Inspired by the television show "Battle Bots", robotics clubs such as ours are forming around the country. Local clubs such as PennBots, NERC, and many others, host tournaments throughout the year. Bots are built in three weight classes.

Flea - 150 grams or less

Ant - 1 pound or less

Beetle - 3 pounds or less

Larger weight classes can be seen at bigger copetitions, these include the 12 and 30 pound sports class and the 150 pound professional class.

The basics of a robot battle consist of placing 2 bots in a cage of adaqute size based on the bot weight. Once the arena is secured the fight begins. Bots battle for three minutes or until a bot is unable to move, taps out, or goes into a hazard pit (if arena has them). Any battle that lasts the full 3 minutes is decided by a judge(s).

Autonomous robots are ones that are not controlled by a person, they run off a pre-programmed set of instructions. These include robots that are simple line followers, maze solvers, and other various activities. Autonomous robots can be designed to fight as well but must follow these simple rules:

1. Must be able to safely disarm robot (this means without opening the arena)
2. Must follow the same guide lines for safty and construction as a regularly controlled robot
3. Safety of spectators and participants is above all else. Any weapon system determined to be more powerful than the arena can safely handle will not be allowed to compete. (Decision by club officers)

Autonomous robots can be entered to fight human controlled robots or in a special class of autonomous robots provided there is more than one at the competition.

Arena