Event 1: BattleBots!! [April 20th]

So I have been dying to get tickets to see Battlebots, as it is now a TV show on ABC (fun fact, it originally aired on Comedy Central). I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to see the fights, thanks to Professor Dennis Hong. It was so much fun!

Announcement/Recap area for Battlebots

For those who do not know what Battlebots is, it is this awesome competition where people from all over the world compete to see whose killer robot dominates. Despite the violence of it all, a lot of art is implemented in the robot designs. Many designs are attributed to not only the destructive potential but also to look really cool. Take Bronco and Bite Force or example (the pictures below): each of these robots have a unique design that had to not only consider the engineering and science perspectives of the competition but also the aesthetics of looking like an awesome robot. Just like in the robotics lecture, the evolution of robotic technologies is not only within medical technologies but in entertainment, as well.

Bronco

Bite Force

Yes, it's a bunch of people making robots, that's not art, right? I beg to differ. The art not only comes from the robot itself but the entertainment and enjoyment it brings to people. I was in the audience and met many people from all over (Oklahoma, Canada, Japan, Sweden, the list goes on) and they all came together to cheer on their favorite competitor. It's a community of all people nerding out over the design and destruction of their favorite team's robots. I like to think of it this way, the arena is the canvas, the robots are the colors, and the painters are the robot creators whose designs are made in detail to keep people thinking and excited about their art form.

The arena

Side note, I got to meet the one and only Adam Savage!! You may know him better from Myth Busters. He's a really nice guy and one of the judges for this year's season of BattleBots

The one, the only, Adam Savage!

So yes, BattleBots if a bunch of robots destroying each other, but if you peel the layers back, it is a modern art form within the robotic community that keeps people guessing and excited to more things to come. For those of you curious or still unsure about Battlebots, here is a trailer from last season.