Important notes: 1. Japanese sumo combat robotics wasn’t covered in the video because it evolved separately to BattleBots-style robots. This video was aimed at fans of Battlebots/Robot Wars who would kind of understand which type of robot combat I mean, but more people have found it and that’s great! I just needed to clarify why it wasn’t on there. 2. This is my first documentary-style video, so if you have any criticisms, please tell me why instead of just simply stating you didn’t like it. It would help me understand what I could do better next time! Credit for the footage in the video go to: TeamVelocity Team Panic ThundeRatz World of Woodrow Team ORBY Liam Bryant Robogames BattleBots Theo Hummel Bugglebots MatLampitt Blanka Botz Team GAJ Cyborg Robotics (There are more that I am still finding) With thanks to the mystrsyko2 server for the information regarding American robot combat
Please don’t take my words out of context. The sentence is: “this video was aimed at fans of Robot Wars/Battlebots who would kind of understand which kind of robot combat I mean”. None of my videos has ever reached an audience beyond Battlebots/Robot Wars fans before, so obviously the aim was to reach these fans successfully again. Battlebots-style robot combat is what robot combat means to me, which is why I titled the video like this. What I didn’t expect is that people who were fans of other robot combat (such as Japanese humanoid robots) would find this video, and it seems it has caused confusion about the actual definition of robot combat. In future, I will be able to take into account fans of other robot combat when making videos, because this is the first time they have found one of my videos
@@psychedashell Yes, but it would make flippers and spinny things more vulnerable, because digging in sand would make flippers and spinners less effective.
Honestly that'd be cool to watch. If its still smooth flooring maybe add a second level or split level arena. Something to break up the terrain and make other ideas more viable. Gravel or sand would make some drive trains worse, but also lead to some bots using a vacuum to dump the ground on their opponents and muck them up. Split levels would make the arena tactical, and could lead to robots who's game plan is to throw the other off and then land on top for a crushing amount of damage. Even small things like adding a pillar in the middle would make things more exciting.
I remember one bot that caused some controversy on battlebots a couple years back that used a snare device like a net on a spinner bot... it was in a package that the bot just handed off to the other bots spinner which shredded the box deploying the snare device on it
I absolutely love the fact that America invented fighting robot shows twice, and that they're both successful despite corporate asshats trying to kill the original.
Holy shit, this video came out of nowhere. This is like a mini documentary explaining robot combat. How I got into robot combat is of course, as an American myself, BATTLEBOTS. To make a long story short, ABC had Sunday funday and I started watching it because the trailer makes it look cool. Destruction, robots, technology, fighting, so cool. And for every new season battlebots come out, I just have a heart attack, excited to see more robot combat. What makes battlebots fun to watch is not just destruction but the teams behind the bots. The fact that you can connect or like a bot, wanting to see them do good, makes me more engage into the show. Other than battlebots, I don't watch any other robot combat events nor shows, just youtube searches & recommendations. If I may ask, why make this video? What was the origin and motivation behind this?
I made this video because I have recently been watching some Russian robot combat events, and I’ve just found it interesting that the number of nationalities represented in Battlebots has risen so much recently. So, as my special video of 2020 (kind of like the “rejected Battlebots” video last year at this time) I made a mini-documentary
@@hex1044 oh, ok. Well, cool video and I'll be ready for your ep4 review. Btw, "end game can beat witch doctor, very easily in fact," um...... I mean beating tombstone is one thing but losing to bloodsport is another.
@@jonathanf2392 mmhm, that was an interesting fight. I think Bloodsport got a big hit on the front-left of End Game, which is where their batteries have been in past seasons. Bloodsport and WD are two very different beasts though. I think this has been my favourite episode so far
@@hex1044 ep1 was better because we waited so long for the season so when watching ep1 you get that hype, 8 fights, and no commercials ruining the flow. The fight here are better but not by much. It sucks to say that s5 is shit, but I can't blame it because a lot of big names didn't come so with lots of newcomers, 1st year gremlins will emerge. A lot of fight had struggling bots, which sucked. S4 is better so far
@@jonathanf2392 I'm a bit biased and so to me, every season seems better than the last, regardless of how good it actually is. I've enjoyed all of Season 5 except the odd frustrating breakdown, but getting to see all the new robots makes it all worth it for me (even if they have gremlins). I have to find the episodes on YT so commercials aren't an issue either for me. I agree that the lack of legends has lowered the kind of general hype a bit, but at least the promising new teams (Bloodsport, Malice etc.) aren't being overshadowed
I'm from iran. I competed in a national tournament when i was in middle school. We had to use only plastic. You had to throw your opponent off the stage for a win. We had a clamp thingy that would hold the other robot and push it around. It was so much fun, i wish i could get into it again.
Brilliant monologue. Exceptional research. Intoxicating subject. This is easily one of the best non combat related Battlebots videos I’ve ever seen. 2 beers and a Shnitzel to you, my friend. Awesome video
Wow! I didn't know the Philippines had a form of robot combat. Also, thank you. I didn't know Battle Bots and Robot Wars had a history. I great up with Robot Wars UK on the tv
As a 20 year veteran of the sport I must say this is very well researched and accurate. Although you could have mentioned art bots. Not everyone builds spinners, wedges or control bots. You missed an entire style, they may not be as popular now, but people love to see bots like Psycho-Chicken and Buddy Lee Don't play in the Street. Aside from that omission this was well done.
