Robot Battles Team Event in Campbell CA with Netflix
A Robot Battles Team Event with Netflix in Campbell produced a series of impressive build times and even better battles. Team “The Punishers” (pictured above) named after the Frank Castle Marvel character, won the build competition with a time of 31:15. The Punisher has been recently remade for Netflix – a timely name for the winning team! The Punishers were closely followed by team “Bird Box” at 33:48 and other teams under the 35:00 minute mark.
The battles were exceptional with all of the bots involved in a large robot melee including 7 teams, 2 pre-built bots, and our new prototype, “the bully.” 10 robots leads to a lot of balloon popping and robot flipping. The prototype leaped out to a huge advantage early, but once the nine other bots adjusted and teamed up in teams of two and three against The Bully, the competition evened out. We embarked on one long extended battle session which one team won with 26 points, and then a a final formal melee to 10 points – the same team won, cementing their place as dominant battlers.
One thing that stood out to me was the multiple ways teams assembled the robot. One team waited until the end to attach the drive train and wheels, one team added the attack arm simultaneous to the frame being completed, and one team divided the frame into four parts before combining them together. Each was helpful in their own way, and ultimately produced quality robots in respectable and in some cases impressive times.
We had some people who were return clients to the robot event so they made for excellent judges of the new prototype – intended as a follow-up for clients who have already done the original and current version. Their feedback was incredibly positive and helpful. They were able to compare the two events. Having two drivers instead of one definitely increases the communication and teamwork element of the battle part of the event. With one person driving, and the other person attacking, it both frees the mind to concentrate on one primary activity – not faux multi-tasking between two – and it adds the additional challenge of relying on someone else.
A huge Thank You to Netflix for inviting us and the robot event back. We had a marvelous and engaging time with a truly exceptional group!
Robot Team Building
