 wins and 4 losses, 'Gray Matter's record is not great -- but it did get good air time on the BattleBots broadcasts. I guess it depends on how you measure success.

Q: Was Gyrax a full body drum or a thwackbot?

A: Hard to describe - see for yourself: 'Gyrax' at The Builders Database (click on the small photo).

Q: was Vladiator sold or Vlad The Impaler 2?

A: Both were sold. You can track them at The Builders Database.

Q: Was MK02 the old mauler 2000 with bigger weapons?

A: I have no information on 'MK02'.

A: Previously answered - search for 'Karcas' in the archive.

A: You can use the BotRank Unique Name DataBase to find the complete combat records of the more than 4000 robots who fought in north and south America. There is no listing for 'Marauder Mirah', but there are listings for middleweight 'Miriah' and superheavyweight 'Marauder' - both from BattleBots.

A: I don't think so either.

A: Heavyweight 'Gammatron' and superheavy 'Gammacide' are from the same team, but were very different robots.

A: You start asking inappropriate questions at a robot Q&A site.

Q: What caused Blunt Force Trauma to do bad?

A: Ineffective slow spinner. Fought twice, lost twice - no interest in discussing.

Q: what was malichious mischifs weapon?

A: 'Malicious Mischief' had a spring-loaded sledgehammer/spike. Your version attacked with atrocious spelling.

Q: were ricon and odin the same bots?

A: Same team - I believe 'Odin' was a rebuild on the 'Ricon' chassis.

Q: wy did the builders of serial box killer or the owners of battlebots not get in trouble for him looking like a frostead flakes box?

A: Fair use for artistic purposes. It's not like Kelloggs didn't want the free publicity.

Q: they made a toy of sooooo, what?

A: Care to ask that again?

A: Hey! A little respect is due anyone who built a robot and got out there to compete. That said, I'm implementing a new rule:

Q: Please can you give me a reason why you're not allowing me to talk about one-time losers? Lightening Tracks was.

A: Mark J. here: you can talk about them all you want - just don't expect us to join in. There have been an inordinately large number of questions in recent weeks on two topics:

1. Obscure, unsuccessful robots fielded by teams that competed once and were never heard from again; and

2. Trivia about the Robot Wars House Robots.

Regarding 'Lightning Tracks': the robot competed at both Robot Wars and at Robotica (as 'Dark Track'). Builder Russ Barrow built more than half a dozen robots, competed at all three major televised events, maintained a robot webpage, and earned an honorable mention in the Combat Robot Hall of Fame. We'll discuss Russ' robots any day.

A: I have no idea. I'd suggest asking Ed Hoppitt.

A: No information. Suggest you ask Patrick.

Q: You told me to ask Patrick [Campbell] about Frenzy, but how can I do that, especially if your rules are not to answer that sort of thing?

A: Mark J. here: what rule would that be? The information in #30 may help you to contact Patrick.

A: Ed Robinson is a circus performer. His list of talents includes sword swallowing and juggling.

A: Sorry, I don't keep this type of information - I don't think it's of general interest. I do happen to know where 'Diskotec' was from: see next question.

A: Not exactly. The two builders were friends, but 'Propeller-Head' was from Colorado and 'Diskotec' was from Minnesota. 'Run Away' and 'The Gap' were built in the same shop by a single group that split into two competition teams at Robot Wars.

Q: When they met Rosie the Riveter in Nickelodeon Robot Wars, was it true that Tut Tut was facing it's own team-mate?

A: Again, not exactly. The operation of loanerbot 'Tut Tut' in the Nickelodeon Challenge Belt was overseen by Mike Morrow of Team JuggerBot. 'Rosie the Riveter' was fighting under the supervision of Chris Gattman who was formerly a member of Team JuggerBot before leaving to start Team LogosEye.

A: Our team motto is "Complicated design is easy. Simple takes work." The concept is similar to the KISS principle. We've seen a great many robots fail in combat because of complex, crowded, difficult to service designs, so we work to keep our robots simple, open, and serviceable. This has worked well for us.

A: I find it difficult to keep current with UK robot happenings. I read the Roaming Robots newsletter and browse the forums, but there is no site like BotRank.com that follows the UK tournaments and I can't find a source of full tournament trees. I just don't have the time to pull enough information together to get a good understanding of the UK teams.

Given the above, I can't really offer an opinion on how Team Hydra might do with 'Dantomkia'.

A: I don't believe 'Thor' was rebuilt into anything, and I don't know of any robot named 'Dark Night'.

A: Solid construction and a reliable drive train will get you farther than a good weapon. 'Bunny Attack' did very well for a 'novelty' entrant, but none of its wins came against high-level opponents.

A: 'Odin II' picture and info here (slow loading).

A: Static.

A: No - 'Hworf' clearly had four wheels.

A: Mark J. here: I did dislike 'Drillzilla' (AKA 'The Ugly Vibrating Brick'), but not because they beat us. I was convinced - correctly, I think - that their shufflebot design was not good for the sport. The rulemakers agreed.

Their design was not legal for Robot Wars Extreme Warriors 2, but I do not have specific information on why they did not return with another robot.

A: We had very little time to modify 'Run Amok' with an active weapon for Robot Wars. We were a bit concerned about the lack of side armor and decided on the unique 'sidewheeler' blades to add a little defense as well as a bit of offense.

Q: Is it true that Tornado was inspired by the less sucsessful King B?

A: I've never heard any mention of 'King B' inspiring 'Tornado'.

Q: It says on an anti-plaigarism statement on the Tornado website that King B inspired the series 6 champions. You know now, don't you?

A: No points for wasting time with a question to which you already knew the answer. This isn't 'Quiz the Robot Geek'.

A: There was no 'Robot Wars studio'. The first series of Robot Wars Extreme Warriors was filmed on-site at a technology fair in the huge Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The second series was filmed at Shepperton Studios. We were very busy in the pits tending to our robots and did not get to see many matches. There was also very limited access to the arena seating for roboteers. I remember enjoying the final of the Second World Championships.

A: Yes. Horizontal spinner 'Spin Doctor' and full body spinner 'The Revolutionist' were both from Team Logicom. Both were in the main tournament at RWEW2 -- 'Spin Doctor' was knocked out in the first round.

Q: Spin Doctor lost in round 2, actually, after driving into the pit against Panzer mk. [4]. Cyclone immobilized itself in round 1. Did you Know that?

A: Yes, you're correct. There were many horizontal disk spinners at RWEW2 and I had 'Spin Doctor' confused with the similar 'Diskotec' that did lose in round 1.

A: Mark J. here: Steve died after a long battle with respiratory disease. The robot community will sorely miss him.

A: I don't think I have a single favorite. Too many good ones.

A: I heard something about them jumping off a bridge together and ending up in Borneo, but that's just a rumor. I'd suggest asking around at the FRA forum.

A: Mark J. here: Aaron reports that he had a great time all the time at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors, so I'll give you the stories of my own best and worst times -- and I'll throw in a thank-you to one of the other teams.

When we arrived at RWEW2, 'Run Away' was 'seeded' and assigned a spot in Heat G of the main tournament, but 'The Gap' was not given pit space in the main arena and was scheduled only to compete in some un-named secondary event. I flagged down Dan Danknick and asked what was up. He told us that the producers didn't want two robots from a single team in the main tournament. I asked if the producers had actually seen 'The Gap'? I was certain they would want it in as it was a beautiful machine. Dan went off to inquire, and 30 minutes later 'The Gap' was assigned a spot in Heat D, where it went on to score the quickest knockout in the tournament. I was very pleased to have two robots fighting in the main robot wars tournament, and to have both of them progress past their first matches.

My worst moment came when I got a good look at the damage done to 'Run Away' by 'Destructive Criticism' in the opening round of Heat G. Randy Eubanks had only finished piecing his robot together a few hours before the match. The robot had a very fierce horizontal blade powered by one of the then brand new Etec mega motors. When 'Run Away' became stuck on top of the incapacitated 'Dark Tracks', Randy saw an opportunity to test out his new weapon on the rear axle of my 'bot. He destroyed my tire and wheel, and the shock loading shattered the differential assembly and the bearing supports. We were thru to the next round, but it didn't look good for 'Run Away' to ever run again.

I dragged the assorted pieces of 'Run Away' back to the pits and called over team-mate Max Chapin from his driving duties with 'The Gap'. Max Chapin is the best metal worker I've ever known, and he just smiled and said "no problem". We scavenged scrap bits from the rubbish bins in the pits and came up with enough metal to weld-up a solid rear axle and mount the main drive sprocket more-or-less straight. I had a spare rear tire but no spare rear wheel, so I set to work trying to hammer the jagged remains of the original back into something that looked round. Hours later, Max Chapin's fingers ware burned and mine were bloody. He left to drive 'The Gap' against 'Propeller-Head' and I went to work assembling the bodged pieces. We made the call for our next match against our friends and 'General Chompsalot'. We lost, but the important thing is that we fought.

'General Chompsalot' grabbed onto 'Run Away' at the end of the match and fought to keep the House Bots from taking her off to destruction. Their kindness let me keep my promise to Aaron that he could drive in the Nickelodeon Robot Wars event. Thanks Tim and Dave!

A: Ask them.

A: Mark J. here: our opening round match had 'Run Away' facing 'Destructive Criticism' (built by BattleBots veteran Randy Eubanks) and 'Lightning Tracks' (Russ Barrow's re-named 'Dark Track' from Robotica 3). A description of both this match and our next round match against 'General Chompsalot' is in this archive - search for 'Lightning'. I don't recall the House Robots in each match.

A: Blue's armament was a horizontal spinning disk. Blue's armor appeared to be expanded polyurethane foam applied over some very thin and poorly mounted base material. According to team member Karl Jones:

A: The lifter gearmotor used in 'Zpatula' is a heavilly modified lifter assembly from the 'BioHazard' Pro-series R/C toy. The slip clutch was locked out, the RS-130 motor was replaced with an RS-180 (bought on eBay), and limit switches were installed to cut off the lifter controller at maximum and minimum lift levels.

A: I don't recall. It may have been in the Robot Rebellion event at RWEW2.

Q: Was 'Zanzara' (driven by your team in Nickelodeon RW), origionally 'Silver Box'?

A: I suspect it was, with some fur added. I didn't get a good look at 'Silver Box' at RWEW1.

Q: Was 'Zanzara's blade similar to the one on 'Pussycat'?

A: No. Zanzara's blade was just a piece of sheet metal with a slit cut into it. It was not capable of doing any damage. The 'loanerbots' were not intended to be competitive.

Q: How were 'Mad cow' and 'Mad cow bot' related?

A: See the 'Mad Cow' post below in this archive.

A: I tell people to 'ask the builder' if they want to know what happened to a robot. Somebody has been listening! 'Zpatula' is sitting on the end of our workbench, a few paces away from 'Run Amok' and 'The Gap'.

A: Vlad was 'entropically retired' by 'Mechavore' at BattleBots 3.0 -- effectively cut in half. Vlad was not rebuilt [until much later].

Q: I thought he was turned into 'Vlad the Impaler 2' or was Vlad 2 a complete rebeld?

A: Vlad 2 was a new robot from the ground up.

A: The superheavyweight robot fought two matches at BattleBots and lost them both. Depressed, 'G.O.R.T.' made its way to the center of the Golden Gate Bridge and leapt off - only to land on the deck of a freighter bound for Costa Rica. After hitching a ride into San José, 'G.O.R.T' worked as a bouncer in a tavern for several years and saved every penny until it had enough money to open a small juice bar. It married a lovely girl named Linda and had four children: a girl, two boys, and a blender. The family is doing well.

A: 'Son of Whyachi' has evolved thru several different rotor power configurations. The most recent version used two 15 hp Yamaha gasoline kart engines. The previous version used three Eteks. The BattleBots champion 'shufflebot' version used two Eteks.

A: Sorry, you'll have to find your own videos.

A: Do you have PayPal? I could buy a copy and send it to you. I don't know how much shipping would be, but I'd ship for my cost.

A: You can find the combat history of US robots at the BotRank.com Name Database. Search for the robot by name, then click on 'history'.

A: You know, if people are interested in robots at all they are interested in robots that had some success instead of robots that fought once, lost, and disappeared. Knowing what happened to 'Stewbot' is not going to be a great conversation starter at parties -- not even at robot parties. If there was anything important about these robots or if the team went on to do anything interesting you would not be having trouble finding that information.

A: The featherweight robot won it's first fight at the 1996 Robot Wars against 'Rampage', but lost its second fight to 'Spike'. Depressed, 'Yo Mama' made its way to the center of the Oakland Bay Bridge and leapt off - only to land on the deck of a freighter bound for Hong Kong. After hitching a ride into the city, 'Yo Mama' worked in a meat locker for several years and saved every penny until it had enough money to open a small cell phone repair shop. It married a lovely girl named Suen and had four children: a girl, a boy, and two flip phones. The family is doing well.

A: I don't think 'Professor Chaos' has ever been inverted in combat. It doesn't have a dedicated SRiMech, so it would have to rely on the weapon to kick it back upright. Other vertical spinners can do that, but not with 100% reliability. I'd give it a risky 'maybe'.

A: Yes, that's most likely lightweight 'Rocket'.

A: Pat Boon competed at Robot Wars 1996 with middleweight 'The General', sponsored by the University of California at Santa Barbara.

