I’ve loved the idea of battlebots ever since Wired mag did a bit on them…
Now Comedy Central has battlebots on the boob tube…I dig the show…I love the names …the campy atmosephere…any other fans out there?
btw the best bot so far has to be BackLash…that buzz saw kicks ass
I’m a fan, for the most part. Last week’s episode sucked, but the rest have been good, overall.
I’ve only seen it once, but it appealed to my inner geek in much the same way as when I got my Celeron II 533 rock stable at 896 MHz.
you know the concept is pretty cool but the show kind of stinks because the battles never last very long and the damned bots always break to easily. usually the drivetrain system breaks and the bots become immobile. how boring. l last week when they had the battle royal with 10-12 bots was pretty cool.
I’ve started a couple of threads on Battlebots and they sink faster than lead. 
I don’t know why more people aren’t totally jazzed about it. Sure the matches are too short and the announcers are kinda losers… but it’s BATTLING, KILLER ROBOTS!!! It doesn’t GET better than that!
“Battlebots” is certainly a great concept, but IMO, the announcers should be thrown into the ring and savaged by superheavyweights.
In terms of televised robotic mayhem, I prefer “Robot Wars”, as there is a bit more variety, more personable announcers, a more elaborate presentation, and those house robots to contend with in addition to the challengers.
“Battlebots” has apparently existed for several years in its current format, but they might consider taking a page from Robot Wars and have, if not house robots, at least more surface-mounted hazards to contend with in the ring.
I love battlebots. We already have a bunch of us ready to design a robot and enter it. Our only problem know is deciding on a weapon, all 3 of us have different ideas. That and we have to think up a good name.
Since I won’t get around to building a bot for a while, and I’m all for open source, here’s a couple of my ideas:
Wedge + lifting arm + power drill = the Invisible Pink Unicorn
Speargun + circular saw
Several hydraulic cannons attached to the end of short titanium poles, with varying height adjuster. Dome-shaped shell, hidden wheels. Zooms around and bludgeons everything in sight.
The perfect show would be the bots from Battlebots in Robot Wars. Everything about Robot Wars was better than Battlebots, except the robots were a lot wussier.
Yup. I’m a fan. I always felt it was a neat idea, up until the flaming magnesium penetrator burned a hole through my damn battlebot . . .
Damn chemistry majors. Go make some beer . . .
Tripler
I was thinking a powerful magnet and a drill with a olng bit that hydraulically comes out. Stick 'em and drill 'em.
Oooooh, I like that. If you could put an expanding bit inside the original (like doctors have), then you could poke a hole in 'em, and mess 'em up from the inside! Ooooh, you have a devious mind . . .
You’re on MY team!!
Tripler
Damn rules outlawed detcord . . .
I think the rules exclude holding onto the other bot for more than a few seconds.
Tomorrow night Mechadon fights! He looks cool, but I don’t know if he can actually fight. I want to see Tentoumushi fight… it’s so cuuuute!
Actually, I really want to see the ChiaBot… what the hell? Weapon Power: Nature; Primary Weapon: Plants ???
Links:
Mechadon http://battlebots.com/meet_the_robots/a_super_heavyweights/mechadon.html
Tentoumushi http://battlebots.com/meet_the_robots/d_lightweights/tentoumushi.html
ChiaBot http://battlebots.com/meet_the_robots/d_lightweights/chiabot.html
Yeah, this one has me intrigued as well. What does it do, grow on it’s opponent?
I have scenes from Little Shop of Horrors in my head when I try to imagine it…
My very first post on the SDMB was regarding this! I love them…
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=30548
Everyone gonna watch tonight?? MECHADON!! WOOHOOOOOOOOOO
I saw a movie clip on their website…Mechadon does these really cool contortions and rolls… who knows how well he fights, but he looks COOL!
Man, I wish I had the time and resources to build one…I have a weapon idea that would likely defeat those “blender-bots”, the ones with spinning weapons (Mauler, Ziggo). But alas, I’m dirt poor and time-constrained…
The biggest problem I can see with Mechadon is that he doesn’t appear to walk very quickly…guess he just waits for the other bot to come to him.
So, who’s everyone’s money on in each weight class? Backlash is an obvious winner in the lightweight category…middleweight, I’m thinking maybe Blade Runner, if he can keep spinning. Heavyweight, I gotta go with Voltarc, even over Vlad the Impaler and Mauler; Super-heavyweight, I wanna see Grendel and Minion in the ring together.
Oooooooh just a couple of minutes til BATTLEBOTS!!!
::wets self:::