Behind the Bots

This week on the podcast, we’re recapping NHRL’s final qualifier of the 2023 season, We are also reviewing season 2 episode 1 of The Golden Bolt tournament. Brandon Young joins Kyle as a guest host for the rest of the month! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re previewing NHRL’s final qualifier of the 2023 season, happening this Saturday in Norwalk, CT and livestreamed on YouTube. We’re joined by two pivotal members of the Pit Control desk—Ashley Beckman and Thomas Carroll—who will help us break down what to expect. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast we’re previewing BattleBots Champions II (the spin-off show returning to the Discovery Channel on Thursday, Oct. 5) with our friend and returning guest, BattleBots co-creator Greg Munson! We also ask him about NHRL, the rumored Season 8 of the show, and BattleBots Destruct-a-thon. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast we’re recapping the latest NHRL qualifier, held Aug. 12, 2023 in Norwalk, CT, with 12-pound champion Jake Hoffmann! We take a look at the big, unexpected storylines from the competition, and look to the future for the league. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast we’re previewing the August 2023 NHRL qualifier with Ryan and Justin Hunter, who help run the pit control desk at the league. We’ll talk about who we’re excited to see return (Depth Charge anyone?), debate weight bonuses and figure out when they’re coming back with Harvester. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

Enjoy this rewind from July 2020! This week on the podcast, we catch up two incredible engineers—Chomp captain Zoe Stephenson and teammate Jascha Little! Zoe and Jascha are a wife-and-husband team who work together as engineers on experimental projects at Applied Invention. Their most visible project, perhaps, is The Long Now Foundation's 10,000 Year Clock, a massive mechanical timekeeper that is designed to survive and tell time until the year 12,000. (Some fans may know that Bronco team captain Zander Rose is the director of The Long Now Foundation). It’s unbelievably difficult to design an object to survive for 10,000 years—metals corrode, moving parts seize up, materials that touch one another run the risk of chemically reacting to one another in strange ways. For inspiration, the team looked to the past and the designs of other mechanical objects, early timepieces and mechanical computers. It’s a fascinating project, and one that we will most certainly continue to talk about on the show. BattleBots fans know Zoe and Jascha for Chomp, the AI-infused hammerbot that ended Paul Ventimiglia’s championship run in 2016. This year, Chomp is back—as a superheavyweight walker bot with a turret-mounted hammer. Zoe and Jascha talk at length about the design, and the technical challenges they face as they try to cut weight from the bot. We really enjoyed this interview, and we hope you do, too.

This week on the podcast, we recap NHRL's June event - and discuss the upcoming OpenSauce convention with Sam Hanson! We'll be back on break next week, but hope to see you at OpenSauce!

*This episode, including the news and interview, is a rerun from February 2020* This week on the podcast, we go big - literally - with a story so crazy it’s almost hard to believe. Cofounder Matt Oehrlein and his team made headlines in 2015, when they challenged Japan’s Suidobashi Heavy Industry to the world’s first international mech robot duel. The duel garnered 8.5 million views on YouTube...and 8.5 million different opinions on the outcome. Late last year, MegaBots declared bankruptcy and sold off its assets. We go deep on the history of the company, his experience building and fighting Eagle Prime, and what the future of giant fighting robots might possibly hold. Link to the Eagle Prime vs. Kuratas Giant Robot Duel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-ouLX8Q9UM

This is a re-run of our interview from May 2021. See you when break is over!

This week on the podcast — a very special crossover episode, with our dear friends at The RoboCast and Outside of the Box. This season, we’re taking your hot takes, mixing them with our hot takes… it’s hot takes all the way down. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re chatting with WCVII Giant Nut runner-up — Jonathan Schultz, captain of HUGE! We ask him what filming this season felt like, his plan to face (and make!) attachments, and continue a heated debate around lasagna. This is Jonathan’s first time back on the show since 2019, so we had a lot to catch up on! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up with the man of the hour — BattleBots World Championship 7 Giant Nut winner Jamison Go, captain of SawBlaze. We ask him what his secret to success was this year, and the surging East Coast dominance we experienced at the competition this season. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up with longtime friend of the pod Will Bales, captain of the electric green vert HyperShock, at the end of their regular season run on BattleBots. We talk technical specs, style, and what’s next for the team. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up with Quantum captains (and brothers) James and Grant Cooper, fresh off their exit in the Round of 32. We explore Quantum’s unique and generative design, what it was like returning to the competition after 3 years, and what’s next for the team. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up with Shatter captain Adam Wrigley to reflect on Season 7 of BattleBots, which just completed its first round of World Championship 7. We’ll briefly talk about the team’s controversial match with Riptide, what went right (and wrong) this season for the robot, and what’s next for the team. Oh! And we look back on the May qualifier at NHRL. Video of robotic toddlers playing soccer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSvLcr5HtNc Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up with Valkyrie captain and NHRL mainstay Lucy Du, to recap her first season as a BattleBots captain, and what’s next for her powerful undercutter. We also take a look back on Episode 15, which revealed the bracket for World Championship 7. Robots Around the World video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZdz764Sz6g Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re previewing May NHRL with Community Director Gil Hova! We take a look back at episode 14 of BattleBots — as another 14 robots complete their qualifying rounds. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we have the honor, the pleasure, nay the delight of interviewing our friend Shreddit Bro captain Evan Arias! Shreddit Bro came up through NHRL, back when we were standing around a single cage at 50 Day Street. Today, he’s built a #family of robot builders, who have made the 2wd eggbeater the de facto standard for competitive beetles. Oh! And we recap Luke’s recent visit to BattleBots: Destruct-a-Thon. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re joined by Kevin Milczewski, captain of the zippy little control bot that’s captured our hearts, Claw Viper. We talk about growing up in the Hudson Valley, how he designs for speed, and why BattleBots needs more control bots. Oh! And we talk a bit about what might be the last RoboGames ever? Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re joined by a very special guest co-host, Mammoth team member Brandon Bennett Young! Brandon has been in the combat robotics game since high school, runs multiple robots at NHRL and has now worked on the pit crew for two BattleBots teams. We chat about NHRL, aerospace engineering and his future (?) plans to build a heavyweight. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