The robot lost its first and only fight, to 'Traxx'. Depressed, 'The General' made its way to the center of the Golden Gate Bridge and leapt off - only to land on the deck of a freighter bound for the Philippines. After hitching a ride into Manila, 'The General' worked in a laundry for several years and saved every penny until it had enough money to open a small appliance repair shop. It married a lovely girl named Rosalinda and had four children: two girls, a boy, and a microwave. The family is doing well.

Pat Boon never, to the best of my knowledge, built another robot. 'The General' had a design that looked like Robert Masek's lightweight 'Scrap Metal' at BattleBots 2.0, but I can find no other relationship between the two.

A: Not much call for heavyweights here in the Pacific Northwest. It last fought at a parking lot match in 2004.

A: Pretty, but couldn't fight. Lost its only match to the weak 'Sir Chromalot' and 'The Alien' in the opening round of The Sixth Wars. Wish I knew what G.B.H. stood for, but it was never disclosed.

Q: What did you think of 'Texas Tornado'? What is your opinion on 'Spiny Norman' and 'Yo Mama'?

A: 'G.B.H. 2' was unusual enough to be interesting, but we don't give opinions on every mundane robot.

Q: Do you know of any sites where I can search the builders names to get info? Is there a site where I can search any robot and get information on it besides its records?

A: Mark J. here: no such luck. It takes considerable detective work to trace combat robot history. I spent six months running down the information needed to put together the tournament trees and early rule sets for our Who Won web page.

You can start with the Event Reports by Team Nightmare and the Links Page at RobotCombat.com. You'll get very familiar with The Wayback Machine to locate older versions of websites. You may also get some useful information from the Builders Database.

If you're really this interested in stories from early robot combat, drop whatever you're doing and go find a copy of 'Gearheads: the turbulent rise of robotic sports' by Brad Stone. You'll thank me.

As previously mentioned, BotRank has combat records for more than 4000 robots. A great many of these robots simply have no story. They were built, they fought, they won or lost, and their builders moved on. Even if you find the builder, they may have no specific memories of their career in robot combat.

A: 'La Machine' was a team effort from Gage Caushois, Greg Munson, and Trey Roski. Caushois was the 'gearhead' and proposed the design, Munson organized the team and arranged funding, and helicopter pilot Roski did the driving. You can read the whole story in 'Gearheads: the turbulent rise of robotic sports' by Brad Stone.

A: Chris Harriman went on to build many, many robots and to compete pretty much everywhere -- including Robot Wars, but not with the old 'Nemesis'. The 1996 'Nemesis' was never heard from again. The middleweight 'Nemesis' that competed at BattleBots was not related.

It's standard practice to scavenge retired robots for parts that live on in new robots. BotRank has tracked the competition records for more than 4000 combat robots, almost all of them now retired. If you really want to find out precisely what happened to any specific one of them you're going to have to track down the builder and ask.

Q: Ok, thanks. What robots did he build?

A: Following the US Robot Wars, Chris Harriman became associated with Team Raptor. He built and fought the thwackbot 'Carnage' at Botbash and BattleBots, and the fierce vertical spinner 'Cyclone' at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors. He also contributed to the construction of the 'Raptor' line of robots: 'Alpha Raptor', 'Beta Raptor', 'Tripulta Raptor', 'Gamma Raptor', 'Rippa Raptor' and 'Pack Raptors'.

Q: HE DID!!! NO WAY!! ok, one more bot, did the builder(s) of pokey from the 1996 robot wars build anything else? what happened to pokey?

A: That would be Curt Meyers from Team Boilerbots - builder of 'Pokey', 'Kill-O-Amp', and 'Jaws of Death'. As mentioned previously, if you want to know what happened to a specific robot - ASK THE BUILDER.

Q: sorry, I just can not find any of the builders for some reason. Also, one more bot then I promise I'm done, what happened to los gringos locos from 1995 and did the team build anything else? I'm done now :)

A: The Los Gringos Locos team competed at Robot Wars 1995 with a lightweight robot officially named 'Pain Mower'. The robot is better known as 'Los Gringos Locos' because the team name was lettered prominently on top.

The robot lost its first and only fight, to 'Kitty Puff Puff'. Depressed, 'Pain Mower' made its way to the center of the Golden Gate Bridge and leapt off - only to land on the deck of a freighter bound for the Philippines. After hitching a ride into Manila, 'Pain Mower' worked in a laundry for several years and saved every penny until it had enough money to open a small auto parts store. It married a lovely girl named Maria and had four children: two boys, a girl, and a toaster. The family is doing well.

Tommy Van Gelder and the rest of Los Gringos Locos never, to the best of my knowledge, built another robot.

A: Willis Wong's 'The Landshark' fought a single fight at the 1997 US Robot Wars. It lost to 'Z'. Willis had previously entered heavyweight 'Marvin' in the 1996 Robot Wars. It lost its first and only fight to 'The Merrimac'. My files have no other information on Willis or his robots.

You might be interested in Team Run Amok's Who Won page. It has complete tournament trees for the major robot combat tournaments.

A: There have been multiple unrelated robots named 'Mad Cow'. There was a lightweight spinner from Team Mad Cow (archived) that fought at BattleBots, a middleweight from Team Rabid Robotics that fought in the MechWars series, and a heavyweight from Team Boltz that fought at RWEW1. Team Boltz returned to RWEW2 with a minor upgrade 'Mad Cow Bot' and the new 'Psycho Chicken'.

A: Mark J. here: no.

'Hercules 2' was built by Jim Smentowski in 1997/1998 and was never put into competition. Jim sold the unused Hercules 2 in February, 2001 to an undisclosed buyer.

'Kill-O-Amp' from Team Boilerbots (Curt Meyers and Amy Sun) first fought at Robot Wars 1997. The name changed to 'Kill-O-Amp 2' for BattleBots Long Beach 1999 and BattleBots Las Vegas 1999, but it was essentially the same robot. The name changed back to 'Kill-O-Amp' for BattleBots 1.0 (June 2000). A pointed front prow was added for BattleBots 2.0 (November 2000) which created a vague resemblance to the pointed front of 'Hercules 2'. 'Kill-O-Amp' fought once more at BattleBots 3.0 (May 2001) but this was the same old robot - no relation to 'Hercules 2'.

I don't know who bought 'Hercules 2' from Jim, but it wasn't Team Boilerbots.

A: I'm not sure how you figure 'Monster' did well at the 1997 U.S. Robot Wars. He had two fights and lost them both. Overall record: 2 wins, 5 losses.

I'm not going to take more 'what happened to' questions because the answer is almost always the same: they built, they fought, they got tired of it, and they quit.

A: Lots of robots disappeared following the end of Robot Wars. 'Panic Attack' had been on a long downhill slide:

• Second Wars: champion
• Third Wars: quarter-finalist
• Fourth Wars: quarter-finalist
• Fifth Wars: heat winner
• Sixth Wars: heat runner-up
• Seventh Wars: second round loss

A: I have very little information on the Robot Wars featherweight competitors. Nothing related to 'Bernard' pops up in my files.

A: If there is a relationship, I can't find it.

A: Sorry, no. I also don't know Philippa Forrester's phone number, Craig Charles' shoe size, or how many bolts held the Robot Wars arena together.

A: See #30.

Q: Do you know of a picture of British featherweight 'Eddie Evolution'?

A: 'Eddie Evolution' fought only once, in Robot Wars Extreme Series 2: Robot Rampage. It drove into The Pit and was never seen again. No photo available.

Q: Was 'Eddie Evolution' related to 'A-Kill'/'Saw Point 2'?

A: They looked a bit alike, but I don't know of any relation.

A: It's difficult to comment on a robot that only fought two matches and lost them both. Both 'Original Sin' and 'Original Sin 2' fought at RoboGames '07 - perhaps the team resources were stretched too thin to properly support both robots?

A: Ask them.

A: No, not true. Featherweight 'Pain in the Asp' is the product of Team Torque in the UK. I'm assuming that they are admirers of Team Plumb Crazy and 'Sewer Snake', so they built a featherweight version.

A: Yes, Team Attitude and Thomas Petruccelli fought with lightweight 'Crusher' at BB 2.0 and BB 4.0.

Q: And, whats your opinion on bad attidude? I thought that he was pretty cool.

A: Nice robot. Well designed, well built, and well driven.

Q: Since Bad Attitude is now "Nasty Attitude" would that raise the value of a "Bad Attitude" toy?

A: No.

A: No, but I know how this rumor started. Run Amok used the main chassis elements from an old riding lawnmower that we salvaged from a junkyard. Some photos on the Run Amok Origins web page show the lawn mower with the original mowing blade still in place. The blade assembly was removed in stripping down the chassis, but the photo seems to have caused some confusion.

Date marker: November 2009

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Q: Do you have a 'Defiant' robot website?

A: See Frequently Asked Questions #30. I don't believe James Underwood ever had a website for 'Defiant'.

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Q: [Chinese Forum] Could The Gap Self-Right? I think it could.

A: Yes - 'The Gap' could (and still can) self-right.

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Q: Whats the best shield for better protection?

A: I recommend Mitchum Power Gel, Unscented.

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Q: what do you think of the hobbyweights? personally theyre my favorite sub light class

A: If hobbyweights were the biggest class supported by our local arena we'd fight hobbyweights, but we like bigger 'bots.

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Q: A long time ago you said middleweight 'Hazard' was your favorite robot. Has that changed now years later?

A: Nope - still my favorite. It had all the traits I admire: simplicity, careful materials selection, fine workmanship, and great driving.

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Q: Have you ever played any robot combat games on your computer?

A: Sure. My favorite is Robot Arena 2: Design and Destroy, but I've pretty much played them all - PC, Playstation, GameBoy. See previous posts on games in this archive.

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Q: Did the firestorm team from robot wars have a website? if so can you give me a link?

A: Team Firestorm had an awesome website, but it's no longer available. See Frequently Asked Questions #30 for tips on finding websites for old combat robot teams.

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Q: What kind of robot is good for combat with voice control?

A: The imaginary kind.

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Q: [Chinese Forum] Why does 'Evil Engine Number Nine' looks so like 'Chopper' from Team Logicom? Are there any connection between them?

A: Same robot, different paint, new name.

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Q: I know 'Vlad The Impaler' lost by a couple of fights by a judges, but does he ever lost by knockouts?

A: In my book a loss is a loss -- knockout or judged, either one sends you home. Given that, I don't recall any of Vlad's six losses being by knockout. Even his final destructive loss to '[Name Deleted]' went to the judges.

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Q: [Chinese Forum] I've checked the new members of Combat Robot Hall Of Fame this year. All of them are really awesome! But what caused there are so few votes for 'K2'? I think it should be there.

A: Every builder and fan has their list of robots they think should be in the Hall who aren't there. I can only say that the voters haven't shown much respect for lightweights since the BattleBots days.

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Q: Was 'Slap Em' Silly' used to be George Roach's 'Patriot'? If so, why does it do better while in Andy's hands?

A: It's more complicated than that. Robot names often carry over to entirely new robots, and old robots are sometimes re-named.

George Roach built a lightweight called 'Patriot' that competed at BattleBots 3.0 and posted a 1-1 record. George decided to build a new lightweight rather than modify. He sold the original 'Patriot' on EBay and built an entirely new 'Patriot' that did well, recording a 4-1 record at BattleBots 5.0.

The original 'Patriot' was upgraded with new electronics, new armor, a rear-mounted spike, a new fixed wedge, and a new name: 'Slap Em Silly'. It did well at BattleBots 4.0, making it to the quarter-finals. An entirely new 'Slap Em' Silly' was built for BattleBots 5.0, and the last traces of the original 'Patriot' went into a middleweight multi-bot called 'Slap Em' Sillier'.

Following BattleBots, the 'Slap Em' Silly' name was retired and replaced with 'West Side Glory'. Several generations of lightweight have competed under that name.

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Q: Hey Aaron, I am 13 and am looking to conact or e-mail the builders of 'T-bone', Team Evil Squirrel. The e-mail on their website is down. Do you possibly know them? Sorry for asking this type of question. Thanks.

A: Team Evil Squirrel's Dylan Feral-McWhirter is a member of Western Allied Robotics and has competed in our Antbotica tournaments. I was going to suggest that you leave a message for Dylan on the Western Allied Robotics forum, but I see that you've already done that and that Dylan has responded. I guess you don't need my help on this one.

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Q: Has Ziggy only been flipped out of the arena once by ShovelHead?!

A: Superheavyweight 'Ziggy' has seventeen wins and eight losses, pwned by 'Shovelhead' for three of those losses. I have no specific details on the losses.

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Q: whos my bestfriend

A: I've asked around and nobody will admit to being your BF.

Maybe you should build a robot friend?

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Q: Did 'Biohazard' ever loose a battle?

A: BioHazard's record is 35 wins and 5 losses - the best win percentage for any heavyweight with more than 7 fights. You can track the record for any North American robot at BotRank.com.

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Q: You are a role model for every 17/18 year-old out there. I am sure you had your choice of colleges when you were applying. Where are you attending college?

A: A very kind comment - thank you. I'm choosing to not share personal information on the web at this time.

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Q: Who is behind me?

A: In the intelligence line, I'd say 'nobody'.

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Q: Is Team Killerbotics still competing? I know they participated RG08 with '2EZ', but I don't know if they are competing nowadays.

A: Yes, Team Killerbotics was at RoboGames 2009 with 'Pyromancer'.

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Q: Has 'Punjar' not been too much damaged after beating 'Blendo' in Las vegas? Because I noticed he hasn't been.

A: I don't understand your question.

