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
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
@@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'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
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
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.
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!
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 :)
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.
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.
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
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"
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.
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?
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.
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!
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
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..."
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
Holy shit, weren't you like only 600 subs just last week? This video got so many views (I think UA-cam likes it so much they recommended to everyone) that your channel is growing fast
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!
One of the more intriguing things I've seen in both the UK and US is that around the time of their robot combat shows' peak popularity, one or two other, more preset-challenge oriented shows sprang up alongside them. In the UK, that was Techno Games. Commissioned by Mentorn, the same production company that got the rights to the Robot Wars name, Techno Games featured quite a few presenters and teams from the erstwhile Robot Wars (such as host Phillippa Forrester, technical presenters Prof. Martin Smith and Prof. Noel Sharky and technical commentator Simon Scott), Techno Games instead featured weaponless robots adapted to compete in Olympic/athletic events such as slalom, long jump, sprints of different weight classes, high jump, swimming, football and tug-of-war. Techno Games ran from 2000 to 2003, but because of the diversity of the events, there weren't really that many robots that became the face of the show the same way that Razer, Chaos 2 and Hypno-Disc became the standard-bearers for Robot Wars. Two notable exceptions to this rule would probably be Skeletron, a technological marvel featuring articulated human limbs that always did well in climbing events and Knee Deep, undisputed king of the long jump setting two consecutive record distances of 8.7m and 12.6m (The latter jump clearing the 10m sand pit). Notable competitors in both Techno Games and Robot Wars include Team Make Robotics (Technomoth/Behemoth), Team Tornado (Storm Chaser/Tornado), Team Ixion (Sprocket/S.M.I.D.S.Y), Team Big Brother (Big Bro/Bigger Brother, also competed in BattleBots with Little Sister) and Team Firestorm (Snowstorm/Firestorm) Over in the US, that show was Robotica. Running for 3 series in the early 2000s, Robotica was broadcast by TLC and featured a few veteran builders from BattleBots including Jason Bardis (Team InfernoLabs, perhaps best known for Dr Inferno Jr and more recently Disk'O Inferno), Jeff Cesnik (Team Suspect Robotics, who entered Kritical Mass 2 in BattleBots and Manta in Robot Wars) and Christian Carlberg (Team CoolRobots, who entered Overkill, Toe-Crusher and Minion). Rather than have robots constantly duke it out, Robotica saw parallel contests of two teams compete against each other in a series of challenges reminiscent of The Trial stages of the first two series of Robot Wars. These included The Gauntlet, in which competitors had to push through increasingly strong walls and The Labyrinth, which saw robots navigate a tricky maze laden with obstacles. As such, optimal designs for Robotica tended to be low wedge or box designs such as Run Amok or Panzer Mk3, two champions of different Robotica series. Unlike Techno Games, however, Robotica did allow active weapons, and so we also saw designs like the vertical crusher Jawbreaker, the horizontal spinner Hands Off, and the vertical tri-blade spinner Kritical Mass.
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
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
Ivd gone back and watched a few robot wars fights recently after watching battle bots. Note: i watched robot wars years ago. At first, i missed the abundance of arena hazards and house bots watching battle bots. But i have come to appreciate that it shifts the focus more to the bots themselves; rather than getting bounced around by floor flippers, or pushed into a pit in the middle, or wrecked by a stray house bot at an inopportune moment. But the hazards battle bots have are still important and often come into play. Also, i feel like many entries in robot wars are comparatively junky in their builds a lot of the time...a few like hypnodisk stand out as beautiful and effective designs. But many seem to be boxes made of sheet metal waiting to get smashed
_"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 grew up as a kid watching translated robot wars on russian science tv, glad this has evolved internationally, its the first time i heard we have our own tournament now
I'd like to see a low wedge, with a vertical spinner about halfway up. Drive under your opponent, to the point where they make contact with your spinner. Rinse, repeat.
@@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.
i think it would be cool if they made robot wars where nothing is allowed to make more than one revolution, so no wheels and no spinning weapons. i'd like to see what people could come up with
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.
The Ominous video was actually part of a video that team Witch Doctor uploaded. I think it was called “18 robot socially distanced bot battle” and that’s where the clip is from
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.
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
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?