Sorry for the late upload - we had some technical difficulties! This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 10, Episode 3, which was a slippery one. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re taking almost all of your questions in a special AMA episode to commemorate our 4-year anniversary on the pod. No BattleBots this week — we’ll be back with our recap of Episode 11 in early April. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 10 of BattleBots, which was a spicy one. We explore the difference between legality and ethics, and the community’s unwritten code of conduct. We also catch up with Monsoon captain Tom Brewster, Sarah Asplin, Tim Rackers, and Rory Mangles who all returned to the competition after a global pandemic kept him in the UK for the past few seasons. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 9 of BattleBots, with official Match Steward Mike Jeffries. Mike is a longtime combat robot builder, who most recently competed on BattleBots with his popular modular bot Bombshell. He’s back this season to oversee the brand-new judging challenge process, which we saw this past Thursday between Malice and Valkyrie. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 8 of BattleBots, which was very exciting indeed. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to book a guest this week, so it’s just a lil’ minisode with the four of us. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 7 of BattleBots, with our friend and NHRL cohost Ricky Willems. Ricky will break down his most recent fight with Starchild, and reflect on the long and strange journey he’s taken to get to BattleBots. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 6 of BattleBots. We’re also catching up with Hijinx Captian Jen Herchenroder to discuss the recently aired match against Captain Shrederator as well as the current season of BattleBots. Registration is now open for the NHRL March 18th event. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 5 of BattleBots. We’re also catching up with Mad Catter and Lynx driver Calvin Iba to discuss the match and controversy surrounding Riptide and Lynx. Calvin is the current beetleweight champion at NHRL and the first ever two time champion. We discuss early reviews and reports of BattleBots Destruct-a-thon, a brand-new live show in Las Vegas. Tickets for Destruct-a-thon are available now https://battlebots.com/tickets/. Registration is now open for the NHRL March 18th event. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 4 of BattleBots. We’re also catching up with Malice captain Bunny Liaw and her teammate/husband David, as BattleBots prepares to launch an ambitious new project — BattleBots Destruct-a-thon, a brand-new live show in Las Vegas. Bunny and her team built 9 Malice ShowBots for the event, and Bunny traveled to Las Vegas to help the BattleBots team get ready. Tickets for Destruct-a-thon are available now, with the show’s debut coming this Friday, Feb. 3: https://battlebots.com/tickets/ Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 3 of BattleBots, with special guest Tim Bouwens, the captain of Ominous! Ominous is a gorgeous, three-wheeled omnidrive robot from the Netherlands, and we learn more about its history, combat robotics in the Netherlands, and what’s next for the team. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 2 of BattleBots. We break down the episode with Switchback captain Greg Needel, whose bot has gone through the ultimate glow-up for its sophomore season. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into Season 7, Episode 1 of BattleBots, which aired Jan. 5, 2023 on the Discovery Channel. We break down the episode with the one and only Pete Abrahamson, aka The Bot Whisperer! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re wrapping up our coverage of the BattleBots 7 rookies with the gorgeous, ambitious, very purple dual horizontal Horizon. Team captain Joshua Kong first tested the design at NHRL and other local leagues before applying to BattleBots. Their team roster is incredible, and includes the one and only Hotkoin! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re continuing our coverage of the BattleBots 7 rookies with the murderous little vacuum cleaner that could — Doomba! We talk BattleBots, the metagame behind BattleBots, and the role of decidedly un-serious robots in the sport. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re continuing our coverage of the BattleBots 7 rookies with the Italian side of the Team Omega family — Ripperoni! This pizza-themed robot features a neat little innovation: A counter-rotating flywheel, designed to reduce the amount of gyro the bot experiences when it turns. We catch up with NHRL regulars Anna Zolnikov and Fred Moore, who got valuable experience with the 30-pound version of Ripperoni ahead of BattleBots. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re continuing our coverage of the BattleBots 7 rookies with the Alien-inspired big-wheeled thwack-vert of our dreams, Starchild! Team captain Brandon Zalinsky spent over a year refining the bot’s design at NHRL, with his 3-pounder Starchild and his 30-pounder Starfather. This season, he scaled up the design to 250 pounds and brought on Tony D’Ambrosio to help him construct an intergalactic backstory for the bot, and Amanda Fowler for fabrication and art design. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re continuing our coverage of the BattleBots 7 rookies with Ben Burton, captain of the Triceratops-inspired TerrorTops! We talk dinosaurs, robots, and robot dinosaurs. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re continuing our coverage of the BattleBots 7 rookies with the quirky, kilt-wearing captain David Small and his brand-new heavyweight flipper bot Banshee. David built robots with his dad, and more recently picked up the sport again with his bots Kelpie and Son of Kram. We talk about combat robot history, combat robot design, and kelpie tattoos! Special outro music thanks to Evil Henchman Sam Hanson! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re continuing our coverage of the BattleBots 7 rookies with one of the most-anticipated robots of the season — Emulsifier. This robot, from the builders at Bots FC, began life as a brutal little 30-pounder that won the Most Destructive award at Motorama 2020. It’s competed several times at NHRL, and will again appear this weekend, where it hopes to earn a spot in the 2022 NHRL World Championships. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re kicking off 10 weeks of BattleBots 7 rookies, with Doom captain Alejandro Pina. Doom is an articulated hammersaw mounted atop sloped wedges. Alejandro spent more than a year designing and prototyping the bot, but reportedly was not able to pass safety in time to compete on the show. We’re catching up with him to learn more about Doom, and what he’s learned so far from the experience. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re focusing on the lifeblood of our sport — local combat robotics leagues. We’ll talk with the organizers behind the Midwest Robot Combat Association (MRCA), which launched earlier this year and just held the 2022 MRCA Finals. We’ll talk about what it takes to start a league, how to grow a league, and where they’d like to take MRCA in 2023 and beyond. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re coming to you live from the pits at BattleBots! Chris, Lindsay and Luke are working on the pit crews for Copperhead and Shreddit Bro, and are taking all of your burning questions about what happens behind the scenes at filming. This is a short one (and the audio is terrible) but we’re having the best time ever! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up with Team Ostrich Air, builders of the rookie bot Double Tap! The team just shipped their bot to Las Vegas, and will fight in their first combat robotics match ever later this month. The team is based in Silicon Valley and runs a drone startup, and they’ve even recruited a Pixar animator to their roster. We’re intrigued by Double Tap’s design, and we're bringing on the team to better understand how it works. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re sitting down with longtime builder and perpetual fan favorite Marc DeVidts, captain of ICEwave! Marc began building combat robots more than 20 years ago, but really roared into BattleBots pop culture with Season 1 of the reboot with his terrifying horizontal spinner, powered by an internal-combustion engine. Despite its cult status, ICEwave was not selected to compete on BattleBots 7, surprising a lot of fans. Marc is coming on to talk about his journey in the sport, and what’s next for ICEwave. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up with the winner of the 30-pound division at September’s Norwalk Havoc — Yahoo captain slash Copperhead team member slash pet store owner slash giant pumpkin farmer and friend of the pod Chad New! Chad has been build combat robots for 20+ years, and has fought on both BattleBots and King of Bots. We learn all about his very interesting path through combat robotics and how he got into his many other interests. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’ve got a brief little, guestless mini-sode, while we recover from September Norwalk Havoc. We’ll recap the latest event, share our top personal highlights, and get you hyped about next week’s guest, Copperhead pit crew member/pet store owner/master prankster/giant pumpkin farmer Chad New! Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving deep into the just-revealed Season 7 of the show — which will film in Las Vegas Oct. 18 through Oct. 30 — with BattleBots cofounder and friend of the pod Greg Munson! Greg answers all of your burning questions, and gives us a sneak peek at what to expect in the coming season. Oh! And we take a look at the finale of BattleBots Champions. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up again with longtime BattleBots builder Brad Hanstad, to get an exclusive early look at his new heavyweight Triton, the spiritual successor to Deep Six. Oh, and we’ll take a look back on the final qualifying event for BattleBots Champions. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re diving deep into all things Kraken with one of our favorite builders of all time, Kraken captain Matt Spurk! This week, Matt made the surprise announcement that he plans to retire his very popular fire-breathing crusher bot and return to the competition with something new. We try as hard as we can to get him to talk about what’s next. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!

This week on the podcast, we’re catching up again with Kyle Miller, captain of the surprisingly effective rookie bot Glitch. Glitch went undefeated in the qualifying rounds during Season 6 of BattleBots, but had to drop out of the Championship at the last minute after they couldn’t get their bot in fighting shape to take on Witch Doctor. This past week (spoilers!) they *again* went undefeated on their episode of BattleBots Champions, sending themselves into the final round of Champions with a 7-0 (!) career record. We break it down with Kyle. This week’s interview is brought to you by MaxAmps and their new line of “Max Combat” batteries. These battle-ready batteries are available for 1-, 3-, 12-, and 30-pound bots and feature a custom wrap with your team’s logo, internal hard skins for extra protection, and puncture resistant wire sleeves. Check them out at maxamps.com Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/behindthebots Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts Tell a friend about the show; we really appreciate your support!