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Q: [Chinese Forum] What do you think of Team Sharpnel and Mechavore, Mark J.?

A: Mark J. here: I think we've discussed 'MechaVore' sufficiently. Ask Aaron is now a 'MechaVore-Free' zone.

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Q: [Chinese Forum] What do you think of James Underwood's Defiant? I think it's CO2-powered 4-bar-lifter is pretty good and it did really well in the US Robot Wars and Battlebots, too. But why does it retired this early?! Because of Ziggo?

A: 'Defiant' was the class of the lightweight field during the period in which it competed. It was the only truely successful 'BioHazard' clone, and the decision to go to a pneumatic lifter was a good one. James Underwood moved on to other interests and left robot combat. I don't believe that 'Ziggo' had anything to do with his decision.

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Q: [Chinese Forum] I noticed that 'Run Amok's design looks a bit like 'Onslaught' from Robot Wars! Have your team got some inspiration from Onslaught?

A: No. At the time we built Run Amok we had never seen a single episode of Robot Wars. Our inspiration came from the 1/10th and 1/12th scale R/C road racers we had been driving for a few years before we started in on 'bots. We knew how to drive those and wanted a robot with similar driving characteristics to make an easy transition.

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Q: Hi Aaron, still Chinese Friends: What do you think of 'Killer B'? Was it tough to face them in Robotica Series 1?

A: 'Killer B' was a fast and powerful competitor. Their twin pancake motors delivered about five times the horsepower of 'Run Amok' at Robotica and we were quite concerned about the fight. However, Killer B was not designed as a pushing robot for a Sumo-style event: their front wedge was had a very shallow angle and the small arena platform would not let them build much speed. We were worried that they would turn their 'bot around and use their blunt tail and brute force to push us straight off the platform, but they apparently didn't think of that option.

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Q: If there was a combat robot beauty contest and you could choose five, which five would you choose?

A: I like the question! Let's open it up to a vote. Send your ballot in to 'Ask Aaron' for up to five of the 'prettiest' combat robots you've seen. I'll count them up and give my own choices.

RESULTS: Seems like nobody can agree on this. I got half a dozen responses, and the only robot that appeared on more than one ballot was 'Razer' with two votes. 'Razer' wasn't on my list, but given the total lack of agreement I think I'll just leave this question unanswered.

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Q: What did you thought of Ahmet Zappa at Robotica?

A: Nice guy. I talked with him a bit about his father's music. He isn't at all 'loud' in person.

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Q: I have known your 'hall of fame' since one year ago and I was happy to see both 'Razer' and 'Warhead' can get into it. But can you tell me the percentage they get of the ballot? [Chinese Forum]

A: Like the Baseball Hall of Fame, the exact balloting is kept confidential. If a robot appears on at least 50% of the ballots in a given year, it is granted admission to the Hall. A robot appearing on at least 25% of the ballots gets an honorable mention. No quibbling about who got an extra percent or two over whom, or who 'barely made it'.

I will point out that some few robots have a tag under their photo. These robots appeared on every ballot submitted when the Hall opened in 2003. 'Razer' has one of these rare tags.

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Q: What do you think of 'Maggot' and 'Botfly'? [Chinese Forum]

A: Mark J. here: Team Maggot is based here in the Pacific Northwest. Gary Warren attended a couple of local Oregon events and I had a chance to see his 'bots up close. Gary does a great job of packing components into a tight space, so his 'bots are small for their weight. Smaller size means you can use thicker armor!

Gary learned a lot from 'Maggot' and put all that learning into his next generation robot. 'Botfly' had a tremendous 19 win 9 loss record and was never in a tournament where it lost more matches than it won. Very few 'bots can make that claim.

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Q: I'm the Chinese whose English is Better than your Chinese. But I'm not that Behemoth's Chinese Fan. I might know him.

A: Sorry for the confusion. I thought all the questions were from a single Chinese source. I've checked and all of a sudden the site is getting hits from Anhui, Guangxi, Jilin, and Beijing. Eight years and never a single question from China, now I'm flooded! Why the sudden interest?

Q: I'm the fan of Behemoth from Beijing. One of our little forum's members discovered your FAQ and then we wanna send some questions that've been in our mind for a long time. That's the cause!

A: I'm never gonna be able to go back and straighten this out. If it's OK with you, I'll just label all the recent Chinese questions as 'China Forum'.

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Q: Can Team Whoopass' robots self-right? I've only seen Hexy Macro self-right once but I don't know the others. [Chinese Forum]

A: Team Whoopass lists ten robots in their stable. I believe that all of them can either self-right (with at least some reliability) or run inverted.

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Q: What is Carlo Bertocchini doing recently? I saw he took his boxing robot into RG07. [Chinese Forum]

A: Carlo is still involved with robotbooks.com and BattleKits. He has been making appearances with his RoboBoxers at assorted venues. You can see a video here.

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Q: Still Behemoth Chinese fan: in your opinion, who is the coolest flipper in this world? Is it Dantomkia? [Chinese Forum]

A: Coolest flipper? Can't beat 'Chaos 2'.

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Q: What do you think of Stephen Felk? I think he is quite strange but he is good at building/driving wedges, isn't he? [Chinese Forum]

A: I got to meet Stephen Felk at the RFL national championships a few years ago. He is very dedicated to the sport and really seems to enjoy himself at tournaments. He gave us a good tip on a nearby restaurant. He is a fine builder and driver who accomplishes a lot with limited workspace and budget.

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Q: Remember 'Behemoth'? What do you think of it's ability? Could it be one of the greatest robots in UK? I'm a big fan of Behemoth and I'm from China. [Chinese Forum]

A: Behemoth was a very solid competitor with great resilience and staying power. It's design has been compared to the House Robot 'Shunt' -- see a recent post in the archive.

I think it would be an overstatement to say it was one of the greatest amongst so many great UK robots, but it did have great fan support.

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Q: What do you think of Panzer MK III/IV? Is it tough enough to take on some top UK bots like Tornado and Razer?

A: All of the Panzer series were world-class combat robots -- rugged, powerful, and well driven. We fought against 'Panzer Mk. III' in the first round melee at the first Robot Wars Extreme Warriors. I'm very glad we didn't have to face 'Panzer Mk. I' at Robotica.

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Q: What do you think of the German robot 'Tsunami'? Could it be another 'Chaos 2'?

A: It certainly borrowed from Chaos 2's design. The full-pressure CO₂ flipper gives it greater power, but Chaos 2's success is unlikely to be equaled.

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Q: Why can't 'MOE' enter the Hall Of Fame? Is it weak when it's compared to 'Warhead'?

A: Mark J. here: I don't get to decide who is admitted to the Combat Robot Hall of Fame, but I do run the site and organize the balloting. 'M.O.E.' has received a few votes over the years, but never enough to make the Hall. The robot community is asked to consider new members based on four criteria:

• Dominating success in combat
• Pioneering or perfecting influential designs
• Having great fan or entertainment appeal, or
• Otherwise making a lasting impact on the sport.

Just being a good example of a specific design does not count for much. MOE's record of 5 wins and 3 losses is good, but certainly not dominating -- it lost in the first round of both BattleBots 3.0 and 5.0. MOE never won a title and just does not have a huge fan base.

This reminds me: the Combat Robot Hall of Fame opens balloting for new members in August of odd-numbered years. That's approaching quickly. I'll place notices and ballot instructions on the FRA and RFL forums, so watch there if you'd like to vote for your favorite robots.

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Q: Do you remember Mortis? How do you think about Mortis? Why the robots with axe are becoming weaker and weaker? (Excuse me, I'm Chinese. My English is not very well.)

A: Your English is much better than my Chinese

Mortis was perhaps the most successful 'multi-weapon' robot in Robot Wars. The combination of a lifting arm and an overhead axe gave it a versitile attack that was very popular with the audience. Mortis has an 'Honorable Mention' on the Combat Robot Hall of Fame.

Overhead axe weapons were useful in the early days of The Wars, but better armor has outdated them. You can only get so much power out of an overhead weapon without flipping your own robot over!

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Q: Aaron, what kind of batteries are in 'Zpatula'?

A: As mentioned on the Zpatula web page, our beetle runs a 700 mAH NiMH pack. We made the pack from six AAA cells bought off the rack at a local electronics store -- nothing fancy.

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Q: What do you think of Team Automatum Technologies? It seems that Derek's bots are very creative but have some lethal weaknesses...

A: Derek Young built some of the most innovative combat robots to ever compete. Derek did not have a large budget and did a tremendous job with the resources he had available. His middleweight 'Complete Control' is a well-deserved member of the Combat Robot Hall of Fame.

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Q: What do you think of Team Vladmeisters?

A: I never met Team Vladmeisters. They kept kind of a low profile and never even put up a website. Their robots were always well thought out, flawlessly constructed, and professionally prepared. You pretty much had to tear one of their robots in half to stop it.

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Q: Can you tell me your opinion: which is better, 'Razer' or 'Warhead'?

A: Team Razer built these two robots for very different purposes; it's kinda like asking "which is better, a boat or an airplane?"

Razer was refined over a period of years for combat in the Robot Wars arena where robots can win by tossing an opponent over the railing, shoving them into 'The Pit', or by immobilizing them. Robot Wars was about tactics and strategy.

Warhead was built for BattleBots where there is no Pit and no possibility of throwing an opponent out of the competition area. BattleBots was about destruction.

Head-to-head I'm certain that Warhead would tear Razor apart, but that's not the whole story. In a Robot Wars tournament, I think Razor would advance farther against the mixed designs that enter such tournaments. At a BattleBots tournament my money would be on Warhead to push further into the final rounds because it has fewer weaknesses that could be exploited by the usual entries at those events.

Q: Could you tell me which is better between 'Nasty Attitude' and 'Max Wedge' in your opinion?

A: As pointed out above, it's very difficult to determine the 'better' of two robots. Nasty Attitude has a narrow lead in head-to-head matches against Max Wedge, but Max Wedge has a better overall win/loss record and has won more championships.

I was willing to discuss the heavyweights from Team Razor because they were an interesting contrast in styles, but I'm not going to go thru random pairs of robots and render opinions.

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Q: What are Sewer Snake's dimensions?

A: Sorry, I didn't have a tape measure in my hand the last time I was standing next to Sewer Snake. From memory, it's about 48" long, 30" wide and maybe 8" tall. If you need to know exactly, contact info for Team Plumb Crazy is on their web site.

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Q: What happened to Pussycat's team member David Gribble?

A: David Gribble, driver for Robot Wars' Team Pussycat, died in a motorcycle crash in October of 2002 shortly after the filming of the Fifth Wars. Recognized as one of the best drivers in the series, David was 17 years old.

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Q: Do you plan on competing again now that you have some time off after you've finished school?

A: I don't really have any time off. I'm jumping into college classes in just a couple of weeks. The problem hasn't been my time, it's been the lack of events here in the Pacific Northwest. Western Allied Robotics have been doing a good job with small 'bots in the Seattle area, but I'm just not that into sublights right now. I like big 'bots!

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Q: I know this might be stupid of me to ask. But I just want to know. What was your favorite robot wars house robot theme song? Mine was the Dead Metal theme song.

A: None of them left an impression on me.

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Q: Who do you think was the best bot ever built who never won a match? I say 'Bender'.

A: Combat robots are judged by their ability to win matches. Robots who never won are either unlucky or lacking. Either way, I find it difficult to rank them.

At any rate, 'Bender' does not qualify. Bender's record is 2 wins, 6 losses, with first round wins at BattleBots 4.0 against 'Space Ape' and BattleBots 5.0 against a no-show 'Beta'.

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Q: How do you listen to the Plunderbird pop song? And get on their website?

A: I like to listen to it with my fingers in my ears -- not my kind of music. You can listen to it in this You Tube clip. Best I can tell, Plunderbird never had a website.

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Q: What teacher at South Salem High would be the best at building combat robots with you? And what student?

A: Hey, a shout-out to the Saxons! Mr. Morales teaches CAD and Robotics so he's the obvious faculty choice for a combat robot team. From the students, I'd pick linebacker and wide receiver Thomas 'Pit Bull' Roberts for his great skill at intimidation.

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Q: Hey Aaron, what's your favorite show still on TV? I like Mythbusters.

A: Mythbusters is great! Any show with hosts who built combat robots is good for me.

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Q: This site is so cool! What was your 1400th question answered? What was your first question ever answered? thanks.

A: Sorry, the order of the individual questions gets scrambled when the 'Recent Questions' are broken up into the categories for the archives. I can't really backtrack to a specific question number...

...but the Internet Archive has a copy of the 'Ask Aaron' page from back when it was only seven questions and a haiku.

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Q: How are robots different from computers?

A: Well, your computer won't go berserk, tear a big hole in the garage door, and put a gash in your leg that requires 23 stitches.

Robots are designed to interact with the physical world guided by input from their sensors, whereas computers are designed to process information. Robots often contain computers that govern their actions and assist in interpreting the input from their sensors.

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Q: Would 'Run Away' get 'Napalm' shredded? I know you don't predict matches, but can you tell me anyway?

A: Since you asked nicely, yes. I think that 'Run Away' realistically could have shredded 'Napalm'.

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Q: What do you plan to do with the Q&A once you're at college?

A: The Ask Aaron site takes very little of my time. I plan to continue answering combat robot questions, but I might take a little longer to get back to you with an answer.

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Q: I'd like to know what you do for fun and if you ever go outside?