Interesting that other countries developed their combat robots like the american ones and then you have japan with bipedal robot martial arts contests
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
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'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.
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.
The amount of research here you did is outstanding, fantastic job!
Thank you very much! I really enjoyed researching for this video
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!
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
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
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!
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 would love to see what German, South Korean, and Japanese designers would build.
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!
Thanks for taking the time to put this together, great watch!
Thank you very much for watching, I’m glad you enjoyed it
This was very informative. Thank you!
Hope you had a good Christmas!
Happy holidays from America.
This video was quite enjoyable, thank you
cool video dude, thanks for all the hard work you put into it :)
Thank you very much! It was hard work but great fun
While team panic is a team competing there, Adelaide robot combat has its own channel. I adore it tbh
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
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.
CONGRATS ON 1K MY GUY
12:50 why does robot from Uganda has sponsored message from Russian company Beeline?
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.
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
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"
Congratulations on 1K subs, all thanks to this video
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
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 enjoy your videos 👍🏼
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?
Quite an impressive amount of research, and this was very well put together!
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.
Thanks, great vid! I'm an Aussie and didn't even know we had competitions here.
Fantastic video, great breakdown of the sport
Nice video. Loved it
Thank you very much!
I still want to see a robot combat world series, like one robot per country, like the Olympics but for robot combats
It was a really interesting video!
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!
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
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
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..."
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
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
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.
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!
This is a great vid! I loved it and super interesting
Holy shit, weren't you like only 600 subs just last week? This video got so many views (I think UA-cam likes it so much they recommended to everyone) that your channel is growing fast
Yeah there’s been a huge increase in subscribers as a result of this video... I’m honestly so shocked
What we need next is flying robot combat.
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!
One of the more intriguing things I've seen in both the UK and US is that around the time of their robot combat shows' peak popularity, one or two other, more preset-challenge oriented shows sprang up alongside them.
In the UK, that was Techno Games. Commissioned by Mentorn, the same production company that got the rights to the Robot Wars name, Techno Games featured quite a few presenters and teams from the erstwhile Robot Wars (such as host Phillippa Forrester, technical presenters Prof. Martin Smith and Prof. Noel Sharky and technical commentator Simon Scott), Techno Games instead featured weaponless robots adapted to compete in Olympic/athletic events such as slalom, long jump, sprints of different weight classes, high jump, swimming, football and tug-of-war. Techno Games ran from 2000 to 2003, but because of the diversity of the events, there weren't really that many robots that became the face of the show the same way that Razer, Chaos 2 and Hypno-Disc became the standard-bearers for Robot Wars. Two notable exceptions to this rule would probably be Skeletron, a technological marvel featuring articulated human limbs that always did well in climbing events and Knee Deep, undisputed king of the long jump setting two consecutive record distances of 8.7m and 12.6m (The latter jump clearing the 10m sand pit). Notable competitors in both Techno Games and Robot Wars include Team Make Robotics (Technomoth/Behemoth), Team Tornado (Storm Chaser/Tornado), Team Ixion (Sprocket/S.M.I.D.S.Y), Team Big Brother (Big Bro/Bigger Brother, also competed in BattleBots with Little Sister) and Team Firestorm (Snowstorm/Firestorm)
Over in the US, that show was Robotica. Running for 3 series in the early 2000s, Robotica was broadcast by TLC and featured a few veteran builders from BattleBots including Jason Bardis (Team InfernoLabs, perhaps best known for Dr Inferno Jr and more recently Disk'O Inferno), Jeff Cesnik (Team Suspect Robotics, who entered Kritical Mass 2 in BattleBots and Manta in Robot Wars) and Christian Carlberg (Team CoolRobots, who entered Overkill, Toe-Crusher and Minion). Rather than have robots constantly duke it out, Robotica saw parallel contests of two teams compete against each other in a series of challenges reminiscent of The Trial stages of the first two series of Robot Wars. These included The Gauntlet, in which competitors had to push through increasingly strong walls and The Labyrinth, which saw robots navigate a tricky maze laden with obstacles. As such, optimal designs for Robotica tended to be low wedge or box designs such as Run Amok or Panzer Mk3, two champions of different Robotica series. Unlike Techno Games, however, Robotica did allow active weapons, and so we also saw designs like the vertical crusher Jawbreaker, the horizontal spinner Hands Off, and the vertical tri-blade spinner Kritical Mass.
