B tBlast Turns Five
● by Dave Graham
Top fighting robot enthusiasts converged on Columbia Mall in
Bloomsburg, PA, on Saturday, July
21, 2012 to celebrate the fifth
anniversary of BotBlast (Figure 1).
Thirty-six 150 gram Flea (a.k.a.,
Fairy), one pound Ant, three pound
Beetle, and six pound Mantis bots
slugged it out in the day-long
competition for BotBlast 2012
bragging rights.
The 2011 BotBlast champions
from all four weight classes returned
eager to defend their titles. Event
organizer Jeremy Campbell and Team
Dreadfully Wicked Robots took a
moment during the driver's meeting
to recognize the five teams that have
attended all five BotBlast events
(Figure 2).
After the pleasantries,
competitors turned their attention to
business in the box as the drama and
destruction of BotBlast 2012 began
to unfold.
The action got off to a fast start
in the opening Fleaweight match
between two bots with spinning
blades: my BotBlast 2011 returning
champion Hedgehog and Giga Hurtz.
I'd like to report Hedgehog
dominated the match, but the truth
is Giga Hurtz went into the self-destruct mode and Hedgehog came
in to finish the job (Figure 3).
Hedgehog went on to lose its next
two matches and was eliminated.
FIGURE 1. Group shot of
competitors at Columbia Mall.
FIGURE 2. BotBlast five year attendees.
FIGURE 3. Fleaweight bot Giga Hurtz
after match with Hedgehog.
FIGURE 4.
Fleaweight
champion bot
Lolcat.
FIGURE 5.
Antweight bot Kyle's
Cutter stuck in arena
bumper.
FIGURE 6. Antweight champion bot
Little Box.
SERVO 11.2012 31