A: I've posted about my interests and activities previously in this archive, but here's an update for May, 2009. I'm a high school senior, have four letters (2 football, 2 basketball) and I'm currently on the track team. I was elected 'King of Hearts' at this year's Valentine's Day dance, and I still play an occasional Yu-Gi-Oh game.

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Q: What happened [at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors 2] when you brawled against 'Destructive Critisism' and 'Lightning Tracks' in round 1 and 'General Chompsalot' in round 2?

A: 'Lighning Tracks' was a tank-treaded robot that had a cosmetic tank turret attached to the top. 'Run Away' kept Lightning tracks between it and the high-power horizontal spinner blade on 'Destructive Criticism'. After several good hits, LT went dead and RA tried to run up their wedge to shear off the turret but got stuck directly on top. DC powered their weapon and destroyed RA's entire rear axle assembly. We moved on to the next round but we were in real trouble.

Long hours later, we had pieced together a new rear axle from scrap found in the pit trash cans and had hammered the shredded wheel more-or-less round. The differential assembly was not salvageable, so we had a solid rear axle that made for very poor maneuverability.

In the second round match against 'General Chompsalot' we were able to make a single run at them with weapon spinning. The impact did some small damage to them, but our scrap axle flexed and we lost our chain drive. We were dead, and the General fought the Housebots for the carcass.

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Q: Who was Crocbot?

A: I'm assuming you mean the heavyweight Crockbot at Robot Wars and not the lightweight Crockbot from Team Gator? They were in the pit next to us at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors 1, but I don't recall the names of the team members.

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Q: Have you seen Dutch Robot Wars in the UK? Can UK children be homeschooled? Does your parent have to be a teacher or have to have qualifications to teach you at home?

A: I'm not in the UK. Team Run Amok home base is on a hill overlooking the beautiful Willamette Valley.

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Q: do u like mudkips?

A: and mudkips liek me.

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Q: Hey Aaron, what's with the purple stripe on your jacket in the Robotica picture?

A: The teams at Robotica were given blue jumpsuits to wear with a colored stripe to identify the team. In the finals, Team Run Amok's color was purple.

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Q: What happened to Juilo Roquetta of Team Loki? I saw an "in memory" for him at the bottom of the Builders Database.

A: Mark J. here: it's probably best described as a traffic accident. He got out of his car at a traffic light very late one night to argue with some guys in another car. The driver of a third car didn't see him and hit him. Let's all be careful out there.

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Q: Did you ever have any thought about entering BattleBots before there was a Robotica?

A: Some.

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Q: I was looking at your Combat Robot Hall of Fame and I was wondering why 'Little Drummer Boy' isn't in the Hall? LDB was very impressive in its rookie season going all the way to the finals. Granted season 4 and 5 it didn't fare to well. Also, why isn't 'Suicidal Tendencies' in the Hall?

A: Mark J. here: I don't get to pick who is or is not in the Hall of Fame -- I just collect the votes. Every two years, voting is opened for the Hall. Announcements are made on the Delphi robot combat forums and on the Fighting Robot Association forum. I tally the votes and announce the results. The Hall first opened for voting in 2003, and I do not recall ever receiving a vote for either 'Little Drummer Boy' or 'Suicidal Tendencies'.

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Q: Do you have any pictures of 'Panic Attack' from Robot Wars series 2-7? What happned to Panic Attack after Robot Wars?

A: 'Panic Attack' is a member of the Combat Robot Hall of Fame and we have a picture there. A Google image search for 'Panic Attack Robot' turned up plenty more photos.

I haven't heard anything about Panic Attack since the Seventh Wars. Kim Davies (captain of Team Panic Attack thru series 6) hangs out at the Fighting Robot Association forum so I suspect any recent developments about Panic Attack are discussed there.

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Q: What happened to Killerhutz after season 4 of BattleBots?

A: Simply retired, I believe.

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Q: Had 'Son of Whyachi' still been a legal heavyweight do you think it could have beat 'Warhead' at BattleBots 5.0?

A: I don't predict fantasy matches, but it would have been fun to watch.

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Q: What does 'Domore' do any way?

A: More than 'Dolittle' but not as much as 'DoAll'. The main weapon was a pneumatic spike, but it could also spin. You have to remember that robot combat was still new in 1995 and nobody knew what was going to work.

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Q: Is there any more Robot Wars Extreme Warriors clips coming in on youtube yet?

A: We are not involved in posting copyrighted material on the internet and we have no knowledge of the actions of those who are.

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Q: Which machine did you like best in Robot Wars UK?

A: Chaos 2.

 

 

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Q: What do you think about the fan-made Robot Wars series on YouTube?

A: I remember being 8 years old and playing with Legos and a box on my bedroom floor. Why anyone would want to watch videos of someone doing this puzzles me.

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Q: Out of the fights that you guys have been in with 'Run Amok', 'The Gap', 'Zpatula', and the others, what was your favorite fight?

A: We liked all the fights we won -- hated all the fights we lost. The final platform match at Robotica had to be the best.

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Q: Who is the inventor of robots?

A: Like most complex things, robots were not 'invented' -- they delveloped over a long period of time with the help of many smaller inventions. You can't give credit (or blame) to any single person. You can read a short summary of the history of robots.

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Q: Whats a 'sallie'? People in the NERC forum used to say it a lot.

A: Sorry, I never heard the term used in robotics.

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Q: What's the biggest mistake you ever made in robot combat? My biggest mistake was drilling a hole in my ant's wedge and accidentaly drilling through my receiver.

A: Our biggest mistake was probably not quitting while we were ahead. We had a tidy profit after Robotica and Robot Wars, but that's long gone now.

Q: I ment did you ever do anything dumb like what I did by drilling into my receiver. That kind of thing.

A: Well, I'm not going to admit doing anything really dumb, but my dad put a good dent in the side of his truck while he was testing out Robot Wars heavyweight 'Run Away'. He backed into his truck and the rear corner of the armor dug in just under the passenger door. The dent is still there.

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Q: Are there any photos of '259'?

A: I don't have any photos of the Robot Wars vertical spinner, but how about a video?

Q: '259' is very cool looking! Does it have a website? Thanks!

A: Check the #30 post on how to locate websites for older teams. I'll save you the trouble this time: I can't find any current or archived website for '259'.

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Q: What happened to 'Shuriken'?

A: Evan White's 'Shuriken' was destroyed at the US Championships at the first Robot Wars Extreme Warriors. I don't recall who did the damage. Evan White returned to RWEW2 with 'Ninjitsu'.

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Q: Dear Aaron, could 'Nightmare' have won against 'Son of Whyachi' if everything went to plan and also if Pete didn't interfere? [Anthony]

A: We don't generally make predictions on 'fantasy matches' here, but I'll make an exception this time. No matter what BattleBots arena hazard operator 'Pulverizer Pete' did, 'Nightmare' was no match for SOW.

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Q: Hey Aaron, what is the funniest bot name you ever heard?

A: Most attempts at funny robot names don't do much for me, but my favorites are:

• Delicious Monkey
• Electric Lettuce
• Evelyn a Modified Dog
• The Prussian Pitchfork of Pain
• Wack-a-tron

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Date marker: January 2009

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Q: How come the question counter at the top of the Ask Aaron page skips ahead sometimes? It was at 1248, and two posts later it was at 1251.

A: We count questions, not posts. If a post asks two distinct questions we count them both.

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Q: In Robot Wars Extreme Warriors did your blades on 'Run Away' defeated 'Lightning Tracks', or was 'Destructive Critisism' did all the work? And do you have a photo of 'Lightning Tracks'?

A: We may be a little biased about our role in that fight. Let's just say it was a combined effort. I can say that after 'Run Away' sheared the turret off 'Lightning Tracks' we were stuck on top of them and 'Destructive Criticism' tore us a new one.

'Lightning Tracks' was a modified version of Russ Barrow's Robotica 3 robot 'Dark Track', pictured at right. For RWEW he added a tank turret to the top.

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Q: Can "Robot Arena 2" run on a Mac? [Nate Franklin]

A: System requirements say: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP with a 450 MHz Pentium II or higher. No Mac.

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Q: Hi Aaron. How old are you? What do you do in your spare time? I am building an antweight. I'm using some R/C car I found in the trash. I glued and bolted pieces of steel and aluminium to it.

A: That's great! I really enjoy hearing from people who dig in and make a robot out of the pieces they have available. You'll learn a lot and have good fun while you're at it.

My dad keeps a updated mention of my age up above my picture at the top of the page. I'm 17 now and a senior at my high school. This year I'm the student manager of the football team and I'll be playing basketball. I play Yu-Gi-Oh twice a week at the local card shop.

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Q: Out of all the robots at Robotica every season, who were your favorites for each season? Congrats on the season 1 victory. The waterfall at the maze was cool.

A: Thanks for the props! It's hard to list favorites from Robotica since it took all the different 'bots and personalities to make the competitions as amazing as they were. I have listed a group of particular favorites from Season 1 further down in this archive -- search for 'I really liked'.

For season 2, I thought 'Ill Tempered Mutt' and 'Flexi Flier' both paid careful attention to the Robotica challenges and designed well for them. 'Wizard of Saws' gets my vote for coolest looking, and "Mechacidal Maniac" was probably the most fun to watch.

Season 3 was filled with many of our friends from Season 1 and I can't pick favorites from among them. Of the new teams, I liked the ingenuity of 'Scrap 8.2' and the design of 'Rambot' who borrowed many design features from our 'Run Amok'.

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Q: What is your favorite flipper robot?

A: Chaos 2.

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Q: Dear Aaron, CM Robotics built 'Texas Heat' and 'Ziggy'?

A: Yes, CM Robotics from Ottawa, Ontario built and operate superheavyweight 'Ziggy', heavyweight 'CycloneBot', middleweight 'VanillaBot', and lightweight 'Texas Heat'.

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Q: Hej jeg er FRA dk og mangler et par gode råd til robot våben.

A: Mark J. here: sorry, my danish isn't very good. Try again in English?

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Q: Which combat robot is your favorite, beside Biohazard?

A: My favorite robot is the last robot I beat. My least favorite robot is the last robot that beat me.

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Q: Do you know of any videos that show the fight between 'Tillah' and 'Megabyte' at Steel Conflict?

A: Sorry, no.

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Q: In Robot Wars Extreme Warriors, did 'Xylon' have a self righting mechanism?

A: Not that I recall.

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Q: Do you know what ever happened to Ramiro Mallari and 'Punjar'?

A: The last I saw of them was at BattleBots 3.0 in May, 2001 where the seeded heavyweight 'Punjar' lost it's opening match to 'Shark Byte'.

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Q: Who invented combat robots?

A: Marc Thorpe was responsible for popularizing robot combat when he came up with the concept for Robot Wars, but credit for the first organized robot combat tournament goes to the Denver Area Mad Scientists Club. They organized the Critter Crunch as part of the MileHiCon Science Fiction convention in Colorado. The exact date of the first Critter Crunch is in question, but it pre-dated the first Robot Wars event (1994) by at least ten years. The 2008 Critter Crunch will be part of the 66th World Science Fiction Convention in Denver.

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Q: Dear Aaron, what is your favorite weapon on a combat robot?

A: For an active weapon I like lifters and flippers, but they don't do terribly well under the current judging guidelines that focus on damage and aggression rather than controlling the match.

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Q: In Robotica, was 'Evil Beaver' made of cardboard?

A: No -- why would you believe that? Kyle Rader's 'Evil Beaver' was a low-budget old-school design using as many 'found parts' as possible. The body of the robot was a recycled steel computer case.

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Q: Is 'Rosie The Riveter' invertible?

A: As she appeared at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors, Chris Gattman's Rosie was invertible. The airplane-style cockpit was held in place loosely and would shear away if inverted to allow for tire contact.

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Q: What goes through your head while you're driving your robots during fights?

A: If I have enough practice with the 'bot, the whole experience is transparent. I completely forget that I'm holding onto a transmitter or that I'm standing feet or yards away. Everything is pure reflex, just like I was in the arena.

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Q: Would 'The Gap' flip out a robot wars robot out of the arena?

A: The Gap as it appeared at Robot Wars was more of a pneumatic lifter than a 'flipper'. It did score the fastest knockout at RWEW2, and possibly the fastest ever at Robot Wars when it took out 'Trackzilla' in four seconds.

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Q: What were 'Run Away' and 'The Gap's weaknesses?

A: That information is classified -- although we do talk a bit about The Gap's weaknesses in a previous post in this section of the archive.

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Q: What was your favorite part of being in Robotica?

A: The best part was meeting other people who shared our interest in robots and competition. We made many good friends at Robotica.

It was also great fun to watch the production of a television show on a Hollywood sound stage. I hadn't realized how much effort went into making a television program.

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Q: What would you name 'Run Amok' and 'Run Away' if they were cluster bots?

A: Hmmm... how about 'Hit and Run'?

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Q: Do you have plans to enter other robotics events like ROBO-ONE or sumo?

A: We do have some sumo designs drawn up, but the nearest competition is 250 miles away and runs once a year. Pretty small fun. If things pick up, we'll be there.

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Q: Team Run Amok: if you had an unlimited budget and could build just one more combat robot, what would it be?

• An art bot like Mechadon?
• A spinner comparable to a nuclear bomb?
• The strongest wedge with the thickest titanium to ever barrel across the arena at 20mph?

A: Our reasons for building combat robots are probably a little different than other teams. We like robots that are responsive to operate and that can do interesting things. We're also too empathetic to really enjoy highly destructive weapons that rip another team's robot apart. We've said before, we like to leave our opponents pretty - but beaten.

