| |
 |
| |
Combots Cup
|
ComBots Cup!
A visual tour of leading-edge robot combat
Photojournalist Quinn Norton provides an overview of the recent Combots tournament with stellar images of the action in an extended photo essay. In a pictorial sidebar packed with images taken in the pits, contributor P3 offers an intimate visual portrait of the people and robots behind the scenes.
—the editors
by Quinn Norton
November saw a powerful collision of combat robotics on the edge of
San Francisco Bay at San Francisco's Ft. Mason, location of the original
Robot Wars. It was the 4th Annual National Championship of the Robot
Fighting League and the ComBots Cup. All weight classes competed, but the
heavyweights competed for a $10,000 grand prize (the largest combat
robotics purse in the US) in a true double elimination event. Eventually
the ComBots Cup was carried away by Team Plumb Crazy after a weekend of
tension, upset defeats and hot, twisted metal.
In the hours before the match for the cup between Heavyweights Karcas of Team Mutant
Robots and Sewer Snake of Team Plumb Crazy, Donald Hutson,
Karcas' creator, did last-minute maintenance on Karcas. Both bots were the
same general type: rectangular boxy bots that swap weapons around for each
battle. "This will be tough," Hutson said, looking across the bulletproof
Lexan arena. "I'll be fighting myself; driving will be 100%." The drivers for
both bots are noted for their skills, a fact which Simone Davalos, the event's
co-coordinator, recognized: "The driving [this year] is better. A lot
of people have really been working on their driving skills, and that makes for better fights.”
Karcas and Sewer Snake are both Heavyweight examples of the next step in
combat robot evolution: modularization. Douglas Groves, the creator of the
modular Super Heavyweight champion Shovelhead, can switch the weapon of
his bot within 20 minutes of finding out who he's fighting. Shovelhead
itself is a low, rectangular box covered in polycarbonate with mount points
on both ends. Groves pointed to a stack of scrap-looking metal and
polycarbonate parts that mount onto his bot. "Shovelhead has around 14-15
configurations," he explained. There are often specific bot killers. He
picked up a Y-shaped fork specifically to push the drivetrain of a big
spinner bot called Son of Whyachi. His approach has been successful enough
that there's no real robot out there he's afraid of. Groves said, "My worst enemy is
the wall," meaning the I-beam on the edge of the arena, where most of the
damage happens. And if you watch the modular bots shoving other robots into the
wall repeatedly, it would seem the wall is his best friend as well.
Groves outlines the features of Shovelhead with obvious pride. He's put
about $10,000 into being a hobbyist combat roboticist. He doesn't feel
possessive of his design – in fact he'd "be kind of honored if someone
copied it." His wife, Andrea Groves, controls Shovelhead's weapons. "We
didn't start winning until Andrea took over the weapon," Groves said.
Driving is key, and driving and operating the bot's weapons had been too
much for him alone. Over and over again people talked about the importance
of developing skills as a driver. "A shoebox with wheels can win if the
driver is good enough," said Groves.
To develop those driving skills, combat roboticists often recommend driving
frequently. "I purposely run into things, lift things with the wedge,
run into bricks or a garbage can at home," said Groves. Hutson also
practices driving his Bots into obstacles, and has done so since he was a
regular on Battlebots. He noted this is the least precious area of
robotics: "[Combat robotics] is hardening and innovating the rest of
robotics – not in a realm like AI, but certainly on the drive train."
"You have no idea, unless you see the events live, the power and the speed
[of combat robotics]. Video doesn't do it," said Groves. This point is clear in the big spinners such as former National Heavyweight Champion
Megabyte. Megabyte is famous for destroying opponents in a hail of sparks,
and causing damage to everything it touches, including the ring. As impressive as Megabyte’s spins were, the two heavyweight modular weapon bots pushed Megabyte out of the running for the $10,000 grand prize. Karcas and Sewer Snake were both able to push
Megabyte around, Sewer Snake to the extent of throwing Megabyte out of the
ring.
Robotic Death Company's series of spinners brought violent drama to
the combat robotics ring for years, but even one of their creators, John
Mladenik, sees the era of the spinner drawing to an end. Full body
spinners like Megabyte are immensely powerful, he explained: "It's about
the right balance of weight... and the armor is the weapon." Permitting a
lot of the weight allowance to be directed to destructive force and
defense all at once has made for a great run for Megabyte. Mladenik was
one of the only combat roboticists who didn't emphasize driving skill.
"Driving isn't as critical with spinners," he began, but after an
exchange of glances with his robotic death company teammate and Megabyte's
principle designer, Carl Lewis, he amended the statement: "Actually you
can't practice with a spinner, it's so dangerous." They went on to relate a
story about trying to practice with their big spinner; they ran it up against
a discarded refrigerator they'd found. On the first hit at full speed,
Megabyte tore off the fridge door, which flew 40 feet away and wedged in a
storm drain. It makes sense that most of the action Megabyte sees is
behind Lexan. It's been a good run, said Mladenik, but for a combat robot,
Megabyte is old and due for retirement. The new modular combat bots have
beaten Megabyte. Mladinik sees Robotic Death Company going back to the
drawing board and creating a modular robot of its own.
Still, Davalos doesn't see the spinners leaving the sport too quickly.
They are simply too fun. "The spinners aren't winning, but they do cause a
ton of damage, and are really photogenic." Combots is in the process of
rebuilding their arena to repair the extensive damage caused by spinners,
and especially Megabyte. To the people that want spinners banned for their
super destructive abilities, Davalos issues a challenge: "Build a better
robot." Both Team Mutant Robotics and Team Plumb Crazy have. A lot of other
ideas for the next killer bot are circulating around the combat robotics
community, which is being revitalized by events such as the
Combots Cup with its large prize.
"The event itself was a success; the crowd was sizable and energetic," said Davalos.
She pointed out the event’s benefit for the future of the sport in general: "Right now [Combat Robotics] looks really fabulous; we've got a lot of new people and a
lot of excitement. A lot of people, adults and kids alike, are saying 'I
want to build one,' and plenty of people in the crowd were sending pictures
to their friends from camera phones... A lot of people not normally
interested robots are saying, 'Hey, this is really cool.'"
The highlight of the event came Saturday night: Carlo Bertocchini's
Biohazard, the Grand Champion of BattleBots, came out of retirement. After
the crowds had filtered out, and under the gaze of the combat robotics
community, Biohazard came up against the current generation of combat
robots. He faced 21-year-old newcomer Paul Ventimiglia, who had admired
Biohazard and followed Bertocchini's work for years. Ventimiglia's first
heavyweight contender, Brutality, was finished in the pit only hours
before the match. The action was violent and fast. The audience held its
breath; Biohazard was destroyed in under a minute. Bertocchini took
Biohazard back to his Belmont, California, shop and rebuilt it overnight
for another go on Sunday. Again Biohazard lasted less than a minute. Of
the battle, Davalos said "The biohazard fight was great; it was
historic... Carlo was a good sport about the whole thing. He said 'I guess
I need to build a better robot.' So hopefully he'll be coming back to the
sport."
Davalos is looking forward to the next event, for she said, "The technology has gotten
stronger, and the ideas are more innovative." And it keeps coming, though
it remains to be seen what new design will be tossing the modular bots
like Sewer Snake out of the ring.
|