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
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
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
1:02 that had to be a tough robot with that JET panel. My dads jet band saw is like twenty years old still works like new
You earned a sub my friend
Thank you!
Thanks! I had heard conflicting accounts of where Robot Wars started, and why it was called Battle Bots in the USA, but it makes sense now.
Very interesting video well done on making it
Thank you very much!
Extremely well research hats off
Does Japan have a traditional robot combat circuit? With how much their into robots, it seems like an odd place to not have one.
There was a Korean show that had 120lb robots. It was aired on the channel ESB, and they’re up here on UA-cam
What's the name?
Happy holidays everyone 👋😷
Ivd gone back and watched a few robot wars fights recently after watching battle bots. Note: i watched robot wars years ago.
At first, i missed the abundance of arena hazards and house bots watching battle bots. But i have come to appreciate that it shifts the focus more to the bots themselves; rather than getting bounced around by floor flippers, or pushed into a pit in the middle, or wrecked by a stray house bot at an inopportune moment. But the hazards battle bots have are still important and often come into play.
Also, i feel like many entries in robot wars are comparatively junky in their builds a lot of the time...a few like hypnodisk stand out as beautiful and effective designs. But many seem to be boxes made of sheet metal waiting to get smashed
_"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 greatest flippers in the world are built in the UK.”
Hydra and Bronco- I’m sorry (pulls out gun) what did you say?
Wow. First time I've seen one of my bots featured in a compilation like this and you had to pick THAT one.
Good video, Thanks
Great video
I grew up as a kid watching translated robot wars on russian science tv, glad this has evolved internationally, its the first time i heard we have our own tournament now
The Russian events are so underrated, I do really enjoy them
Very nice research man. Didn't know that robot fighting was such a big thing. Btw what is the name of the thumbnail robot?
Thank you! The thumbnail bot is Mechadon but I didn’t get enough time to mention it in the video
I'd like to see a low wedge, with a vertical spinner about halfway up. Drive under your opponent, to the point where they make contact with your spinner. Rinse, repeat.
Build it
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.
6:18 Windows XP Error sound was out of place
Well done! My favorite was Robotica; short-lived.
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.
Madcatter is looking hard to beat this year. If they do match up with Uppercut and win, I think they go all the way.
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
who is that walking robot in 0:41?
Have you chose a bot to represent you in rcms account mayhem?
Not yet, but it won’t be Subatomic
Say what you will, but Drift, Greedy Snake, and 2 BBQ are some of the best Chinese machines i've ever seen
The new chomp is amazing way better than last years
Me: Who needs the Olympics when you can have this.
*Releases the robot hounds*
Me: RUN AWAY!
i think it would be cool if they made robot wars where nothing is allowed to make more than one revolution, so no wheels and no spinning weapons. i'd like to see what people could come up with
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.
5:00 is that Huge?
The red one
I believe it’s a featherweight called Straddle, built by the Monsoon team. I think it was heavily influenced by huge
Razer is one of the best original robots from robot wars. Carbide is one of the best of the reboot with a heavy spinner.
Happy new year 🎉
Four corners to the earth, four corners to the battlebox. Coincidence? Obviously not.
that tombstone is extremely effective against most or all
Iran's Mechatronic Research Laboratory (MRL) Team was and is pretty successful in the RoboCup Rescue and Small-Size leagues.
I would like them do to do team battles wheres its three to 5 bots per teams and they duke it out.
Well"Clap"👏
You know, I like your narration,.
Thank you!
I know some beetle weights in Canada, I hope I can build one sometime, also where can I find the video to Ominous?
The Ominous video was actually part of a video that team Witch Doctor uploaded. I think it was called “18 robot socially distanced bot battle” and that’s where the clip is from
@@hex1044 Thanks
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.
Cool vid 👍 surprised to see mine in there too so bonus 🤣
Thank you! I shall add you to the list of credits for the footage!
Im from Mexico we have many competitions, and the most popular weight is 12lb and mostly spiners.
Ah thank you! I’ll add that for part 2!
Spoon is my hero a scrap bot with no business existing but here they are