There are several robots on our drawing board that we'd really like to build:

• a sub-light version of 'Probophobia' who managed to crawl up and out of 'The Pit' at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors;
• a dominating spinner-killer along the lines of Team Nighmare's 'Breaker Box';
• and even a stealth autonomous sumo 'bot that evades optical and sonic detection.

But if we had to pick just one final robot it would have to be a mecanum omni-drive platform like 'Alcoholic Stepfather' with an effective weapon; a medium-power flipper I think. It would be expensive, but I can't think of anything more fun than stepping out of the way of your opponent's attack and retaliating by tossing them in the air.

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Q: Which robots did you face in 'Robot Wars Extreme Warriors' season 2?

A: In the main tournament we fought:

• Lightning Tracks (Russ Barrow)
• Destructive Criticism (Randy Eubanks)
• General Chompsalot (Tim Berghoefer)
• Trackzilla (Lawrence Feir)
• The Revolutionist (Brian Nave)
• Propeller Head (Mike Konshak)

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Q: How do you know so much about combat robots?

A: My dad and I started building combat robots in early 2001. We didn't know much about them when we started but, with the help of people who were very generous with their knowledge, we've done very well. We've built seven combat robots, won four competitions, and been in the top three at half the events we've entered. We fought at big, televised competitions (Robotica, Robot Wars) and smaller local, regional, and national events.

When we struggled to learn new things that were difficult to find information on, we wrote-up what we'd learned as guides for other robot builders (radio programming, PRO-120 speed controller set-up, combat robot gyros). We reviewed combat robot books, and compiled full tournament results from national and international combat robot competitions. We organized and maintain the Combat Robot Hall of Fame and we put on our own unique tournament -- three times. We've also researched the answers to more than 900 questions about combat robots. That all adds up to a considerable education.

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Q: Was 'The Steel Magnolia' an early version of Crocbot?

A: Sorry, I can't find any connection between Team Gator's "Crockbot" and "Steel Magnolia".

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Q: Can you point me to some combat robot build blogs?

A: Build reports are common features of combat robot team websites, although they vary a lot in detail and completeness. Start at Team Daisy and click on any of the 'build report' links for their robots. A web search for "build report robot" will find many, many more.

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Date marker: March 2008

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Q: This question is for both Mark J. and Aaron, What is your favorite weight class? Why?

A: Mark J. here: Aaron has answered this question -- search this page for 'favorite'. I completely agree with Aaron's view.

While I'm on the topic: I think we would have better tournaments if we had fewer weight classes. Right now there are ten RFL-recognized classes:

• Fairy
• Ant
• Beetle
• Hobby
• Feather
• Sportsman
• Light
• Middle
• Heavy
• Superheavy

There are also several unrecognized classes: Flea, Kilobot, Mantis, and MechWars 390. With this many classes you're lucky to get more than a handful of 'bots competing in any class, even at big tournaments. The last RFL National Championship tournament had four or fewer robots compete in all but three weight classes. Pitiful!

I'd suggest a reduction to four weight classes: ant, hobby, light, and heavy. With fewer classes the existing builders would be concentrated for better competition and a cleaner tournament structure. It would also be easier for spectators to follow the progress of the tournament.

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Q: In Robot Wars the robots were introduced with stengths and weaknesses. What were The Gap's?

A: Robot Wars Extreme Warriors didn't get those introductions. The Gap is still combat-ready, so I'm not eager to talk weaknesses. Let's just say that the wheels could use some spinner protection -- that's what took us out of Robot Wars.

Strengths include precise maneuverability, a very long weapon reach, large CO2 and battery reserves, and bulletproof electronics.

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Q: What is happening in the Juggerbot team? Are they building some new robots?

A: Team Juggerbot is no longer competing in combat robotics, but they are busy with other robot projects.

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Q: What happened to Team Jawbreaker? Their website no longer exists. Is in the archive?

A: Team Jawbreaker has retired from combat robotics. Here is a link to their archived site.

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Q: This might sound dumb but, what ever happened to 'Tombstone', Team Hardcore Robotics' superheavyweight?

A: Tombstone last fought at the 2005 Robogames. Team Hardcore is still active, so I can only guess that they are having trouble finding other superheavyweights to fight. Dragging a superheavyweight around the country for just a couple of fights is just not worth the effort. You can contact the team and ask them directly.

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Q: I was looking through your selection of robots in the Combat Robot Hall of Fame, and I think there are a few you're missing:

• Shrederator (RFL) should be inducted because, like Megabyte, he has inflicted massive damage on his opponents. In addition, Shrederator was the 2006 RFL champion.

• Cyclone (Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors) should be inducted because he wields a very powerful vertical spinning disk. Not only did he use it to become the Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors Annihilator champion, but he also used it to become the first robot to shoot an opponent out of the arena by the use of a spinning disk.

• 259 (Robot Wars UK) should be considered because it is an ingenious design. It is almost a merge of 'Cyclone' and 'BioHazard'. It pummeled 'Wild Thing' very badly, and it deserves respect.

• Dantomkia (Robot Wars UK) should be inducted because it was the first and only robot to flip 'Chaos 2' out of the arena, and that says a lot. Plus, he has flipped at least 20 opponents out of the arena in his lifetime, and he is still probably flipping out more.

• The Mortician (RFL) should be considered because it is an extremely destructive middleweight robot. Even though it is at least half the weight of its big brothers, 'Last Rites' and 'Tombstone', it still packs one hell of a punch and it is not to be underestimated.

• 13 Black (Robot Wars UK) should be considered because it is a very creative and destructive robot. With two spinning disks mounted diagonally, it showed it's stuff by defeating the elusive 'Stinger', and it caused 'Razer' some real damage.

Any comments on my selections?

A: Mark J. here: thank you -- I'm always pleased to receive comments and suggestions about the membership of the Combat Robot Hall of Fame. The hall opens for membership voting in August of odd-numbered years. The selection of robots isn't really 'mine' -- my vote counts no more than anyone else's -- but I did set out the original criteria for voters to consider. I suggested that membership be based on:

• Dominating success in combat
• Pioneering or perfecting influential designs
• Having great fan or entertainment appeal, or
• Otherwise making a lasting impact on the sport.

I believe that each of the current members in the hall shows exceptional strength in one or more of these areas.

I can tell from your list that you value destructive force and unusual design in a robot, as do many fans. From a builder's point of view -- and most votes come from builders -- destructive ability and creative design may commonly be valued less than other aspects of a robot's performance. Noteworthy achievements in a single match make for good highlights in the membership notes but do not hold much influence in my own voting.

Here are my takes on your proposed members:

Shrederator (38 wins / 16 losses - ranked 5th historic) is certainly a contender for Hall of Fame membership and has received a few votes in past ballots. The value of having won the 2006 RFL heavyweight championship is reduced because only three robots participated in that contest. Worse, Shrederator is totally pwned by both 'Megabyte' and 'Sewer Snake' in head-to-head fights. No vote from me for now, but the tide could turn.

Cyclone (Unranked) had perhaps the most powerful vertical spinning disk weapon in the history of the sport. The weapon was, however, clearly derived from the pioneering design of hall of fame member 'Nightmare'. Aside from their well-earned victory in the RWEW Annihilator, their competition results were disappointing -- winning zero matches in open tournament competition. No vote from me.

259 (unranked) did win 'Best Design' at the 6th Wars, but it was not a design which proved to be 'influential'. Competition results were poor with an overall record of 1 win and 2 losses in head-to-head matches. I do believe the 'bot has fan and entertainment appeal, but there are several other Robot Wars 'bots ('Pussycat', 'Bigger Brother', 'Firestorm'...) I'd vote for before 259. No vote from me.

Dantomkia (seeded) is an agile and powerful competitor with a broad fan base. Performance in Robot Wars open tournament head-to-head matches was only fair: 4 wins and 3 losses. It failed to even come close to a major championship. A good robot, but no vote from me for the Hall of Fame. I'd much sooner see 'Firestorm' make full membership.

The Mortician (14 wins / 11 losses - ranked 100th) deals out damage, but is simply not a top-rank competitor. Absolutely no vote from me.

13 Black (seeded) is derivative of 'Hypno Disc' -- no points for adding on a second spinning disc to no good effect. Overall record in open tournament head-to-head is 3 wins / 3 losses. The robot had fan support, but then so did 'Plunderbird'. No vote from me.

The hall will open again for membership voting in August of 2009. You can certainly lobby on the forums for your favorite 'bots at that time and perhaps sway some votes to your favor.

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Q: What happened to the robot Rosie the Riveter/LogosEye? For her www doesn't exist. Is in the archive?

A: Archived Rosie the Riveter website. Rosie was badly damaged at the Oregon Clandestine Street Fight, but was certainly repairable. That was the last I saw of her.

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Q: Who won the 'JuggerBot 3.0' versus 'Mini Run Amok' match? [Photo at left]

A: I think we'll have to call that a draw.

Juggerbot had us outweighed about 40:1, but we did get in the first hit. If their high-pressure flipper had been charged, we'd still be waiting for Mini Run Amok to come back down

Moral: don't bite off more than you can chew.

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Q: What do you think about 'Tillah'?

A: Tillah had a fearsome drum weapon, but its mobility was handicapped by the two-wheel drive system. It proved difficult to maneuver and was not successful in combat.

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Q: Is 'Tricerabot' a JuggerBot incarnation?

A: Yes. There were three JuggerBot platforms:

• JuggerBot 1.0 was used at Robotics series 1. The chassis was loaned to Team Thunderbolt for use in 'Rosie the Riveter 1.0' at Robot Wars. Later versions of Rosie (and 'Logos Eye') were fully built by Team Thunderbolt.

• JuggerBot 2.0 was a six-motor, six-wheel superheavyweight that competed at BattleBots 3.0. For Robot Wars, the two center motors and wheels were removed to make heavyweight specs and it was renamed 'Tricerabot'.

• JuggerBot 3.0 was built for and competed in Robotoca series 3. It had a new motor layout and a high pressure air flipper weapon.

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Q: Are there any videos of your robots in Robot Wars or Robotica?

A: My last source of Robotica videos was inetvideo.com, but they seem to have run out. Keep an eye on EBay, and search YouTube.

Q: Ok, are there any videos of your robots in Robot Wars or Robotica on YouTube?

A: None that I know about.

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Q: What you think about Juggerbot/Tricerabot and Rosie The Riveter/LogosEye?

A: Mark J. here: Team JuggerBot was one of the top technical teams in the sport and one of the finest groups of people I have ever met. Their robots were always prepared at the highest level and their pit skills were astounding.

JuggerBot 3.0 was one of the most capable combat robots of it's time. The addition of the high-pressure air 'Up Ender' weapon to the quick and agile JuggerBot platform created a (nearly) unbeatable machine. JuggerBot 2.0/Tricerabot was the first and only robot to shove the 1100 pound 'Sir Killalot' into the Robot Wars pit.

Rosie the Riveter/LogosEye was based on the original JuggerBot chassis used at Robotica. Operated by a separate team of members spun off from Team JuggerBot, Rosie continued development of armor and power from the original configuration and proved its durability by surviving a record ten fights at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors 2.

Q: How did 'LogosEye' come into existence? Why it isn't on the JuggerBot website?

A: The full story of 'LogosEye' and 'Rosie the Riveter' can be found at the archived LogosEye Website. 'LogosEye' was built for Robotica Series 3, but failed to perform to the expected standards of the associated JuggerBot teams. You can find a couple of pictures of it in the JuggerBot Robotica 3 gallery, but that's about it.

Q: What you think about RamForce? Jawbreaker? Viper? Panzer Mk. I? Kritical Mass?

A: I hope I don't have to go thru all the Robotica 'bots!

• Ram Force - Andrew Lindsey puts a lot of thought into his designs and he understands the technical aspects of robot building as well as anyone. Ram Force had the best control of any 'bot at Robotica. Just watch it run thru 'The Speedway'. The go-kart slick tires failed to produce the traction hoped for.

• Jawbreaker - The only two-wheeled 'bot to make the Robotica finals, the beautifully built Jawbreaker overcame it's control issues to put on a great show. Tim Berghoefer and crew had a great time and were big fun to hang around with in the pits.

• Viper - Sticking to solid construction and proven design, Bob Allen created the best pushing 'bot in the field. It needed only a little more speed to compete for the top spot.

• Panzer Mk. I - Power, speed, control -- everything needed to win. If they had not run into the only robot that could out push them in their preliminary 'Fight to the Finish', I'm certain that Todd Mendenhall's team could have gone all the way. He got his chance at Robotica 3.

• Kritical Mass - Jeff Cesnik is a very serious fellow and a very tough competitor. Kritical Mass had the most destructive weapon at Robotica. The 'bot was quick, agile, and adaptable. The low clearance and tiny drive wheels just couldn't deal with the clutter in 'The Gauntlet'.

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Q: Whether 'Tillah' lives??

A: Tillah -- another JuggerBot spin-off -- was torn into tiny shards by Megabyte at Steel Conflict 4. There wasn't enough left to rebuild.

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Q: Have you got different robots - no Run Amok??

A: Run Amok was retired after her return from the second Robot Wars Extreme Warriors competition, but she remains fully operational in a place of honor in our workshop. You can find a listing of all of our combat 'bots down a little lower on this archive page.

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Q: Are you still competing?

