Servo - March 2016

24 SERVO 03.2016

American team: Team Riobotz from Brazil. Their 'Touro' series of bots dominated both it and the Middleweight class, with other Brazilian teams giving a very strong showing throughout the competition.

This reflects a significant broadening of the sport's international side — far beyond what its creators perceived it would grow to be.

Robot events have sprung up in India, Russia, and Thailand, with firmly rooted competitions in Canada and Australia furthering the international appeal of the sport.

So far, however, the most important aspect of the Steel Age has been the resurgence of televised robotics. After over a decade of debate, Munson and Roski managed to get the show televised once more on ABC — and the public ate it up.

While the format of the show was scaled back significantly to 24 competitors in a single purpose-made weight class, the show dominated its time slot well enough that the corporate executives soon authorized a forthcoming second season for the reboot. Mentorn followed suit by announcing a revival of Robot Wars for airing later in 2016.

While the showcasing of the sport to a wider audience has certainly been a boon, the forthcoming months and years of the Steel Age showcase a stark contrast to how things once were. While arenas formerly had to be designed to catch any chunks of loose metal that were flung off by the hit of a sawblade, today's largest arenas have multiple thick layers of Lexan that can survive a direct impact from a robot's massive spinning weapon or fragments of robots weighing up to 250 lbs.

Crudely patched together creations — competitive even at a price of mere hundreds of dollars — have given way to intricately artificed designs following standardized procedures, worth tens of thousands of dollars. It takes a special set of circumstances for a newcomer to become a big name in the sport, with regards to the larger weight classes, anyways.

As the Steel Age proceeds onward and new builders get involved with the sport, fewer and fewer of builders past remain active in the community. A shift has begun towards continual progress. Yet the past reveals much about what's worked, what hasn't, and what might sometime soon.

So long as the community never forgets its roots as it takes a new step each year, every competitor will look forward to a bright future. SV

2015was a massive year for Robo Wars Australia. Robo Wars Vivid Sydney attracted almost

14,000 people and the Nationals’ event had the most robots in 10 years.

However, it hasn't always been such a smooth ride for the builders down under.

Robo Wars first found prominence in 2005. The 30 lb Featherweight competition had regular monthly events in all east coast states, and a dedicated group of builders and spectators for the annual competition.

Unfortunately by 2010, the sport had been in steady decline. The TV shows that had pumped new builders into the sport were gone, and the same group of builders were struggling to keep the sport alive. Only Queensland held on to public events, and local builder