I wonder, how much automation is allowed in those fights? I mean, do you have to remote control everything or can you actually have autonomous systems onboard? I'm pretty sure you can fuck mercilessly with your opponent by having your bot dodge every attack with perfect precision by virtue of it having split-second "reflexes"
Hi! Nice video! I know you're concentrating on the origins of the TV and commercial side of combat robotics, but I just wanted to say that my mates and I were building and fighting robots privately in the UK quite a while before the earliest dates you mention. We were RC model aircraft nuts who got fed up of the lousy British weather ruining our flying and of CB radios broadcasting on 'our' frequency band (27MHz) and causing interference and crashes, so we started making crude robots that we could mess around with indoors. I built my first machine in 1987. It was pathetic by modern standards, but great fun. We used 12v lead-acid car batteries, and everything else was scavenged from scrapyards - car starter and windscreen wiper motors, bits from junked electric wheelchairs, and huge clunky mechanical speed controllers. Frames were aluminium and wood. Nothing was armoured because we didn't have any weapons powerful enough to warrant it. Our budgets were tiny and there was no digital world back then - no internet or e-mail to publicise things - so it was all very much an amateur setup. Our combat arena was the concrete floor of an empty double garage. We decided that our robots could weigh a maximum of 100 lbs and cost no more than £100, so we called our unofficial club the Centurion League. It wasn't possible to build anything insect-weight or much smaller than 100 lbs [about 45kg] back then because there were no LiPo batteries or ESCs, and a worthwhile rechargeable NiCad pack would have swallowed the entire £100 budget. Weapons were feeble - just circular saws, spikes and slow lifters, but we had a lot of laughs. We tried to generate interest and publicise events, but finding and hiring venues was hard and getting adequate public liability insurance proved impossible. Meanwhile, back at your video... One other thing that might be worth a mention is what goes on in Japan. They build fully autonomous sumo robots which are - quite frankly - astonishing. It's combat, but not destructive combat. Definitely worth a look, although the bots really are autonomous so the action often happens faster than the eye can see. I'm surprised nobody's built a heavyweight sumo bot. But then again, why bother? It'd never make it onto BattleBots, would it. The autonomy would scare people to death, and anything so subtle as a sumo bot would be booed for being booooring, because all the little boys jus' wanna see toys get smashed. Sigh. Whatever. Thanks for the video. Enjoyed it! :-)
I remember seeing a very primitive "Robot Wars" as just one segment on another TV show years before actual Robot Wars. Maybe around 1994-5? One robot was just a car that dropped lighter fluid and set itself alight. Did you have any involvement in that / see it and remember it better than me?
I don't think sumo bot autonomy would scare the audience to death, but it doesn't fit into the kind of combat that BattleBots is about, which involves *live* controller skill.
I got Battle Bots and Robot Wars confused until recently. I would wonder why some shows would have house bots, and some wouldn't. This video sharpened what I already concluded as far as strategies go in how teams design their bots for combats in arenas. I find it AMAZING! It's no different with animals adapting to their terrain. Good video sir
My man! Thank you SO much for this video! Literally a week ago I was looking for something just like this! INSTANT subscribe! Over the last few weeks I've gotten back into watching robot combat competitions after fifteen years. I didn't even know they were happening all over the world now. Great analysis and overview. Thank you again. Would also be awesome to see deeper dives into the evolution of various designs, strategies, and "metas" over the years!
That point on the Russian style of competition is interesting. Perhaps there could be fixed leagues, based on price of bot within a certain range? If anyone has any interesting ideas, I'd like to hear of them.
Would be interesting to see an outdoor battlebots arena or a mock outdoor environment recreated indoors. I'd love to see one with a shallow creek running through it, rocks, dirt, etc. Not a sterile smooth floor but actual terrain. Less floor-hugging wedge with a spinner an inch above the ground and more tank tracks and a giant pneumatic axe.
Visit RoboJoust on face book. I did outdoor events in Las Vegas for years and am currently building a track in the desert for all terrain full contact fights. Due to the absence of an arena though we only allow sportsmen class bots. No big spinny thingies.
This was a very interesting video, TBH, I have been fascinated with the Dutch scene. Dutch Robot Wars Series 2 I still stand by as being one of the best series of Robot Wars and some of my all time favourite robots come from the Netherlands, and other Dutch speaking countries (Gravity, Tough as Nails, Philipper, Scrap 2 Saur), I honestly think it is such a shame we never got a Dutch Robot Wars Series 3 as that could've been amazing! I also wish we got a German Robot Wars Series 2, the first German Robot Wars wasn't that great, but Series 7 Tsunami and Ansgar 3, robots that were built less than a year later, bursted onto the scene and proved to really good machines. It always makes me wish how the potential German Robot Wars Series 2 could've gone.
Dutch and German Robot Wars are honestly quite enjoyable, and if there had been future series of each, they could've given the UK series a run for its money. The Dutch especially always seem to break the meta but still be really competitive, while the German robots these days tend to be really reliable and efficient
Hey! I’ve been looking here for something like this. I found a playlist with compilations of certain robots on there, and I’m really interested to learn more about it! Do you know where I can find some more info on it, and if you have some, could you share some?