A:Team Run Amok remains active in a variety of robotic projects, although it has been a while since we competed at an RFL event. Next month we will host an Antbotica competition here in Oregon, and we just got back from a trip Florida where we helped promote the new Slambot arcade game. We keep several of our 'bots in ready condition in case a opportunity pops up.

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Q: Hi Aaron, What competition format is your favorite, and why?

• Robotica, with a mix of tasks and battle;
• BattleBots, one on one;
• Robot Wars, 3 on 3 with house bots;
• Or others?

I loved the Robotica type, the robots had to be versatile and maneuverable. Driving skills played a big part of success or failure.
[Matt M. - TeamPlumbCrazy.com]

A: Hi, Matt. You build some great robots!

I like all styles of robot combat, but you've probably guessed that a 'Robotica' format is my favorite. It's a challenge to balance the design elements of the robot to meet all the differing tasks, and the driver has to stay cool and be ready to take advantage of any development. We like it so much that we designed our own Antbotica competition to include many of the same elements.

One thing I didn't like about Robot Wars -- we had to drive from a balcony a long way from the 'bot. I like to be close to the robot when I drive and I like to be able to hear the noise and feel the impact! That's what big 'bots are all about for me.

I also like what I've seen about autonomous sumo robot. I saw some great competition at Robothon and could really get into that if there were some local interest. Some of the guys at Western Allied Robotics have been building autonomous antweights and competing against R/C, but if anybody has a transmitter in their hands I want to have one too!

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Q: If robot combat was still televised, would you make a 'Run Amok 2'? Would it be able to self right?

A: Mark J. here: 'Run Amok' was built for the unique demands of the original Robotica competition. It had the balance of speed, stability, power, and adaptability that was needed for that particular challenge.

We've built many robots since 'Run Amok'. For each different type of combat we build a very different type of robot. For Robot Wars, we built The Gap, which does not in any way resemble 'Run Amok'. The decision on self-righting would depend on the layout of the competition. 'The Gap' can self-right.

Television was only important to our robot combat career because it kept our expenses down. Building, transporting, and fighting heavyweight combat robots is expensive. The televised competitions would pay to transport us and the robots, put us up in a hotel, feed us, and usually pay enough prize money to cover our other expenses. Without that economic help, we've had to settle for smaller robots and 'local' competitions.

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Q: How fast is Run Amok?

A: At Robotica, Run Amok was geared for speed and topped out at 17 m.p.h. For Robot Wars we increased the gear reduction for more pushing power and the top speed dropped to 12 m.p.h.

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Q: How do I start my robot?

A: Pump the gas twice, depress the clutch, and turn the key to the right. See: #2.

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Q: Do you think you can make a webpage devoted to the diagrams you give us here on the Ask Aaron page? They are very useful. For instance, every time I design a bot I check out the wiring diagram in the FAQ to make sure I'm not forgetting anything in the budget sheet.

A: Good to hear that you find the diagrams so useful. The Ask Aaron Archive had become a big page to load and I've just finished splitting it up into smaller sections. An 'all diagrams' section might be a good addition.

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Q: When are you next going to take votes on the Combat Robot Hall Of Fame Inductees, and how do we submit our votes?

A: Mark J. here: The Combat Robot Hall Of Fame opens for new inductees in August of odd-numbered years. Votes for new members are solicited from the robot building community. As in prior years, the announcement and details of the voting process will be posted to combat robot related discussion groups at the Delphi Forums site. If you are an active member of the combat robot forums, you'll hear about it.

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Q: I was wandering around the Ask Aaron Archive and realized that no one takes the time to thank you like they should, and a few are down right rude. So this one goes out to you guys, fellow bot builder.

A: Thanks for the props. We really enjoy fielding robot questions and don't do it for recognition, but it's nice to hear that our efforts are appreciated.

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Q: What do you get if you mix acid and carbonate?

A: We only answer robot questions here, so we'll have to modify your question: if a robot made of a carbonate ran into another robot made of an acid, you'd get a cloud of carbon dioxide and a puddle of water. Robot questions, please.

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Q: What are your best tips for getting sponsors?

A: It's very tough to make a good case for a business to sponsor a combat robot right now. No TV coverage plus small audience turn-out at events means very few people would see a sticker on your 'bot or a banner in your pit area. Unless you're related to the owner of a business, you're going to find it very difficult to snag a sponsor. The only sponsor we've ever had is my dad's credit card.

Build a small 'bot with your own funds and enter a few tournaments. If you can show some skill and talent it will be easier to convince a potential sponsor to help you build a larger 'bot.

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Q: What is a robot?

A: Robotics pioneer Joseph Engelberger once said: "I can't define a robot, but I know one when I see one."

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Q: What 'bot is your favorite? I'm a fan of Hypno-disc!

A: Hypno-disc rocks, but my vote goes to Carlo Bertocchini's Biohazard. Twenty-seven wins and three losses is just impossible to beat. My beetleweight Zpatula is based on his electric lifter design, and Carlo was kind enough to autograph Zpatula for me at the 2004 RFL nationals.

Of the Robot Wars 'bots, I always liked Firestorm. Hypno-Disc beat Firestorm 3 in the 5th Wars, but it was a great fight!

I thought biohazard had five losses at: BBLV'99, BB1.0, BB3.0, and Combots cup 2005 (x2)?

I was counting the record at BattleBots, including melee wins. If you want to count the 2005 losses to Megabyte and Brutality, count the 2005 win over Jawbreaker and throw in the undefeated record at the early Robot Wars for an overall head-to-head record of 35 wins and 5 losses. That remains the best win percentage of any heavyweight with more than 10 fights.

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Next Mystery Post »

Q: Can I see a picture of your Antbotica robot, Mini Maxbot 2.0?

A: Sure. Mini Max 2.0 uses the drivetrain from a BattleBots custom series 'DoAll' toy. I replaced the radio and speed controllers with hobby-grade equipment, and added a 700 MAH rechargeable battery pack. The treads are silicone rubber coated for added traction, and I added a removable front polyethylene scoop. The 'bot will run upside down if needed.

Mini Maxbot 2.0 placed second at the 2005 daVinci Days Antbotica event in Corvallis, Oregon.

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Q: I'm building a model car and it has to go up a steep hill but I can't seem to get it to climb the hill. How could I get it over the hill?

A: You'll need more power and/or less weight and/or greater gear reduction and/or more traction. With the information you've given, my best advice is to build a combat robot and have it throw your model car over the hill. Robot questions, please.

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Q: Have you /your dad read and or reviewed "Build your own combat robot" by Pete Miles and Tom Carroll?

A: There's a review of "Build your own combat robot" on the Team Run Amok book review page.

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Q: How do I make my robot faster?

A: Try pointing it downhill. If that doesn't work, write back and tell me enough about your robot that I can make a reasonable suggestion.

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Q: I like the new page on 'Zaptula'. Who do you think would win between 'Zpatula' and 'Wallop'?

A: Nobody was gonna beat 'Wallop' at the 2004 RFL National Championships. The magnet wheels gave him a huge advantage on the steel-floored arena. There is more to building a good magnet-bot than just bolting ring magnets onto your hubs, and Jim Smentowski did a great job of it.

On a non-magnetic surface, a 'Zpatula' versus rubber-tired 'Wallop' match would be interesting. I think my narrower lifter might get under his, but Jim is a very experienced driver. Call it a toss-up.

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Q: How much did your beetleweight 'Zpatula' cost to build? What does it run on?

A: Zpatula is based on a BattleBots Pro-Series Biohazard R/C toy that I bought on EBay ($30). We removed the toy radio and installed a SOZBots ESC ($58), a Microbotparts FM micro receiver ($25), and a home-built 7.2 volt 700 mAH NiMHD battery pack ($10). The drive train uses the 130 size electric motors that came with the toy.

The toy gearbox for the lifter was modified to lock the slip clutch and to allow controlled up/down operation with a Team Delta R/C dual-ended switch ($39). We also upgraded the electric lifter motor from a 130 size to a more powerful 180 ($10). The lifter itself is a shortened BBQ spatula ($4).

For protection, we added 1/8" polycarbonate top armor ($3) and 3/16" UHMW polyethylene side/rear skirts ($3). Not counting the radio transmitter, that adds up to well less than $200.

Zpatula won the 2004 daVinci Days tournament and finished 3rd at the 2004 RFL nationals. It's lifetime ranking score at Botrank.com is a very respectable 1277.68.

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I just want to say thanks for all of you guys' help. My friend and I started about a year ago and if it weren't for your helpful answers, we wouldn't have finished our three ants. You can see the three robots we've built at: Team Pinq.

You're Welcome. Your 'bots look great! Happy to hear our advice was helpful.

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Next Mystery Post »

Q: Do you still have Mini Maxbot?

A: Yes. 'Mini Maxbot' was my first antweight. It is a converted R/C skateboard toy - four-wheel drive with dual 'forks of doom' on the front. It won the first Antbotica competition and won a few combat matches as well.

We still have all of our combat 'bots, although hobbyweight 'Nasty Glass of Water' is not operational.

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Q: What would you do if two of your robots had to fight each other at Robot Wars?

A: Each of our 'bots at Robot Wars had its own driver and support team. We'd just go for it and see who had the better stuff that day. But no senseless destruction after the match was over!

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Q: Which of the Robot Wars housebots were your favorite and least favorite?

A: I think I mentioned before that I had a grudge with Sir Killalot -- he attacked 'Run Away' without provocation and from behind. Cowardly! Dead Metal was my fave.

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Q: Do you own 'Robot Wars Arenas of Destruction'? If so, is it possible to buy the housebots?

A: Yep, I own the game -- very cool! The housebots cannot be bought there, but you can play as a housebot in 'Robot Wars Advanced Destruction' for the Game Boy Advance.

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Q: Why didn't Run Away use Run Amok's shipping crate?

A: Three reasons:

• Run Away was a longer and taller 'bot than Run Amok.
• We wanted to pack a lot of spare parts and tools in the same crate.
• International shipping required a much sturdier crate to ship Run Away to Robot Wars in England than we needed to ship Run Amok to Robotica in California.

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Q: Are you building any new bots?

A: We don't need anything new at the moment, but we always have a couple things on the drawing board...

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Q: Can you tell me how to make a robot walk?

A: Take away its bus pass. [Sorry - couldn't resist the bad joke.]

Walking robots are for advanced robot builders and are much too complicated to talk about here. See earlier posts about walkers for some information sources.

Q: Do you have any more bad robot jokes?

A: Yes, but I don't want to drive people away from my website.

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Q: Do you have any pets?

A: Didya run outta robot questions? My favorite color is green, my eyes are blue, I'm 6' 2" tall, my favorite musician is Ray Charles, my favorite class is Computer Aided Drafting, I like to eat pizza (no anchovies) and play Yu-Gi-Oh. I have two dogs, three birds, and a fish named 'Alpha'. More robot questions!

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Q: 'Tillah' looks light -- was it a middleweight?

A: Tillah was very compact, but the Oregon drum spinner was a 220 pound heavyweight. The weapon was very heavy. You can see Tillah fight in the Oregon Clandestine Street Fight.

Q: How heavy is Tillah's drum?

A: Mark J. here: First, Tillah should be referred to in the past tense - Tillah is no more. As noted in an earlier post, Tillah was destroyed in a match against Megabyte at Steel Conflict 4.

I could only guess at the weight of Tillah's drum weapon. It was made from very thick steel plate. Ask Team JuggerBot for a definitive answer.

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Q: What weapons did JuggerBot 2.0 have?

A: Mark J. here: The primary weapon of all the JuggerBots was speed and power. Juggerbot 2.0 was the 6-motor 6-wheel drive version that competed as a superheavyweight at BattleBots 3.0. It had no 'active' weapons, but did have a variety of interchangeable front-mounted spikes. This chassis also competed at Robot Wars, minus the two middle drive units, as 'Tricerabot'.

For JuggerBot 3.0, chief weapons officer Ron Ender developed the 'up-ender' weapon -- a small but mighty high-pressure air powered flipper to coordinate with the other attributes of the 'bot.

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Q: Are you going to the 2006 Robot Fighting League Nationals in Minnesota?

A: No. We didn't compete in any RFL qualifying events this year; we don't like their scoring system.

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Q: Could 'The Gap' lift 616 lbs (A.K.A. Sir Killalot)?

A: Yes, and no. Explanation:

The Gap's lifting platform has a max capacity of 1060 pounds, but you'd have to position the load very precisely on the platform to lift that much. The Gap will lift 400 pounds placed anywhere on the platform, and 616 would be very possible if we got well under the weight...

...but, Sir Killalot's true weight was almost double the advertised 616 pounds. Robot Wars didn't want to make it seem too one-sided.

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Q: whAT HAPENED TO tRICERABOT AND ROSIE THE RIVETER 1?

A: Its shift key stuck on and it capitalized itself to death.

Actually, all of the old 'bots from the JuggerBot team are hanging on the wall of Mike Morrow's big workshop in Oregon. They're just bare chassis - all re-useable parts have been removed. The motor units from Tricerabot were used in Mike's full-scale 'Mars Rover' recreation. Cool!

Q: Why did Team JuggerBot's Mike Morrow build a giant mars rover?

A: Not giant, just full sized. The Mars Rover is much bigger than most people think! Mike built it for the 2004 daVinci Days festival in Corvallis, Oregon. He also arranged for truckloads of dirt and rocks to fill one end of a parking lot with a replica Mars crater. Visitors to the festival could drive the rover around the crater. Big fun!

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Q: What happened to the 'Rosie the Riveter 2' pictures at juggerbot.com?

A: Ask Team JuggerBot.

