FIGURE 8. Pretzel Robotics father and son team Warren
and Glenn Purvin, and their Antweight and Fleaweight bots.
FIGURE 9. Chris Olin in his blue Rock'em Sock'em robot
costume picking on an eight year old.
pictures and cleaning up after the
six, 12, and 15 pound demo bots
destroy junk electronic components
(Figure 4).
Erin Grondin is 23 years old and
recently graduated from Aurora
University with a Bachelor degree
and plans to continue her education
specializing in physical therapy. Erin
is the CRCA handywoman, assisting
virtually everyone accomplish their
tasks. Erin also registers all
combatants and manages the
winner and elimination brackets
during the event (Figure 5). She
and Dave enjoy their on-going four-year relationship. Erin’s mother
Connie provides the CRCA custom
embroidered shirts for Mecha-Mayhem.
Finally, toddler bot Zoe stayed
busy eating a record 4,389 Fruit
Loops and messing 47 diapers. Zoe
was at her best eating pizza at the
Saturday night builders dinner
(Figure 6).
reasons you should attend:
Number 10: The robot combat
area for Mecha-Mayhem was right
by the east vendor entrance,
making it easy to park and unload
your bots, and repair parts. Gone
was the noisy model tractor pull
area. There was plenty of space for
the arena, pits, big screen display,
and spectator bleachers (Figure 7).
(Did I mention the free drinks and
snacks for the competitors?)
Number 9: Creative team
pictures — you might even get your
picture in SERVO Magazine Dave
Miller climbed into the arena to take
pictures of competing teams and
their bots. The Pretzel Robotics
father and son team of Warren and
Glenn Purvin and their destructive
Why You Should Make
it to Mecha
Rather than trying to explain
all the great things about Mecha-Mayhem, here are my top 10
FIGURE 10. Gene Burbeck and his trio of demo bots — from left to right:
12 pound Dragonfly, Beetleweight Melty Brain, and
Mantisweight bot One Fierce Weed Whacker.
SERVO 01.2013 35