I remember robot wars as a child in UK, that was one of the coolest shows going! Love the Russian synopsis, something more relatable when it looks like made by someone in a shed. Constructive violence is always fun
Good video! I would love it if there were some links or at least a list of names of all these shows. Because you asked for constructive criticism: Because this is such an information heavy video - maybe try having the important information (like show names, country, competing classes, etc.) Written on the screen as you're talking about it. I know it's more work editing, but it would help me absorb more information :) Also would help me be able to come back and reference this video when I'm looking for a new show to watch. Keep at it! You're doing great :)
A few things that stood out to me maybe they could add terrain and hazards like ramps and speed bumps to the arena so you'd need to consider ground clearance a bit more. That way wedges would not be so prevalent. Has anyone's robot ever attempted to take advantage of opponents low ground clearance in some way like say trying to drop ball bearings or steel rods or similar onto the arena floor in front of opponents robot to jam them up. That could be cool to see.
i always felt like flamethrowers were the most useless weapons you could possibly have but after seeing Complete control completely fucking fry Bombshell i was like "O..."
Hey dude, nice video! Just a little correction: Minotaur and Black Dragon are indeed both from Brazil, but not from Brasília (wich is a state within Brazil). Minotaur is from Rio de Janeiro and Black Dragon is from Minas Gerais! Regardless, great video, cheers from Brazil!
Team Apollo from Robot Wars were accepted into this season with a robot called Orion (essentially an improved Apollo) but they couldn’t travel due to COVID. Apollo has shown that it can handle spinners (Orion’s design improves this quality) and it’s extremely agile. The team have had lots of driving practice against other flippers in small arenas (they also won a major tournament in China) whereas Hydra and Bronco haven’t. Hydra and Bronco have spatula flippers, and once the spatula is damaged, there’s no Plan B really. Orion can still control fights because of its shape. Hydra and Bronco are probably more powerful than Orion but are not as well driven or durable and would lose as a result, in my opinion
Estonia was on my list for this video because I’d seen of the events before, but when I searched it up I couldn’t find anything :( If I ever make a part 2 of this video, Estonia will be on there!
@@hex1044 I don't think so. 1.I couldn't find any evidence of Beeline (this is the company's name in Latin script) doing any business in Africa. 2. The writing is in Cyrillic. No country or language in Africa uses Cyrillic script, so nobody would understand the promotion, rendering it uselss. So, sadly, I have doubts that this is a photo of a Ugandan robot. It's not impossible, but very unlikely. It could be that they got hold of a piece of scrap metal with the word already painted on it, but it seems custom-made for this purpose - the company usually use a different font, a more modern and refined one; and I've also never seen them advertise anything on huge sheets of metal (or any big company in Russia, for that matter). So if it's a piece of scrap metal, I've no idea what its initial use was. It seems more likely that the paint job was applied to the bot after it was built from sheet metal using spray-paint and a stencil - which would indicate that it was used for promotion in a country that uses Cyrillic script. There are still some ties between African countries and Russia - mainly through exchange students that have been coming to Russia ever since the USSR. There are some business ties between Africa and Russia as well, so it's not inconceivable that Beeline tried expanding there. But it still doesn't explain why on Earth they'd be using Cyrillic script for that.
Very interesting. I think it’s interesting seeing how robot combat is developing in different countries . I hope we see a machine from Italy enter Battlebots. I’m think it’s cool seeing how robots have developed and improved over the years
A bit sad that all those are basically glorified RC cars though. I'd like a tournament where you should have no direct control over your robot. let them be ai-driven and test who'll write the best alghoritm.
_"One thing is for certain, and that is that the United States and the UK influenced the robot combat in other areas of the world"_ *[Windows error sound]* _"... Maybe a little too much in some ways"_ This cracked me. A golden moment that stirred up an otherwise great docimentary
The title is "How has robot combat evolved etc" and then you waste the most important time which the introduction is, talking about records and the BBC. Why did you bother?
@@hex1044 I apologise for being harsh but I'm certain that you've been in my shoes before. Searching for videos that told the history of something or other, in this case here, the evolution of robot combat and then nothing!
Yep, and I'm sorry this is what happened, but this video was a pivotal moment for my channel, hence I have left it up. Maybe I could rework it in the future
Will mention this in the UK live scene or well extreme robots before the pandemic happened heavy weight spinners started to get alot of steam. For example speaking to Tim and Tom from monsoon at a extreme robots 2019 they said that after shock spinning at half the speed as biteforce caused more damage then biteforce ever did to monsoon and that's not a easy feat. With more notable spinners in the uk slowly getting to aftershock level such as s.t.ripper, dead bod, bullseye, monsoon, galactus, GBO nemesis and many more so calling it now in a few years time if extreme robots keeps going we can expect more robots in general from the UK becoming even stronger and possibly give battlebots veterans a much harder time.
I'm fairly sure, according to wikipedia, there's something in Brazil. Also in your section about robots breaking the meta in the UK... see series 10 joint 3rd robot nuts 2. It's one mad machine.
Whenever I hear Battlebots or Robotwars say "that's not allowed for saftey reasons" my mind just explodes. One of the main reason people watch these shows is because they want to see cool explosions and massive hits. If the Arena can't take it then build a better fucking Arena and don't destroy your main selling point.
Watched it years ago but it got boring because spinners makes everything else obsolete. Spinner is the only allowed weapon type that can actually cause damage to other bots, every other weapon is completely ineffective. The only alternative tactic is a wedge flipper, it works but only if the opponent is not able to self flip, and a flipper is still vulnerable to spinners, so... just make more spinners I guess.
I remember I watched the first season of the UK robot wars. It was nothing but triangle shaped flippers and then on the last episode they cut to US robot wars and I saw a freaking circular saw on two wheels just flailing about. Made em all look bad.