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Q: How much did it cost to build 'The Gap' and 'Run Away'?

A: Mark J. here: The weapon and electronics changes to turn 'Run Amok' into 'Run Away' for Robot Wars Extreme Warriors cost about $1200. We also had to build a crate to ship Run Away to England.

'The Gap' was built in a big hurry for the second RWEW event, and I never added up all the receipts. I think an exact copy would cost about $4000.

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Q: How much did 'The Gap' weigh at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors 2?

A: About 208 pounds, with an empty CO2 tank.

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Q: The ad for the Oregon Street Fight video has 'metal' spelled 'mettle'.

A: Yea, it's a pun. Look up 'mettle'.

Q: I don't understand the 'mettle' pun.

A: Never try to explain a pun.

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Q: What number is the trading card included with the Logoseye CD?

A: Chris Gattman, former member of Team JuggerBot and captain of Team Logoseye (Robot Wars: Rosie the Riveter, Robotica: Logoseye) is also the frontman for the hard rock band 'Logoseye'. I hadn't heard that they were giving out a robot trading card with CD purchase. Here's a list of all the robot cards in the series:

• R1 - Team Run Amok: The Gap
• R2 - Team Run Amok: Run Amok
• R3 - Team JuggerBot: JuggerBot 3.0
• R4 - Team Logoseye: Rosie the Riveter
• R5 - Team JuggerBot: TriceraBot 3.0
• R6 - Death by Monkeys: Death by Monkeys
• R6 - Death by Monkeys: Silverback (repeated number)

Q: How can I get the Team Death by Monkeys robot trading cards?

A: Write to them and ask nicely. Contact info is at their website: www.teamdeathbymonkeys.com.

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Q: Where did the name 'The Gap' come from?

A: On our first trip to Robot Wars we spent a lot of time on the London 'Underground' subway system. There were signs and a voice on the PA system reminding riders to 'mind the gap', which meant to look out for the space between the boarding platform and the train.

When we built our lifterbot for the next Robot Wars, it had a 'gap' between the raised lifter platform and the lower frame that could trap other 'bots. We thought it was only fair to point out that our opponents should mind The Gap.

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Q: Was 'General Chompsalot 3' ever finished?

A: Team Jawbreaker reports that Jawbreaker/General Chompsalot 3 has been ready for some time. Looks about ready to me: Photo.

Q: General Chompsalot 3 look's very heavy! Is it a superheavyweight?

A: No, GC3 was originally built to Robot Wars specifications -- 100 KG heavyweight.

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Q: Did team JuggerBot ever build a JuggerBot 4.0?

A: I was in the Team JuggerBot workshop a few months ago and there was no sign of an upgrade to JuggerBot 3.0. Team leader Mike Morrow is working on other things.

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Q: Do you wish you'd been invited to take part in the 'Robot Rebellion Challenge' at Robot Wars?

A: No -- we designed our 'bots to fight other 'bots in our weight class, not the Housebots. We were happy to let other teams have a go at that!

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Q: Can you give me a link to a website that sells 'Arenas of Destruction' or the BattleBots game for the PS2?

A: Sure: www.ebay.com -- that's where I got mine.

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Q: Did you enjoy the fight against 'Sir Forcealot' at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors 2?

A: We didn't fight 'Sir Forcealot' at RWEW2. 'Sir Forcealot' was a renamed version of our nemesis from Robotica, 'Ram Force'. The tournament trees didn't lead us into any of the same matches in England.

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Q: Have you ever met any people that competed in BattleBots?

A: The robot combat community is a small one. Teams that compete in one series often show up at other events. We've met dozens of teams from BattleBots.

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Q: Are you and your dad the only people on your team?

A: My mom is a big part of the team as well! She makes our travel and shipping arrangements, does most of our banners and graphics, and keeps us from doing anything stupid. That last part is really hard.

We also expanded our team for our second trip to Robot Wars to include our chief metal guy, Max Chapin and his family. Max does the metal forming and welding on our big 'bots and contributes to design and engineering.

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Q: Have you guys ever completely destroyed a 'bot?

A: We build 'bots to win matches, not destroy other 'bots.

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Q: Have any of your antweights won a tournament?

A: Yes - 'Rat Amok' won the daVinci Days tournament, and 'Mini Maxbot' won the first Antbotica.

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Next Mystery Post »

Q: You mentioned your hobbyweight 'Nasty Glass of Water' in an earlier post. Can I see a picture?

A: Mark J. here: This is a good time to tell the whole story. 'Nasty Glass of Water' was built for the September 2001 NERC Hobby Expo event in Chicago. I was sharing a hotel room with Team Delta's Dan Danknick at the event. Dan built a lightweight 'bot called 'Evil Fishtank' for BattleBots and I wanted to play on that name for my hobbyweight. What's smaller than a fish tank? A glass of water. What's a little less than evil? Nasty!

NGOW was an open 'dustpan' design powered by two very large automotive windshield wiper motors running at 24 volts. Even with the overvolting it was very slow, but it could really push! In our first match a motor capacitor failed and shorted to ground. The battery pack got so hot that I blistered two fingers prying it out of the 'bot. By the time I had the pack cooled down and the capacitor fixed, we'd missed our next match and were out.

The next day we were back for the hobbyweight 'rumble'. NGOW scooped up and trapped a 'bot called 'Green Dragon' that had a good bar spinner weapon still operational. With lots of pushing power and an effective weapon, the 24 pound NGOW/GD combo 'bot cleaned house! The unimaginative event director decided that a combo-bot wasn't quite legitimate and disqualified us, but the audience really loved it!

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Q: Which combat robot teams in your area have robots over 60 pounds?

A: Here in the Pacific NorthWest robots larger than the 60 pound 'lightweight' class are getting pretty rare -- but we have a few:

• Team LNW from Washington has been fighting heavyweight 'LNW' with good results over the last few years.

• The 2004 RFL National heavyweight champion 'SJ' belongs to Scott Kincaid. His 'Team Blackroot' is from Idaho.

• Here at Team Run Amok, we keep our heavyweight flipper 'The Gap' ready to fight, just in case.

• Team JuggerBot is just a few miles down the road. I suspect they would show up for a regional heavyweight fight.

• Gary Warren's Team Maggot fights out of Idaho with their RFL national qualified middleweight 'Botfly'.

• Robot Wars veteran Joe Murawski campaigns Team X-Bots' middleweight 'Paminator' out of Washington.

• Team Atros fights their middleweight 'Atros' out of Vancouver, Canada

I've probably overlooked a couple. You can find a the locations of some combat robot teams at the Frapper Combat Robot Builders page

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Q: Why didn't Team Run Amok enter Robotica seasons 2 or 3?

A: Entry into the Robotica tournaments was by invitation only and winners weren't invited back. The producers were saving the winners from each season for a 'Challenge of the Champions' event that was to take place after a few more seasons had gone by. The ratings for seasons 2 and 3 fell off from the first season and the 'Challenge' tournament never happened. Rats!

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Q: I read your Robot Wars Journal about your first trip to Robot Wars in England. Is there a journal for your second trip?

A: Mark J. here: I've never published my journal from the second Robot Wars trip. I think you get most of the 'behind the scenes' flavor from the first journal, but I might reconsider.

There IS a Robotica Journal.

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Q: Why does 'Run Amok' have a painted arrow design on top?

A: Mark J. here: Run Amok needed a little graphic impact to show up well on TV. My design, my decision.

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Q: The Run Amok Store says that Team JuggerBot has robot trading cards like yours. I can't find trading cards on their site (www.juggerbot.com). How do I get some?

A: Try emailing JuggerBot team captain Mike Morrow (mike@juggerbot.com) and asking nicely.

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Q: Who do you think would win a fight between your 'The Gap' and Brian Nave's 'Revolutionist'?

A: The Revolutionist was a VERY dangerous 'bot! The Gap and the Revolutionist met in the first round Robot Wars Extreme Warriors 2 in a 3-way fight with 'Trackzilla'. While the Revolutionist was spinning up, The Gap charged over and tossed Trackzilla on its top for the fastest K.O. by an American 'bot in Robot Wars history -- about 4 seconds! Just then the Revolutionist had a radio glitch and went out of control, smashing into the back of The Gap before shutting down. Both of us went on to the next round.

We didn't meet again. The Gap was designed to get under spinners with its long lifter platform, but the exposed wheels would make a tempting target for the Revolutionist. It would have been a good match -- not sure who would have won.

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Q: Why doesn't Run Amok/Run Away have a self-righting mechanism?

A: Not many large American 'bots have a dedicated SRiMech. Run Amok was originally built for the Robotica competition where there wasn't any real need for self-righting -- if you found yourself upside-down, there just wasn't time to self-right. I don't think any of the Robotica 'bots had SRiMechs, but some could run inverted.

When we went to Robot Wars for the first time, we didn't have enough time for major changes to Run Amok. We added the 'side-wheel' rotary weapon to make 'Run Away' showy and unique, and extended the top armor as far to the rear as the rules allowed to make her more resistant to flipping and more difficult for Sir Killalot to pick up (it worked!). That was a learning trip for us.

For our second trip to Robot Wars we built our own new flipper 'bot, The Gap. The Gap does self-right. We had a chance to take a second 'bot, so brought the battle-weary Run Away along as well.

As it turned out, Run Away never really needed a SRiMech. She ended up on her back a couple of times, but by the time that happened the match was already lost and self-righting wouldn't have made a difference.

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Q: Why doesn't the 1/10th Scale Run Amok Model have a back end?

A: Nobody's ever complained before! It's kind of a cluttered view that doesn't add much to the model. You can see the steel battery box hanging from the chassis, the differential/chain drive, a peak of the drive motor, and a glimpse of the speed controller cover. There is no rear armor.

Just to keep a fan happy, here's a special 'cut and paste' rear-view insert panel to complete your Run Amok model. Don't ask for a bottom view - ain't gonna happen.

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Q: Are there any videos I can buy that show your rat trap weaponed antweight 'Rat Amok' fighting?

A: Mark J. here: I've got CD video of Rat Amok at Da Vinci Days and in the antweight melee at BotBash. There isn't much to see; most times the trap snapping shut squirts the other 'bot across the arena like a pumpkin seed! Having only one shot is a problem in a melee fight.

The video files are too big to download. If you really want the video, send me your email and snailmail addresses and I'll see what I can do.

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Q: Which 'bot did you use at Robotica?

A: We won the televised Robotica competition with our first heavyweight -- Run Amok.

• Robotica Journal
• Run Amok FAQ
• Construction Log
• Competitor Gallery
• More Photos

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Q: Are your 'bots registered at coolrobots.com?

A: No need - the Team Run Amok website has all the info on our 'bots.

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Q: Have you ever been to the 'Pound of Pain" competition?

A: Nope. The last POP event was 3,161 miles from our workshop. That's a long way to go for an ant fight.

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Q: Are you going to the next MechWars? I would like to see your rat trap antweight there!

A: The Twin City MechWars is a great robot combat series! We've never competed at MechWars, but we were able to stop in at a builders' meeting and talk with some of the teams. If we lived closer to Minnesota we'd be regulars.

'Rat Amok' is operational, but has been retired because the servo drive is just too slow to compete with current speedy ants. I keep thinking about a new version with better motors. Maybe someday.

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Q: May I see a picture of your rat trap antweight?

A: A picture and description of 'Rat Amok' is here - larger picture here.

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Q: Have you ever watched a UK antweight match in England? Did you see 'Mini Razor'?

A: We saw a UK antweight tournament at our first trip to Robot Wars in 2001. 'Mini Razor' wasn't there, but the full-size Razor was!

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Next Mystery Post »

Q: Did you ever go to a BattleBots tournament?

A: Team Run Amok never competed at BattleBots. It was too expensive, too crowded, and I'm told the food wasn't very good. After all the expense of building a 'bot and traveling to the event, half of the 'bots lost in the first round and went home. Pretty small fun.

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Q: I saw a Robot Wars episode with a robot built and funded by a high school. Have you talked to your school about funding a robot?

A: Most schools (mine included) have very little money for such projects. We'll have to keep financing our own robots.

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Q: Which program would you suggest for 3D designing?

A: Sorry, but we don't use 3D modeling software for our 'bots. Try asking that question at the Delphi Forums RFL discussion.

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Q: Why do you think some builders hate wedges?

A: Beats me. I don't.

Mark J. here: People fight robots for all sorts of reasons. Some people like to win matches -- they don't care what design that takes, and wedges are just fine in their book. Some builders just don't think that a wedge is the way robots should fight and like to show off their active weapons. They are embarrassed when they lose to a simple but well-built wedge, so they hate wedges. It's all a matter of taste. Build what you like.

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Date marker: February 2006

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Q: Which is more fun in your opinion: building or fighting robots? I like building them.

A: My favorite part is hanging out in the pits and talking to other builders -- but you gotta build to fight, and you gotta fight to get into the pits. I guess I like it all.

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Next Mystery Post »

Q: When was your last robot competition? When will you compete again?

A: My last event was daVinci Days last July (2005). I'm a high school freshman this year and don't have as much spare time as usual, but I plan to be back at daVinci Days again this summer and maybe another event or two.

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Q: Dear Aaron, I have recently seen much more action on your site. Do you think this means combat robotics will make a media come back?

A: The Ask Aaron site is getting a lot more traffic, but I don't think there's a link between that and combat robots heading back to TV. If there are new robot shows, they aren't going to be like what we've seen before! I promise I'll let you know if producers start calling.

