BattleBots is an American robot combat television series and company. The show is an adaptation of the American Robot Wars competitions hosted in the mid–late 1990s by Marc Thorpe, in which competitors design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament. The same competitions inspired the British TV program Robot Wars, which acquired the name in 1995.
Robot Wars is a robot combat competition that was broadcast on British television from 1998 to 2004 and from 2016 to 2018. Each series involves teams of amateur and professional roboteers operating their own constructed remote controlled robots to fight against each other in an arena formed of steel and bullet proof glass fitted with arena hazards and containing areas occupied by hostile and heavier "House Robots". Earlier series included assault and trial courses for competing robots.
Daniel Thomas Barry is an American engineer, scientist, television personality, and a retired NASA astronaut. He was a contestant on the CBS reality television program Survivor: Panama, as well as on BattleBots on ABC. He was at Singularity University from 2009 to 2012, where he was co-chair of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and the chair of the graduate summer program. He is also a co-founder of Fellow AI, a telepresence robotics company, and the founder and president of Denbar Robotics.
Robot combat is a type of robot competition in which custom-built machines fight using various methods to incapacitate each other. The machines have generally been remote-controlled vehicles rather than autonomous robots.
Robotica is a robot combat show produced for the American television cable channel TLC, a subsidiary of the Discovery Channel, from April 4, 2001, to November 16, 2002. Ahmet Zappa and Tanya Memme hosted all three seasons while Tanika Ray only hosted the first season with Dan Danknick replacing her for the second and third seasons.
The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First performed at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate Money in the Bank pay-per-view was established in 2010. In wrestling's fictional premise, the prize is a briefcase containing a contract for a championship match of the winner's choice, which can be "cashed in" by the holder of the briefcase at any point in the year following their victory. If the contract is not used within a year of winning it, it will be invalid, but this has yet to happen in any WWE storyline. From its inception until 2017, ladder match performances only involved male wrestlers, with the contract being for a world championship match. Beginning with the 2017 Money in the Bank event, women also have the opportunity to compete in such a match, with their prize being a contract for a women's championship match.
Blendo is a combat robot designed and built by Jamie Hyneman. Adam Savage wired the electronics and control systems.
BioHazard is a combat robot built by rocket scientist Carlo Bertocchini. It was the most successful robot in the heavyweight division of BattleBots. It is still considered one of the greatest and most successful combat robots of all time. BioHazard's weapon is an electric four-bar lifting arm used to lift other robots. The lifting arm has been described as a type of shovel, scoop, or a forklift mechanism. For much of its reign, BioHazard was notorious for being difficult to attack and get under due to hinged titanium wedge skirts on all sides and the low profile effected by its 4.5 inches (11 cm) height. The robot weighs 208 pounds (94 kg) and has a surface area of 3 feet (0.91 m) by 4 feet (1.2 m).
BattleBots: Beyond the BattleBox is a video game based on the BattleBots license for the Game Boy Advance. It was developed by Cave+Barn Studios and Pipe Dream Interactive and was published by Majesco Entertainment. Players create and manage a team of BattleBots.
MegaBots Inc. was an American startup company headquartered in Hayward, California that created giant robots and real-world mecha for robotic sports competitions.
Translational drift also known as melty brain or tornado drive is a form of locomotion, notably found in certain combat robots.
The sixth season of the American competitive television series BattleBots premiered on ABC on June 21, 2015.
The seventh season of the American competitive television series BattleBots premiered on ABC on June 23, 2016 and concluded on September 1, 2016. It was the second season since the show was rebooted in 2015 and was the last season to be broadcast on ABC.
The eighth season of the American competitive television series BattleBots premiered on Discovery on May 11, 2018. This is the first season of Battlebots to premiere on Discovery Channel and the third season since the show was rebooted in 2015. Encore episodes debuted on Science Channel on May 16, 2018.
The ninth season of the American competitive television series BattleBots premiered on Discovery on June 7, 2019. This is the second season of Battlebots to premiere on Discovery Channel and the fourth season since the show was rebooted in 2015. Encore episodes debuted on Science Channel on June 12, 2019.
The tenth season of the American competitive television series BattleBots premiered on Discovery Channel on December 3, 2020, after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the third season of Battlebots to premiere on Discovery Channel and the fifth season since the show was rebooted in 2015. The show introduced a new modified logo, with a pair of large red and blue "B"'s, making a "BB" logo atop the term "BATTLEBOTS". The subtitle "Fight Night" was used for episodes featuring qualifying rounds.
Tuesday's Child is a British television production company founded in 2012 by Karen Smith. The company is best known for TV shows such as The Hit List and LEGO Masters.
The eleventh season of the American competitive television series BattleBots premiered on Discovery Channel on January 6, 2022. This is the fourth season of Battlebots to premiere on Discovery Channel and the sixth season since the show was rebooted in 2015. The show continued to use their modified logo, with a pair of "B"'s, making a "BB" logo atop the term "BATTLEBOTS", as well as the subtitle, "Fight Night" for qualifying rounds.
Lisa Winter is an American engineer, roboticist, and television personality. She is best known for her work on the television series BattleBots, where she competed with numerous robots and is currently a judge.
The twelfth season of the American competitive television series BattleBots premiered on Discovery Channel on January 5, 2023. This is the fifth main-line season of Battlebots to premiere on Discovery Channel and the seventh main-line season since the show was rebooted in 2015; official material markets this season as World Championship VII.