Really great video, should also mention Belgium Portugal Canada Sri Lanka Malaysia and maybe France (idk) are also in or have tried combat, and if you count other genres, there’s also Romania and Japan with sumo. And I have fair enough faith that combat may of happened in Egypt, Egypt have already dipped their toes in R-sports with RoboGames Egypt, so it would make sense if they tried out combat, unfortunately, I think R-sports in Egypt died with RoboGames, RoboGames Egypt was kind of its life source. I think there needs to be a community oriented organisation that aims to globalise R-sports, a bunch of countries good at engineering are missing out big time.
Team Idris here :o) I had a lot of fun running the MFL beer meets in Stafford. Munchies until closing time and then heavy weight robots driving around the car park at midnight on a Saturday. ( Who is brave enough to ride killerhurtze ) I’m not sure twotoodo my featherweight would do well today, but it fought well enough in the noughties at Stoke and Newark.
An observation I have on BattleBots is the use of aerospace-grade materials. It is true that you could probably order it from a distributor and get huge quantities delivered to most places in the world, but I think you're less likely to find it in a junk pile if you don't live in an area that has a lot of old military gear lying around. Which gets me to wondering: Arabs and Israelis?
There’s been a few Arab teams here and there but nothing more than that. I think there was a Palestinian team at Robogames once but I can’t be sure. I’ve not heard of any events in the Israeli territories either.
Important notes:
1. Japanese sumo combat robotics wasn’t covered in the video because it evolved separately to BattleBots-style robots. This video was aimed at fans of Battlebots/Robot Wars who would kind of understand which type of robot combat I mean, but more people have found it and that’s great! I just needed to clarify why it wasn’t on there.
2. This is my first documentary-style video, so if you have any criticisms, please tell me why instead of just simply stating you didn’t like it. It would help me understand what I could do better next time!
Credit for the footage in the video go to:
TeamVelocity
Team Panic
ThundeRatz
World of Woodrow
Team ORBY
Liam Bryant
Robogames
BattleBots
Theo Hummel
Bugglebots
MatLampitt
Blanka Botz
Team GAJ Cyborg Robotics
(There are more that I am still finding)
With thanks to the mystrsyko2 server for the information regarding American robot combat
"How has robot combat evolved across the world?" vs "This video was aimed at fans of Battlebots/Robot Wars" -- disappointing
Please don’t take my words out of context. The sentence is: “this video was aimed at fans of Robot Wars/Battlebots who would kind of understand which kind of robot combat I mean”. None of my videos has ever reached an audience beyond Battlebots/Robot Wars fans before, so obviously the aim was to reach these fans successfully again. Battlebots-style robot combat is what robot combat means to me, which is why I titled the video like this. What I didn’t expect is that people who were fans of other robot combat (such as Japanese humanoid robots) would find this video, and it seems it has caused confusion about the actual definition of robot combat. In future, I will be able to take into account fans of other robot combat when making videos, because this is the first time they have found one of my videos
This is a great video! Thank you so much for posting it.
@@iamionscat9035 I’m very glad you enjoyed it! :)
Also, End Game wins Season 5
Interesting that other countries developed their combat robots like the american ones and then you have japan with bipedal robot martial arts contests
How to fix flaws of current combat robot scene: dich the smooth flooring and replace it with dirt and gravel.
Clearance? I’m going to DIG you out with my “flipper!”.
@@psychedashell Yes, but it would make flippers and spinny things more vulnerable, because digging in sand would make flippers and spinners less effective.
Honestly that'd be cool to watch. If its still smooth flooring maybe add a second level or split level arena. Something to break up the terrain and make other ideas more viable. Gravel or sand would make some drive trains worse, but also lead to some bots using a vacuum to dump the ground on their opponents and muck them up. Split levels would make the arena tactical, and could lead to robots who's game plan is to throw the other off and then land on top for a crushing amount of damage. Even small things like adding a pillar in the middle would make things more exciting.
Just let then equip the robots with firearms and explosives ^^
I remember one bot that caused some controversy on battlebots a couple years back that used a snare device like a net on a spinner bot... it was in a package that the bot just handed off to the other bots spinner which shredded the box deploying the snare device on it
I absolutely love the fact that America invented fighting robot shows twice, and that they're both successful despite corporate asshats trying to kill the original.
Dude, you do know that the british show "Robot Wars" is a thing, and it started in 20 February 1998, while BattleBots started in 23 August 2000
Robot Wars started out as an American company
@@hex1044 did it? I never knew that! I thought it was 90% British. Welp, guess the Americans did invent it xD
@@jackfastcool rip bro you will be missed
@@Th3Mavr1ck I'm still here you know... But what do you mean?
Holy shit, this video came out of nowhere. This is like a mini documentary explaining robot combat.
How I got into robot combat is of course, as an American myself, BATTLEBOTS. To make a long story short, ABC had Sunday funday and I started watching it because the trailer makes it look cool. Destruction, robots, technology, fighting, so cool. And for every new season battlebots come out, I just have a heart attack, excited to see more robot combat. What makes battlebots fun to watch is not just destruction but the teams behind the bots. The fact that you can connect or like a bot, wanting to see them do good, makes me more engage into the show. Other than battlebots, I don't watch any other robot combat events nor shows, just youtube searches & recommendations.
If I may ask, why make this video? What was the origin and motivation behind this?
I made this video because I have recently been watching some Russian robot combat events, and I’ve just found it interesting that the number of nationalities represented in Battlebots has risen so much recently. So, as my special video of 2020 (kind of like the “rejected Battlebots” video last year at this time) I made a mini-documentary
@@hex1044 oh, ok. Well, cool video and I'll be ready for your ep4 review.
