A BRIEF HIST RY OF WAR
● by Robert Farrow
WAR has much of what you
expect — flying shrapnel,
destruction, winners and losers, but
unlike real war, Western Allied
Robotics competitions are always
good natured fun. The organization
currently has a 12 x 16 foot steel
and polycarbonate arena capable of
containing powerful 30 lb robots,
but WAR had a much simpler start.
A lot of early BattleBot builders
came out of the Pacific Northwest.
After the first season of BattleBots
appeared on TV, a dedicated fan
contacted several local builders to put
on a robot demonstration at a regional
science fiction convention. The builders
had a great time showing off their
robots and talking to people who were
interested in getting involved. Near
the end of the show, Brett Dawson
of team UVGScorpion brought out
two small robots and put them on
the ground. One was a four-wheel
wedge and the other was a horizontal
spinner. He needed someone to drive
the wedge robot so he handed the
controls of the wedge over to me.
Over the next five minutes, Brett and
I battled it out with cheering crowds.
As Brett schooled me on the fine
arts of robot destruction, it was
clear from the crowd’s reaction that
the robots did not need to be big to
generate the same excitement we
had experienced at BattleBots.
A small scale fighting robot competition was scheduled for April 2002
at Gasworks Park in Seattle. Brett built
a 6 x 6 foot wood arena with polycarbonate walls to contain the robots.
Having an actual arena to compete
in made the event more than just talk
or a dream; it solidified things and the
race was on to design and build an
effective robot for the competition.
Computer scientists, artists,
teachers, and students made up the
group. Only about half of the original
competitors had ever built or competed
with robots before. Making things
even more challenging, robots had
to weigh one pound or less. This was
a few years before cheap, reliable
speed controllers that would fit into
such small robots became readily
available. Even the experienced
builders had to figure out how to
make these things powerful but small.
Luckily, there was an active
online community to provide advice
and guidance to anyone who was
interested in building. People worked
modifying RC toys and co-opting
motors and electronics from RC airplanes and cars to build their creations.
Well over a dozen robots competed
in the first event with robots that
ranged from remote control rats that
could only turn left, to powerful
spinner and wedge robots that were
solidly built. The first event was such
a solid hit with builders that everyone
wanted to do it again, and soon.
No one is sure of how the term
“War Lord” came about, but it was
the title thrust upon whoever
represented WAR with the larger
Robot Fighting League. The first
War Lord was Mike Morrow of
Team Juggerbot. He helped
organize WAR’s participation in the
Davinci Days festival in Corvallis, OR.
The robots fit right in with the
kinetic sculptures and creatively
engineered machines that drove the
theme of the festival. WAR held
another successful antweight
competition. Crowds were also
entertained by robots ranging from
60 to 340 pounds holding demonstrations by pushing each other
around and attacking large objects
like washing machines. Because
there was no large arena to contain
the robots, no actual fighting
was allowed at the festival, but
afterwards a few of the competitors
gathered at a remote parking lot
and had a street fight with some of
the less hazardous bots.
One of WAR’s strengths as an
organization is that so many people
have stepped up to handle the events.
For years, Dylan Feral-Mc Whirter of
Team Evil Squirrel was the standing
War Lord and managed the arena
logistics. Adam Conus of Team
Wildcard and Scott Ferguson of
Team Whoopass held events in their
backyards and the term BotBQ was
coined to refer to fun with equal
parts robot fighting and grilled hot
dogs. As the events, robots, and
arena have gotten bigger, bigger
venues have been needed.
Rob Purdy of Team Gausswave
has grown WAR to the next level
as an organization. In 2006, WAR
became a branch of the Seattle
Robotics Society. The alliance made
sense given that Bill Bottenberg of
Team Crash was running a robot
class with young kids to get them
excited about science, engineering,
and learning about how things
work. As the new War Lord, Rob
also drove larger competitions
where hundreds of spectators could
enjoy the show, like at the Center
House at Seattle Center and in
association with large hobby shows.
As the organization has grown,
so have the robots. In the early days,
only the one pound antweight class
was supported. Now the focus is
largely on the three pound
Beetleweight and 12 pound Hobby
weight classes, although one pound
robots still compete. Whether large or
small, these events have brought the
regional robot building community
together and entertained thousands
of people. Where will WAR go from
here? It’s hard to say, but as the
sport continues to change, WAR
will be up to the challenge. SV
SERVO 11.2008 35
