BattleBots(R): The Official Guide - Softcover

Clarkson, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0072224258 ISBN 13: 9780072224252

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media, 2002

Synopsis

A guide to BattleBots traces the history of robots and competition robotic combat, and describes the competitions, the various BattleBots in different weight classes, and how they are built and operate.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The fully authorized guide to the world's most destructive sport--as seen on TV

Robotic combat has served to inspire countless movies, novels, comic books, and daydreams. In the last decade or so it has become a reality, thanks in large part to BattleBots, the world's most popular robot fighting tournament and one of the highest-rated shows on cable TV. From the first official BattleBots competition in 1999 to its current 4th successful season on Comedy Central, BattleBots has become an obsession for people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Sure, some of the builders are what you'd expect--mechanical engineers and computer geeks--but just as many are artists, musicians, high school students, and retirees. This destructive sport puts athletes and couch potatos on equal ground. In BattleBots, an eleven-year-old girl can kick a grown man's ass.

And the surprises don't stop there--wait until you see the bots. Beetle-shaped bots. Spider-like bots. Beautiful bots and ugly bots. Bots with turrets and arms and spikes and chainsaws. Bots on wheels and tracks and feet. Bots that spin, hop, punch, hammer and chop. Bots that can lift a car. Bots built by large teams in machine shops, and bots built by one guy working weekends in his garage.

So step inside, and view the metal-crunching demolition from the front lines with this behind-the-scenes guide to BattleBots--the hottest robot competition in the world and hit TV show on Comedy Central. Packed with full-color photographs, battle statistics, and exclusive profiles and interviews, this book gives you an inside look at the electrifying world of robot combat. Browse through photo-filled profiles of major BattleBots and get details on their weight, speed, weapon type, and what it took to build them. Read about the different robot types--including RamBots, SpinBots, ThwackBots, and Wedges. And, meet the people behind the crowd-pleasing, spark-flying destruction: BattleBots founders Trey Roski and Greg Munson; your favorite builders, including Carlo Bertocchini, Christian Carlberg, and Mark Setrakian; announcer Mark Beiro; and Pete the Mechanic, builder and operator of the famed BattleBox arena. You'll even get step-by-step instructions for building your own fierce fighting machine. As informative as it is entertaining, this book kicks BOT!

Reviews

What does one get when one combines engineering ability, mechanical parts, excess testosterone, and a lot of free time? Battlebots! Appearing on TV's Comedy Central (the earlier Robot Wars appeared on both BBC and PBS stations), well-armed robots duke it out for supremacy in a hazard-filled arena dubbed the Battlebox. Robots have names like Atomic Wedgie, Hexadecimator, and Death by Monkeys, and some are armed with saws and hammers while others are wedge-shaped to flip their opponents. Much of this title is devoted to the history of the Battlebots show and to descriptions of robots and their design teams. A section for wannabes on robot construction includes brief information on batteries, radio controls, wheels, and more. While not an essential purchase, this is a very fun book with a potentially large audience because of TV exposure. It is sure to appeal to teens as well as adults (such as this reviewer) who have never grown up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0072224258
• ISBN 13: 9780072224252
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272