Btw, "end game can beat witch doctor, very easily in fact," um...... I mean beating tombstone is one thing but losing to bloodsport is another.
@@jonathanf2392 mmhm, that was an interesting fight. I think Bloodsport got a big hit on the front-left of End Game, which is where their batteries have been in past seasons. Bloodsport and WD are two very different beasts though. I think this has been my favourite episode so far
@@hex1044 ep1 was better because we waited so long for the season so when watching ep1 you get that hype, 8 fights, and no commercials ruining the flow. The fight here are better but not by much. It sucks to say that s5 is shit, but I can't blame it because a lot of big names didn't come so with lots of newcomers, 1st year gremlins will emerge. A lot of fight had struggling bots, which sucked. S4 is better so far
@@jonathanf2392 I'm a bit biased and so to me, every season seems better than the last, regardless of how good it actually is. I've enjoyed all of Season 5 except the odd frustrating breakdown, but getting to see all the new robots makes it all worth it for me (even if they have gremlins). I have to find the episodes on YT so commercials aren't an issue either for me.
I agree that the lack of legends has lowered the kind of general hype a bit, but at least the promising new teams (Bloodsport, Malice etc.) aren't being overshadowed
This was fantastic! I grew up watching Battle Bots and Robot Wars, it's good to see the sport expanding beyond just the UK and USA.
Me "i must stop on spending money this year"
UA-cam:
Also me "guess i'll build an Ant robot for fun"
Go for it! :) Antweight robots are very fun and can be built for less than £50
ME: get a original joke
@@lukejo7994 me: get a life
I'm from iran. I competed in a national tournament when i was in middle school. We had to use only plastic. You had to throw your opponent off the stage for a win. We had a clamp thingy that would hold the other robot and push it around. It was so much fun, i wish i could get into it again.
The amount of research here you did is outstanding, fantastic job!
Thank you very much! I really enjoyed researching for this video
Really entertaining, informative and other algorithm words ;)
But seriously, good job; you're improving every episode.
Thank you! I’m happy with how this video turned out
Brilliant monologue. Exceptional research. Intoxicating subject. This is easily one of the best non combat related Battlebots videos I’ve ever seen. 2 beers and a Shnitzel to you, my friend. Awesome video
Thank you very much! I’m glad so many people are enjoying it!
Wow! I didn't know the Philippines had a form of robot combat.
Also, thank you. I didn't know Battle Bots and Robot Wars had a history. I great up with Robot Wars UK on the tv
As a 20 year veteran of the sport I must say this is very well researched and accurate. Although you could have mentioned art bots. Not everyone builds spinners, wedges or control bots. You missed an entire style, they may not be as popular now, but people love to see bots like Psycho-Chicken and Buddy Lee Don't play in the Street. Aside from that omission this was well done.
That old Robot Wars logo brought back a couple memories. Thanks!
I wonder, how much automation is allowed in those fights? I mean, do you have to remote control everything or can you actually have autonomous systems onboard? I'm pretty sure you can fuck mercilessly with your opponent by having your bot dodge every attack with perfect precision by virtue of it having split-second "reflexes"
Hi! Nice video! I know you're concentrating on the origins of the TV and commercial side of combat robotics, but I just wanted to say that my mates and I were building and fighting robots privately in the UK quite a while before the earliest dates you mention.
We were RC model aircraft nuts who got fed up of the lousy British weather ruining our flying and of CB radios broadcasting on 'our' frequency band (27MHz) and causing interference and crashes, so we started making crude robots that we could mess around with indoors.
I built my first machine in 1987. It was pathetic by modern standards, but great fun. We used 12v lead-acid car batteries, and everything else was scavenged from scrapyards - car starter and windscreen wiper motors, bits from junked electric wheelchairs, and huge clunky mechanical speed controllers.
Frames were aluminium and wood. Nothing was armoured because we didn't have any weapons powerful enough to warrant it.
Our budgets were tiny and there was no digital world back then - no internet or e-mail to publicise things - so it was all very much an amateur setup. Our combat arena was the concrete floor of an empty double garage.
We decided that our robots could weigh a maximum of 100 lbs and cost no more than £100, so we called our unofficial club the Centurion League.
It wasn't possible to build anything insect-weight or much smaller than 100 lbs [about 45kg] back then because there were no LiPo batteries or ESCs, and a worthwhile rechargeable NiCad pack would have swallowed the entire £100 budget.
Weapons were feeble - just circular saws, spikes and slow lifters, but we had a lot of laughs. We tried to generate interest and publicise events, but finding and hiring venues was hard and getting adequate public liability insurance proved impossible.
Meanwhile, back at your video... One other thing that might be worth a mention is what goes on in Japan. They build fully autonomous sumo robots which are - quite frankly - astonishing. It's combat, but not destructive combat. Definitely worth a look, although the bots really are autonomous so the action often happens faster than the eye can see.
I'm surprised nobody's built a heavyweight sumo bot. But then again, why bother? It'd never make it onto BattleBots, would it. The autonomy would scare people to death, and anything so subtle as a sumo bot would be booed for being booooring, because all the little boys jus' wanna see toys get smashed. Sigh.
Whatever. Thanks for the video. Enjoyed it! :-)
I remember seeing a very primitive "Robot Wars" as just one segment on another TV show years before actual Robot Wars. Maybe around 1994-5? One robot was just a car that dropped lighter fluid and set itself alight. Did you have any involvement in that / see it and remember it better than me?
I don't think sumo bot autonomy would scare the audience to death, but it doesn't fit into the kind of combat that BattleBots is about, which involves *live* controller skill.
