Table of Contents
ISBN: 978-1-4994-2165-1
TITLES IN THIS SERIES
Ryan Nagelhout
TITLES IN THIS SERIES
FIGHTING
FIGHTING
ROBOTS
ROBOTS
ROBOTS
AND
ROBOTICS
FIGHTING ROBOTS
FLYING ROBOTS
MANUFACTURING ROBOTS
MEDICAL ROBOTS
MILITARY and
POLICE ROBOTS
SPACE ROBOTS
UNDERWATER ROBOTS
ROSEN / PowerKids Press
Ryan Nagelhout
FIGHTING ROBOTS
New York
Ryan Nagelhout
FIGHTING
FIGHTING
ROBOTS
ROBOTS
ROBOTS
AND
ROBOTICS
Published in 2017 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010
Copyright 2017 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from
the publisher, except by a reviewer.
First Edition
Editor: Caitie McAneney
Book Design: Reann Nye
Photo Credits: Cover othree/https://www.ickr.com/photos/othree/14080036357; pp. 5, 6 Kurita
KAKU/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images; p. 7 http://battlebots.wikia.com/wiki/File:Diesector_SF02.jpg;
p. 9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Moment_of_Victory_-_Critter_Crunch_1991.jpg;
pp. 11 (lifting bot and wedge bot), 23 ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images; p. 11 (spinning bot)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RoboCore_Robot_Combat.jpg; pp. 12, 17, 18, 19, 21
Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images News/Getty Images; p. 13 Portland Press Herald/Getty Images;
p. 15 Maureen Sullivan/Moment Mobile/Getty Images; p. 16 Charlotte Lake/Shutterstock.com;
p. 25 Getty Images/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images; pp. 26, 27 Oakland Tribune/
Tribune News Service/Getty Images; p. 30 http://battlebots.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mechadon_4.0.jpg.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nagelhout, Ryan, author.
Title: Fighting robots / Ryan Nagelhout.
Description: New York : PowerKids Press, [2017] | Series: Robots and robotics
| Includes index.
Identiers: LCCN 2016005683 | ISBN 9781499421637 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781499421651 (library
bound) | ISBN 9781499421644 (6 pack)
Subjects: LCSH: Robots--Design and construction--Juvenile literature. |
Robots--Control systems--Juvenile literature. | Robotics--Juvenile
literature. | BattleBots (Television program)--Juvenile literature.
Classication: LCC TJ211 .N324 2017 | DDC 629.8/92--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016005683
Manufactured in the United States of America
CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch # BS16PK : For Further Information contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York at 1-800-237-9932
READY TO FIGHT ..........................
BUILT FOR BATTLE .........................
ROBOT ROOTS ............................
FOLLOW THE RULES ......................
LEARNING THE GAME .....................
PIECES AND PARTS .......................
USING THE RADIO ........................
MAKING IT ALL WORK .....................
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT ...............
ROBOTS ON TV ...........................
MEGABOTS ..............................
ROBOT COMBAT LEAGUE ..................
THE FIGHTING FUTURE ....................
GLOSSARY ...............................
INDEX ...................................
WEBSITES ...............................
contents
contents
Ready to Fight
Ready to Fight
Many machines are built for battle. The military uses
robots in a number of different ways. Special robots can
disarm bombs. Flying dronesmachines without pilots
carry weapons and are ready to attack. However, robots
arent just the stuff of military operations or science ction.
Many people build robots, and you can, too!
Many remote-controlled, or RC, ghting robots
are built to take out the competition and win the ght.
Sometimes robot battles have special rules, but often your
imagination is your only limit. Fighting robots are built with
the motors and other basic parts all robots need. Then,
robot experts can add wheels, legs, and crazy weapons
to them. Creative robot technology makes robot battles
exciting, fun, and full of science!
Robots are a great way to learn more about
science, technology, engineering, and math,
or STEM. Building a robot requires a lot of
knowledge of all four topics.
Built for Battle
Built for Battle
Fighting robots come in a few different forms. Some
robots are anthropomorphic, or built to mimic human
actions and body parts. This means they walk with legs
and use their arms in battle. These ghts usually involve
the machines trying to knock
each other over.
Robots built for fighting are
used only to compete against
other robots. Using a fighting
robot against another person is
very dangerous .
anthropomorphic
robot
Other robots are more like RC cars. They use wheels
to move around and battle each other. Some wheeled
robots, such as wedge robots, usually try to ip the other
robot over. More complex machines have weapons, such
as spinning arms or saws, with which to cause damage.
These weapons rip off the other robots pieces or harm
the electronics that make the robot work. Because of this,
ghting robots need armor made of metal or plastic
for protection.
wheeled robot
Robot Roots
Robot Roots
In the 1970s and 1980s, some ghting robots were
made at colleges, such as the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology
(Caltech). However, it wasnt until the 1990s that robot
combat really began to spread. In 1992, an animatronics
and toy designer named Marc Thorpe tried to build an
RC vacuum cleaner. Instead, he came up with an idea
for ghting robots and a competition called Robot Wars.
Thorpe put an ad in an RC car magazine to get interest
from other RC enthusiasts .
Two years later, the rst Robot Wars event was held
in San Francisco, California. Since then, competitions have
taken place all over the world. The second Robot Wars
event in 1995 brought new designs and strategies to the
competition, including the rst wedge robot.
CRITTER CRUNCH
October 28, 1989, was an important day in the history of robot battles. On
that day, robots first faced off in an event called Critter Crunch. It was part
of MileHiCon, a gathering of sci-fi and fantasy fans in Denver, Colorado. The
winner of the first Critter Crunch was a robot called Thing One. This event
was just the beginning of robot fighting events and TV shows.
These engineers take part in Critter Crunch,
which is considered by many to be the first
robot battle of its kind.
Follow the Rules
Follow the Rules
There are many different robot competitions today,
