Robotics Technology Center

Robot Wars: Evolution to Fame

It was in 1992 when the first concept of robot warfare began. A robot enthusiast by the name of Marc Thorpe, accidentally bumped into the idea of a robot warrior after his first radio-controlled vacuum cleaner failed. From there, He envisioned a robot war of home-built robots to face off against each other within an arena in front of a live audience. At first, the idea was not selling as pancakes, but he continued with the Robot Wars competition later that year, with a handful of participants and approximately 1000 spectators.

The initial outcome was well accepted, in fact more robot enthusiasts gather to participate, watch and even co-sponsor the event each year. As the competition grew bigger and better, the title Robot Wars also evolved, from Robotica in mid-1998 to Battlebots in the following year. Following copyright issues, Robot Wars disintegrated and Battlebots continued to gain nationwide popularity.

Late in 1999, Battlebots sponsored a smaller event Botbash which also gained popular rating. From live shows, T.V. productions were held until the famed Battlebots winners were also found at Department stores. The promotions continued until November 2002, when the Robot Fighting League formed, in effort to standardize across all the smaller local robot tournaments taking place around the country.