Source: Radio New Zealand
Team Brazil was crowned champion at the Robot Rampage World Cup. Robot Rampage
Fought inside a bulletproof cage, a battle between combat robots is not for the faint-hearted.
It’s the grand final of Robot Rampage World Cup, a four day competition between teams from New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, and the United States.
Sparks are a common sight during the battle between the bots. Robot Rampage
Unfolding on a quiet Sunday evening at Auckland’s shopping suburb Onehunga, the venue is packed with enthusiasts.
Ten-year-old Elon Jacobs secured a front row seat to catch the sparks, the clashes, and sometimes even a small fire.
Ten year old Elon Jacobs brought a robot he is building to the battle. Ke-Xin Li/RNZ
“It’s really loud and there’s a lot of robots fighting today. So far there’s been a lot of action and it’s been very fun.”
He had been sketching robots since he was four years old, and thinks robotics will definitely be a big part of his future.
On Sunday, the battle was between Brazil and USA.
Thirteen-year-old Josephine Estevez gave her predictions.
“Brazil looks like it’s winning. I do enjoy watching different robots. I really like Touro. That was a great design. Displaying blade and it being a mostly defense robot, it’s very locked in on all sides and very sturdy looking.”
Josephine Estevez and Kira Matevie are enjoying the battle between the robots. Ke-Xin Li/RNZ
Her mom, Kira Matevie, the bigger robotic fan among the two, has her eyes laid on other robots.
“For tonight, I’ll have to say my favorite is Jump Rope because he’s a showboat, I like that. But my favorite robot to date is Black Rose. It reminds me of a vacuum cleaner.”
The matches are livestreamed for free, but that didn’t stop Ashley and Bryan Pierre booking a trip from USA to watch in person.
“It’s a neat format that they have here. You have five robots and basically until all your robots are out, you keep going. So, they kind of need a little bit of strategy to play. Do they want to fix a robot after the match if they win? They only got eight minutes to fix it. Not a lot of time if they got a lot of damage.”
Robot Rampage
After Bryan introduced Ashley to battlebots, robots quickly infiltrated every part of the couple’s life.
“Our wedding rings are made of a battle bot. We’re from Wisconsin and Team Wyachi is from Wisconsin. One of their main bot, Son of Wyachi, they sent us a signed part of Son of Wyachi.”
Ashley and Bryan Pierre’s wedding rings are made of a part of one of their favorite combat robots. Ke-Xin Li/RNZ
Ashley said turning the signed part into rings is another miracle.
“We randomly met someone who could work titanium and they were able to save the signature and make 4 rings out of it.”
Back inside the cage, the decisive moment arrives.
As Brazil’s Touro Feather defeated USA’s last standing bot, they were declared champions!
The decisive moment when Team Brazil defeated Team USA. Ke-Xin Li/RNZ
Team Captain Matheus Freitas said the victory means a lot.
“It’s such an amazing fight. We are from 4 different teams from Brazil, we designed two new robots that we put to test here. It did such a great job, and we are very excited for the results. It’s our first time here on New Zealand. I hope that we come on more times in the future.”
His family had been up early to watch him fight.
“When the live stream started, it’s 3am in Brazil and they [stayed up] just to watch and send good energies to us.”
The team brings together members from Brazil’s top robot combat teams, and Freitas said their strategy paid off.
In between fights, the Brazil team works on fixing their robots. Ke-Xin Li/RNZ
“We won the first fight with Dark Khaos and then we unfortunately got some damage and then we swapped that, very strategically, and then we brought Jublieu. Jublieu did such a good damage on Synthesis 30, and then we put Touro, Touro did the rest of the job.”
The competition format means teams have very little time to fix their robots. Robot Rampage
Getting to New Zealand was a battle in itself.
Together, the Brazilians travelled with more than 180 kilograms of gear.
Team member João Marcos Cavalheiro recounted his journey.
“From Brazil to Miami, Miami to Atlanta, Atlanta to Austin, then we drove to Dallas, and Dallas to Houston, and Houston to New Zealand, six flights.”
Meanwhile, runnerup Team USA is looking on the bright side.
Team USA is fully made up of members without engineering backgrounds. Ke-Xin Li/RNZ
Captain Sam Hanson is proud the team is made up entirely of members with no engineering background, and encourages anyone to give robot building a go.
“One of them is a student. One is a nurse. I managed a farmer’s market. I’ve been building fighting robots since the early 2000s. All the information is on the internet. You don’t have to be an engineer. You just have to want to do it.”
Hosting the event was Robot Rampage, a venue founded by friends Jack Barker and Nick Mabey.
Jack Barker and Nick Mabey are founders of Robot Rampage. Outside of hosting events, the space also runs robot building and fighting experiences. Ke-Xin Li/RNZ
Barker said the venue has 90 seats, but there were more people standing.
“I’m really stoked with the turnout. We’ve had six shows and every single seat has been sold out.”
He said there is a special appeal to the format.
“Normally it’s a 1v1 fight, but this is a 5v5 fight format. It’s more exciting because instead of supporting one robot for one fight, you get to support your country between five to nine matches.”
Barker said it took them two years to build the venue with a bulletproof cage, and now they intend to fully utilise it.
Their next event – Kings Crown – is scheduled for May at Robot Rampage in Onehunga.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