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Q: Out of all the weight classes which do you think has the toughest group of robots?

A: None of the classes are pushovers anymore, but the level of destruction seems to go up with the heavier classes. I'd guess that the heavyweights are the most brutal class at the moment, but competition is tough all the way from antweights thru the super-heavys.

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Q: What was the most challenging bot you ever fought? Did your bot beat it?

A: Tough question. I think the toughest 'bot I ever fought was the beetleweight Trilocity -- a high-power thwackbot. He put some rips in my armor and eventually stuck his axe into my chassis so hard he couldn't get loose. I had enough pushing power to drag him around and get enough points for the win.

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Q: What kind of Controller does your beetleweight Zpatula use? How did you fit the flipper on the small BattleBot toy chassis?

A: Zpatula uses a Sozbots dual motor ESC, plus a Team Delta dual-ended R/C switch for the lifter motor. Zpatula isn't based on the small custom-series BattleBot toy chassis, it's built on the larger pro-series chassis, and it uses a modified Biohazard gearbox for the lifter.

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Q: Could you put a paintball shooting gun on Rat Amok?

A: Could. Won't.

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Q: Where can I buy videos with 'The Gap' fighting? How about Fleaweight or fairyweight matches?

A: The Gap fought two great matches at the 'Oregon Clandestine Street Fight'. Videos from that event are on My YouTube channel. The Gap also fought at Robot Wars Extreme Warriors II -- try searching for that.

I don't know of any fairy or flea matches for sale on video.

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Q: Have you ever been to Robot Wars in England?

A: We were at the Robot Wars Extreme Warriors events in England twice. In 2001 we entered 'Run Away' and made it to the finals in the Tag Team competition with our friends from Team Jawbreaker. In 2002 we returned with 'Run Away' and 'The Gap' and fought in both the main tournament and the Tag Team event. I also got to drive 'Run Away' in the Nickelodeon Robot Wars series filmed in England in 2002.

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Q: Was Rat Amok made from a real mouse trap? Does the trap part work?

A: Mark J. here: my retired antweight Rat Amok was made from a genuine Victor rat trap - larger than a mouse trap. The trap mechanism is fully functional and is controlled by a tiny servo that holds the trap open `til the weapon is fired. Rat Amok won the 2002 Western Allied Robotics daVinci Days antweight tournament. The servo drive is too slow to be competitive against faster modern `bots, but I keep thinking about a new, faster version.

Aaron had his own antweight back then called 'Mini Maxbot' that he and I built together. Aaron and Mini Maxbot won the first Antbotica competition in 2004.

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Q: What was the funniest robot you ever saw?

A: The funniest robot I ever saw was `Psycho Chicken'. In one match at Robot Wars, it laid an egg that `hatched' into an R/C mini-bot. Funny!

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Q: Aaron is your antweight or your dads listed on buildersdb.com? Have any of your ants qualified for nationals? [Ted J.]

A: Our team has both my dad's and my antweights on buildersdb.com -- along with my beetle, dad's hobbyweight, and our two heavyweights. Search for 'Run Amok' as a team name.

We haven't run antweights at an RFL qualifier for a few years now -- but I fought my beetle 'Zpatula' at nationals in 2004. It's ranked in the top 30 historic beetles at botrank.com.

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Q: I understand Run Amok is a car steering type robot. Why did you choose that over tank steering?

A: Technical question - Mark J. here: I've gone into detail about the design decisions for Run Amok at the Run Amok FAQ page. In short, Run Amok was built for the four challenges in the first season of Robotica: The Speedway, The Maze, The Gauntlet, and The Fight to the Finish (details on the challenges). Tank steered robots have trouble making smooth turns as needed for The Speedway, and many had difficulty climbing ramps in The Maze. Also, a car-style differential as used by Run Amok can deliver a lot of pushing power in poor traction conditions for the Gauntlet.

I knew that the maneuverability of tank steering would be an advantage in The Fight to the Finish, but I wanted my best chance to at least get that far. It all worked out for us!

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Q: Does you beetle 'Zpatula' use a 4-bar lifter? What are the drive motors in your beetle? (Alex U., Pittsburgh, PA)

A: Yep, Zpatula has a lifter with a 4-bar linkage. Zpatula's drive motors are 6 volt Mabuchi 130s -- a Mabuchi 180 powers the lifter.

Q: Don't you think 130s are a bit small for a beetle? I use 300s in my ant. [Alex U., Pittsburgh, PA]

A: Mark J. here: Let me take this one, Aaron.

The maximum amount of drive power you can effectively use in a 'bot is limited by the weight on the drive wheels and the grip of the tires. Additional torque just spins your wheels. You can 'gear up' to trade torque for speed -- but how much speed can you effectively use in a 5 or 6 foot square ant/beetle arena?

Zpatula is 6-wheel drive and can easily spin it's wheels to avoid motor-destroying stall. The twin, mildly over-volted 130 motors give good controllable speed and deliver about 4 watts of power per pound of robot -- just about the same ratio as our Robotica winning heavyweight 'Run Amok'.

Many People believe that Team Run Amok's 'bots are underpowered, but we have championships from half the events we've entered. Not many teams can match that record.

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Q: What is your favorite weight class?

A: No question about it, I like heavyweights! There's just something about the noise and feel of two BIG 'bots crashing into each other that you don't get in the lighter classes.

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Q: Hi Aaron! How do you manage with homework, robot building and all the other things you have to do in the amount of time you have? Need tips on time management!

A: Well, homework and my household duties do take a lot of time. When I'd done with them, I decide what I really should be doing -- an hour watching a TV show I don't really care about is an hour I could have been working on a robot, practicing my basketball, or preparing my Yu-Gi-Oh decks. If you really look at what you do with your spare time, you might be surprised at how much you could be doing. Remember to save some time to just kick back!

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Next Mystery Post »

Q: How many robots do you have? (beanodandy)

A: I count seven competition robots in all:

• Rat Amok - antweight combat - retired, but operational;
• Mini Maxbot - antweight combat & Antbotica competitor - operational;
• Mini Maxbot 2 - Antbotica competitor - operational;
• Zpatula - beetleweight combat - operational;
• Nasty Glass of Water - hobbyweight - retired and dismantled;
• Run Amok/Run Away - Heavyweight combat - retired, but operational;
• The Gap - Robot Wars heavyweight - operational.

We also have a few non-competition 'bots around, but they don't get named.

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Q: Do you do stuff besides fighting robots? (Anon)

A: Sure! I play basketball, I have a weekly Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, and I'm an assistant manager for my high school football team.

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Q: Do you have any robots representing the human body? (Adam D.)

A: All of my 'bots are built for combat or head-to-head competition. No humanoid 'bots -- but I think that 'bots like Robo-One are way cool!

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Q: If one of your robots was for sale, which robot would it be? (Joey)

A: By the time we're thru with a robot it's either a champion or a pile of scrap. We don't sell our champions, and nobody would want the pile of scrap.

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Q: Which 'bot was your favorite (other than your dad's) in the first season of Robotica? (Jonathan R.-New Castle, PA)

A: We made lots of friends at Robotica and I don't want to pick out just one 'bot as my favorite. I really liked JuggerBot, Jawbreaker, and Kritical Mass. My dad says he liked Pandora for the cool way the builder used the parts he had available.

< name="RA2">

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Q: Is there any chance and spare weight to fit wheel guards on The Gap? (A.J. Hamilton)

A: Propellerhead hit one of The Gap's wheels so hard it broke the gearbox. That was a freak hit and we haven't had any trouble since then, but before The Gap competes again, there will be wheel guards! We have plenty of weight allowance left.

[Drawing of 'Run Amok 2' by A.J. Hamilton]

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Q: Can a combat robot hurt someone?

A: Yes! Combat robots are very dangerous -- that's why they usually fight inside bulletproof plastic boxes. Most robot builders have a scar someplace that their robot gave them. You must be very careful when working with rotating weapons, exposed gears and chains, high-pressure pneumatic systems, and heavy 'bots running around at speed.

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Q: In the photo at the top of the Ask Aaron homepage you aren't looking happy. Why not? (A.J. Hamilton)

A: The last match of Robotica happened at about 3 o'clock in the morning. It was a very busy day and I was really tired. The photo was taken in the pits after our win, and I was about half asleep.

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Q: Is there any 'bot you would like to get revenge on?

A: There are a couple of 'bots I'd like another chance to fight, but not exactly for revenge. Sir Killalot did try to throw us out of the arena for no reason, and I'd love to catch him with his back turned for a little payback. We didn't really have much of a chance to battle with General Chompsalot 'cause we were so badly damaged in an earlier fight -- I'd like to do that again.

Q: But I thought you & General Chompsalot were Tag team terror partners, you've even got his link on your web page. So why do you want to battle him?

A: Yes, the guys on Team Jawbreaker are our friends. They are really nice guys. We met them at Robotica and we were tag team partners at Robot Wars. When we met them in a battle at the next Robot Wars, Run Away had been badly damaged in an earlier match by Destructive Criticism and we just couldn't show off much. General C. even had to grab us and pull us away from the house 'bots to save us!

Fighting robots is fun. You play baseball and football with your friends, so why not battle robots with them?

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Aaron's Robot Haiku:

My robot can flip your robot any old day. See you in the ring.

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 Secret 'Robot Arena' Section

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This section is tucked away and not listed on the main page because, with few exceptions, I'm not really willing to answer technical questions about Robot Arena 2. Try these other resources first:

• The Robot Arena Forum hosts an active discussion (now inactive - see post below).
• YouTube has several good Robot Arena tutorials.
• Gametechmods.

Q: This is more of an FYI than a question, the RA2 community has long since moved to Gametechmods - the old RA2 Forums are no longer in existence.

PS: You can download the DSL-TC mod that was made for making bots that could work in real life. Just make sure you download it correctly, or face the wrath of ACAMS.

Thank you, R1.

A: Thanks, R1.

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Q: How do you get the 'Robot Wars' arena in 'Robot Arena 2'?

A: I'm referring all RA2 questions to gametechmods. Check their wiki and forum.

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Q: Do you know how to upload your own decals in Robot Arena 2?

A: I'm referring all RA2 questions to gametechmods. There is a decal tutorial in their wiki and help in their forum.

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Q: Are you still part of the RA2 comunity?

A: I don't think I can say I ever was much a part of the Robot Arena 2 online community. I never entered a tournament and only made a couple posts to the old discussion board -- but I do still like to play the game.

Q: Did you see the new replica of 'Run Away' someone made on RA2?

A: I've seen the Run Away replica made by Sonny Resetti -- I don't know why he didn't start with the existing Virtual Run Amok. If there is a newer replica then no, I haven't seen it.

Q: Sonny is known as the 'Replica Master' in the RA2 community. With the new components, he wanted to start from scratch. Do you like the new replica?

A: I think it's great that there's still enough interest in the 'old robots' that people continue build virtual replicas. Sonny makes some very fine replicas.

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Back to Top »

Q: Aaron, do you play Robot Arena or RobotRage?

A: I've played quite a bit of 'Robot Arena: Design and Destroy', but my favorite PC robot game is 'Robot Wars - Extreme Destruction'. My dad has a virtual version of our robot 'Run Amok' for Robot Arena. You can download it here: Virtual Run Amok.

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Q: Can you make a virtual 'The Gap' or 'Run Away' in the Robot Arena 2 game?

A: I guess you found our Virtual Run Amok for Robot Arena 2. The mechanical components available in the game are not well suited for building an accurate model of the chain-driven 'paddlewheel' spinner weapon on Run Away or the multi-pivot pneumatic platform on The Gap. You might get them functionally operable, but they wouldn't look right.

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Q: Which of the ready-built 'bots in Robot Arena 2 do you think is the best? Which computer robot do you think is the hardest to beat? I think it's 'Coal Miner'.

A: I like to play with 'Tail Whip' in the lightweight class. With a little practice and strategy, it can be a very effective 'bot. I agree that 'Coal Miner' is the toughest computer 'bot to beat.

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Q: Are you a member of the Robot Arena discussion board? Did you enter the BBEANS tournament?

A: I'm not active on the Robot Arena forum, and did not enter the tournament.

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Q: In 'Robot Arena 2', how do I make a chassis with a wedge without using the *#%@! one that you have to connect?

A: The basic shape of the robot body doesn't have to be a rectangular box. The first step in chassis layout sets the size and shape of the base plate. Click on 'Step 2' to set the top plate, click on a front corner, and pull it toward the rear to make it smaller than the bottom plate. Repeat with the other front corner. Instant wedge!

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Q: I know you prefer combat robot questions, and I'm sure I'll ask some later, but I have one about the Robot Arena 2 computer game. How do I rotate a motor so it faces upward for a horizontal spinning weapon on top of the robot?

A: I stay away from Robot Arena tech questions, but I'll make an exception this time.

Motors cannot be mounted directly to the baseplate in a horizontal orientation. You must make a motor mount that provides a mounting surface at a right angle to the baseplate. The mount may be made from an angled base and extenders. The motor will snap to the mount when brought close and may then be rotated into position with the shift/mouse combination. See the diagram at right for examples.

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Q: I'm having a lot of trouble with Robot Arena 2. How do I put the weapon on and how do I make the bot move? Do you know how to stack parts on top of each other? Can you import the computer opponent robots into your team in Robot Arena 2? If so, how?

A: The tutorial files included on the program disk have the basic information you're asking about. For additional help with Robot Arena 2, use the resources at the top of this section.

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Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 by Mark Joerger -- all rights reserved.