20 SERVO 11.2016
Florida BattleBots Storm Kennedy
Space Center ● by Kevin M. Berry
Act One: A Happy
Coincidence
During the filming of Season 2 of ABC’s BattleBots™series this past April, some of the Florida
bot crowd naturally congregated. They
brought their friends, and their friends
brought their friends, and soon it was
realized that nine teams were based
in or had members from central and
south Florida.
The author of this amusing little
tale, along with fellow Kennedy Space
Center worker, combat robot veteran,
and SERVO writer, Matt Spurk had
previously invited the gang from
Busted Nuts Robotics (Witch Doctor
Center, under the guise of sharing
some of their experiences with the
rocket launching crowd.
NASA’s Kennedy Engineering
Academy, headed up by Dr. Michael
Bell, had agreed to host the (one!)
team, in a presentation called
“Designing For Damage,” since robust
design and eliminating failures is a
common topic in both communities.
The ever patient Dr. Bell
graciously agreed to expand the event
from four visitors and one bot to 25
visitors, seven BattleBots machines,
and a variety of other hardware from
Fleaweights to Heavyweights. In
addition to the machines from the
show, Matt from CE Robotics brought
his Heavyweight, plus hockey bots and
other Insects.
Many teams took the chance to
show off smaller bots, letting the
crowd know combat bots come in lots
of different sizes.
After a backstage tour of
Kennedy Space Center, the gang set
up in KSC’s largest conference facility,
with an incredible view of the VAB
and launch pads. Hoping for a large
crowd, the room was set up for 200
people, and attendance was near that
level.
Team Busted Nuts led off with a
great presentation on the changes to
Witch Doctor since Season 1, then
each team took a turn to show off
their design philosophy. After a panel
Q&A, an open house let visitors roam
and examine each machine.
Overall, it was a very successful
day for all concerned. SV
A story in which gearheads intersect with rocket nerds,
to the benefit of both.
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All photos courtesy of Andy Sokol.