I got Battle Bots and Robot Wars confused until recently. I would wonder why some shows would have house bots, and some wouldn't. This video sharpened what I already concluded as far as strategies go in how teams design their bots for combats in arenas. I find it AMAZING! It's no different with animals adapting to their terrain. Good video sir
My man! Thank you SO much for this video! Literally a week ago I was looking for something just like this! INSTANT subscribe!
Over the last few weeks I've gotten back into watching robot combat competitions after fifteen years. I didn't even know they were happening all over the world now.
Great analysis and overview. Thank you again.
Would also be awesome to see deeper dives into the evolution of various designs, strategies, and "metas" over the years!
That point on the Russian style of competition is interesting. Perhaps there could be fixed leagues, based on price of bot within a certain range? If anyone has any interesting ideas, I'd like to hear of them.
Would be interesting to see an outdoor battlebots arena or a mock outdoor environment recreated indoors. I'd love to see one with a shallow creek running through it, rocks, dirt, etc. Not a sterile smooth floor but actual terrain. Less floor-hugging wedge with a spinner an inch above the ground and more tank tracks and a giant pneumatic axe.
Actually that Will be quite boring and dangerous the bots Will get stuck and they Will make a bunch of dust and can hit a rock and kill somone
Visit RoboJoust on face book. I did outdoor events in Las Vegas for years and am currently building a track in the desert for all terrain full contact fights. Due to the absence of an arena though we only allow sportsmen class bots. No big spinny thingies.
Really called out bronco with the “greatest flippers are made in the uk” lol. If only we can get the Apollo team in BattleBots
Orion
Team Apollo (Orion) and Team Roaming Robots (Ripper) tried to enter the 2020 season but dropped out due to COVID.
Yep, Bronco would lose to Orion or Ripper in my opinion.
@@hex1044 Apollo wouldnt be able to get under bronco
Laughs in Hydra
Edit: ah, "pneumatic" got it
Well"Clap"👏
This was a very interesting video, TBH, I have been fascinated with the Dutch scene. Dutch Robot Wars Series 2 I still stand by as being one of the best series of Robot Wars and some of my all time favourite robots come from the Netherlands, and other Dutch speaking countries (Gravity, Tough as Nails, Philipper, Scrap 2 Saur), I honestly think it is such a shame we never got a Dutch Robot Wars Series 3 as that could've been amazing! I also wish we got a German Robot Wars Series 2, the first German Robot Wars wasn't that great, but Series 7 Tsunami and Ansgar 3, robots that were built less than a year later, bursted onto the scene and proved to really good machines. It always makes me wish how the potential German Robot Wars Series 2 could've gone.
Dutch and German Robot Wars are honestly quite enjoyable, and if there had been future series of each, they could've given the UK series a run for its money. The Dutch especially always seem to break the meta but still be really competitive, while the German robots these days tend to be really reliable and efficient
While team panic is a team competing there, Adelaide robot combat has its own channel. I adore it tbh
Here is a little correction: there is a Korean heavyweight robot fighting contest. It is named: Robot Power (로봇파워).
Hey! I’ve been looking here for something like this. I found a playlist with compilations of certain robots on there, and I’m really interested to learn more about it! Do you know where I can find some more info on it, and if you have some, could you share some?
This was very informative. Thank you!
Hope you had a good Christmas!
Happy holidays from America.
Welp, kinda surprising Japan doesn’t have a large robot combat scene
Japan seemingly has always been more focused on humanoid robot fighting
They are more in to sumo bots and football bots.
Will battlebots have the first real humanoid robot or Japan ?
Probably Japan, but humanoid robot fighting will never be as interesting as people expect it to be
@@hex1044 yeah, you're probably right
I remember robot wars as a child in UK, that was one of the coolest shows going! Love the Russian synopsis, something more relatable when it looks like made by someone in a shed. Constructive violence is always fun
Good video! I would love it if there were some links or at least a list of names of all these shows.
Because you asked for constructive criticism:
Because this is such an information heavy video - maybe try having the important information (like show names, country, competing classes, etc.) Written on the screen as you're talking about it.
I know it's more work editing, but it would help me absorb more information :)
Also would help me be able to come back and reference this video when I'm looking for a new show to watch.
Keep at it! You're doing great :)
Thank you very much! I definitely agree about the writing on the screen, so I will try and find a way to include it in future
I would love to see what German, South Korean, and Japanese designers would build.
A few things that stood out to me maybe they could add terrain and hazards like ramps and speed bumps to the arena so you'd need to consider ground clearance a bit more. That way wedges would not be so prevalent.
Has anyone's robot ever attempted to take advantage of opponents low ground clearance in some way like say trying to drop ball bearings or steel rods or similar onto the arena floor in front of opponents robot to jam them up. That could be cool to see.
I still want to see a robot combat world series, like one robot per country, like the Olympics but for robot combats
“The greatest flippers in the world are built in the UK.”
Hydra and Bronco- I’m sorry (pulls out gun) what did you say?
i always felt like flamethrowers were the most useless weapons you could possibly have but after seeing Complete control completely fucking fry Bombshell i was like "O..."
Four corners to the earth, four corners to the battlebox. Coincidence? Obviously not.
12:50 why does robot from Uganda has sponsored message from Russian company Beeline?
cool video dude, thanks for all the hard work you put into it :)
Thank you very much! It was hard work but great fun
Hey dude, nice video!
Just a little correction: Minotaur and Black Dragon are indeed both from Brazil, but not from Brasília (wich is a state within Brazil). Minotaur is from Rio de Janeiro and Black Dragon is from Minas Gerais!
