You don’t have to be an expert to get involved in the robot war competition. Although the television series’ have all now ended, there are several amateur tournaments and competitions which operate throughout the UK, Europe and the wider world. You can also start up your own competition amongst friends or your local community, and encourage everyone – schools, businesses, organisations and services – to get involved.
To give you an idea of the sorts of robot wars tournaments and competitions that have occurred in the past, it is worthwhile revisiting some of the types of games and challenges which were used in the now-debunked US and UK television series. In general the challenges revolved around attempting to eliminate, damage or immobilise competitors. Depending on the rules you decide upon (perhaps set out by the Robot Fighting League or possibly guidelines of your own creation), you will need to determine how long the challenges will last, how long one robot will need to immobilise or pin a competitor, and what constitutes ‘damage’. Another possibility for competition is to introduce ‘house’ and ‘drone’ robots and obstacles within the arena. The US competition used a challenge called ‘Escort’ which required the competing robot to lead a defenceless drone robot through a maze littered with obstacles (such as pits and large objects), all the while being chased by a house robot (one that was designed by the tournament or competition staff). Other challenges, such as those used in the BBC Tech Games, subjected robots to sports-like games such as sprints, long-jump, high-jump, and swimming.
If you don’t want to start up your own robot wars competition or tournament, there are still several that accept entrants and amateur competitors throughout the UK and Europe. Robots Live, for example, was a combat-touring show which began in 2007 and which is still active throughout the UK.
To give you an idea of the sorts of robot wars tournaments and competitions that have occurred in the past, it is worthwhile revisiting some of the types of games and challenges which were used in the now-debunked US and UK television series. In general the challenges revolved around attempting to eliminate, damage or immobilise competitors. Depending on the rules you decide upon (perhaps set out by the Robot Fighting League or possibly guidelines of your own creation), you will need to determine how long the challenges will last, how long one robot will need to immobilise or pin a competitor, and what constitutes ‘damage’. Another possibility for competition is to introduce ‘house’ and ‘drone’ robots and obstacles within the arena. The US competition used a challenge called ‘Escort’ which required the competing robot to lead a defenceless drone robot through a maze littered with obstacles (such as pits and large objects), all the while being chased by a house robot (one that was designed by the tournament or competition staff). Other challenges, such as those used in the BBC Tech Games, subjected robots to sports-like games such as sprints, long-jump, high-jump, and swimming.
If you don’t want to start up your own robot wars competition or tournament, there are still several that accept entrants and amateur competitors throughout the UK and Europe. Robots Live, for example, was a combat-touring show which began in 2007 and which is still active throughout the UK.