Servo - January 2011

ComBots Cup V — Big Bad Bots Bash Bumpers in the Bay Area

PHOTO 1. The coveted ComBots Cup.

By Dave Calkins and Simone Davalos

Once again, combat robots from around the world made the annual pilgrimage to California to fight for the glory of the ComBots Cup — a giant trophy coveted by builders the way hockey players covet the Stanley Cup.

The fifth annual ComBots Cup combat robot championship took place October 23-24, ‘ 10 in San Mateo, CA. Dozens of old favorites, as well as some new faces, turned out for the all-combat robot event, with fighting in weight classes from tiny five ounce bots to 220 pound behemoths.

There was a prize purse of $3,500, plus possession for one year of the ComBots Cup itself for the winner – 220 pounds of trophy-shaped stainless steel sex appeal which makes the Stanley Cup look like a Dixie cup. Roughly 130 combat robot builders from about 40 teams gathered together over the weekend in the spirit of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and all-out robotic devastation.

Builders came from as far as Brazil and the UK to see whose robot would reign supreme in each of the eight weight classes, and whose would have to go home in a small series of boxes. A total of 54 robots across the eight weight classes registered for the big event, with 13 registering for the heavyweight championship – although

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only 11 of the 13 ended up being able to compete.

“We really look forward to this every year, but this year’s event shows that the tournament and robots are just getting better,” said Simone Davalos, co-founder of both ComBots LLC and co-founder of the International RoboGames — a springtime Olympics-style event for robots which ComBots co-organizes. “We had a great roster of robots from around the USA, and we even had a few coming from further than that. We also had really great audience turnout as well, especially considering the rainy weather.” “Combat robots as a sport is growing so dramatically, we’re very pleased to see kids and adults alike get involved. For the kids, it’s a great way to learn science and engineering, and for the adults it’s just a lot of fun to