Regardless, great video, cheers from Brazil!
Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for the correction as well!
Having one of these as your guard dog would be the scariest thing on Earth.
Or a rumba with a knife, that's scary and fits the budget.
Claymore roomba vibes
4:31
Hydra: let me introduce myself. Lol
hydra is hydraulic not pneumatic
100% with you. Even Bronco is a US team. So pneumatic or hydraulic its US.
Bronco or Hydra would not beat a decent BritFlipper
@@hex1044 Genuinely intrigued. Can you link or give the name of a Brit flipper that's better? (I'm neither US nor UK, so no skin in this game)
Team Apollo from Robot Wars were accepted into this season with a robot called Orion (essentially an improved Apollo) but they couldn’t travel due to COVID. Apollo has shown that it can handle spinners (Orion’s design improves this quality) and it’s extremely agile. The team have had lots of driving practice against other flippers in small arenas (they also won a major tournament in China) whereas Hydra and Bronco haven’t. Hydra and Bronco have spatula flippers, and once the spatula is damaged, there’s no Plan B really. Orion can still control fights because of its shape. Hydra and Bronco are probably more powerful than Orion but are not as well driven or durable and would lose as a result, in my opinion
This video was quite enjoyable, thank you
Thanks, great vid! I'm an Aussie and didn't even know we had competitions here.
Nice video. Loved it
Thank you very much!
Would you count japanese Robot wrestling as robot combat?
I guess it is a form of robot combat, but evolved completely separately from the robot combat we see here
@@hex1044 I like to imagine that robot combat evolution eventually culminates in humanoid walkers in destructive hand to hand combat.
There's also an active combat robot scene in Estonia called "Robolahing" since 2017. There are two weightclasses: 30kg and 55kg
Estonia was on my list for this video because I’d seen of the events before, but when I searched it up I couldn’t find anything :( If I ever make a part 2 of this video, Estonia will be on there!
I heard that Korean had a middle weight tournament in like 10 years ago which was dominated by spinners and wedgebots that has pretty unique design.
Great video! I want to point out that on the picture of the robot "spoon" from Uganda there is a word "Билайн", which is a name of a russian company.
Right, it's a major Russian mobile phone network operator. I wonder how its logo could end up on a rusty metal plate in Africa.
@@neithere Perhaps the African robot received sponsorship from this company
@@hex1044 I don't think so.
1.I couldn't find any evidence of Beeline (this is the company's name in Latin script) doing any business in Africa.
2. The writing is in Cyrillic. No country or language in Africa uses Cyrillic script, so nobody would understand the promotion, rendering it uselss.
So, sadly, I have doubts that this is a photo of a Ugandan robot. It's not impossible, but very unlikely.
It could be that they got hold of a piece of scrap metal with the word already painted on it, but it seems custom-made for this purpose - the company usually use a different font, a more modern and refined one; and I've also never seen them advertise anything on huge sheets of metal (or any big company in Russia, for that matter). So if it's a piece of scrap metal, I've no idea what its initial use was. It seems more likely that the paint job was applied to the bot after it was built from sheet metal using spray-paint and a stencil - which would indicate that it was used for promotion in a country that uses Cyrillic script.
There are still some ties between African countries and Russia - mainly through exchange students that have been coming to Russia ever since the USSR. There are some business ties between Africa and Russia as well, so it's not inconceivable that Beeline tried expanding there. But it still doesn't explain why on Earth they'd be using Cyrillic script for that.
Very interesting. I think it’s interesting seeing how robot combat is developing in different countries . I hope we see a machine from Italy enter Battlebots. I’m think it’s cool seeing how robots have developed and improved over the years
A bit sad that all those are basically glorified RC cars though. I'd like a tournament where you should have no direct control over your robot. let them be ai-driven and test who'll write the best alghoritm.
Do you know what a robot even Is?
@@loriumartinez It's a machine that goes ding when there's stuff. _Obviously._
Happy holidays everyone 👋😷
There was a Korean show that had 120lb robots. It was aired on the channel ESB, and they’re up here on UA-cam
Have you chose a bot to represent you in rcms account mayhem?
Not yet, but it won’t be Subatomic
Im brazillian and I hope it gets more popular here, but minotaur is a beast already
Black Dragon as well - Brazil always puts out absolute beasts
_"One thing is for certain, and that is that the United States and the UK influenced the robot combat in other areas of the world"_
*[Windows error sound]*
_"... Maybe a little too much in some ways"_
This cracked me. A golden moment that stirred up an otherwise great docimentary
I enjoy your videos 👍🏼
It was a really interesting video!
Does Japan have a traditional robot combat circuit? With how much their into robots, it seems like an odd place to not have one.
Crazy how quickly things change with the sport pretty much being dead in China now plus I'm shocked Japan never got in on the fun.
Great video
The title is "How has robot combat evolved etc" and then you waste the most important time which the introduction is, talking about records and the BBC. Why did you bother?
Because it was interesting to me and I enjoyed making it at the time. I was and still am very much an amateur at this
@@hex1044 I apologise for being harsh but I'm certain that you've been in my shoes before. Searching for videos that told the history of something or other, in this case here, the evolution of robot combat and then nothing!
Yep, and I'm sorry this is what happened, but this video was a pivotal moment for my channel, hence I have left it up. Maybe I could rework it in the future
@@hex1044 Fair enough
Will mention this in the UK live scene or well extreme robots before the pandemic happened heavy weight spinners started to get alot of steam. For example speaking to Tim and Tom from monsoon at a extreme robots 2019 they said that after shock spinning at half the speed as biteforce caused more damage then biteforce ever did to monsoon and that's not a easy feat.
