Are "Battle Bots" primed for a comeback?

This video from MakerBot, shows some slick robots they made in advance of MakerFaire. It got me thinking about a possible new sport emerging from a geeky primordial soup. Could we see a return of BattleBots?

In the early 2000's there was a TV program about them, toys, and a lot of buzz, but it fizzled out quickly. There were only so many times you could watch tin cans destroy each other and it was an expensive, technically demanding hobby to participate in.

But with the rise of platforms like Arduino, noob friendly suppliers like Sparkfun, and tools like the MakerBot, could we soon see a revival of destructive robotic fun?

Would any of you be interested in a robot death match? Could we change the rules to make them more designer friendly? Sound off and let the robotic carnage begin!

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Permalink Reply by Sebastian Lasse on May 16, 2012 at 10:37am

pretty nice. Want them with cameras, raspberry and google plus hangout controlled ;)

Permalink Reply by Joseph Flaherty on May 16, 2012 at 11:00am

True - there have been so many interesting developments in tech over the last decade. BTW, there is a really fun Google Hangout called Robot Party every Thursday 8PM EST https://plus.google.com/103859804271148784524/posts

Basically show and tell for bots!

Permalink Reply by Joseph Flaherty on May 16, 2012 at 10:57am

Those MakerBotters sure are quirky!

Permalink Reply by Joseph Flaherty on May 16, 2012 at 10:56am

Yeah it would be interesting to see them develop alternate categories that aren't so destructive. Synchronized swimming for bots? http://combots.net/ has a lot of neat categories including "Art Bots", but it still seems a little too hardware focused. I'd love to have a few chassis to choose from and some kind of competition where design or the shell played a bit more of a roll.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Flaherty on May 16, 2012 at 12:10pm

That's another really good point - there are so many more cable outlets for something like this. Syfy, DIY, TLC, Discovery, Spike, TBS, Speed Channel, etc. would all be decent homes for a show about combat robots.

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