With more notable spinners in the uk slowly getting to aftershock level such as s.t.ripper, dead bod, bullseye, monsoon, galactus, GBO nemesis and many more so calling it now in a few years time if extreme robots keeps going we can expect more robots in general from the UK becoming even stronger and possibly give battlebots veterans a much harder time.
I'm fairly sure, according to wikipedia, there's something in Brazil. Also in your section about robots breaking the meta in the UK... see series 10 joint 3rd robot nuts 2. It's one mad machine.
Whenever I hear Battlebots or Robotwars say "that's not allowed for saftey reasons" my mind just explodes. One of the main reason people watch these shows is because they want to see cool explosions and massive hits. If the Arena can't take it then build a better fucking Arena and don't destroy your main selling point.
Meanwhile in Libya... People are fighting with makeshift tanks.
That’s interesting actually, I just found an article about a Robot Wars event in Libya. It’s on the list for part 2?
You do a great job with these vids. And just to be clear, Robot Wars is utterly boring compared with BB. Sry...
Watched it years ago but it got boring because spinners makes everything else obsolete. Spinner is the only allowed weapon type that can actually cause damage to other bots, every other weapon is completely ineffective. The only alternative tactic is a wedge flipper, it works but only if the opponent is not able to self flip, and a flipper is still vulnerable to spinners, so... just make more spinners I guess.
Me: Who needs the Olympics when you can have this.
*Releases the robot hounds*
Me: RUN AWAY!
Just remember
The uk may have a lot of flippers
But the USA has Bronco
I remember I watched the first season of the UK robot wars. It was nothing but triangle shaped flippers and then on the last episode they cut to US robot wars and I saw a freaking circular saw on two wheels just flailing about.
Made em all look bad.
I find Robot Wars virtually unwatchable because there're more arena hazards than floor, and because of the producer interference via house 'bots.
Wow. First time I've seen one of my bots featured in a compilation like this and you had to pick THAT one.
Really nice video, thanks for it. I just started getting into antweights!
Thank you! Antweights are so much fun, I hope to build one at some point!
Fantastic video, great breakdown of the sport
I never. Knew of the rivalry between robot wars and. Battle bots i never knew this history
ya but battle bots is mostly spinners an drummers.. not many crusher's.. an flipper's ... kinda sad really
where is razor... ??
It makes a few appearances in the UK part of the video,
What we need next is flying robot combat.
I will not let you crap on Spoon that is better than bite force, Tombstone, and original sin combined
Really wish they had battlebots or something like that in Australia.
I came for the *low res* Chomp thumbnail.
I want robot battles with no restrictions. I’d love to see multi-ton robots with rail guns and missiles battle
* closes book * Like that's ever gonna happen
I didn't know there were so many other international fighting robot competitions. There's enough to organize a Robot Olympics.
I want to see that
thanks for the video - i wish there was more heavy weight stuff going on, i just can't get interested in the insect classes
Really great video, should also mention Belgium Portugal Canada Sri Lanka Malaysia and maybe France (idk) are also in or have tried combat, and if you count other genres, there’s also Romania and Japan with sumo.
And I have fair enough faith that combat may of happened in Egypt, Egypt have already dipped their toes in R-sports with RoboGames Egypt, so it would make sense if they tried out combat, unfortunately, I think R-sports in Egypt died with RoboGames, RoboGames Egypt was kind of its life source.
I think there needs to be a community oriented organisation that aims to globalise R-sports, a bunch of countries good at engineering are missing out big time.
I can’t find the video with a piece of a robot It’s a man in the face I can’t find the video if someone can find it can someone send it to me please
14:20 I want to see a Filipino robot destroy everyone
Team Idris here :o) I had a lot of fun running the MFL beer meets in Stafford. Munchies until closing time and then heavy weight robots driving around the car park at midnight on a Saturday. ( Who is brave enough to ride killerhurtze ) I’m not sure twotoodo my featherweight would do well today, but it fought well enough in the noughties at Stoke and Newark.
Sadly, virtually any college engineering department ant weight competition is more exciting to watch than this season of Battle Bots so far...
Say what you will, but Drift, Greedy Snake, and 2 BBQ are some of the best Chinese machines i've ever seen
CONGRATS ON 1K MY GUY
Dude, you do know that the british show "Robot Wars" is a thing, and it started in 20 February 1998, while BattleBots started in 23 August 2000
Robot Wars started in America before the TV show
my robot iss gonna be a roomba with a gun taped on
An observation I have on BattleBots is the use of aerospace-grade materials. It is true that you could probably order it from a distributor and get huge quantities delivered to most places in the world, but I think you're less likely to find it in a junk pile if you don't live in an area that has a lot of old military gear lying around.
Which gets me to wondering: Arabs and Israelis?
There’s been a few Arab teams here and there but nothing more than that. I think there was a Palestinian team at Robogames once but I can’t be sure. I’ve not heard of any events in the Israeli territories either.
Let's be honest all the Russian bots are running off Vodka
I would like them do to do team battles wheres its three to 5 bots per teams and they duke it out.
Thumbs up;)
who is that walking robot in 0:41?
Spoon is my hero a scrap bot with no business existing but here they are
Iran's Mechatronic Research Laboratory (MRL) Team was and is pretty successful in the RoboCup Rescue and Small-Size leagues.
6:00
overly regulated to restrict growth again